Another way to strengthen your heart....

Ok folks... it's that time of year again... when i put out a message / post to everyone who will listen (anyone out there??? is this thing on???)
For the first time in 6 years, the Ride for Karen does NOT conflict with an OCup race... so i'll be back riding 160km on the 7th of September to raise money to benefit kids with cancer, and help send them to camps in the Muskoka region.

I'm very excited about taking part again since Kirk and Kris Tobias are good friends of mine, and great guys.  They have lost their mother to cancer (Karen) and also their father (Kal)... and the RFK is their way of giving back to the cancer community - helping kids with cancer be a kid!!
In it's 12th year, they surpassed the $2M mark, and are always looking forward and wanting to grow.
If you would like to ride in this year's 160km or 100km ride, you can register HERE or if you are unable to join us, please be kind enough to make a donation to my cause.
My goal is $750, but would love to get over $1G.  My kids will be helping me run a RFK Bottle Drive over the next couple weeks to help my efforts.

My Personal Donation Page can be found HERE and all donations are secure credit card transactions.
Help be part of a great cause, and make a difference in the lives of kids who need our help....

A little shot of adrenaline...

So last weekend brought the return of the OCup race to Midland.... and a course that was great in the past and even better this year!!!  Thankfully got a chance to pre-ride on Friday because Saturday brought a ridiculous amount of rain .... about 70mm from noon to midnight!!  So rather than ride... we went to see a movie and then out for dinner!!!  Race morning turned out to be pretty nice... and the course dried up really well - the kids were coming back clean from the early races.  By the time my race time rolled around... the course was fast with tons of traction - a few rooty spots that needed attention but in great shape....
My legs didn't feel that great in the warm up, so i didn't really want to lead it out on the long double track start .... but neither did anyone else!!!  So off we went, and i found myself in a small group at the front.  My legs came around after a lap, but any gaps that i earned were quickly eaten away by lapped riders.  A few timely pushes kept getting me a gap, until i crashed on my head and Rob got past me.... although i passed him back when he had a coughing fit.  Just enough to get clear and then held it until the end... happy to win on a day when my legs didn't want to light up....

Post Podium was the Retro Ride (it was supposed to be Saturday but cancelled due to rain...) so a small group of us put on fingerless gloves, heavy helmets, huge glasses and flourescent clothing to go for a spin on our oldest bikes.... i had the honour of riding Dathan's (RIP) Retro Brodie.... built up with top shifters, loooong bar ends, ti handlebar, my old 1995 race plate, canti's and a slew of other really cool touches that haven't been seen in years.... remember the old Shark Fin chain protector???  Lots of fun.... we even re-named ourselves Tinker, Ned, Tomac, Frishy and Julie Furtado - if you recognize those names... you should have been riding with us!!!!

Enough for everyone...

As part of the birthday presents for the kids (their BDays are 6 days apart...) we went to see How To Train Your Dragon 2 (SO Good!!) and then out for lunch to enjoy a brownie that was much too large for a birthday boy...

 

And then we became part of History!!!

Went to see the Blue Jays play their longest game in history against the Tigers... 19 innings!!!  We stayed in our last of the 500 level for 14 innings and then filled in some empty seats in the 200's for the last bit and the Win!!!  Super long day but you can't really go home before the end once you've stayed for 15 innings!!!  We sure for our money's worth...

This is why I live here....

Another amazing morning for a bike ride... Always love seeing the sun start it's journey across the sky and starting my day on the bike... Doesn't matter what happens during the rest of the day - it started off right!!

That's Jiggidy-Whack!!

Wemt for a ride yesterday ... The day after that crazy storm... And Luke says to me "Daddy!!! There's snow in the ditch!" ... Crazy kid...

Turns out he was right!!  Accumulated hail that flowed in the ditch made "snowdrifts" .... Crazy!!!

So I threw the snowball at Luke and ride away!!

Are you up for a Challenge?

Spent the last couple Thursdays testing my skills on the amazing trails of Buckwallow cycling center... A tough set of trails near Gravenhurst... Definitely with the drive!!

They hold a weekly race every Thursday at 7pm... But you're going to want to show up early enough to pre ride. New course every week for $10 and always a challenge. They are also open for regular hours during the day and weekend if you don't want to race...

"This is a Trail??" .... Sweeeeet!!!