And the week of the race finally arrives… With 6 days left to the 40 km ride, its all systems go. I successfully completed my three rides of 30+ kms last week, and was planning on taking it easy with short relaxing rides this week. Seems its going to have to be more than just relaxing…

My bike developed an annoying creak, which is most likely caused by a crushed bearing in the handle bar joint. So it is going in for emergency surgery tomorrow afternoon to be collected on Thursday evening. Not a happy day… but at least they assure me it will be well enough to ride on Saturday…

Otherwise I am all ready for the race and really looking forward to it. I really hope that plenty of people turn out on Saturday to support the riders and the event. For those wondering where a great place to catch the action is, the Start/Finish at David and Pinetree, and the intersection of Creek and Victoria, as both locations we pass by twice. Here is a link to the map if you want to pick your own spot.

Remember, you can also go and sponsor me here! Go on, its good for your Karma…

Ok so last week was a bit of a slow week for me.. however I did manage to complete the 40 km route for the Wheel to Heal in just over 2 hours 30 minutes. And by the end, I thought I was never going to get finished. The last 5 kms felt like they were the last 50. So this week I have set a target to complete 4 rides over 30 kms. With good weather from this afternoon till the weekend that should be easy, and then next week to just do some short rides to get saddle time.

I have less than 2 weeks left to prepare, not that I can do much growth in 2 weeks, but at least get the stamina up.

So now we get to the important part… we need riders! So if you are in the Vancouver area and want to do something fun and improve your karma, sign up for the Wheel to Heal. There is a 10 km, 40 km and 80 km – your choice and no judgements on it. Its all for a good cause.. This all benefits the Eagle Ridge hospital which serves the Tri-Cities community.

Oh and for those that are far away, and can’t ride – you can still do some good…. Sponsor me

Later

msquared at the Canucks Game

Tonight I got to sit rinkside at the Canucks vs Sharks pre-season hockey game. This was my very first live hockey game and it turned out to be a really exciting game.

The first period was completed with a 0-0 score and during the second, the Sharks went on to score 2 goals while the Canucks were still on 0. Most of the time was spent at the Sharks end but not when it counted. Luongo looked miffed to put it mildly.

So the third period was rocking! In the space of three minutes the Canucks scored 3 goals! The energy in the arena was incredible. The Sharks tied the score just before full time and the game went into 5 minutes overtime. Couple of close calls but no goals.
It came down to the shoot out which Canucks one by the skin of Luongo’s pads so to speak.

Needless to say, it was a great game to be at for my first one. Definitely got me hooked.

Have some photos coming soon.

Martin