Trainink

Last Year's Tour - Day 2

When we approached my vehicle parked on the side of the road near Nisku, the alarm was going off and I felt sure that the car had been broken into while we were pedaling our way to 65K.

With the sun shining and clouds right out of the Simpsons, my cycling compadre Perry the K and I headed out towards Wetaskiwin.  I figured that if I was going to train for the MS Tour, then I might as well follow the route itself.  What I was really trying to do here was to test out the new rear cassette that Doug at United Cycle had installed this past winter.  (Smart guy to plan so far ahead ne c'est pas?).

The new rear cassette

Perry wanted to try out his new Specialized and of course since the two of us will be riding the Kettle Valley Railroad this summer with Roy, this beautiful day would be the perfect opportunity to train.  What we didn't realize was that the very fast pace we were setting (at times 30 km/hr and gusting downhill at 54 km/hr.) was not because of our superior athleticism but because we had a strong wind at our backs.

There was more traffic on this secondary highway than during the tour and local residents must avoid using  this paved road on the tour weekend.  The road itself is in great shape and has a paved shoulder and I'm sure these are the very reasons the MS Society has chosen this particular route.

Perry is like my other friend Roy in that he is a very strong rider.  Rides fast and hard.  And his larger frame would pay me a lot of dividends when we turned around after 35 k. and started back to the vehicle.  I tucked in behind his rear wheel and stared straight ahead and down at his rear rubber, ready to brake or maneuver out of the way depending on what he was doing ahead of me.

Back home again

After a couple of stops to drain the lizard, we made it back to the car and when we were within 30 feet, I could hear the alarm and see the lights flashing.  With concern written all over my face, I pedaled hard to reach the car and see what had set the alarm off.  Without any signs of forced entry and nothing missing from the vehicle, we could only speculate that the wind had rocked the car hard enough to trip the alarm.  Just goes to show you what kind of wind Perry had to break.  (I'm not saying he breaks wind in the way you might be thinking...).