Training Log Archive: Bash

Purr de France, Day 3
Flat Stage

With hills around us like this one in our front yard (which Raid The Rib racers might recognize), there is no "flat" way to leave our house.





But I tried to spin more and take it easier. I avoided steep hills where I could and followed more double track through Palgrave East. In the end, this Flat Stage was only 15 meters less elevation gain than the Day 1 Hilly Stage. But in virtual races, it's all in the way you imagine it.

Today's Purr de France stage included a leg and glute strength workout that looked good so I gave it a shot.

I was on a roll for a super healthy day when I got the urge to make chocolate cheesecake. Oh well.

This Summer Scavenger Hunt activity was fun - now that it's over - but it was out of my comfort zone! The Night Owl badge involves running for 30+ minutes and crossing the midnight hour during the run.

I was planning to ask 'Bent to join me some time but I got brave tonight and decided to just run around our 10 acres. It seemed like a great idea until I went on the Covid Crusher (formerly the Pandemic Gumby Trail) on our south hill. The dogs at the farm next door saw my light and started barking in a wild chorus like they were heading in for the kill. I know they can escape their fenced property, and they're not always friendly so that added some spice to the experience.

It was wonderful. I love running trails at night - breathing cool air, smelling the damp vegetation and looking at the stars. For some weird reason, I don't get nervous when I'm racing alone in a dark forest but unfortunately, I'm too chicken to do regular trail runs at night. Unless I have to do it for a virtual running event, of course!

Purr de France, Day 2

Today was a Mountain Stage, which required considerable imagination in the Palgrave Forest but that's part of the fun of a virtual event. I rode over to Palgrave East and did two back-and-forth repeats of the Roller Coaster trail.

This was at the bottom of a BIG mountain.



The vegetation was completely different at the top. The air was thinner too. The glacier is just beyond the edge of my photo.



The alpine views were magnificent.



Some of the descents were treacherous but luckily, I'd had a long breakaway so I wasn't doing them in a peleton.



I turned around to give Jan Ullrich "The Look".



I saw some mountain wildlife.



There was a mountain top finish at our accommodation.

Another steamy day! I did a short Hidden Challenge that I'd unlocked in the Summer Scavenger Hunt - the Ass Backwards badge. It only requires 20 minutes of running but the challenge is to go 500 meters backwards. They suggested walking but mentioned that the backward 1 mile record is 5:54! Apparently, there are Youtube videos with tips but I just went for it.

It felt like a light backward jog but my GPS watch says otherwise - a hiking pace at best. I'd scoped out a route on open, grassy parts of our property where I'd be able to follow handrails without looking over my shoulder all the time. It goes without saying that I wouldn't want to run backwards into a tree - especially now, when the tree would drop stinging caterpillars and their poop on my head.

I know some people do backward running as a drill, and I can understand why. My quads really felt it.

Mrs. Gally's Zoom Boot Camp with Browner, Alisha and Lynn.

Le Purr de France virtual race, Stage 1
(The name comes from the organizer, Crazy Cat Adventures.)

I think the PdF rides reflect the 2020 Tour de France schedule. Today was a "hilly" stage which, as Tour fans know, is different from a mountain stage. And let's face it, Palgrave Forest is very different from France. We've been advised to use our imaginations.

I signed up for the lowest Category so on most days, I only have a minimum ride time of 30 minutes. The idea is to be consistent and build a good habit - not to ride until I get saddle sores. After all, I'm also doing a virtual running race!

There are suggested workouts each day but the only "hard" rule is to ride for the prescribed length of time. As a mountain biker, it's hard for me to do things like "10 minutes of Zone 2" on the trails so I won't worry about that too much. We are allowed to exchange the workouts for two different days if that fits better into our schedule

The main goal (other than helping to support a race director) is to raise money for Bikes without Borders, a charity based in the Greater Toronto Area that "uses bikes and bike-related solutions to empower individuals in marginalized communities through mobility". Currently, their focus is on outfitting refugees and low-income families living in underserved Toronto communities with refurbished bicycles through The Great Bike Recycle.

I'm currently the top fundraiser in the event after donating to myself when I entered. This is actually kind of sad so now I feel some obligation to seek other donations to help them pass their goal. If this cause interests you, they offer a Canadian charitable receipt and my fundraising page is here.

