Rolf Devinci

....to calm my nerves! In the glass on this All Hallows Eve is a wonderful, cherry red type A......um...er... I mean an(equally)delicious 2007 Bouchard Aine&Fils Beaujolais Superieur. Produced from 100% Gamay grapes it is an easy drinking red wine, perfect for those nights you just wanna have some fun handing treats out to the kids. It`s been a surprisingly motivated past week and I managed to string together five straight days of training.Most importantly I managed to do a 2.5 mile run on Tuesday complete with some much neglected strength training. It`s gonna be cool in the AM but the weather looks good for the usual Saturday morning club ride. In soccer terms we are into "extra time" when it comes to decent cycling weather so it`s good to take advantage of the late Fall weather. What`s that I hear....the resounding "thud" of more ghoulish footsteps upon the theshold? One more gulp of type A and off I creep......bwaaahaaaaahaaaa!

The Saturday club ride was blessed with an almost perfect Fall day. Sunshine and temps between 6 - 12c. I was quite keen on getting in a late season ride and opted to join the second group on the road. We started with a nice warmup out of Bedford but then fell into the usual tempo heading to Fall River. Averaging speeds in the 32 - 40kph range we reached the Fall River hill in good pacelining form. As usual the pack busted up on the climb with me trailing on the bottom. As the hill progressed I fell into a good climbing cadence, caught some of the riders who passed me on the bottom and crested the summit with vigor. Nice! The jaunt out to Laurie Park was good but the legs did feel heavy after the hill climb. No sprint for me at the 1KM to go sign. I hydrated at the turnaround stop and finished a Powerbar. The ride back to Bedford was tough against a moderate headwind but the paceline was tight, fast and fun. Once on Rockey Lake road I was feeling the "love" but managed to ...

In the glass tonight is a 2007 Ruffino Chianti....."famous for it`s fresh bouquet, ruby red color and velvety clean taste....`` Nice!A pleasant red that goes well with all Italian foods, red meats and cheeses. Yummy! It is a lovely Fall day today and the weather forecast looks prime for the club ride tomorrow morning. I am definitely looking forward to a good leg burner of a ride considering the season is winding down. Will not be too many opportunities left before the winter season sets in.....(sigh). Till then I am hunkering down with my bottle of Ruffino awaiting the loaf of Italian bread to come out of the bread machine.Bread and wine....does it get better.

I successfully completed my first duathlon today in Riverport under OK weather conditions. Cloudy with sunny periods it remained surprisingly cold. Overall I placed 50th out of 84 competitors and 14/21 in my age group. Here are my splits.......4km run/28km bike/4km run 68 19:12 4:48 34 53:03 31.7 67 25:53 6:29 I set a personal best on the first run, my bike time was actually better but I had a slow transition that was added to the cycling time and my final run a study of pain and suffering.LOL. The first run was tough. I had a hard time managing my breathing but thanks to the lady(with the shapely bum)in front of me heading back to transition I was able to "focus" on something other than my gasping and settle in to a better finish. The transition was not good. I underestimated how hard it is switching footware while standing with gloves on after running 4km.Took me much longer than I planned getting geared up for the bike. Agonizingly slow! The bike was good. I fe...

In the glass tonight is a 2005 Sutter Home Pinot Noir. Grapes grown in California`s Napa Valley have produced this decent wine. I have had better Pinot Noirs but for the price this is a great deal. On sale at the NSLC for $10.40. Nice! The Riverport Duathlon is on Sunday so I`m looking forward to my first Du. Somewhat timid as well as I really don`t know what to expect. My goals are far from lofty....my plan is to complete the race and set a benchmark for next season. This past week was hectic so I didn`t have the chance to train as I had hoped but, perhaps,it was an unintentional taper.I got a ride in Monday and a 4km run in last night. I pushed fairly hard trying to mimic a race pace and did set a personal best.....3.75km in 19:33. I`m far from a fast as my running remains a work in progress.I`ll plan on an easy club ride tomorrow morning. The weather looks prime for Sunday with little wind, sun and 9c. Bring it on!

My spouse had Sunday off work so we all headed down the 103 to spend Thanksgiving with the family. Beautiful weather with lots of food and laughs. As usual I jumped in to help out in the kitchen so didn`t get to use the camera as much as I had hoped. I did manage to capture my daughter on the old hay wagon and she got a pic of me holding up the barn......lol. Left for home with a full belly and some jars of pickles and homemade jam. Nice! Monday morning I did some Fall house work by cleaning out the chaos that is the basement. The junk one accumulates over the years! The roads dried and the sun poked through the clouds occasionally so I jumped into an ad hoc ride this afternoon. It wasn`t a long ride but the tempo and swirling(head)winds made it a leg burner. Ended up with a 30.8 average over 44 km.

In the glass tonight is a 2005 Osborne Solaz, a Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon blend. This Spanish red wine is...." A modern blend...resulting in a fruity wine with a deep red color, elegant aromas and roundness that comes from four months aging in oak barrels." Seems like a good match for the typical cool Canadian Fall evening with the Tempranillo definitely adding an unique character to the wine. Looks like it will be a nice Thanksgiving weekend in terms of the weather. I`m looking forward to the club ride tomorrow morning.Should be a good oportunity to get in a late season hammerfest. Stay tuned! Post script; The Saturday club ride was surprisingly painful. It was fairly windy and I had to pull over 2 km into the ride when my cell phone rang. Seems my daughter doesn`t quite understand what "call if it`s only an emergency" means.....(sigh). I bypassed another group trying to get back to my original pack which probably was not a great idea considering the hea...

Unfortunately it is a sign of the approach of winter as I resume my usual Friday night wine selections. For the inaugural Fall 2008 choice I have a 2007 Chilean Pinot Noir. In the glass tonight is Cono Sur with a bicycle on the label...rather fitting considering the nature of this blog...... "The bicycle symbolizes our spirit of innovation, passion, commitment and respect for the enviroment.....this Pinot Noir is full of rich aromas of cherry, plum and strawberry finished with a subtle spiciness...." This is a pleasant wine and made Wineaccess`s 2008 Best Wines under $25 as part of the International Value Wine Awards. At $12(ish)a bottle at the local NSLC it is indeed a nice buy. The weather should be clear,albeit windy,tomorrow so it could be a challenging club ride. It`s been over a week since I have been on the bike so I am looking forward to getting a ride in the books. Riverport Duathlon is 16 days away and I`m still planning on competing.Should be fun...in a m...