A Day of Firsts

I can finally say I have broken in my bike. I went out for a ride yesterday, the first in a while, and went all the way to science world and back. This is the first ride outside since I cut my hair and since I injured my shoulder a few weeks back, so there were a few things I was not expecting. One of which how cold my head would get under my helmet with less hair and due to the fact that there are large vents in my helmet. Second I was not sure how my shoulder would respond to the continuous pressure of leaning over and holding on to the handle bars, let's just say it wasn't the most pleasant experience. I felt every bump in the road and my shoulder kept saying why in the world would you do this to me, you'll regret this later.

As a cyclist when you come up to a pedestrian controlled crossing and you have clip in pedals, you don't normally unclip. Usually you slow down and reach out to this the button and then hold onto the pole until the light changes and then you are on your way again. Well, this process is a little different when your right shoulder hates you at the moment and pain radiates from it whenever an external force is applied to it. So about 30 minutes into my ride I approach the intersection at Boundry on the Frances/Union bike street. I slow down and notice a lot of gravel and the road is kind of uneven. I slow down and then reach out to push the button as more hand comes in contact with the button and then tries to grasp the pole to stabilize myself, the pain again radiates through my shoulder causing  my to lose balance. Of course I am still clipped to my pedals and I am not able to unclip in time so there is nothing I can do but brace myself and wait until I hit the ground. At least it was more embarrassing than painful, as there was another cyclist coming down the hill behind me and I am sure he saw everything. I was up fairly quickly somehow my foot unclipped after I fell, I did a quick check for damage on the bike and then the light turned and then I continued on my way. Wow, even writing about this makes my shoulder ache. Need less to say I started unclipping at every intersection to save my self from more pain and embarrassment.

There was not a lot of damage to report, just a few scratches both on myself and on my bike, thank goodness. But now I can finally stop wondering when the first time will be that 1) I fall while on my bike and 2) when I will not be able to unclip in time and make a fool of myself. Killed two birds with one stone, winning! And my bike doesn't look like I just bought even though I have had it since January.

The second part of firsts is my new hairdo. My roommate can confirm this, that when I got home after and took my helmet off, it looked like I was still wearing it. My hair had taken on the pattern of the vents in my helmet. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Another notable thing from my ride:

It is scary as hell when you are waiting for a light to change so you can go straight. As a cyclist I am on the right side of the lane closest to the curb so I can hit the button. At two separate times, while I was waiting for the light to change, a car would pass me on my left, cut in front of me and make a right turn. both times right before the light was about to change. I must say thank goodness for the motorcycle training engraved in my brain that forces me to shoulder check before I start moving or I may have more than a few scratches to report from this ride. Why are drivers so impatient and feel they can cut cyclists off? I must say that riding a bike on the road is definitely scarier than riding a motorcycle. At least on a motorcycle you can be faster than everything else on the road and you are wearing way more protective gear.

So I am back on track with my training schedule and with school slowing down as I prepare for finals, I don't see why I won't be able to keep pace with my training until I start touring in Europe which I must say is only about 80 days away.

Happy Riding

Recap of Pub Night #2

What a fantastic Friday night, minus the Canucks losing. Thank you to everyone who helped make that night such a success. With the pub ticket and raffle ticket sales as well as little quiz, I was able to raise just under a grand, thats $1000, in just one night. Amazing, and that's thanks to the genorosity of my friends and family, couldnt have done it without you all.

A special thank you to my friend Jenny who helped me organize the games and ensure a smooth flowing evening. I think I still owe you a burger since you didn't get a chance to eat yours.

For now, this caps of my fundraising, until after finals, I need to focus on my classes and get through these last couple of weeks and prepare for final exams. And hopefully ramp up my training as the days left before I leave get less and less.

100 DAYS

There are now 100 days left before I begin the most amazing journey of life. There are still so many things left to do and I am not at all prepared to leave my friends, family, and my country to ride my bicycle for 4.5 weeks in a foreign country on an entirely different continent. 

There is still so much fundraising to do with my pub night coming up, I still have some shirts left, and I have to plan future fundraisers.

I have not yet acquired all my gear for the trip or figured out what I am taking with me or how much I will be able to carry on my bike.

I am more than a month into my training but feel like I have made little or no progress. I am hoping the weather gets a little nicer, so I can actually hit the road instead of riding in my apartment. Being inside is just not the same. 

With the ride itself, there is still a lot of planning to do. Organizing accomadations, planning routes, and even meeting some of the other riders, which I have yet to do. 

And there is always the other factors of school, work, and soccer. Work has been good, it gives me a short break from worrying about school and the ride. School on the other hand has added a whole lot of unwanted stress. I have finished the first round of midterms rather successfully, but now comes presentations, papers, the second round of midterms, and then shortly after final exams. Soccer has always been a good outlet for me to get away from reality and just enjoy a few hours doing something I love and forgetting about everything else.

I am very thankful for all the support I have received from friends and family over the last few months. This all would not be possible without them.

 Photo by Colin Gilliam

Pub Night # 2 Mountain Shadow

Details:
Friday, March 18, 2011
6pm - 9pm
Mountain Shadow Pub
7174 Barnet Road, Burnaby
$15 gets your a burger and a beer

Since I had so much success with my first pub night, I thought I would host a second. This time in Burnaby at the bottom of SFU in hopes of getting more students out. This pub is place where students usually frequent on a Tuesday or Wednesday night for cheap beer and 25 cent wings.

