Well it was a decent weekend for me about 16 hours of riding most of which was easy. I feel like I am finally recovering from all the riding I ve done up here lately. I think my legs just need to get used to it. There are great people to ride with up here,(not many, but there still great haha) and I ve learned alot from them already.I got to go for a long ride with a one of Canada's top speed skaters, Jay morrision, It was pretty cool to listen to his experinces,the way he trains, and to get an idea of what it takes to be top 10 in the world at a sport. That's one of the positive things about being up in a smaller area, I probably would have never been able to have an awesome one on one converstion with someone like that in a bigger city. We got to ride around Fort St John which was pretty damn awesome, surprisinly. I always went by what other people told me "Fort St John is a dump" but it was again one of the best places I ve ridden. Super nice roads and very quiet no cars, beautiful farmland mountain views, and all that crap that we like. I guess I m starting to really learn dont just listen to what other people say , you really need to see it for yourself first.
When I first moved here I knew I wanted to stay in shape and ride my bike. But I m not stupid, in the back of my mind I did have a doubt that it may not work out and I may not enjoy it as much cause I would have no company or whatever.However as of right now I m stoked again. Its all I think about haha, Today I can say I ve never loved cycling this much, it does feel good to have something I love to do up here in nowhereland.
I feel like my training is going okay, I feel excited and ready to go race, Its almost the same feeling I had back when I played drums. I d practice, practice, and practice, and when I knew I was ready it felt exciting to show everyone what I could do. I think just like most people who are competive it always feels good to know you did as much as you could to get ready for a race. This weekend I am doing a race in Edmonton. It is called the Pigon lake Road race. It will be a mostly flat course, (not really for me) I seem to be better at hills for some reason. Either way, I may not do well at it, but one thing I will make sure of is that I go until I am competely red lined and dizzy, THATS A MUST. Really for me the rest dosent matter, that will all take care of itself.Being up here talking to famliy and friends, and having time to think.I realized what my goal is for cycling.To enjoy it and at the same time know that I did my absoulute best.Basically in 20 years from now I want to be able to say "that was the very best I could have done, when I trained and raced I put every once of energy I had into it". Wheather my best means it makes me come dead last in some bozo northern race, or wheather it takes me to the Tour de France. If I know I went my hardest I ll be able to sleep at night.
So it has been 24 days here, and I still have not gone completly crazy, but its still early I guess haha,
anyway should be a good weekend I'm super excited to go to Edmonton and vist my big sister and see my nephew, Carson and Niece, Carys. Carson just started playing soccer so I really want to see him run around, he is a funny kid I love hanging out with him cause he says some funny stuff and it reminds me to have fun and to not take life so serious all the time haha,,
Patrick,,
Monday, 23 May 2011
Thursday, 19 May 2011
400KM
Just thought I d report on how the Tour De Peace went. It was a 404km ride From Fort Saint John to Tumbler Ridge and back. The first thought that comes to mind is that was by far the craziest/hardest thing I ve ever done. The sencond thought that comes to mind is that I will never do that again,,NEVER haha. It all started out at 3am we left Fort Saint John headed toward Dawson Creek.For the first 50km or so I stayed with the group, then after that I broke away and rode alone for the rest of the ride. The ride was very scenic great country to see for the first time espeacially on a bike, but sometimes, sceanery has a price to it. By that I mean that number of hill/mountains that we had to climb, it was out of hand. once we
got to Dawson Creek or just past it we turned on a road called the Heritage Highway,, for 100km there was nothing just nature, wildness and never ending hills. We did a out and back on this road so 200km of the ride was on the Heritage Highway. There were so many climbs I lost count, some climbs were around 1 hour climbs. The secenary on the heritage highway was great though, I saw lots of wildlife Moose, Deer, Bears, wolferine,,Overall for me I have a new respect for people who do that kind long distance stuff.I used to think "O whatever its easy look how slow they go." But its not like that it doesnt hurt alot physically, more mentally, that ride was a mental training exercise more than anything. Which is very important to me now, cause I have come to the conclusion thats what seperates champions from the rest of us., the
brain is crazy, that is what controls everthing, what you say, your mood, your opinons, and most importantly your limits. Your brain has limitations for everthing. Phsically financially, socially it has limitations for it all. So how is it that we expand those limitaions. Well I think you have to prove to your brain that your capable by digging deep and doing things you ve never done before. The way I see it is that the brain is your boss. Just like at work, the boss wont let you do a job alone until you prove that you can, just like the brain wont let you achieve a certin physical goal until it knows your ready, almost like a safety thing.That might not make sense to anybody, but thats just what I believe, if your brain dosent
believe your goal is possible then your in trouble.Anyway that ride was like a blur, very few stops, Started at 3am and finished at 8pm, that was 17hours of riding a bike a little too much for me haha, At times throughout that ride I thought I was going to go insane, by the 12 hour mark I found myself talking to the Deer on the side of the road . The worse part of the ride for me was about a 45min streach about 20km away from Dawson creek at about the 300km mark. I finally made it off that stupid Heritage highway that never seemed to end, and just as I turned off it I went into a serious head wind, I always heard that Dawson creek was windy, and man it is, I remember crying and looking at my speedometer seeing like 10km/hr then looking out into the field at all the windmills spinning like crazy, that part of the ride wasnt fun.But it
was times like those that made that ride that much better to finish. It was an experience I ll never forget.
