Tag: RLCT

I’m having a relaxing evening trying to get a decent earworm into my head in preparation for riding 420km from Ottawa to Kingston and back in the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour this weekend. Wish me luck and please, if you can, donate to one or both of my Great Cycle

Rideau Lakes is done – Made it back home: a much tougher day

What do you do with a forecast that calls for temperatures in the mid teens and a 40 to 60 per cent chance of rain. And what if you are supposed to ride for six plus hours in it? I spent two hours agonizing over my clothing strategy before finally sett…

About 12 years ago, just a few years after I had discovered how much I liked riding bikes, I decided to ride the Challenge route of the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour. At the time I wanted to test my limits. After limping back to Ottawa, clinging to the wheel…

End to end, 5:22, moving time: 5:17. Not as speedy as Saturday, but still much faster than my 5:45 target. I have the wind to thank for a bit of it, but I do believe the training has been working. I wouldn’t have actually stopped at all if my power

This was waiting in the fridge for me when I got home from day two of the Rideau Lakes Cycle tour earlier this afternoon. I have some statistical trivia to share but the most important number to note is that in the last few months I’ve spent on average seven

I’m in Kingston now, holed up in my residence room after a couple of recovery beers. I don’t have my numbers because I only brought my phone and the GPS wants a computer to cough up the data, but I think I did well. From what I can tell my

A short, mostly flat ride to test some new gear that I think will make the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour a bit more comfortable and enjoyable for me this year. A new jersey, new socks, and a new rear shifter. Thanks to the Cyclery for digging up the part for

An evening of firsts. First time this year in the Gatineau Park hills. First time riding in shorts and a short sleeve jersey. First flat tire. And all in I’ve put 660km on my bike this season. I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to make my 1000km goal by the

Yesterday I rode a 130km look to Winchester and back. I must say I’m loving the Ottawa Bicycle Club. Even if you don’t do the group rides there’s years of wisdom in their route maps. These last two rides have been inspired by routes I’ve found on their site. The

I remember the first time I did the Rideau Lakes Cycle tour in 2001. When I got home my hands were so stiff from holding the handle bars it took both of them to turn the key in my apartment building’s lock. I’m doing much better now.

That’s all it is. So why am I always so nervous before doing the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour? Well – just think about all the stuff that can break on a bike. Spokes. Inner tubes. Derailleur cables. And my road bike is no spring chicken, let me tell you.

I got back home from the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour this afternoon and this was waiting for me on the kitchen counter. It was Mallory’s idea. My heart burst. And not because of the whole six hours and forty minutes of cycling thing.

So that went well. Mostly. I rode off at 6:40am and got in by 2pm. Maybe I am slowing down in my old age or maybe I need the speed monitor. See it wasn’t working for most of the day. It was driving me nuts. And maybe I need the

Tomorrow morning really early I’m getting up to ride to Kingston as part of the 41st running of the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour. I’m quite excited. I would just like to take this moment to proclaim my undying love for my partner Irene and to express my most heartfelt thanks

Three hours and fifteen minutes of my three and a half hour ride today were doused with rain. I would prefer to not bike in the rain, but this morning was the time I’d set aside and there was no changing it. I reckoned it was part of the attitude

Dear Garmin BaseCamp, when I say ‘avoid dirt roads’ I mean it. Also: no illegal left turns, please. BaseCamp, Garmin’s mapping software, send me down about 7km of dirt roads and asked me to take two illegal left turns.

Great day for a ride. Sunny, 16 degrees, winds mostly polite if not obliging. And I made a new ‘neat road’ discovery.

It’s only 13km more than I’ve cycled so far this season, but the trouble with those extra kilometres is that they always come at the end of the ride.