WTB training partner who doesn't flat repeatedly on training rides

Another great weekend of training has come and gone. Yesterday Curtis and I had quite an adventuresome day,.... long day. We decided to hit up the trans Canada highway east of town. This is my stomping grounds and my fav. road. I know it sounds weird, flat, straight, extra traffic must be boring right? You would think that, I do like climbing, but I also love to put the head down and gooooo. This highway now is pretty smooth now that they fixed the last crappy part coming back into chestermere.

So anyways we headed out and no sooner had we gotten out of town and Curtis's bike decided to flat, so we stopped and fixed it. Both in good spirits still we continued on. A older couple were riding along collecting cans and stuff and putting it into their trailer stopped to talk to us. They were going the opposite way against traffic and let us know exactly how many crazy drivers there were and this was the reason that they were on the wrong side of the road. I assured them that we were well aware and would be careful thank you and have a good day, as we sped off. The wind was in our faces going out and we got to Strathmore alright, stopped for fuel and continued on. The road after that has some rolling hills, not completely flat. We got to the corner where the road turns south and headed back. I had gone a bit ahead and headed down the big hill before strathmore, turned around and there was no Curtis. Hmmm had I descended the hill that quickly??? Where was he? So after a short wait I got on the other side of the road and headed back into the wind, up the long hill(I think it's about a 3k climb, not steep, but against the wind so challenging). Got to the top and still no Curtis, so I kept going over some more rolling hills till I saw him fixing flat #2. Oh well he had it finished by the time I got there, he's getting faster at that. So we got going again, I got near the big hill and kept looking back to make sure he was still there. I wasn't going to descend that hill with out him on my tail. So I head down, get to the bottom and start the next climb, turn around and he's gone!?!?!?!? I'm like, but he was right there! So I turn around and head back, this time on the same side, against traffic. Wow with the big trucks wind and the head wind they nearly knocked me over. Only half way up the hill, into the wind and I met up with Curtis assuming the position again(fixing his tire in the ditch). This time he was out of tubes so I got mine out and helped change his flat. This time I used a C02 Cartridge to fill it up. It works really nicely, I think I impressed him with my handy work. :D I got some extra hill climbing in, not by choice but what the hey. I was mighty impressed, Curtis kept his cool. We took some extra time to examine his tire and found nothing. hmmmm oh well that was the last spare, one more and I'll be geting the van.

So we got back into Strathmore, re-fueled(I needed it I was out of fluid and really thirsty). Curtis phoned home telling his family that he'd be a lil longer and that we were ok. So we started the last leg of our journey home. I think by this time he was getting a bit paranoid and kept wondering when the next flat would happen. Well I'm happy to say it never did, we made it to Chestermere and finally home. We had a nice tail wind so we could cruise at a steady pace. Thank you MN I appreciate you not changing the wind direction on us. One weird thing that kinda creeped me out. Some couple in a half ton decided to trail us from Chestermere all the way into Calgary with their hazards on. Really strange, who does this??? At first I was wondering if they were going to hit us, or if they really thought they couldn't get around us? They had their hazards on and didn't look anxious so I figured they weren't going to hurt us. Later on it dawned on me that it probably was this old couple we met on bikes. I guess they thought the need to escort us back into Calgary. At first I was mad and wanted to tell them off, later on I realized they just thought they were helping and I guess it was nice of them. There was a really wide shoulder, not much need for it, but w/e good intentions so they're alright in my books. :)

After the bike we went out for our brick run. We had been out there for 6.5 hours plus so even though it was a relatively short ride the time in the sun was long. I was surprised though, my legs were baked, but I ran really well. Curtis too, was hurting but helped keep a solid steady pace. I challenged him by taking him on my really hilly course, it ended up being a bit longer like 45-50 minutes, but we both were up for the challenge and when we finished we felt like a million bucks. Great long training day 7+ hours in the sun and we were both still upright and smiling. Some great confidence! Good job Curtis!

Today was really tough getting out of bed, I went out late with some friends last night. There are only so many times that you can excuse yourself with some "I gotta get this training in", or "I'm tired from all the training" excuse before you'll start to loose them right??? So I went, had a few beers, which made it rough getting up cause I had trouble sleeping.

Curtis called and we headed down to the Y for a swim. Neither of us felt too motivated but we stuck to the plan and got the warmup, main set, then promptly quit. LOL Didn't feel like doing anything more after that. I went home, scarfed some food down and headed out on the bike ride. Today's bike was to be a 2 hour ride with some 5x 10min hard. Woooooo I knew I'd have to dig deep again to do this. My legs were fatigued from yesterday. Oh well I'd see what I could do. I got a nice warmup in, felt pretty good and started the first 10 min hard section. I took the bike canal path going to Chestermere today. I used to love this path and hadn't ridden it for awhile. Another beautiful day, wow, I love summer. Thanks again MN, you rock. I wore my cda jersey for the second day in a row. I figured it might help with some good vibes for Susi as this was her IM day. The jersey stank, but hey I was riding alone so it wasn't bothering anyone but myself. I took on my 10 minute intervals hard, very hard. Most of them I kept my hr at 150 or higher, I think I even saw 156 at one point. The harder I rode the more snot and sweat collected between my nose and mouth. I'm pretty sure on that 156bpm rep I had a full on river of snot/sweat running down my face. ewwwwwwwwww What an awsome effort, snot and all I didn't mind. I know my biking will take on a whole new level this year. Thanks Greg, this guy's gonna rock the bike!! Time to rock the bed(not literally), night all,

Darryl