So altogether everything is still going well, We got some new people at the lodge and were all having a good time. I think were having a Lobster party this weekend so that should be fun. I also just discoverd that there are some unreal sandy beaches here right on the lake, I would never of guessed it, its awesome, miles of it. Like hawaii beaches I couldnt believe it haha,, So I m definitly going to start doing some beaches runs and hanging out there. Other then that more riding this weekend, I meet a couple of strong riders to ride with so I m excited about that. So besides being in the middle of nowhere, I guess if I think about it, I can't really ask for much more haha.
Patrick,
got to Dawson Creek or just past it we turned on a road called the Heritage Highway,, for 100km there was nothing just nature, wildness and never ending hills. We did a out and back on this road so 200km of the ride was on the Heritage Highway. There were so many climbs I lost count, some climbs were around 1 hour climbs. The secenary on the heritage highway was great though, I saw lots of wildlife Moose, Deer, Bears, wolferine,,Overall for me I have a new respect for people who do that kind long distance stuff.I used to think "O whatever its easy look how slow they go." But its not like that it doesnt hurt alot physically, more mentally, that ride was a mental training exercise more than anything. Which is very important to me now, cause I have come to the conclusion thats what seperates champions from the rest of us., the
brain is crazy, that is what controls everthing, what you say, your mood, your opinons, and most importantly your limits. Your brain has limitations for everthing. Phsically financially, socially it has limitations for it all. So how is it that we expand those limitaions. Well I think you have to prove to your brain that your capable by digging deep and doing things you ve never done before. The way I see it is that the brain is your boss. Just like at work, the boss wont let you do a job alone until you prove that you can, just like the brain wont let you achieve a certin physical goal until it knows your ready, almost like a safety thing.That might not make sense to anybody, but thats just what I believe, if your brain dosent
believe your goal is possible then your in trouble.Anyway that ride was like a blur, very few stops, Started at 3am and finished at 8pm, that was 17hours of riding a bike a little too much for me haha, At times throughout that ride I thought I was going to go insane, by the 12 hour mark I found myself talking to the Deer on the side of the road . The worse part of the ride for me was about a 45min streach about 20km away from Dawson creek at about the 300km mark. I finally made it off that stupid Heritage highway that never seemed to end, and just as I turned off it I went into a serious head wind, I always heard that Dawson creek was windy, and man it is, I remember crying and looking at my speedometer seeing like 10km/hr then looking out into the field at all the windmills spinning like crazy, that part of the ride wasnt fun.But it
was times like those that made that ride that much better to finish. It was an experience I ll never forget.
So altogether everything is still going well, We got some new people at the lodge and were all having a good time. I think were having a Lobster party this weekend so that should be fun. I also just discoverd that there are some unreal sandy beaches here right on the lake, I would never of guessed it, its awesome, miles of it. Like hawaii beaches I couldnt believe it haha,, So I m definitly going to start doing some beaches runs and hanging out there. Other then that more riding this weekend, I meet a couple of strong riders to ride with so I m excited about that. So besides being in the middle of nowhere, I guess if I think about it, I can't really ask for much more haha.
