I do 400 km Brevets for FUN...

I do 400 km Brevets for FUN...
A 4:00 AM start and a weather forecast for a strong South wind made for a small group this time. One of our strong female riders had crashed and broken her collar bone so she had to miss also. Any Wind is not good as we are fairly flat like the Netherlands.  WE started with just 4 of us.

4 AM start.

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The group consisted of 2 recumbents, 1 Quest Velomobile (ME) and my photographer Sam on a road bike. As we rode south we ran into a bit of road construction and I had to slow right down on the loose surface. Then I missed the turn off and rode right past it. Of course Sam had a photo of the event.

Picture of me about to miss a turn!

We stopped at our first control for Breakfast. It was a planned stop and we extended it a little bit because of some rain. One of group had a new recumbent and kept on going while we ate. He wasn't  too used to it and was a little slower.

How the sky looked at Breakfast time.

After breakfast we continued on trying to catch David who kept on going. We never did catch him as he made a wrong turn and went the wrong way. When the sun came out he figured out his error and turned around. He then ran out of water and got heat stroke. He finally stopped at a farm and got water, found a tree to lye down under and went for a 3 hour nap. He made his way home after that and still did 300 km.

Entering the US border station.

We crossed the border and headed for Roseau Minnesota  USA. for lunch.

After the border in the USA.

Our route.

The weather turning stormy.

We had wind and heat to contend with but closer to home storms started to brew. The last stretch was a dash to ride between two storms. I made it without getting wet

Thunderstorm

They had a severe thunderstorm watch out but we had no choice but to dash home. It was a different type of ride, a challenge but it was FUN...

In the News and on TV- The Quest

In the News and on TV- The Quest

I have been busy as usual and no time to blog. I have a few minutes before I leave on a 400 km Brevet. Commuter Challenge was a couple of weeks ago and I got interviewed by a TV station. They shot 1/2 hour of video and used the worst 10 seconds of it. Here is the link:Commuter Challenge 


Yesterday was Bike to Work Day and I volunteered at a pit stop instead of working. Another TV station was doing the weather report from there and did the report from inside the Quest.  Here is the link for the web page picture with the Quest.Global News    I had lots of questions about the Quest.

And now I'm off for 400 km of Fun.

What is this world coming to?

What is this world coming to?
When I ride on a Brevet I usually get waved at by passing cars. I get my photo taken by passing cars very often. I even have people stop to ask about the Quest and our ride when we do stop. Everyone is friendly. Canadians for the most part are like that. That's why I was shocked when I heard that a cyclist in another province was shot in the arm while riding his bike in a Brevet.Link to news story.    I also found another story that was shared on our facebook page.  Another story with a map too. 

 

Craig Premack

           This is very un Canadian! We pride ourselves as a peaceful country. I hope to post soon that they caught this nut with the gun. I will post any news as I get it. The cyclist will recover, but he should never have had to go though that. Our thoughts and prayers are with him!

 And Now 300 KM of Wind, Heat and Rain
Now it was time for our first 300 km. Brevet. The day started early and we left the start at 6:00 am promptly. We were a small group of only 5 this week. This week Sam took the pictures as I forgot the camera at home.The story of the day was a warm head wind (strong) and lots of heat.

Getting ready to start.

Riding into the wind on our flat prairie roads.

Great picture by Sam of me. My new profile photo!

Arriving in Vita, our half way point.

This was close to where we turned back north and had  a tail wind finally. The tail wind only lasted 40 km and turned back into a head wind as we rode into some thunder storms.

The storm we riding into.

We decided to wait out the worst of the storm and stopped for some supper and tire repair.

Tire repair while sitting out the storm.

After the worst part of the storm passed we continued on and the only event was having to wait for a mile long train in the rain.

Waiting for a long train in the rain.

 I will have to a box to stand on next time I get my photo taken with these tall guys.A later finish, but we all made it. And as usual I had FUN riding my Quest.

We finished.

200 KM of FUN!

200 KM of FUN!
Here in our part of Canada our Brevet season starts later in the year than other parts of the world. Our local club the Manitoba Randonneurs, usually has the first Brevet on the first Saturday in May. It was a cold but sunny day with lots of wind. Our second one was a perfect day for a Brevet. Sunny, a little wind and not too hot or cold. Our second Brevet brought out only 9 of us, but only 2 of us had ridden the previous Brevet.

The Start at the coffee Shop

 No Recumbents this time so I rode at the back at the start and let the group find their own pace. Of course I stand out very well being the only Quest Velomobile. The group has given the Quest a name. They call it the Human Powered Banana or H.P.B.

Our first Control.

 

I'm at the back again.

Back at the finish.

I rode with the group until our brunch stop. We ate and then broke into two groups. I rode with the faster group for a while but found the pace too slow. I picked up my pace and I soon found me at the next control ahead of everyone else. I continued on and arrived at the final control which was the coffee shop where we started. I had some coffee and apple pie and answered questions about the Quest for an hour before the first group showed up. I had my best time to date. Garmin map and numbers
And as always I had lots of FUN...

What's New?

What's New?

I haven't written a blog for a while, so I had to write this one to say I am still alive. Not much happening. It's mostly work, ride and more work. Most of my riding has been on the Trike, as I have been waiting for the Air shock to come back from Risse. I never like to say anything bad about a small company as I know what type of things happen. They haven't returned any emails or phone calls yet as to what is the hold up. I finally called Bluevelo last week and bought a stock shock so I can ride the Quest again  Bluevelo shipped it the same day and I was riding again a couple of days later. Thanks Randy and Ray for the great service.
         It's been a long winter and as I write this we still have some snow left in the yard to melt. It raining today and that should melt the rest I hope. Then if it ever warms up the yard work will start. And when you have dogs you will know what lurks under all that snow.
      

  I have been following a blog from down under called Rotovelo Across Australia . He is hoping to be the first person to cross Australia in a Velomobile. I know I could never afford to do that ride so it's nice to see his pictures. Check it out if you have time.

More Winter Racing: With the dogs Now!

More Winter Racing: With the dogs Now!
This last weekend I had a choice of doing two things on Sunday. Either I go racing with the dogs to Kenora or go on the Polar Bear Run with the Monster Trike. Well faith decided it for me. The fuel pump quit Saturday night on the truck and the Monster trike  won't fit in the Toyota like the Dog sled does.
     So Sunday morning I loaded up the Dog sled in the Toyota and took 2 dogs for the ride. No room for the wife so she stayed home to paint.  We traveled two hours east to the town of Kenora located on Lake of the Woods. The race was held at the local ski hill     Mt Evergreen  on their cross country ski trails.

Perfect weather for the race on a perfect trail. The trail was only 4 km long but it had lots of curves, uphills and great down hills with tight corners. There were more than a few curves where the sled was touching the bushes or trees as I went by. We had the third fastest time of the day and we were first in our class.

We made the front page of the local paper.

I made a video of the run and left in the natural sound. I didn't realize how much I talked to the dogs until I heard my self on it. This is the first edit and I cut it down quite a bit, but it could be shorter. We used a kick sled but we caught up and passed some teams on skis who left a couple of minutes ahead of us. It was a close finish, but time wise we were much faster as we left 2 minutes behind the team that passed us. Here is the link to our Kenora Race video. The race was also a fund raiser for the local dog rescue. The trails were the best ones we have ever raced on and we really had lots of FUN...