Things I did on Sunday

Or things I did not do on Sunday.

The first event of the day was the Team Time Trial. Before I go on vacation I was pretty gung-ho on doing this as it sounds like fun. I was asking around to gather interest and form a team. Unfortunately there was not a lot of interest and after my vacation, I lost a lot of fitness and gave the idea up. I then signed up to help out in the race. A few days before the race a couple of cat 4s were looking for a 4th member. I replied, wanting to ride on condition the race director agrees. Then the race director came back saying he needs me to marshal the race, thus making it impossible to race. I have no qualms about the decision and helped the team find a 4th member. This team won the race. I was happy for them and was happy that I didn't drag the team down as I was not in good form.

After the race, a coach hosted a cycling garage sale at his house not far from the race venue. I was carpooling, the driver wanted to drop by so I went to take a look as well. It was like going to a candy store. Wheels, helmets, sun glasses, jerseys, jackets, bags, you name it. Everything useful for a cyclist is available. I picked up some old team jerseys for cheap and bought two nice shimano wheels off him. I had no intention of buying anything but ended up being one of his biggest customers that day.

I was excited and Sunday night started to assemble up the Pinarello. With the extra wheels the work is easier as I can take my time to tune up the bike while riding on the current bike. No single point of failure makes things easier to transition.

The most important lesson for the day: that front and back skewers have different lengths. Pull a rear skewer to fit a rear wheel - it is longer.

All in all a good day.

a little bit of history

As the Canucks are getting ready to launch their new logo and jersey, let me share a little story about their previous jersey launch.

I joined a small software company in 1997, replacing a guy who went to a big game development studio. It was all in good terms and this developer was in touch with the few of us. A few days before the jersey launch one of my colleagues received a email from this guy with the Canucks whale logo in an attachment. This ex-colleague was not on the hockey team but somehow got hold of the logo. We were admiring the logo and another colleague came by, saw the picture, called his girlfriend and forwarded the email over to her. This person worked for CKVU and it was a matter of minutes when Don grabbed hold of the picture and ran a story at their six o'clock news.

So this little company played a pivotal role in leaking on the logo last time.

A race

I was finishing my morning ride and spinning to the office when I met Gord on Macdonald and Cornwall. Gord is a strong rider and the president of the cycling club. We exchanged pleasantries and he took off. I continue spinning away but there was always an urge to go after Gord's wheel. I lost sight of him after the uphill section and was surprised to see him in front, slowed by the lights. I almost caught him at Burrard but the light turn green before I could reach him. Gord took off again. This time it is a struggle because of 2 weeks' vacation I lost a lot of fitness. The climb up the Burrard bridge is a challenge when you want to push but your HRM disagrees with you. At the end I decide to go with my HR zone and let him go.

Little did I know that he was caught up in traffic lights again and I caught him around Smithe. This time I have the legs to ride away from him and did not see him again. He looked at me from his Subaru in disgust as I smiled and waved bye bye.

caught

I know it is inevitable, but the moment of truth is still surprising. My son has been growing up and he has reached the first milestone: we now officially have the same shoe size. I now can test fit shoes for my son!