Century mark

I was almost not going to do this club ride.  And I was okay with that.  Mostly because it is their longest ride of the year.  And although the longest ride I'd done this year was 100km.  This one was going to be end up being about 50% longer.

But the Jays game fell through and I was sort of glad in a way because it's one of those things that you can say you did a century ride (100 miles).

I know what it's like doing some of these longish rides.  I feel ok, but afterwards when I'm heading home my quads are feeling it.  I can still ride but I'm done like toast.

But how I feel after pretty much all depends on the pace.

And the club is trying to make the Intermediate A ride a  stepping stone to the Advanced B rides.  And these guys were pushing the pace.

It was a little on the high end for me.  I thought the outbound was tough, on the way to Anina's bakery / coffee shop in Goodwood, just north east of Stouffville.

I was contemplating on going with the Intermediate B group on the way home, but thought I could hang in there and just stay within myself.

Sure enough as we're heading down York-Durham Line the attacks start.  Great!  I thought.  I'm gonna be riding with the B group, but riders soon could not match the speed of the attacks and I began to rally the splintered bunch to work together to get us (and more importantly me) home.

Glad the guys came to their senses.  But it was more for my benefit than anything else.

But it was WIN-WIN situation.

I basically had just enough energy from that Apple-Cinamon Pumpkin tart and coffee to get me home.  And the 2nd Lara bar for the inbound ride.

The coffee shop is awesome.  And that's just the pic of the tarts.  There were cookies and other goodies the the left.  I was thinking of getting a sausage roll, but I was a little worried for my stomach on the return ride.

I wished I had taken a photo of all the cyclists and their bikes, especially the ones hanging from the lowest branch of this large tree.  Not just from our group but others that ride in the area.

Well we beat the Advanced B group to the coffee shop.  Thanks in part to two mechanical problems with 1 person in their group.  (We had one too, early in the ride, back in the city).  And we beat the Advanced B group home.  By quite a bit.  But we left early too.

We avg 27.5 kph going out.  And a 30.8 kph coming back.

No wonder my quads were screaming.  My round trip was going to be around 150km, so I did 6 loops of High Park circle to get me to the Century mark.  My legs were done, but I did what I could to get there. Who knows when I'll get there again.

I was happy and so was my mouth from the tarts.

But my legs weren't.

It all evened out.

Not sure how Tereza did the 225+km RTCC.  Especially in the rain. And on a hybrid!  Kudos to her!

TTC app to School

Well today was the first day Yahvi, Kieran and Samatva took the TTC to school.
They wanted to go alone and Kieran has taken the bus home from school alone (), but there was a compromise and Atul went with them. He was on his way to work anyways by TTC so it didn't matter.  At least he's getting there to work on time anyways.

I've tried a few of these transit apps before.
There's also the TTC app, and for the most part it's pretty accurate.
The bus was on time as the app predicted.
The app adjusts every now and then.
I'm unsure as to how it actually does it in real time, but as long as it's accurate it'll be great on those cold freezing days when you have to stand there at the bus stop waiting for the next bus to arrive.

This way you aren't guessing as to should I stay here or run to St Clair and Runnymede to see if I can catch a bus on another bus route.

No one wants to wait or take their time these days.
It's about who gets to the next stop faster.
I'm unsure how we got this way but Sunday drivers are becoming extinct.  The Rush hour road warriors are becoming the norm.


Disconnects from nature.
24/7 connection to the grid.

How did we get here?
And is it a good thing?  I don't think so.  People have become disrespectful to each other.   Creating walls and silos with iPods and smartphones.

I'm hoping the next generation can change this behaviour so that we can all keep improving together and make this world a better place.

2nd yr Up EL

Back to the grind.  But if you look at it that way.  Then it sounds lousy.  And of course you'll have a bad feeling and become one of those self-fullfilling prophets.

But it's the first day back and you get to see all your buddies all day.  You get to learn something new, and you get the privilege of making progress.

If you look at it that way.  It sounds pretty good.

2nd Year - Upper Elementary.  1st day back.

And Kevin was around to say meow. And get fed a bit.

#13 in NJ - #ohHellNo

I ripped that title off of Sharknado 3.
That's where we were going.
Back to the origin of Sharknado - not the west coast, but Jersey Shore.
I'm pretty sure there have been shark attacks here.  If they don't get you the hurricanes and undertow will.

Back to the land of processed foods that we are trying to ween ourselves off and back on to real whole foods, like veggies.

Although the bagels here are pretty good.
But we only went here 2x since they tend to be heavy in your stomach.


However the bagels are tasty and the guys here are always so nice.  I had to visit them at least once.
Cinnamon Apple Crunch or Blueberry Crunch?
If you can't decide, have both!

This year the loonie to USD exchange is pretty poor.  It marks the lowest the CAD has been against the USD in 5+ years.
So this year I didn't buy anything.  But really what else did I need?

Better to get rid of crappy old stuff.  Things that no longer fits, that I no longer wear, that I never really liked.

Things that were collecting dust!

Shopping can be a habit. An addiction.  Looking for that bargain where there is none.  Morphing a want into a need.

Excess is a choice.  Don't make it so.

Instead we celebrated with good real food.  And lots of wine - reds, whites and sparkling. Then hit the gym to do it all over again.

It was great weather for the entire two weeks.
I don't think it rained at all.

Back to work and school this week.
Buzy as a bee.