Rolf Devinci

Hola; Today was the Revoutions Halifax,the spin-athon for the Dartmouth General hospital and the CT scanner. What a great time. I showed up for 11AM but missed the first spin session as I needed to change into gym gear. It did give me an opportunity to grab some pictures. I ended up riding from 11:30AM to 2PM with a 10 minute break to put on a fresh shirt. My dryfit was no longer dry...lol. I was right beside a side door and, when closed it was real warm,but open was real cool.Cynthia ended up propping open the door just so that it was a good compromise. It was a great event and lots of fun,all for a good cause. I`ll be back next year. Home to the start of rain that will continue all weekend(sigh)so I`m probably not cycling outside tomorrow or Sunday. Looks like I`ll be spinning at Nubody`s again tomorrow. The AMP road race is scheduled for Sunday but I will not be riding it this year. Weather aside it is not a course that suits me....ok....I`m chicken. The fast downhill into a hai

Art suggested an alternative ride for today(Sunday)that was the perfect solution; we would ride with the slower group but give them a 30 minute head start. Tally ho.....the chase is on. Art,Paul, Rene and myself started the chase at the Enfield Big Stop for a 70K loop through sections of the province I swear I have never been.Weather conditions were good, road conditions went from smooth blacktop to Spring Classics faux cobbles; crappy, potholed misery. Unfortunately on the return trip we also faced a strong headwind and a continual rise in elevation. No major climbs but steady grade increases. Combined with the lousy pavement it was a tough slog. Art and Paul, who routinely ride with the elite guys took it easy on the few big climbs and it was on one particular hill where I felt the worse. Other than that climb the legs felt strong all day and actually got better as the ride progressed. We caught the slower group at about the 3/4 mark where Jeanne jumped in with us and Rene stayed b

It was an awesome day today with sunny skies and mid teens temps. It was also a day of contrasts. I got out to the fast training ride at 8:30AM and started well but then got dropped on the hills leading to the turnaround. I also got dropped in the run -in to Bedford. Ugh! Talk about being demoralized. Two weeks ago I did much better and seem to have taken a step backwards. That said that is what fast training rides are about.....work hard and push till you cannot push harder. Still....these are guys I will race with and right now I`m thinking I shouldn`t bother. I`m ahead of where I was in previous April`s but not near where most of the lads are at in terms of power and speed. It`s my usual nemesis....hills. I just plain suck lugging 204 lbs over the climbs. That begs the question....why have I been unable to drop weight. Other than a little wine on Friday nights I have stopped drinking beer, scrutinized my diet by making wise choices based on the Glycemic Index and avoiding junk(fas

Or lack of therein. Yup.....it`s D Day for Chelsea and time to remove the training wheels. In the pleasant late afternoon sun I steeled my nerves and prepared for the fear, tears and nagging self doubt of teaching a child to cycle a two wheeler with a glass of a 2005 Masi Soave....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Definitely a favorite. It began as expected.....the "I can`t", "I`ll fall", "I`m scared" followed shortly thereafter by the crash, tears and denial. After an hour I persuaded Chelsea to try again and, albeit very tentatively, she got back in the saddle. I reassured her that she would figure it out and that all she had to do was practice, suck up the crashes and "just do it". Eventually she got better at her balance and we headed for the grassy knoll where she successfully rode her bike. Like the Wright brothers the flight was short but sucessful. Another glass of Masi. So...the local lads all got new inline skates at Sportchek who was having a sale. I

Tired legs! That sums it up. I was a bad boy last night and ate and drank way too much while out on a sociable with friends. I was feeling a wee bit seedy this morning after some beers and wine but the sun streaming through the windows meant an actual Spring day. Up and at em! Afrer a couple coffees I geared up and went for a ride out to Bedford. Ended up seeing all kinds of cyclists on the roads including club members Kari, Venetia, Susan and Adrien.(see pic).They were doing the "around the basin" loop. I rode a couple k`s with them but then turned around as I had my last day of ball hockey in the afternoon. Hockey went well. I was steady and played well in backstopping the squad to victory. It wasn`t as hot as I expected in the gym so that was a good thing. The legs were tight after the morning's bike ride but performed admirably in nets. Home to a shower and then over to the playground. I promised Chelsea I would take her to Northcliffe for some play time and there

I can feel your sense of dismay that I have not decorked a bottle of wine tonight as is my usual custom.(wink). Instead I have opted for a glass of rum to chase away the bone chilling dampness of a miserably gloomy April Friday night. The 13th no less. That said it was the perfect opportunity to take the kids out and do some research on Josh`s school project on Ghosts. To get a different edge I suggested we visit local haunted sites and get pictures of him for his presentation in or around the reputed hauntings. One site we visited was Deadman's Island, a jut of land in the Northwest Arm, that I have cycled past numerous times but did not even know existed. It was used as an internment camp for Yankee POW`s during the War of 1812 and many of them are buried there in unmarked graves. Recent legend has it that as local development encroached on the area orbs of light were seen among the construction sites in agitated states. The ghosts of American dead? We also visted a couple chu

No.....actually it is my legs returning to life after having them ridden off this morning. I did the early(fast)training ride and then the club ride immediately afterwards. Turns out the club ride was almost as fast as the training ride in addition to the headwind that came up on the return to Bedford. Legs did well considering it was my first substantial ride since November and I felt strong on the bike. The spin class/core strength regimen this winter has paid off. The last 5km were tough but I managed to suck wheel and hang on, albeit after a couple of the lads were taking it easy on me.(wink) In comparison to previous Springs I`m way ahead of where I was in the past. No stats tho....forgot to reset my computer.That said if you factor in my slow paced ride around the city last week(28k at about 26kp average)the total including today was..... 106.16 km 28.5kph average 62kph max. I took my camera but found out there were no batteries so I don`t have any pics.Doh!That said Jose post

Religious trappings aside(for me)the miracle of Jesus is not in the question of his divinity(does it really matter)but his compassion, inclusiveness and ability to forgive. "Forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me...". Words to try and live by.OK......Geo puts away his spiritual soapbox. Have a Happy Easter/Passover. Pics Janelle - a club member currently living in New Zealand. Chelsea and Fluffy(her main squeeze) with the Easter Bunny.

LOL........compliments of my sister`s blog from Down Under....... thedickinsons.blogspot.com ...you were hoping to brush up on some Australian slang, here's a few expressions I hear everyday, all day. Keep in mind that Australians speak fast, so these expressions usually involve all the words running together... 1. "How you going?" (Australian version of our "How are you doing? or "How's it going?"). 2. "Ta" (Australian version of our "Thanks". They say this for everything...you hand them their credit card, "Ta", hold the door open for them, "Ta", ask them to hold for a moment on the phone, "Ta"...Anyway you get the point. This expression seems a bit odd to me. 3. "Yeah, you're alright." Remember...this one especially has to be said fast, with all the words running together. I'm noticing that Australians say this A LOT. If you ask to try on clothes at the store, they say, "Yeah, yo