Throwback Thursday: Get On Your Bike and Ride!

My training for the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour is going well, almost completely according to plan.

Almost.

There was that Tuesday-evening group ride, where I developed a cramp in my stomach, almost 5 kilometres into the ride, and I had to turn back. I did manage to recover, after a rest, and I made it to an evening spin class, at the Minto Recreation Complex. I got another 23 kms in, which gave me about 32 for that evening.

Only 8 km or so short of what I would have completed, had I been able to ride with the group.

I also missed a couple of long rides, on Sundays, because spring was still deciding whether she wanted to make an appearance or not, and winter stepped in to cover for her. I did go to spin classes, but it's not the same.

Last Sunday, DW and I threw our bikes into the back of the SUV and headed to Billings Bridge, to join a group ride for the Ottawa Bicycle Club's second annual picnic, in Manotick. When we set out from the house, DW and I had decided to ride the 42K route, but when we gathered with the dozens of avid riders, we decided, at the last minute, to join a group that was going to take the 80-kilometre course, which took us west, to Richmond, before turning southeast, to Manotick.

It was a great group of riders, many whom were also preparing for the RLCT, and it took no time to complete our route—which was about 80 percent of the ride to Kingston, from Perth.

A few of us from Sunday's ride have decided to form a group to complete the RLCT, together.

It seems like it's been a long time since I used to ride my hybrid, which I bought in 2008 to commute from home to work, and back. That black Schwinn was comfortable to ride, with its shock absorbers in the front forks and in the seat stem, and the cushy seat, to boot. But man, was it heavy, compared with my road bike.

To think, I actually participated in a Try-A-Tri with that bike. In September, 2008, I swam 100 metres, cycled 12 kilometres, and simulated a 3-km run (I don't run: I walk really fast, although I did break into a bit of a sprint for the last couple-hundred metres).

A month later, at Thanksgiving, I actually rode that monster bike from Barrhaven to the Champlain Lookout, and back, which was also 80 kilometres (thinking about last Sunday's ride).

Thinking about what I accomplished on that bike, with what I've done on my Cannondale, I feel as though the RLCT—my last ride on that circuit—will be a breeze.

For Throwback Thursday, here's me, during that 2008 Try-A-Tri, transitioning from my bike ride to the run segment.

I guess it wasn't such a bad bike after all.