So, it's been a tad over three weeks off the bike...

So, it's been a tad over three weeks off the bike, with a little bit of mountain biking, not for fitness or anything cycling-related other than the fact that it's wicked fun. I love riding "off road". In my area there's not too much for trails, but of the few routes I have only 2k from the house, there's some pretty technical stuff, so I try to hack over all the things that I used to flow over when I was racing mountain bikes.

Before the season finished, I said to myself, "Ok, I have to get some fishing in, and a little bit of partridge hunting with my cousin." The two things I enjoy most in my life--well, I didn't get either one of them done. So that rather sucked, but in the end, it's ok I guess. I have lot's of time in the rest of my life to do that,
right? In the three weeks off, I just worked everyday at IKEA in Burlington.

Now, I'm in the sunny place for shady people, Tempe, Arizona. This year however, im not working as a waiter and a carpenter. I don't really know the title of my job, so I'll just call myself "a dude that's up on a scaffold putting up light's". The first day here, I got off the plane, and my friend "Bobby B" convinced me into climbing up some mountain in town 2500ft, so, I did it. The next two days after that were hell, super stiff legs, arms, neck, fingers and anything else you can name on a body, now, I'm ok. Lastnight I climbed it twice, it takes about 25 minutes from the bottom. It was some intense cross training. So over the next couple weeks, I'll be seeing that thing allot.

As for riding, well, it's picking up, I've been able to get four rides in. Today, I did some research, and found out all the sweet rides, and found a top notch map that will get me everywhere. After reading Andrew's last update, I was surprised. When I first got on my bike, I could have sworn it was a different size bike. Right away I felt like my seat was too low, my stem was too long, and my bars were too narrow. I've never felt that kind of "change" (that didn't actually happen). So now after a few more hours on the bike, it's all starting to come together. Im feeling more and more comfortable every 20 minutes. Being in Arizona, I wasn't worried about any bad weather, so I was able to bring my race bike, and not the ol' winter war rig, so when I jumped on the bike, it certainly didn't feel like my winter bike. So my Cervelo Team Soloist is back in action!

Over then next few weeks, I need to start looking ahead to the oncoming season, and figure out some goals, think about what races to hit, when I want to be riding well, and how im going to structure my training. Between Andrew and myself, we should be able to look back at last year, and check out what we did wrong, and right, and how to improve on it. It's sure to be a long winter, but with the miles I'll be able to put on down south before January 1st, I think I'll have a pretty solid base.

For now, I'm here for a few more weeks, then I head back home to Niagara Falls. On November 20th, I'll be doing a fundraiser for a young lady named Suzanne Aucoin, from St.Catharines who is a member of the Sunflower female mountain bike squad. She was diagnosed with cancer and has been through two cycles of Chemotherapy, neither helped. She has a chance to try some new medicine, that OHIP doesn't cover.The cost will be approximately $100,000. A group of people from White Oaks Conference Resort & Spa have teamed up to help her out. On Saturday, November 20th at White Oaks, there will be five spinning classes, each bike will cost a minimum $50 donation. I've been given the honour of teaching one of the classes at 12pm. If you're in the St.Catharines area, or you live in the Niagara Region, and you want to make a big difference in someone's life, please, don't hesitate. You can e-mail me if you have any questions. bucker@7thgroove.com

Till next time, eat your veggies.