Only 28.3 kms to go!!!

1971.7 km. That's my total Km's for the year.
I don't think I will get to reach my goal of 2000.

I have gone to see the Dr's and had an appt at Physio.

I have Pulled my Hamstring and have very poor Core Muscle strength in the hip area. This may be what is causing the hip issue.
I have Stretches to do and strengthening exercises as well. I go back first thing Monday morning so I will get a better Idea then when I can ride again.
This is most likely a hockey injury that was caused by the weak core Muscles.

I almost forgot the best part. The physiotherapist recommended clipless pedals if I am going to be putting up big km's just for the balance aspects of my leg muscles. Push Push Push currently....Push Pull Push Pull if I get clipless.. I will have to check out this option as I have all ways been a hater of the clipless.

If I do another ride to work this year it will still leave me 9.3km from my goal.
I don't think that I can/should do 2 more rides this year either.
I have alot of Bike plans for next year that I don't want to jeopardize by getting in 2 more rides just for the sake of a number and potentially risking greater or more permanent Injury.
I will just have to aim for a bigger and better goal next year.....I'm thinking at least Double this years goal. My biggest Month this year was 400km so theoretically I could accomplish 12x400km in a year if I went super hardcore....hmmmmm (psst...its 4800km)

Wow I never thought about it that way yet......4800! that's a pretty big number, props to anyone that can put up that kind of numbers on commuting alone.

So I have been off the bike for about 3weeks, I miss it alot.
There are some things that I find I am glad I don't have to do if I don't ride.

Things like...
1-Check the weather every night so I can prepare my attire for the morning.
2-Prepare my attire for the morning, I usually have to alter it anyway from the night before.
3-Spend at least 10 min. getting dressed to ride to/from Work.
4-Rush to get the Morning kid deliveries done quickly so I don't have to rush on the bike.
5-Rush to get to work in time to have a shower and still not be late to my desk.
6-Packing my bag strategically so my gear/clothes and my "never big enough" lunch all fit.
7-Bruised apples and bananas.
8-Replace batteries!!!
9-2 extra loads of laundry a week
10-Hungry all the time.

These are just things that I have thought to myself in the last few weeks, Please Understand that I will gladly do all these things again as soon as I am cleared to ride again.

Time to go Stretch.

Expired health Card!?!?

I am pretty sure what my hip issue is...

Snapping Hip Syndrome

I looks like it is a rather common injury and I will be able to recover with only Stretches and Physical Therapy. (Self Diagnosis)

However in this article it says I should stop cycling...

I agree but I can't let the 2000km mark slip out of my reach.

I will Ride Tomorrow and see how things feel. If I feel ok I will play hockey as well. If not I will hold off on the cycling for a while. If I ride tomorrow I will only need 56 more kms to hit 2000 km's (There Might be snow on the ground!! I'm excited!)

Oh ya the part about the health card... I took it out of my wallet to make sure I had it ready for a Dr. visit..... its expired!! I will have to go downtown sometime this week to get it renewed, Then I will put in a call to the Fine Dr's at the Fowler Clinic..

I am Bummed to be injured but happy that I should be ok in the long run

Injury Recovery Mode

I think I have over worked and under stretched my leg Muscles. I think my hip issue is related and after an hour long massage of my right thigh last night it feels 1000% better!. I need to find a good set of stretches to do after riding....hmmmm.
Ok I found this that I am going to try tomorrow..



I will post how this helps, I have high hopes..

My last ride home was an Interesting one...it was Thursday night approx 4:50 as I rode through campus.. There was about 8 cars in a loading spot near SSC , the same spot usually only has 3 cars at it..I was wearing my Safety glasses so I could see as it was Dark due to the heavy cloud cover and drizzle. There wasn't any thing too exciting until I got to Highbury and Cheapside.. these things always happen in 3's ....

