Hmm, not sure what to write today. Perhaps I’ll just start typing and see what comes out. Lots of racing going on this weekend. Locally we have the Ride With Rendall Team Time Trial on Sunday. There is a stage race in St. Raymond, Quebec and one in Syracuse, NY. Seems like every bike racer in the city will be off racing somewhere this weekend. This is excellent. Lots of racing options for all types of bike racers.

This is the first time for the Ride With Rendall Team Time Trial. I think this is a pretty cool event. The team time trial is a very cool discipline. The precision, team work an effort required is most impressive. This local event gives bike racers a chance to try something different and really get a taste of team work. While I’m not racing in this event, I will be at the registration table. (My first time doing registration, so if I’m a bit slow – please be patient…) I’m looking forward to catching a part of this race and feeling the excitement from the racers. It is not often that I’m at a race and not racing.

Best of luck to the Ottawa racers who are racing down in Syracuse (Stevens Racing team) and in St. Raymond. We’ll all be cheering you on and look forward to reading your race reports.

So, no racing for me this weekend. But I will be out on my bike. Saturday is a busy day with a weight work-out chased by a solid tempo ride. These tempo rides are awesome. I get to go hard, but not so hard that I’m half-baked. Just hard enough to get the fitness benefit and the feeling of speed. Sunday I’m heading out for a long ride after my registration obligations are over. I’m hoping the rain holds off and I can get in a some days of dry riding. The extra bonus for this long weekend is that my dad is in town. So we’ll get some good downtime chilling out with him – might go check out the Tulip Festival or the Byward Market.

I am racing next weekend. There is a criterium in Montreal: Pere Sablon. Marc and I went to this crit last year. Good course with a challenging hill and pretty smooth corners. Perhaps one of the best things about this crit is the location – the race course basically goes around a park and the surrounding neighbourhood is very happening with lots of cafes and interesting shops.

Getting out on the trusty cyclo-cross bike next week. Yay! Totally looking forward to getting the bike out and taking it for a spin. No time like the present to get started on fine-tuning my technical skills. The trails at the Gatineau Park open this weekend so pretty soon you’ll be seeing me out there on my mountain bike and cyclo-cross bike working on my skills and having fun in the dirt. Definitely let me know if you want to hook up for a ride.

Okay, I suppose I should get back at it. I am back in the office now. No more working from home for me. Sigh. Lets just say some bean counters here got their knickers in a knot. Rules are rules. Whatever. Makes me wonder why I have a laptop and VPN token so I can work from home… Whatever. I’m making the best of the situation. I’ll repeat what I wrote on Victoria’s Island – I got handed lemons and now I’m making lemonade (and this lemonade is still pretty darn sweet).

Have a great weekend. Good luck if you’re racing. If you’re out on the roads this weekend, be careful as it is the long weekend and motorists can be a bit nutty sometimes. Hopefully you can get some downtime and chill out. (Maybe catch a bit of the Giro.)