Back in training !!!!!

Two weeks to the day since I got sick I’m finally back in training. Quite a setback as I was planning to be doing 100 km rides by now , oh well , it is what it is , still lots of training time left. The delay in getting back was that I had to wait until I was able to eat properly again which only happened 3 days ago and then I had to wait to get some strength back which only really happened yesterday.

I took it easy this morning and just did a flat ride, 45 km around the Marsh. It felt good to be back on the road, the legs were a bit heavy at the beginning but then I felt good as I went on. The only complaint I have is that it was COLD !!!!, only 5 degrees when I set out , my fingers were freezing !!!! , it did warm up to a balmy 11 degrees by the time I got home ( nothing like the 24 degrees we had while I was sick ) . I wasn’t the only one that thought it was cold as there were lots of robins and doves hanging around the side of the road taking in the sunshine. Lawns and ditches have got a lot greener since my last ride, and the willow trees are breaking out into leaf, and even though the vast majority of the Marsh is still untouched there were some farmers out there seeding something and covering it with plastic, won’t be long before the Marsh starts producing again.

I put the rack and trunk bag on the bike today, and it works just fine on this bike just as it does on Betsy. I’m using a Topeak RX trunk bag, which slides onto a BeamRack, it works great and I love how easy it is to take off the bike when you stop somewhere. The only thing I need to get is a rain cover for it as it’s not waterproof and does get thoroughly soaked when it rains adding unnecessary weight plus spoiling everything inside. The BeamRack is lighter then a regular rack and it lets you carry up to 9 kg of stuff which is more then enough for this kind if a trip.

I did encounter one problem early in the ride, my mirror broke. I find a mirror a must for road riding and I have been having trouble finding a good mirror to fit this bike. On Betsy I have one that attaches to the handlebar end but I can’t do that with this one as the shifters are there so I’ve experimented with a few options but have found nothing that is specific for this bike so I ended up adapting one, but it was not ideal with the end result that it gave way today. I even contacted Trek and asked them and they really don’t have an answer except to suggest a helmet mirror. I’m not a fan of helmet mirrors but after seeing some of the comments on the “Tour du Canada” forum on the subject I think I’ll give it a whorl, although I still would like a fixed mirror on the bike.