On this particular Friday, the Canucks will be playing the Coyotes which helps draw in a crowd. There will also be a live band after the game and with the help of a few friends I will hopefully be organizing a few games/raffles with prizes.

So, March 18, tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door, and you can contact me for tickets.

Hope to see you all there!

Road Blocks and Detours

Last week was "Reading Break", the university equivalent of high school spring break. This is the first year SFU has had such a break. I am still on the fence about how I feel about this entire week off, because let's be honest, how many students actually spend their week catching up on readings and assignments. Plus, it just extends the semester a week longer shortening the break between semesters. So to no surprise I didn't actually get a chance to hit the books until the end of the week. Of course, I had reading and studying to catch up on but the lack of scheduled class gives you a false sense of freedom to do things out of the regular schedule.

For instance, on Monday after I got off work I headed home to get a haircut. Not just a trim, I chopped off enough hair to meet the 12 inch requirement to donate my hair to Angel Hair for Kids so a wig could be made for children who have lost their hair due to medical conditions or treatment.  http://www.acvf.ca/index.php/our-programs/angel-hair-for-kids/ I am now sporting a very chilling, low maintenance buzz cut. Toques have become a very important part of my wardrobe, who knew how much hair insulated you noggin. My friend Caitlin at work is also sporting the buzz cut and she is the reason I got involved with this organization.

On Tuesday I headed up to Whistler Village post 2010 Winter Olympics for the day to take in the sights and do a little shopping.My favorite part of the day by far would have to be the delicious whale tale I consumed. Mmmm deep fried cinnamon sugary goodness with a little bit of lemon.

As you can see the week for me was not designed to get a lot off school work done. Just because class was not in session, did not mean my work schedule changed either. The early mornings to make sure I caught the bus on time continued and were one off my least favorite parts of the week.

With all my adventures of the week and a few sleepless nights, this left little time to get my training in. I made it to soccer practice Wednesday night, but the 4 days I should have spent on the bike got reduced to 2. I made sure when I did get on the bike, the duration of the sessions were long enough to improve my endurance which will be key when I get to Europe and need to travel upwards of 80 km a day. At least now with my new fluid trainer I can put in hours on the bike without even leaving my apartment and it is quiet enough that I can watch TV while riding. Makes the hour ride a little less boring while avoiding the treacherous wintery conditions a top Burnaby Mountain.

I did get the chance to do a little bike maintenance. I cleaned, adjusted and lubed my chain. It now runs smoothly and there is no more clicking noise. 

As always there are little road blocks in detours in life, but it is all about how you adjust and react to them. Sometimes a set schedule (ie training schedule) is more of a guideline that should be followed as closely as possible but there is always room for flexibility.

It's T-Shirt Tiiimmmeeeee!

Some of you may already know that I have spent the last 2 months designing, collecting sponsors, making color decisions and finalizing the design of my T-SHIRTS.

Colin Gilliam, co-founder of Origami Ghost, helped me with the t-shirt design and printing. I started on my own in December with a fairly simple bicycle drawing and a few ideas about design. Then I passed it off to Colin. He digitalized it, added color, and sent me a few variations of design with my ideas incorporated in. Some of the major decisions included what color design, how many colors, what type of ink, what style of shirt, and how many shirts in each size.

Colin was super helpful throughout the entire process, helping with decisions, providing his opinion, adding some pretty cool design ideas, and taking care of the printing. I am very grateful for all his help, the t-shirts would definitely not have turned out so amazing if I did not have is help in this entire process.

On the back side of the shirt there are some company logos that have supported me along my journey:
The Peak Center for Human Performance
The Right Shoe
SportMed
Paris Orthotics
Origami Ghost

And of course Global Agents is also there as they are the reason behind the making of these shirts.

The design on the back is of tire treads with the company logos within.

I am selling the shirts for $15 and all proceeds are going towards reaching my fund raising goal of $2500.

If you would like a shirt, you can reach me at globalagentnicole@gmail.com

Front

Back

Thanks for all your support!!!

Saddle Success

Picture this:
You are riding a bicycle 2000km through a gorgeous countryside Europe and suddenly your body starts to feel pain. No, it's not your knees or back, things you would originally suspect when riding a bicycle. The pain originates from your derriere.

I, myself, never considered the pain caused by my bicycle saddle. But it is a very serious issue, even with bike shorts that have the extra padding, the pain puts pretty definitive limit to the duration of my ride. Last week I  rode every other day to try and build up some endurance. However, it ended up to be a ride to break in my saddle. I guess one more part step in "breaking the cycle". After a few days of zero progress on the manufacturers standard saddle, I decided to spend some dough on a more comfortable saddle to improve my ability to stay on my bicycle pain-free. To no surprise I ended up at MEC to get a bicycle seat. Without breaking the pattern I purchased more things at MEC than I originally planned. I walked out with a new saddle, a set of lights, a multi-tool, and sadly a smaller bank account. I am now the proud owner of a anatomic relief saddle and I have felt the relief. Now the pain in the butt is no longer the limiting factor. Now its the burning in my legs.

And the training continues...