Training Log Archive: bigE

Epic battle with Em, Alex and Jorge. Hit a strand of barbed wire pretty hard but thankfully no serious damage.

Long Advance - Splits

Event: UNO Boulder Dash
 

Second attempt this time along the bike path, free of manholes but plenty of other hazards to worry about. Cool to be skiing in October.

Back and forth across the city all day!

My first attempt at roller-skiing. Possibly the most dangerous activity since my last attempt at racing over jumps on a mountain bike. I did crash but only once and thankfully, unlike the mountain biking, no face plants. Victim of a rookie mistake, I overbalanced and landed as gracefully as you can at 20km/hr. The asphalt wasn't bad but there's a new hole burned through my pants... steep learning curve.

Another issue was the unexpected danger posed by manholes. I was gaining momentum along the empty road when suddenly my pole sprang out of my hand. Looking back I watched as it bounced back and forth and for a brief moment came to a stand still... then to my disbelief, the whole pole slid into the road!!! I realized I had hit one of the tiny holes in the manhole and the pole had fallen in! Thankfully, the handle had saved my poll from disappearing completely. Still rolling, I tentatively made my way around a semi-circle and was heading back when to my horror a car came cruising around the corner! With no time to react I thought to myself, he'll see the handle, he's going to pass over and miss... and then watched as the front tire drove directly over the handle, my hopes dieing with the distinct crunching sounds coming from under the car.

But it wasn't over. When I arrived on scene, half of the handle was still protruding from the manhole cover. Tentatively I tried giving it a tug but the handle nearly split off... The only thing stopping my whole pole from disappearing into oblivion was the cork of the handle! Determined not to loose my pole and brand new carbide tip to the underworld I quickly took my skis off and threw my gloves to the side of the road. Carefully I took a second grip on the protruding half of the plastic and gingerly started to pull. This time the handle dislodged and miraculously emerged with the ski poll still attached.

Crisis aborted. Electrical tape may be enough to savage my situation for now but regretfully I may be digging into the spares before the snow has even fallen.