Rolf Devinci

Awake at 4:30AM I was at the venue real early so it gave me the chance to check out the course. The city had patched and paved the rough sections so it was in excellent shape. The weather had finally cooperated with a warm sunny day as well. It was shaping up to be a great racing day! I was adamant I would not volunteer this year but focus solely on the race. At the last hour,heeding the call,I said I would help sweep the course prior to the first race at 9AM. Somehow I ended up doing the whole loop myself and, thankfully, it was relatively debris free for the most part. I got back to registration around 9AM and placed my race numbers on my jersey. On the way to put the race number on my bike DM,in full racing kit, asked why I was not ready. Seems the Master B/C race started at 9:30AM.I was under the assumption it began at 10AM. Holy Hanna! KT got my bike number on the top tube while I geared up at a record pace. Not the way to prepare for a 40 minute plus two lap criteriu...

Heading into June already! Nice! You wouldn`t know it from the rainy dreary weather outside this morning. I guess I`ll opt out of the usual Saturday club ride. Probably a good thing since tomorrow if the 2009 Halifax Criterium. Our club is hosting the race as past of the HRM Bike Week so it should be a good time, especially since the weather forecast is looking like sun and 18c.I am working the event but also racing the Master B/C category. It`s a good event for me on wide, FLAT boulevards around the Commons. Next week I`m on vacation which is nice considering next Sunday is the Navy Triathlon at Shearwater. They piggyback a duathlon on the event which is what I will be participating in. Having the week off will give me a chance for some last minute run training and cycling in the aerobars. Hopefully I will be able to scope out the run course which(I believe) is outside the confines of the airbase. The cycling course is on the tarmac so it is also dead flat but subject to the coastal ...

Under glorious sunny skies the Saturday club ride departed the shop this morning with a nice turnout of riders. I jumped in the second group leaving Bedford as my ride out indicated I didn`t have good legs today.Felt like concrete posts to be honest. It was a nice easy pace for the first leg that included a jaunt through Fall River Village. Just what I needed to prepare for a harder effort heading out to Laurie Park. That said my attempt of a sprint came up pretty flat so the legs were still somewhere else. It`s good being a man and a nature break in the woods meant I didn`t have a full bladder on the return trip. The departing group was too large considering the traffic so PD, AB and I dropped off to form a separate group. Joined by P? our group of four had an excellent synergy, good communication and solid pacelining even in the late morning traffic. You gotta love a fast, fun and steady paceline! It`s a thing of beauty! Including my cycle home after coffee at Tim Horton`s I ended ...

Go figure? Today(May 22) the local temps got up to 28C in Halifax. Wow! After leaving work, hopping on a bus to Dartmouth to pick up my car(getting serviced), grabbing some groceries and beer on the way home I find myself on the back deck enjoying the evening weather. Wow........what a beautiful day! Enjoying a glass of red wine after a couple Sleeman`s earlier basking in the sunshine of the front deck I decided to grab the laptop and do some blog updating. I`m looking forward to the club ride tomorrow but am still a bit skittish after last night`s incident. Cycling home from dropping the car off at Dartmouth Dodge I was "cut off" by an inattentive motorist turning onto the Windsor Junction road. Whoa! After locking up the brakes and keeping the bike upright I managed to avoid both the quarter panel of a Buick and stay upright. Crikey - I was pissed! In the glass tonight is a Stanley Shiraz Cabernet blend, now available in a 4 litre cask at the NSLC. A decent wine at a value ...

On a damp, wet, foggy morning I got down to snap some shots of all the runners;5km,10km,half and full marathon. Well done to all. I kinda wish I`d have run the 5km/10km this year. It`s on the schedule for 2010 I threw up the pics on a Picassa web album slideshow(linked on the right hand column)if you are so inclined.

The Tour of the Orchards started today so I fully expected to see a smaller group at the club ride this morning. Happy to see the rain stopped,as it has been wet for the last week,I headed out to Bedford anxious to get in a good ride. As expected many members were away racing or officiating the two Saturday stages of the Annapolis Valley stage race hosted by Breakaway Cycling but we still ended up with 30+ riders. Hopefully the race had a good turnout and decent weather as well.I considered racing but my lack of training time, unfamilarity with the course routes, this nagging cough, forecasted rain and family commitments made an early season weekend of racing a flight of fancy. I ended up riding with about 4 different groups today as there was the chance to switch around depending on how your legs felt as the ride progressed over the 50 km loop. With many of the faster riders away racing in the valley it gave some of the intermediate riders the opportunity to "ride up" with...

In the glass tonight is a J.P. Chenet red wine..."perfect partner for red meats, simply grilled...and flavorsome cheeses." I actually grilled some pork chops and had no cheese but it`s a nice wine anyway. On sale at the NSLC for $9.99 it`s a winner! I gotta tell you after a week of rain it was enjoyable to sit on the front deck and watch the world go by under intermittant sunshine.Got to take a good look at my new car as well. A new bike would have been nicer but gotta take care of the family before myself.(sigh)

With the theft of my car in April my training schedule has been disrupted somewhat as my focus has been on domestic finances, car shopping and the stresses involved in any change. Thankfully the vehicle was recovered yesterday and much of my personal effects remained in the vehicle, including my cell phone accessories, CD`s and stuff in the trunk.The insurance company assigned an assessor to view the vehicle and he will write the vehicle off at my request.It`s hard to say how the vehicle was treated while AWOL for 3 weeks and I have since bought another car. Why take a chance that the motor or tranny were abused? The vehicle is in good shape but I don`t want the headaches, especially considering the expenses involved in re-registering and re-insuring the car. Someone will get a good car for a pittance from the auto salvage.I`ll take the insurance cheque,assume a loss, but finally put this whole thing to bed.Done deal. Tonight I officially refocused my training. I closed my gym memb...

Wet rainy conditions in the morning meant that some likeminded fellas opted to do an unofficial club ride later in the day. Under spitting/light rain the group of 8 riders headed off at 3pm to do the usual route. Deciding to ride the traditional CCW rotation the group dynamics were good with everyone riding strong. We detoured into Fall River Village enroute to the Fall River Hill and introduced a couple fellas to the joys of cycling off the beaten track of a subdivision. Hopefully folk will all realize how the wide streets, lack of traffic and hills make for a great addition to the usual route. Plus it adds some good hill training and extra kilometres.I expect too see some of the sub-groups to add the Fall River village to their agenda. The jaunt out to Laurie Park was fast with the tailwind but difficult against the headwind on the return. We ran into a rain squall in Waverley but generally stayed dry for most of the ride. I found myself pulling into the infamous climb past Powderm...