The Itsy Bitsy Spider

I find my self inspired today by a well known little spider.

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.

Down came the rain, and washed the spider out.

Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain

And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

What a trooper.  I find some inspiration in this because of all the rain and the wet that I have been riding in.  It has rained for the past 4 days and the forecast looks no better.  But just like this little spider I will get up and keep trying to climb that spout every day.  Even in the pouring rain.

It is interesting, that now that I am in BC I wish it where snowing instead of raining.  If it was snowing I would at least be dry.  You see I can handle being wet, as long as it is warm.  Or I can handle being cold, as long as it is dry.  But to be cold and wet is the worst.  It seems this combination of cold and wet is the limiting factor in my ride time.  When I am soaked and shivering I just have to call it quits.


Today I decided, screw Euro style and put bags on my feet underneath my non-water proof booties.  Best decision ever.  I was able to ride 6 hrs today, with my feet reaching the tolerably wet stage.  I have invented a stay dry wish list.  This includes, fenders, whool socks, gortex booties, and a star trek force field to stop water from touching me.


Here's to the little spider, and to riding in the rain.


Cuylar Conly

Far too good at walking

Chris McGarity once explained to me that one of the marks of a good cyclist is being a very poor walker.  As One becomes fitter and more skilled at racing a bike, the properties of ones right foot approach those of the left foot. When One is infinitely fit, one will truly have two left feet.  This is a brilliant contradiction of body coordination.  It can be observed that a cyclist capable of maneuvering in a tight pack of 60-100 racers going at 50km/hr, will find it impossible to walk down the street without stumbling at least once every 2 minutes.
Further I would like to cite the extreme detriment to ones style that is unavoidable while walking.  Whether this style detriment stems from the stumbling or is inherent in the act of walking is open to interpretation.  Never the less OREC clearly adresses the fail that is walking, "25. Any physical activity other than cycling is STRONGLY FROWNED UPON. This includes any form of running or swimming and their derivatives (this includes walking). The ONLY TWO other sports with a recognized degree of euro are: cross-country skiing and long track speed skating."
What I am trying to get at, is that in the past two weeks I have become far too good at walking.  As a result my fitness, style and composure have suffered.  It is only February, and all is not lost.  Over the couple weeks I will build my fitness,  I am living at top a 5 km climb, so I simply have to make it home every day to be stronger.  My composure will return with time spent on the bike, where I will look only to the finish line.  As for my style, I currently have no social life so this is not an issue.  However, style comes from what you do when no one is looking, so I will strive to increase my style (by walking less).


On Sunday I was introduced to the "vets" ride.  It is essentially the local hard ride, much like our Tuesday nighters back home.  There where 60 ppl out for this ride.  I was very impressed.  We rode hard and I was pleased to find that I was at an acceptable level of fitness.  The next day I went for a little ride and I was feeling it in the legs.  So I still have work to do, but this is an easy fix.  Just ride more.
I bought a knew cell phone yesterday.  It is rogers, and my knew number is 1-778-788-6940.  I got a pay as you go plan that I ca n shuffle a bit if need be.  I also am off to a job interview shortly so wish me luck.


Training shall be based solely on feel,
while racing shall be guided by sensations and instinct.


