Riding Bikes

“If you worried about falling off the bike, you'd never get on.” – Lance Armstrong

Love him or hate him, I’ve always enjoyed the above quote by ol’ Lancey Boy. It sort of goes along with that saying that goes something like “it’s not if you fall off your bike, it’s when.”

I’ve been riding my bike a lot lately. Commuting to and from work on my trusty Blue Steel.

I haven’t fallen off my bike yet *knocks on wood* and have only had one minor scare with a bus (admittedly probably mostly my fault ~ don’t worry parental units, I learned my lesson), which was MORE THAN ENOUGH to smarten me up, teach me some patience and become the best, rule following cyclist that Victoria has ever seen.

Anyway, September in the Capital always sees an increase in clogged roads and a return to ‘didn’t-get-out-of-first-gear’ commutes as students return to university and parents return to work after a summer off with the kiddies. Since we’ve been so lucky and had such beautiful weather as of late, it seems silly for me to be sitting in the car when I can ride to work instead (in pretty much the same amount of time as driving).

So I have been. And well, it’s been great.

On top of that, I’ve taken a bit of an unplanned break from running (and structured training in general) and spent the month since TransRockies just doing what I feel like. Riding my bike to and from work, going for walks in the sunshine on my lunch breaks (and then with Rusty and Shane in the evening) and swimming every once in a while, is really all that I’ve felt like.

Not a bad place for a lunch time wander.

My legs still seem to have a general heaviness in them and so I’ve been enjoying this “active recovery” phase before jumping back into a strict ‘more well defined’ training regime, and you know, I think my mind has enjoyed the break as much as my body.

That said, October 1 will be when I get back into some structure and start on the road to IM CdA. Between now and then however, I’ve got some fun things planned.

I’ll be tackling the 100km route in Ryder Hesjedal's Tour de Victoria with my family in just over a week and am really looking forward to it. No pressure, just fun, relaxed riding. Last year I had a blast riding with my Dad, so I think adding my Mom and sister into the mix will make it even better.

On top of that, I’m hoping to throw myself into a few cyclocross rides/races. Shane recently got a new cycolcross bike as well, so *fingers crossed* I can drag him along with me, or we can build a little track on our property to practice on (*hint hint* and ~pretty please~ Shane).

Anyway, this is rambly and probably kind of boring to anyone but future-me, but I felt like it has been a while since I touched base with the blog-o-sphere and well, just wanted to say…

ps. I’m obviously playing with the look of the blog, so give me some opinions would ya?

pps. Even though the title (Penticton or Bust!) may seem a bit outdated, my sentimental heart won’t let it go. I’ve come to realize Penticton isn’t only a magical little town in the Okanagan and home of my first and second IMs, it is so soo much more to me. So much really, that words can’t do it justice.