Meyrick Jones Racing: Father's Day & CDN Century

"wise guys" quote:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

- Theodore Roosevelt, speech titled "Citizen in a Republic" delivered at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Everything you need is already inside.

- Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike, legendary coach, and father of the running movement.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's Day & CDN Century

In cycling parlance a "century" is a 100 mile ride.

Since we do not partake in the absurdities of the Imperial system here in Canada, I have deemed today's ride to be a century. It was 1oo km and a total blast. I am feeling pretty good on the bike, and feeling pretty good to be out doing the work I need to do.

Kevin picked me up at 6:45am and we were on the road at about 7. We headed:

- through West Van

- across the Lion's Gate

- through Stanley Park

- through English Bay

- over the Burrard Bridge

- out to Spanish Banks and up to UBC

- out along SW Marine Drive to the Arthur Laing Bridge

- over to Richmond

- out along #2 Road, then the Steveston Hwy to Starbucks in Steveston and a coffee/fueling break.

At our break I scarfed down some garlic potatoes Sacha cooked for dinner last night - WOW - best cycling food ever! Bite size and super yummy and packed with carbs... Definitely a batch of these coming with us for STP.

Then we rode back. Total ride time: 4 hours. Total time riding: 3:30.

We had to circle the final block one extra time to hit the 100km mark but we couldn't leave it at 99...

The day's plan was to meet the family at Dundarave Beach immediately post-ride (11:00) - and meet me they did with a full picnic and father's day gifts! It is quite a welcome sight to see your wife carrying a basket full of food immediately after a long ride - one I could certainly get used to! The basket even included important post-ride favourites such as chocolate milk and marshmallow bananas... yeah! Father's Day rocks!

We hung out and ate in the sun down at the beach. It was totally mellow and lots of fun - plus, I managed to get a weird cycling shorts sunburn which is so rad because it means the sun was out!

We rounded out the day with a Father's Day BBQ at our house. My dad and my father-in-law, Gary and I were the guests of honour. Sacha made awesome gourmet burgers.

Speaking of burgers - Michael Rasmussen (below) of Tour De France infamy could use some. And speaking of bad cycling tans - wow... mine is pretty tame compared to this. Spend much time on the bike Mike?

Finally, a Happy Birthday to my dad. At the time of writing he is one day shy of 60... He definitely doesn't look a day over 50 though.

His gift from our family and my sister Rian was a sweet Specialized Globe Sport bike from the Bike Gallery. It is cool with a matte black paint job and wicked disc brakes. I hope he will enjoy it... We will hit the roads together soon!