1.
I had to pass a parked car on its left while there was heavy traffic also in my direction. it made me think " Why is there a parking spot here?? it is approx 300M from the closest structure of any kind, it is exactly in the bike path and serves no purpose. I always see cars at this spot in the mornings and wonder " WTF is a car doing parked there??" I assume it is Fanshawe students getting a free semi close to school parking spot... its Dumb and I thought I should write a letter to the city and get these spots removed.
They are the only parking spots on the whole stretch of road for a long ways, they are not close to anything, they are in the bike path, there have been head on crashes in that very spot recently (there was no car in the parking spot at the time).

2. A Red Monte Carlo pulled out of fanshawe parking lot right in front of me. I was watching him and knew he hadn't seen me so I slowed down ....then slowed a bunch more...Came to a stop. The Monte Carlo did not see me at all. The driver only saw me as he looked left once he was already entirely in my lane, when he finally did see me I was standing on the ground with 2 feet and my front tire was approx 1 foot from his car....He looked shocked as Both my headlights lit up his face...

3 Second St. right in front of the school a object was barley noticeable in the bike lane ahead of me.... As i caught up to it I thought it was a stroller, no wait a small golf cart...no.... a 4 wheeled scooter???... no it was a small 4 wheeled pedal bike. it looked like it was off a merry go round. I told the Driver/rider that he needed a light and was invisible from behind.. he yelled back and said he did have a light. he seemed very agitated too.. like he was sick of people honking at him for being extremely hard to be seen. it looked like the picture except no roof and I think it had more "Body" panels on it (It was Dark) The Bike Did have a large front light on but I could not see it at all from the back.


Some Pictures of how I look at night. As you can see I am a fan of the reflective tape. There is a red blinkie attached the the left rear dropout but the reflective tape over powers it and it is very hard to see in the picture..The small white stripe between my legs is actually the from the front fender.

This is the Front view...I think I am more than obvious, however i do see room for improvement namely the fronts of the shoulders could see the reflective tape treatment soon. I have Reflective tape on my Helmet Visor, Vest, Knuckles of Gloves, Head tube, Top of Forks, And the Toes of my shoes.. I think I stand out pretty good..in fact I have had 2 different drivers compliment me on my visibility at night. " I could see you from miles away".

So i am taking it easy for a few days and will try those stretches.. if they work i will be back riding 4 out of 5 days a week.

Skyers

My Commute 2000

Some info about my bike commute to Work.

my Ride is 10km each way, it takes me from east london out past the UWO Campus. I do not have a bicycle computer on my bike, I know my distances from using a program called "Log my run" and also "ride with GPS". My ride is 99.5% on the road with traffic,

I have almost reach a major milestone in my Bike commuting....I am 4 round trip commutes away from 2000 kms so far this year!!!! I have been riding lately rain or shine / warm or cold. With only 76km to go to hit 2000km I feel compelled to keep riding no matter what.

My ride has a few small inclines but nothing too serious. The fastest hill has helped me reach a top speed of 64km/h on my old MTB.

This year I have seen a Police chase, A line up of approx 300 people waiting to get the H1 Shot, Another cyclst pull up at the same intersection as me and foget they were clipped in...TIMBER!!!! they were ok but it was funny as hell.

The craziest thing i have seen is a Head on Collision approx 100ft away from me.

I have had only a few close calls, Most recently an Aboutown bus Pinched me off the road on the first day of the bus strike. Only a few others that almost gave me a "right hook" but I avoided them by paying better attention then they were!

My Bike is a MTB w/Discs Converted to commuter duty, I have added a rear rack, hip pack/handle bar bag, Bell, Light, Rear Blinkie, Front fender from an old 700c bike I found in the garbage, And lots of Reflective tape. I just recently took my 1.5 slicks kwest tires off and put some small knobbied tires that I borrowed from my wifes bike.

I plan on hitting 2000km early next week due to a few days that I have to drive to work. Im not sure what I will do to celebrate.

Thats all for now.

My First Post

I am new to this blogging and hope I can keep it updated..
I plan to post about the following:
My Rides to and from work.
My Old School BMX History.
My Injuries
My Bike
My Bike Attire
Favorite Sites for biking
Future Biking Plans
and other Bike related stuff as i think of it.