Rolf Devinci

Whoa......what a Saturday club ride today! It was brisk this morning with temps around 3C but we still managed a good turnout for late October. The fast group left the shop with about 10 riders and the pace was moderate for the first 3k as the fellas warmed up the legs. Once over the first set of train tracks on the Rocky Lake road it was as if a light switch was turned on and the pace picked up substantially.We had a good mix of riders all showing good form and keen for race like cycling.Almost immediately we had attacks off the front that kept the pace high as the paceline reeled in the flyers. Heading towards the Fall River Hill I found myself on the front, exactly where I didn`t want to be as the climb approached. Needless to say I drifted off the back with 2 other riders but managed to keep the main group in sight and arrived at the Wilson`s Gas stop shortly thereafter. The ride out to Laurie Park was brisk and you could just sense the group waiting for the one kilometre to go...

Well......Fall is an awesome time to cycle here in the Maritimes but effective last week I have started my Sunday afternoon ball hockey. I know....playing ball hockey during ice hockey season? What gives? I played competitive ball hockey in an assortment of leagues but decided to give it up several years ago but still enjoy the sport. As a result I`ve played indoor ball hockey for many years on Sundays with a bunch of like mined folk. We play in a rec centre/former high school gym so it has the speed of hockey with the smaller confines of a basketball court. As a result it is fast, end to end action. As a goaltender I use ice hockey gear as we use the orange mylec balls that are darn hard and, depending on the shooter, can pack quite the wallop. It`s gentleman rules with no (purposeful) body contact, slapshots past half court or high sticking but gets quite competitive. The net is a little smaller that regulation ice hockey to compensate for the smaller playing surface and to make i...

Didn`t have the time for the scheduled Peggy`s Cove ride and I missed the ladies leaving the shop at 10AM so I ended up doing a solo ride on an awesome Fall Morning. Ended up doing about 70K in an "around the basin" loop with a detour out and back to Laurie Park. As usual I had my digital camera tucked in my jersey pocket but had no one to shoot? Due to the lack of holiday traffic and my solo status I decided to play with some different angles and snap some self portraits. A few of them came out kinda neat. Disclaimer: Don`t do this in high traffic areas or cycling in a group...lol.(wink) Overall it was a good ride. Sometimes it`s good to just head out by yourself and meander around the countryside with no expectations nor agendas. Geo

Wow...what fabulous weather for the long weekend. Sunny and warm. Managed to get in a good club ride on Saturday, albeit a chaotic one. Legs felt real good. Sunday morning saw a spirited spin class....burning off the turkey dinner before I had it...lol. Hopefully I will hook up with a Monday ride since the beautiful weather will continue. If not I at least have the chance to do another spin class in the AM. Here are some pics of the family get together in Chelsea, both at my Grandmother`s farm and sister`s place. A friendly horse on the Arnold`s farm. Sara`s new boots. Mom. Connie. Carol and Sara Me Chelsea Geo

Ugh....just getting over a late September head cold! I hate being sick. It`s one thing to be dealing with sport related aches and pains but illnesses just sux! Managed to get in the club ride on Saturday and, unexpectedly, found myself riding with the fast guys. I planned on taking it easy since I felt like a badger was trying to chew it`s way out of my sinuses but the adreneline of the moment got me pysched. 10K into the fast tempo I got dropped after doing a pull......I couldn`t breathe.I hooked up with 2 other guys, blew out copious amounts of mucous (yeah...I know) and got some fluids. Once we reached the Wilson`s Gas Stop and the group reformed after the Fall River Hill I felt better, the crisp air having opened up the lungs. We headed out to Laurie Park and baxk to Bedford in a spirited paceline. I found my legs and spent much of the return ride on the front. Heading into a small climb about 5 K to go I was second in the paceline behind Matt who was setting a wicked tempo. He ...

My official time for the 40K Provincial time trial was 67.58 which roughly translates into 35.5kph. That`s right around where I expected to be for my first ITT. One lesson learned was the advantage of zooming in your aero position. My aerobars were not the adjustable type so I resorted to cutting them down but never did achieve a good setup. Heading into the 2007 season I intend to replace them with appropriate bars and, hopefully, outfit myself with a skinsuit and aero ITT helmet. In the perfect world a specific time trialing bike would be nice but unlikely. Never say never tho.....lol.(wink) With the cancelling of the Wentworth road race the 2006 schedule has come to an end. It was a good year for me with some strong riding in both the Provincial road race, Halifax crit and Provincial ITT.I ended up placed mid pack in the Master B Cat in the overall BNS point series.

We raced the 40K time trial in the Annapolis valley and it was pushing 30C by start time. A headwind/crosswind arose just to make the rolling hill course more challenging. I left the start gate and absolutely suffered like a dog for the first 15K. My heartrate was in the middle/high 170`s yet my speed was only in the low 30kph. At a couple points along the road when the wind shifted to a headwind I dropped to 28kph. I felt like I was cycling in mud. I knew if I could hold on until the 20K turnaround I`d be OK. I`m a notorious slow starter and knew that I would get stronger as the time trial went onwards. We left the gate in one minute intervals and at the 15K point I was passed by Eric, a teammate, and it was just what I needed. You cannot draft in time trials so I positioned myself about 5 bike lengths behind him and used him as a rabbit. I adopted his cadence and got into a groove, hydrated and got my heart rate down. We passed through the turnaround and I finally got my legs and...