Rolf Devinci

Having opted out of the club ride yesterday since it was rather inclement outside with low temps and gusting winds I was happy to see blue sky and sunshine upon waking this morning. Definitely was a cycling morning and I decided to do a solo ride out the Purcell's Cove road to Herring Cove. A scenic bike friendly but challenging stretch of road I consider the PCR to be my favorite bike route in HRM. Close to home it offers substantial amounts of climbing with scenic coastal vistas.  The road surface is very good out as far as Fort Redoudt and typical Nova Scotia blacktop with some chop the rest of the way to the junction with the  Herring Cove road. Overall it is a decent length of roadway for cycling and survived the freeze/thaw cycle this winter quite well. That is a good thing as I expect PCR will see me upon it quite a bit this season. The other benefit of the route is relatively low (local) traffic familiar with cyclists.I have yet to have a negative ...

I had the pleasure of joining a group of the ladies on today's BPCC Saturday morning club ride out to Fall River. Since I am not actively training for competition this season I have been able to just enjoy the social aspect of cycling and contribute to the club by hanging out at the tail of the blue train assisting in sweep and new member support. A nice but windy day we had a large number of riders out this morning. Rumor has it we have reached 100 members and it is only April. The club is definitely attracting new members while retaining a solid cadre of veterans. It makes for a good mix upon the roads and in the coffee shops. The ladies rode very well today despite the wndy conditions, especially facing the brutal headwinds on the return to Bedford. They are quick to say they are slow but it will not be long before they are up to speed. More important than pure speed is the ability to ride well - to maintain good pace and an  ability to hold a line. The l...

Today I broke out the track spikes and did my first sprints of the season. A nice Spring day I decided to transition off the commute bike and re-introduce myself to some interval running.  Since my usual track(warning track along the fence of the local softball field) was occupied with some fellas playing ball I found a field along the trail that offered 40 yards of decent grass. Completed some track warmup exercises and ran  half a dozen sprints and felt everyone of them. Even with a winter of playing ball hockey the intervals kicked my butt and I am definitely feeling it tonight.  The transition to the track spikes was fine as I have been playing hockey all season in indoor soccer shoes so it didn't take long to get accustomed to the minimalist design. http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.ca/2011/12/minimalist-runningindoor-soccer-shoes.html Felt good to get out running sprints again and now that the weather conditions are improving I will incorporate sprint inter...

 One of my goals this season is to take advanatge of the rails to trails and toss some hardtail trail riding into my cycling mix. Long term goal is to cycle to Bridgewater this summer using the trails that run to the South Shore on the former railway line.  Having done a road ride yesterday with BPCC I opted to tackle the trail out to Tantallon and back. Picked up the trail in Bayers Lake just pass the Second Cup to which I was determined to return too heading home for a post ride coffee. It then occurred to me that the Bike and Bean could be my outbound destination complete with a cup of coffee. I wasn't quite sure how the trail would be after the winter but was surprised to see it was smooth and hardpacked despite the winter meltoff. I was also quite happy to see litter was at a minimum so either users are being responsible or the trail committees are proactive with trash removal. Either way it was nice to see a fairly pristine trail. I left around 8:30AM...

My last club ride ended rather miserably on the Thanksgiving long weekend back in October 2011 so my return to the Saturday morning ride this long Easter weekend was both ironic and appropriate in a fated sort of way. It was a good turnout for early Spring in Nova Scotia with several new faces in the club. Truth be told I kinda felt like I was the newbie since I recognized so few faces from previous years but that is a good thing. The club continues to attract new members which, at a grass roots level, is what the club is all about. My focus for this season of club cycling is to get back to the basics; having fun on the bike and enjoying the social aspect of group cycling. The last several years saw the social ride hijacked by the training ride in pursuit of improved racing performance. My participation in the "beer" rides from 2010 onwards brought back an element of social club riding and became an often welcomed...

Headed out upon the roadways on the Giant for only the second time since last Fall. Nothing serious since I have opted not to race this season so my focus for 2012 is simply to ride my bike and have fun. No more thinking I need an "on the rivet" training ride every time I get in the saddle and no longer will I be a slave to the numbers. In fact I may just remove the damn cycle computer altogether following AB's approach I noticed last summer during the Bridgewater Century ride. My route today was really a recon mission. Now that the top of Fairview is now accessable from Bayers Lake via the Washmill Connector I now have an ideal loop literally in my backyard. I can head out Dunbrack/Northwest Arm Drive to St. Margaret's Bay road which will loop me to Bayers Lake where I climb Washmill to the top of Main Avenue then down to Dunbrack. Perfect little circuit for those days I do not have the time for longer rides. The climb up to the top of Main or, co...

Under sunny but blustery skies I got out for some archery practice this holiday. The plan today was to work on my draw and delivery.Focus was not so much on aiming the arrow but focusing more upon the target. Seemed to work good. I was consistently hitting the 8 inch diameter target two out of three times from about 25 yards. I then opted to do some shooting on unlevel ground and trying to shoot accurately at partially obscured egg flat sized targets. That is the one advantage of the Chinese recurve over my longbow as I can shoot in close quarters and surrounding brush with less effort Shooting at a static(range) target obviously is good for developing good form but stump style shooting is so fun. It does come with a price in broken arrows - I finally shattered one of my bamboo arrows when it impacted (quite unintentionally) a hard wood tree. It was a good morning in the woods nonetheless. Home to make lunch for the ki...

Been a rough week of ball hockey. Guess it is a good thing I love the game. A slapshot off the lower right quad a week ago today...... Fore arm slammed into the wall while fighting for the ball on the forecheck Sunday night...... Two beauties today......slapshot off the left shoulder and one off the left quad while defending in the slot. Once this bruises up I will have matching quad tattoos on both legs.Platelets must be low this week as the bruising seems deeper than usual. Definitely feeling the burn tonight...pass the wine please.

Had my three month scan at the chiropractor's last night and was happy to see little indications of spinal inflamation. The only exception was around C6-C7 where I was experiencing some stiffness probably due to the repetitive strain associated with recent data entry project work on my "trouble" area - the legacy of a bike crash in 2005. It was an excellent result and continues to show marked improvement in my neck/back subluxations despite my exercise regimen and an accident last October. Dr. J was very impressed with my progress since the Thanksgiving weekend crash and continued to stress how remarkable my recovery has been. Prior to March 2010 my neck and back issues had progressed to the point that sheer willpower, determination and painkillers were unable to compensate for the discomfort and it was affecting my sporting activities and employment. So last night I reflected upon the fact that 24 months...

Since I have been spending time hiking through the adjacent woods of late I picked up a Cold Steel Trench Hawk on Ebay. Based upon the traditional tomahawk design this is one awesome tool and one every hiker, snowshoer or hunter should have. Relatively light with an unbreakable composite handle it is made from high carbon steel and fits into a backpack with ease. The blade comes sharp and is an effective chopper. I'm guessing you could even baton with it despite the rear spike as the tang extends several inches down the handle. The spike makes an efficient digger, fire striker and I have used it to help move deadfall tree trunks. The top of the handle has integrated finger groves so it becomes a comfortable close work tool as well. It fits in your hand quite nicely. Tomahawks were originally designed as melee type weapons and this is no exception. In close this is one handy tool for self defense from man or beast. In fact it i...