Patrick,
Friday, 13 May 2011
Tour De Peace
Well its been busy around here and today I finally felt really tired so tired I had to force myself to take a rest day. I ve been riding my bike more than I ve ever riden it before. I am actually starting to feel like a kid again here, Like back in the day when my Mom and Dad had to force me to come in the house for dinner or bedtime, cause I was having so much fun riding my bike or playing street hockey with my friends. Back in the day when I use to run fast and breath hard without even thinking about it because i was having so much fun. For a while there I was forcing myself to ride my bike and workout. I was dreading doing a 4 hour ride or a interval session, but lately here i just get on my bike and start riding and its fun. Sometimes I pretend I m riding in a pro race, just like when I was younger playing street hockey i used to pretend I was Steve Yzerman or Joe Sakic playing in the stanley cup, most people would laugh at me for being to old to imagine but I like doing that, so screw it,, its fun for me ahaha.
Anyway I feel like I am getting somewhat fitter but its too early to tell. A question that I always ask myself is am I really pushing myself or not? Because it is way too easy to slack off when your alone, and so far I m happy with my work ethic but I will admit i can give a litter more. One thing i know is i really need to work on my time trailing. My cardio is okay by my legs have no power in them, I have never been a strong person naturally. I have troubles opening a jar of pickels most of the time, I need to go faster. Starting this week I am goona start doing leg exercises to try and get stronger, hopefully it helps. On a better side I have been improving my time up a big hill here. I time myself everytime I go up it. The first time I did it,, it took me just over 9min and yesterday I did in 8 min flat, my goal by the end of the summer is to do it in under 7min, so that should keep me busy.
This weekend a group of riders out of fort St John are doing what they call the Tour De Peace it is a 400km ride in one day, I decided to join, why not ,, It starts in fort saint John and goes to Tumbler Ridge and does some loop around. I ve never been to Tumbler Ridge so it should be good I m excited to see it apparently its a nice place scenery wise. It will be a long ride the longest I ve ever done thats for sure, but I figure it might help me toughen up a bit.
So altogether everthing is going well although I do wish I could just go home alot, but thats not happening anytime soon, so got to keep positive haha,But this week was good,,, I even motovated other people to ride there bikes here its nice to have other people to cruise around with, The whole town is starting to reconize me now on my bike, I think most people think i m crazy here, but they wave anyway, so its cool.
Patrick,
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Friday, 6 May 2011
Hudson s Hope
Well I this is my first posting ever on this website never did I think I d do this but hey, I figure this might keep me sane and I will be able to rember it all one day. If by chance someone does read this I make lots of writing errors so get use to it.
First I ll briefly descibe my situation, I recently moved to Hudson s hope to work at the Bennet dam which is the largest Generating station in BC, and one of the worlds largest earth filled dams. I am excited about the job however another thing I like to do is stay in shape and compete in sports. And recently I told myself I wanted to try road cycling. So thats creates a situation being I want to race competivly but live in Hudsons hope a place where the population soars at 1005 people, and mostly people here would careless about doing any sport, besides maybe logger sports or duck hunting,but I said I wanted to get good at riding a bike. so hey "fuck it" I m gona get good at riding a bike.
Anways I ve now been in Hudson's hope for 6 full days, and so far its been interesting, It is a super small town but it is a beautiful place. I m currently staying in a resort/lodge that is a experience on its own I m literally being treated like a king here "its crazy". Right now there is about 10 people staying at the lodge including staff, and everyone is from all over the world. Switzerland, Germany, Texas, you name it. Its a great place all meals are made for us, we get free massages, and everyone is super friendly.I have already met some very cool and sucessful people and we ve had great conversation about living and life, which for me has been a priceless experience to get different views form all sorts of different people.
Before I got here I created a traing schedule for myself to follow. What I learned in the past is the easiest thing about making a training schedule is make a training schedule. Doing it is a whole other animal.
However so far I m 6 for 6 I ve done what i wrote down, so hopefully I ll be able to keep it up.
