Thursday, 25 July 2013

The conspiracy theory....

So I have to admit I am feeling like there is something afoot.  You know if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it must be a duck.  Let me elaborate a bit more on this thought wave of mine.  I start each spring looking forward to getting onto my bike rather than the ctrain.  The freedom and exercise are such a wonderful thing.  As with every spring I pull the bike up tune it up get it ready and then start the slow process of riding in the cold spring mornings with sweaters and extra layers on.  I also keep a spreadsheet of my biking.  I know sounds a bit corny but what it does for me is sets my goal for the year.  I have found that if I ride consistently through the year I can get 6000km's of outdoor riding in.  So you can see how the motivation starts, I have a graph in my spreadsheet that moves as the KM's change from have left to ride to finished riding column.  Now how might this lend itself to a conspiracy you ask. Let me present my evidence to you.

1. winter seems to take forever to stop dumping snow on me.  That is right the snow seems to find a way to keep happening and does not want to simply clear up in spring the way it should.  So this equals a later start or more sporadic start to the riding season.  In this case I did not get start for almost 4 weeks later than normal.
2. Spring rains, we had a lot of cold spring days with rain and then suddenly we end up with a major dump of water, so much water in fact we end up with a 100 year flood.  Yes, I had thought to myself about a week before the flood that the spring run off had been gradual enough that I might make it through the spring with all the trails open and no flooding.  Then bam!  We get a disaster of which I think we will maybe need a year or two to resolve.
3. Flooding equals damage.  The trails I ride and love are left in ruins.  There are so many sections that are damaged, I have multiple detours, in some cases I am even riding in zones that are closed (the trails are ok but the signs are still up).  So damage is such that I think when will I be able to ride from my house into downtown.  I am now forced to drive over to another community on the far side of the river and ride in.  Which on the way home has left me sitting in traffic, something I truly hate to do.  The frustration is mounting.
4 This is my final bit of evidence, Monday on the way home from work the rain comes and it is a major down pour.  I am hustling to get to the truck, I throw on the rain coat.  Halfway home, bam! flat tire.  Now you think to yourself this is not usual riding a reasonable distance every day you must get those flats regularly.  The truth is I have tires that are built to resist punctures, this does not make them 100% never going to get a flat.  But I have had 2 flats on this brand of tire in 3 years.  Some might say I was overdue.  But I changed the tube in the rain and got to the truck.  Bam!  Stuck in a major traffic jam and what takes 10 minutes of riding on my bike when the trail was still in place, took 45 minutes in the truck.  So I get home inspect the tire some more and pump it up.  Check the tire before bed the tire is 100%.  95% of the way into downtown on Tuesday, Bam! flat number 2.  Thank you to the two individuals and fellow cyclists that stopped and gave me a hand getting enough air in my tire to get to the office.  So, I replace the flat, find the chunk of glass in my tire and from there ride home.  I then ride on Wednesday with no issues.  Life is grand.  Bam! Thursday I am going to load up the bike and my tire is flat.  So I say screw it.  I took the ctrain.

So I present this evidence to you as a my cycling this year is now taking major hits.  I am no longer getting my full 50KM's per day, I now get 38KM's per day.  I also get hit by flats and frustrations getting home.

I ask you to think about this but I believe that there is a conspiracy to keep me from riding.  Who is behind this I would really like to find out.

Happy Trails.

1 comment:

  1. Awe Scott - it's just someone or something wanting to reminding you of your human-ness. Just when we think we are ticking right along - WHAM - comes the reminder that we are indeed after all just human - not perfect - not living in the perfect world. You aren't getting 50KM's per day - but you are getting 38! That's really something! The rest of us are thinking - What is he crazy, what the heck is wrong with 38KM? Personally I'd be pretty pumped with 5km! Just sayin! Hang in there...

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