first post Christmas post

well... Merry Christmas to all bike lovers... and the rest of us bike likers.

i am now in a modified typing scenario. both hands, but the keyboard is shifted hard right on my lap. i'm not allowed to move the fixed arm to straight in front of me yet.

actually, there was a Bike Club theme for me this holiday season. i received two helmuts, and a pair of winter riding/jogging tights. (those funny looking things with the reflection strips that the technical director wears.) i'll return one helmut eventually. now all i need is the new bike and time to ride it... maybe next year, or the year after that.

i hope to post the surgery pictures i was given in the next while.

surgery today

so, it's done. i was supposed to have a local block for anesthesia so i could watch the proceedings, but it didn't take. they had to put me under. the local block they put in still isn't out... they told me to expect pain tonight.
have to use the sling for 3 weeks.
should be ready for our big spring event, however...
glad i got yesterday's ride in.
perhaps someone will report from the gathering tomorrow, but i won't be there and one-handed typing sucks.

Night ride this eve

Well, James, Jonny, the Technical Director and I met at Whittier Park this eve at 9:20pm. We decided not to race, but to explore... with my surgery coming tomorrow morning, it would have been poor for me to push too hard and have an incident. We rode til about 11:00.

Check this map which is in the media section of our site for the the Whittier Park ride area. Follow the dotted red lines for our route.

I'll see if I can type (one handed) a few notes about the surgery tomorrow.

Race this weekend

Yes it's cold right now. But not so cold that we cannot continue to be excited about the next race. Yesterday my fingers froze and my freewheel was threatening to do so as well. So now the bike keeps me company in my office during the day. I almost got sideswiped today by some asshole in an Aztec flying around that sharp corner on Wellington before he lost control and took out an oncoming car. This only 200 ft away from where some other idiot in a pickup decided to try and take down the St James bridge the day before. Two crashes in two days. I think I might stick to the bike path for a while, at least for that portion of the trip.

In any case--we do need to have another race before our loyal secretary gets his shoulder rebuilt. He's nearly the bionic man already, so I wouldn't want to have to line up against him once he's healed. The always reliable Environment Canada weather service tells us that it's supposed to warm up during the weekend. -6 on Saturday and -4 on Sunday, with the low only a balmy -11 for Sunday night.

My suggestion: a Sunday evening race back at Whittier park. A slightly longer lap than last time, which will feature mostly trail riding. Johnny G and I scouted out some possible race courses last weekend and we believe we have a few options that would be still more exciting than the thrilling race we held a few weeks back. If we get enough guys out, we might even try James' relay idea and see if it works.

Thanks for the link to the icebike site, Darryl. I think it is based in Alaska.

icebike site

here's the link to the icebike site. It seems to be Winnipeg based. Info on riding technique, dressing, and anything else related to riding bike in the winter, except for the race that carries the name, and there's even a comment about that on the news page.

and for the Great Lakes/Chicago members, there are even winter riding enthusiasts out your way at the Chicago Bike Winter site.

december 9 gathering

no major news. a bit of discussion over the Duke's shirt. Trevor has suggested that it is now his, as the Duke has made no moves toward claiming the shirt he initially ordered.

would be nice to get one more event in before I go under the knife for the shoulder rebuild on monday. the current -30 weather has made it difficult to get excited about the idea. night race at Whittier has been suggested... the technical/race director claims it's no problem without a light. the ground's white, the trees are not. no problem.
there will be an email around if something transpires.

the secretary

fgbcbc #2

It's now a few days later and the dust has all but settled. Time for an update on the second installment of the fgbcbc. Despite some good early indications that had us looking at a possible record number of participants, we ended up with five eager racers yet again. The Wolesely contingent put in a good showing, warming up by biking to the race site at Whittier park and previewing the course while waiting for the secretary to finish his pep talk with the faith and life women's choir. Two rookies made their debut Jimmy and the Secretary. The race: 3 laps aroung Whittier park (river trails and back on the gravel path, including a mandatory trip through Whittier's version of devil's ditch). This time the pack stayed together for the first half lap. Jonny G took his customary early lead, but a bad choice of trails let Chris and Jimmy get ahead. Taking advantage of Chris's untimely confrontation with a tree, the secretary moved into second behind Jimmy. Coming into the first straight, the two rookies are sitting 1-2, with Chris on their tail and Jonny G and Unger not much farther back. As the course became flatter and straighter, Chris attacked and Jimmy couldn't hold his wheel. Jonny G soon caught the two rookies and assumed second spot. Chris's long solo break held for the remaining 2.5 laps, but not without a few more close encounters with trees and nearly sliding down the river bank. Jonny G held onto second place, despite falling on the last straight and giving Jimmy some last-minute hopes for second. This left Unger and the secretary in a monumental battle for 4th place, with the secretary narrowly taking it at the line.

Post-race festivities ensued at 206 Home St., with Juan Eppstein joining the fun after putting in some weekend hours at the office. Our worst fears have been confirmed: Bubbas are no longer being produced. 12 Canadians had to suffice, courtesy of the secretary. Post-race conversational highlights included James's idea that the next race should be a team effort--pairing up and racing as a relay. In addition to possibly keeping competition closer, this would have the added benefit of allowing the traditional post-race festivities to take place during the race itself. It was noted that participation from Altona has been a little on the lax side lately, and that the Duke has not yet been to one fgbc event involving bikes.