Riding in Hudsons hope is great besides the fact that no else rides here and it can get mentally tough in a lonely kind of way this one of the best places I ve ever riden my bike. Theres no cars on the rode when I ride here Im more worried about running into a deer, moose, or elk then I am about getting hit by a car, Honestly, theres animals everwhere Just last sunday I way riding to Fort St John, which is a really cool ride along the peace river, and I saw Something in the river as I got closer I realized It was a moose swimming right for me across the River, you dont see shit like that in the city haha. Another positive fact about riding is the size of hills here. There "huge" and there everywhere. There is one hill I ride up everyday to work it is about 3km long at 10% to 15% grade, its bitchin.
My first real test will be this weekend, I am planning a mock stage race for myself yeah I know its sad and lame but when your in Hudson s hope you got to keep busy. Day 1 I will ride to Chetwyd and back about 150km as fast as I can. Day 2 40kmTT and Day 3 80km ride fast, then 1hr fartlek ride which means random speeds fast, medium, slow for random times the trick is i can only go easy for a max of 30 seconds and i can only use 5 30 seconds easys during the ride, this will simulate a critium. I will document all my times so next time i do this I will have something to beat.
So far all and all this place has been great, already meet tones of nice people and made some new friends. I can see this living here will be an awesome investment not only from the learning curve at work, but personally as well I never lived in a place like this so it puts me out of my comfert zone which to me will always make you a better person later on.
First I ll briefly descibe my situation, I recently moved to Hudson s hope to work at the Bennet dam which is the largest Generating station in BC, and one of the worlds largest earth filled dams. I am excited about the job however another thing I like to do is stay in shape and compete in sports. And recently I told myself I wanted to try road cycling. So thats creates a situation being I want to race competivly but live in Hudsons hope a place where the population soars at 1005 people, and mostly people here would careless about doing any sport, besides maybe logger sports or duck hunting,but I said I wanted to get good at riding a bike. so hey "fuck it" I m gona get good at riding a bike.
Anways I ve now been in Hudson's hope for 6 full days, and so far its been interesting, It is a super small town but it is a beautiful place. I m currently staying in a resort/lodge that is a experience on its own I m literally being treated like a king here "its crazy". Right now there is about 10 people staying at the lodge including staff, and everyone is from all over the world. Switzerland, Germany, Texas, you name it. Its a great place all meals are made for us, we get free massages, and everyone is super friendly.I have already met some very cool and sucessful people and we ve had great conversation about living and life, which for me has been a priceless experience to get different views form all sorts of different people.
Before I got here I created a traing schedule for myself to follow. What I learned in the past is the easiest thing about making a training schedule is make a training schedule. Doing it is a whole other animal.
However so far I m 6 for 6 I ve done what i wrote down, so hopefully I ll be able to keep it up.
Riding in Hudsons hope is great besides the fact that no else rides here and it can get mentally tough in a lonely kind of way this one of the best places I ve ever riden my bike. Theres no cars on the rode when I ride here Im more worried about running into a deer, moose, or elk then I am about getting hit by a car, Honestly, theres animals everwhere Just last sunday I way riding to Fort St John, which is a really cool ride along the peace river, and I saw Something in the river as I got closer I realized It was a moose swimming right for me across the River, you dont see shit like that in the city haha. Another positive fact about riding is the size of hills here. There "huge" and there everywhere. There is one hill I ride up everyday to work it is about 3km long at 10% to 15% grade, its bitchin.
My first real test will be this weekend, I am planning a mock stage race for myself yeah I know its sad and lame but when your in Hudson s hope you got to keep busy. Day 1 I will ride to Chetwyd and back about 150km as fast as I can. Day 2 40kmTT and Day 3 80km ride fast, then 1hr fartlek ride which means random speeds fast, medium, slow for random times the trick is i can only go easy for a max of 30 seconds and i can only use 5 30 seconds easys during the ride, this will simulate a critium. I will document all my times so next time i do this I will have something to beat.
So far all and all this place has been great, already meet tones of nice people and made some new friends. I can see this living here will be an awesome investment not only from the learning curve at work, but personally as well I never lived in a place like this so it puts me out of my comfert zone which to me will always make you a better person later on.
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