Smooth Landing

To the young lady who warned the rest of us that she may scream upon landing, thank you.

Ballooning

Up 1300 feet, moving at 20 kph [13mph], a therepeutic adventure. The tranquility is unattainable Disney magic. For my wife's 29th birthday i promised her something to give her a little lift. Simon our English Pilot added value to the flight. After the 45 minute flight there was champagne and delightful conversation with the Farmer where we landed in his field.
The body of water in the picture is Kempenfelt Bay which runs into Simcoe Lake where we live.

Canadians Only ; Not available to U.S. residents

A few years back I was training with SP & noticed his bike speedometer was in MPH. His explanation was to train the mind differently as well as to prepare him for events south of the Tim Horton line. Fast forward to last night. I purposely changed my Bontrager speedometer from KMH to MPH.
I have to agree with SP ; it works. Our Canadian minds become so condition to thinking in kilometers that riding in MPH units made me push myself that much harder. I'm going to ride for the balance of the week in the old imperial system which i believe is used by only one nation.
Perhaps the Tea Party should make this their primary platform before they fix the 17 trillion debt, we're going to switch to the metric system like Canada.

review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

James Franco delivers a level four performance as the lab chemist perfecting "113" thats end game is to reverse alheimers. What the fudge? Am I watching Planet of the Apes? It was, without any camio from Charlston Heston or Roddy McDowell from the 1968 original. No, I was not effected by having to sit in row 4 from the screen. Side bar conversation here, how in gods name does anyone, watch a wide screen movie in row one ? I'd rather do a yoga back bridge, on a carpet of nails while two 10,000 watt air search light beams flash in each eye than sit row one. Go to your local Drive-In, stand so your nose touches the screen, take four steps back ; that's Row one. Oh, but the leg room ? Couldn't make out the ocean blur but had mega room for my legs to stretch. Go ahead & enjoy your movie. Cineplex should pay movie-goers who self-mutalate themselves to sit in Row one? Before i get back to the PotA, a message to the owners of Cineplex. Please fire the contract cleaners and replace the carpet because the stench in the theatre is bacteria alarming.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an entertaining movie, the adaptations and life like chimps are truly eerie real. I was expecting more in the story plot especially being a true fan from the originals, nonetheless I would give it three and half stars. I know what your thinking, not much of a movie review. Your right.

Bracebridge Olympic Tri

There is something quite soothing about the Triathlon races in Gravenhurst, Bala, & Bracebridge. Yes, small town, at the same time a real calm and connectiveness among athletes. I like to personally thank John Salt, Jason, and the rest of the Multi-Sport Team for putting on.
2011 Bracebridge Olympic was personally a decent race for me. My swim time was once respectable and my bike too. On the flats heading out, I thought to myself at this pace, I might even hold a 38 kph avg and then i hit the hills and many of them. It's strange how your mind seems to forget these little details from the prior year. To the gentleman with "60" on the back of his left calf who went ripping by me, thank you for giving me hope. It can be done. I think it was Murry Legge from Richmnd Hill who held a 35.4 kph avg on the bike. One word "wow". To my friend Rex, who just suffered a terrible crash in IMLP and broke his collar bone and ribs. On the bike coming back into Bracebridge we were held up by three cars moving at 25 kph while the bikes were up around 35. After much frustration I made the attempt to pass the Honda directly in front of me on the right which i could easily see about 4 feet of clearance. I know what you're thinking and yes i agree. As I pulled even with the Honda's righthand view mirror, the Honda began to veer right leaving me with about 12 inches of asphalt before i would be forced onto the gravel shouldar. It was at this precise moment Rex, I thought of you and on went my brakes hard to put me in a position once again behind of Honda. For a brief moment I had visions of a nasty fall. No one was hurt and I'm pretty sure the young driver in the Honda was completely oblivious. Enough about the bike.
My run time was 49 minutes which i wouldn't normally post but considering a have done absolutely no running what so ever ; I'll take it.
It's unfortunate that our local Barrie race conflicts with Bracebridge as obviously it would be nice to do both. Finally to the residence of Bracebridge, thank you for your support.

Riding in Ottawa

Paul from Kananta bikes 90km plus every Sunday. On Colonel By Dr. one of several streets that the City of Ottawa closes every sunday until 1pm, I met Paul. He informed me he makes the journey into Ottawa from Kanata, then does the priority streets and heads back usually giving him 90 to 100 km. Cycling next to the Rideau Canal is not only beautiful, it is incredibly refreshing knowing their are no cars. I'm told there are two other streets just like Colonel By Dr., but unfortunately ran out of time. Many of the ridrs were Mom's & Dad's with their famalies. There were roller bladers too. Like Vancouver, downtown Ottawa has many bicycle lanes, making it safe & easy to get around. My wife and I stayed at the Hotel Indigo (a nice Hotel with history, I'd recommend). [pic of my son on crutches & my wife walking across a bike lane].
The morning of our departure was the first work day of the week and I was pleasantly surprised to see how many "suits' were on bikes going to their office. To the City of Ottawa I give you full marks. That's a Level 4 I believe in the School system of grading.
If you live in the Ottawa area and know of some other hidden gem routes please let me know.
For that fact our Province has an enormous beauty if you know a gem route you like to share ; let us know.