Cuylar

Olympic Adventures

Well, I have completed my week at the Olympics.  I have seen men's and women's Hockey, Ladies Long track 500, men's short program figure skating (very cool), women's curling, and women's aerial skiing (amazing).  I also got to take in a medal ceremony where Canada was presented Gold for women's boarder cross, that was absolutely a highlight.  I saw paul Brant in concert, and although I am not a country fan he was good.  I also got to see Said the Whale in concert, they were very good. 
Now my Olympic adventures are over and I have moved into Scott and Sara's.  Getting here is once again worthy of being called a journey.  
On Friday my family flew home (except Dad, he is still officiating).  I still had tickets for aerials ski jumping at this point, and I planned to hook up with Shay Crawford for this event.  That afternoon I set out to find Shay.  The pieces eventually fell together and I found Shay at his sisters house.  Coral and Karina had graciously allowed their house to be turned into a hostel.  The basement suite was occupied by the two ladies and Shay, his friend Nick and Myself.  Upon my arrival It was proclaimed,  "Hey, lets all go skiing."  So we went to mount Seymour to do some night time snowboarding.  This was the Last thing that I expected to be doing when I woke up that morning.
Shay traded me a lift ticket and a rental board in exchange for his Olympic Ticket and to my stunned elation I was on the side of a mountain snowboarding.   I must say, the sunset and the city lights from the top of mount Seymour are just beyond words.  Absolutely an amazing time.
The Ariel Skiing was on Saturday morning, and required that we take an Olympic shuttle bus to the mountain at 750 am.  This required that we would have to get up at 6 am.  Like the responsible young adults we are we planned a night on the town, which we then executed.  The next morning with about 3 hours of sleep Shay and I rolled out of bed, got some egg McMuffins and boarded the train.
Arial Skiing was Unbelievable.  The amplitude and the tricks were just crazy.  Very good event.
 After the event we crawled back to Shay's sister's place as the Transit system seemed to be caving in all around us.  Lines were backing up to two hours or more just to board the train.  And it wold only get worse all night.
After a quick nap I packed my things to head to port moody.  I had the intention of leaving down town by 430. but the world had other plans.  The Trains where horrendously clogged.  They could not handle this amount of people.  Rather than wait 2 hours to get on the train I worked my way down town with a combination of walking and buses. Trying to leave down town wasn't happening either.  Buses and trains were so full that they just kept going.  After watching the bus and the train go by with people almost hanging out the windows I realised I would not be getting back in a timely manner.
As luck would have it, I ran into Chris McGarity.  We killed some time wandering down town Vancouver, where every street is a mosh pit.  Then when I finally saw bus that I could get on I dove for it.  Rode out to port Coquitlam.  Then waiting for the local bus, It also drove strait by.  But I was saved by the wonders of meeting a complete stranger who also missed the same bus.  We chatted, and then he decided he would call his wife to pick us up, and take us to the suburbs.  Hooray, I was saved, and back at home by 930.

The Olympics are over for me, I just built my bike, now I am exhausted and its time for bed.

planes trains and automobiles

I left Saskatoon on Sunday.  I am now in Richmond BC.  It was a unique journey, in which I changed modes of transit 3 times in about 12 hours.

I left Saskatoon on a plane with my family ( minus dad).  We flew from Saskatoon to Edmonton, where we had 20 minutes to get to a flight from Edmonton to Vancouver.  This leg of the journey totaled about 2 hours.  After landing we would have to split the family for the night.  The reason for the split is that we got plane tickets at an awesome price, but a day before our accommodation was available.  But, we had a plan.

We rented a van and drove an hour to port Moody.  For the next six months I will be living in port Moody with Scott and Sara Lalabert.  I unloaded all of my luggage including my bike, and undid a weeks worth of packing in about 20 minutes.  I didn't have too much time to get comfortable, as I would only be here one night.  My Uncle had room in west Vancouver for my parents plus Ana and Lukas.  Orrin and I would spend the night at Scott and Sara's.

The next few days will be spent at the Olympics with my family, we had arranged for a condo in Richmond.  Thus, Orrin and I woke up Monday morning, and with the help of Scott, figured out how to take the train from port Moody to Richmond.  I have to say it is pretty darn hard to get lost.  Although this leg of travel took us a full two hours.  Orrin and I met up with the rest of the family to check into our Condo, return the rental van, and be off to our first event.
  
The first event we saw was Woman's Hockey.   We watched an excellent match up between Sweden and Slovakia.  The first period was very competitive.  But in the end, despite the Goalie of Slovakia being an absolute hero, the Swedes overran Slovakia 6-2 with three goals in the third period.  Watching live makes it very easy to get wound up for these teams, the energy is just phenomenal.  On the agenda for the rest of the week is woman's 500m long track speed skating, figure skating men's short program, curling, men's hockey, and aerials ski jumping.

 

This guy was awesome, he started drinking beer out of his hat.

 

OMGIHAB!

So I got myself a blog...

I have never been good at keeping a journal. This means that I will probably not be very good at keeping a blog. So here is my disclaimer: I make no guarantees about the regularity, length or quality of my blogging.

Some of you may ask; Cuylar, why are you blogging if it is just going to be a big fail boat?

Well, as many know, and many more are unaware, I have taken the semester off from school and I am moving to BC to race my bike. This blog will be my attempt to update and inform anyone who cares what is going on in my life.

Tomorrow I fly with my Family to Vancouver. We are going to take in some Winter Olympic action and then my family will fly home and I will stay behind in BC.

Don't think just go for it

Cuylar