May 22, 2008

Todd Kicked My Ass

Not literally, that would just be about one of the messiest fights in the history of man kind...although I do have more of a temper than he seems to...yeah, I could kick Todd's ass in a fight!!

Todd schooled me on the road bike tonight, and it was the best thing that could've happened to me. He was over this way for a few days of work and I told him to bring along his road bike so that we could log a few miles together after he was done for the day. After a full day of tackling the most menial tasks that are associated with relocating to a new town, I met up with Todd and we hit up the road bikes for a ride through West Van to Horseshoe Bay and then up Cypress Mtn, as I did this past Sunday.

I guess I should start in on the excuses first...I couldn't get out of bed this morning cause I was starting to feel sick, I passed up on a training day yesterday cause I knew I wasn't right...in a getting out there to sweat my ass off for the day kinda way, I didn't have my tire pressure high enough, my bike cleats were off centered, the wind was hitting me differently than Todd cause I'm only half his size so it slowed me significantly, I wore the wrong underwear, no socks, no shoes and my pedals were on backwards...umm, I actually did put my pedals on backwards right before Raid The North Extreme last year...it was a precursor for what was to come...where was I...my seat was too low, my tire had a wobble in it, my derailleur was all gunked up, my chain was too loose, my chain was too tight, I ate too much before we left, I ate too little throughout the day, walking my dog for an hour tired me out, and I am three months pregnant.

Now I would NEVER EVER make an excuse and everything I listed above is simply a fact and in no way shape or form affected my riding whatsoever...not one little bit...and I have no issue at all with Todd biking me into the ground tonight, but coincidentally enough I am looking for a new teammate as we are currently having 'creative differences'! That being that Todd somehow got faster than me and now I have to train that much harder just to keep up to him!!

I got into a kayak on Tuesday night for the first time in six months! Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak host an weekly Tues night race with a long and short course option. The long course of about 9km took me and my paddling partner Sasha Brown, who some would know from the MOMAR races, about one hour to complete in a double Passat, the kayak of choice for most MOMAR events, save Squamish of course! Bryan Tasaka of the MOMAR races also hosts a Thursday night paddling race series known as The Big Chop, which I have been trying to make for a few weeks now and will hope to do so in the very near future.

I have never felt so damn slow in a Passat before, again it was probably my partners fault!! I'll get beat up for sure for that comment as everyone who knows Sasha would know that she is a far more experienced and speedy paddler than I. At the final MOMAR of the season in 07 her and Brian McCurdy were the ones who came off the water just a few seconds behind Todd and I...in what was supposed to be a slower boat no doubt!

These Tues night paddles have progressed significantly over the years and out of the 25 or so boats on the water, 90% of them were Surf Skis or double Surf Skis! Ain't no way for us to compete against that...which is probably why I already lost Sasha as my partner for next week as her and Brian are taking out a double Surf Ski themselves...anyone wanna drag my ass through the water next week? I guess I should also mention that I had to use my hands to get out of bed this morning as my back was too sore to allow me to engage my core at all!

Oh yeah, that brings me to my final excuse for the evening. For the biking and the paddling, I OBVIOUSLY logged too many running miles leading up to Miwok and lost all my specific fitness for the bike and certainly the boat, which is why I am currently typing with my toes and will be rolling, quite literally, into bed shortly...I need to find slower friends!

GR

P.S. This is my 200th blog posting!! Who woulda thought that anyone outside of my parents and a select few trained monkeys would actually continue to follow along. Thanks to all for checking out my site, it's greatly appreciated!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha ha Gary- I think I have made all those excuses before- and felt perfectly justified in not doing anything about them! At least you have it in you to actually make things happen! And if provoked enough, I am pretty sure Todd could kick your ass... but if you really are three months pregnant you should probably take it a bit easier... :)
Take care and hope you are feeling better soon. (Congrats on the 200th post)
Erika

The Chaser said...

yes I have milked the "bad knee" thing since 2005. I am not sure what I will do when I can no longer blame my performance on it. prob come up with some other excuse like "i am old" or "i ate something bad last night".

Who am I kidding, I am going to use the "my knee hurts" excuse until i have my knee replacement at 52.

garobbins said...

So as it turns out I wasn't pregnant after all, just bloated from eating wheat by accident!
Yes Todd would make a mess of me which is why I try to stay on his good side. Remember the old Loonie Tunes cartoon where the little dog would jump up and down and all around the big dog...that's Todd and I to a tee!!
Hannah, 05, 05, it's gonna soon be time to find a new excuse...or get pregnant!!!

GR

The Chaser said...

i am trying not to let the eggo get preggo just yet g.

garobbins said...

I'm sure you are much like myself in the fact that all my friends are making enough babies as it is for now!