Oh, right - the ride!

Yesterday was my longest ride of the year so I just did a short meander through Palgrave this morning. We're in the middle of a heat wave with no end in sight. On the way back, I stopped in our neighbour's meadow for some cooldown raspberries. I think this will become a regular thing. :)

'Bent and I biked at the Kolapore Wilderness Trails, which never disappoint. The forest is spectacular. Some trail sections are a bit too rocky for me but there is plenty of beautiful riding. In 2.5 hours on the trail, I think we met 4 other riders (not counting the parking lot) and one rock climber hiking to Metcalfe Rock. It was awesome.

'Bent went to run at Pretty River with Tarno and Milla. It's the first run either of us has done with a friend since mid-March. As the only dentist in a small town, 'Bent can't even get the sniffles right now so they were cautious.

I was going to catch a ride there and run on my own but when 'Bent left at 7:30 am, I was still in bed with coffee. Mmm, coffee.

That changed today's Scavenger Hunt plan to the New Street challenge. I figured that should be easy in Collingwood but since the Scavenger Hunt is run/hike, I wanted to choose a street that I'd never even walked on.



To be sure about that, I ran over to Forest Drive and ran to the dead ends of Craigleith Court and Georgian Court. For good measure, I also ran into the little driveway stub for a proposed subdivision that I'd been reading about this morning in their re-zoning application.



I found an access to the Georgian Trail and ran back that way. I practised for the Cheerleader badge by saying "Good morning" to everyone. About two thirds responded and the others looked at me like I'd asked for their wallet. Shrug.

This let me sneak ahead of Cristina on the Scavenger Hunt leaderboard by 11 points but she has so many bonus points that it's tough to compete. I have my fingers crossed that I might be awarded bonus points for the photo challenge. :)

As a winter lover, this makes me cringe. Humidex in the 40s! :((

I've signed up for another virtual race - the Purr de France, which supports the Bikes Without Borders charity and Eric D'Arcy, the 5 Peaks race director. He volunteers as a Freedom Driver for rescue animals so I like to support him.

The event schedule mirrors the Tour de France - 21 stages over 23 days. There are 5 different levels. I signed up for Category E, the lowest level. This means that in each 7-day period, I've committed to 5 rides of 30 mins, 1 ride of 45 mins and 1 ride of 60 mins. In the highest category, it would be 5 rides of 90 mins, 1 ride of 2 hrs and 1 ride of 3 hrs. There are optional suggested workouts for each day along the lines of Le Tour - "mountain", hilly, flat, time trial, etc.
https://raceroster.com/events/2020/31931/the-purr-...

I chose the lowest level because it would be a good habit to get on my bike regularly, and I wanted a minimum daily commitment that should be achievable, even on a busy day. Since I'm not a road rider, I'll need to ride indoors when the trails are muddy, and I can last 30 minutes on a trainer without going stir crazy.

One fun thing about virtual races is that you can do more than one at a time. So between this and the Summer Scavenger Hunt, maybe I'll burn off a few of my Pandemic Pounds in July.

'Bent and I biked from 3rd Line into Three Stage for some fun, rocky single track. Then we had a terrific ride through Castle Glen to 12th Sideroad past Lake of the Clouds. We'd made an appointment to see a house there this weekend, and this ride was so much fun that it pretty much sealed the deal for us. Then we learned that the house sold yesterday so it's back to Realtor.ca for us. (There is a crazy story here that I'll be able to share at some point.)

'Bent and I lent our canoe to Tarno and MIlla so we could all paddle around the Collingwood Harbour area. We used our kayaks. It was a nice way to start a hot day, and it got downright adventurous when we went outside the breakwater for a little while - especially for the canoeists!





We have some questions about this cottager.

'Bent, AdventureDog and I joined Tarno and Koko for a brisk, distanced hike around Pretty River Valley Provincial Park on a super hot day. Since we weren't going to be running, this seemed like the perfect day to do the Snappy Happy challenge - 45+ minutes while trying to take some nice photos. It was great to catch up with Tarno - lots of news on both sides.



















We found ways to cool down.









Oh, and I unlocked my first Hidden Challenge. It’s going be short but difficult!