Sunday, May 18, 2008

Long Weekend


Open for business
Originally uploaded by kenmores
Got out and did a little riding this weekend now that the trails are "open for business". Took some time to enjoy a little calm before the storm that is the week ahead. The weather this weekend was predicted to be a bit of a mixed bag. Rain here and there and cooler temps. Turned out to be not as bad as predicted but still we got some rain. I guessed wrong on Saturday and rode for a couple of hours in a cold rain (missed the hail storms in the evening though!). Not my favourite conditions to ride but it was still nice to be back on the trails again.

Sunday I had better luck and rode under sunny skies and warmer weather. Tomorrow - holiday Monday - is supposed to be equally rainy (or not!) so I'll play it by ear and see what comes. The one drawback to todays ride is that the blackflies are starting to make their presence known. They were clouding around me when I stopped but for the most part they hadn't figured out what to do with me yet so no biting action. Next weekend could be a bit ugly up in the park as the blackflies figure out their purpose in (their brief) life and start to maul anything that moves.... fortunately I have my hands full with other plans next weekend so that won't be a worry for me.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Mothers Day


Tulips
Originally uploaded by kenmores
Hope you have had (will have??) a chance to talk to or spend some time with your mom's. I started today well before the sun came up doing some course measurements for the upcoming race weekend. We modified(slightly) the routing for the half marathon course this year. While the runners may not even notice the change it still has to be remeasured and certified as the correct distance. That meant a group of us on bikes along with police escorts got to ride the course when there was as little traffic as possible - ie dawn. It's actually a great way to ride - with full police escort - although we do startle some of the early morning taxi drivers as we cruise the wrong way down some of the streets.

With "course work" done I headed up to the Park for a real ride... but I forgot that the mountainbike trails aren't open yet (still drying out from the winters snows) so I did a loop around some of the back roads instead. Got to visit the construction site for the extension of highway 5 up beyond Old Chelsea. Lots of excavation work going on up there as they make some pretty big road cuts. That means a lot of dynamiting of hill sides, crushing of rock to gravel and filling in the low spots.... big job. They've also put in a nice tunnel to give us skiers an access route to P16. Well, it's not a tunnel yet but it will be when they bury it with all the rock. Interesting spot to visit.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Springtime


Ready for the beach?
Originally uploaded by kenmores
Took the day off and went for a ride today up at Lac Phillippe. This past weekend was somewhat gray and rainy - although it did clear up nicely on Sunday evening - but today was pure sunshine and warm temperatures. To my surprise I discovered that the Gatineau Parkways are already open to traffic. I guess we're well into May now so maybe no surprise but I was skiing those roads just a few days ago (okay maybe a couple of weeks ago) so it seems strange to already be into traffic season. No traffic at Lac Phillippe though. Only the odd Demsis truck out sprucing up the campground and getting ready for the summer crowds. I rode along the lake and down to the Herridge shelter. Not a long ride but its early yet. Time to wake up the "riding" muscles and put to sleep the "skiing" muscles.

Last weekend I was up to Maniwaki (no lion sightings!) to help a friend open up the cottage for the summer. Hook up the plumbing, prime the pump and get the water going, slide the docks into the water, chainsaw the winters fallen trees.... the usual long list of chores. We also made up the summer punch list of construction projects for his cottage. Gonna be a busy summer up there. On the plus side a neighbour dropped by in the evening with a massive Lake Trout he'd just hauled out of the water. Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of it as we rushed to get it preped for the grill. Must have been an epic battle - Man vs fish - and it surely made a tasty dinner.