m y T r i L i f e

Half Way Home

Less than 3 months left in Australia. Given that February is a short month, I'm roughly half-way through this trip.. or half way home.

I'm so glad to be missing out on the awful things about the Canadian winter:

• -35 days with nasty windchill
• icy roads and running paths
• the short days that leave you begging for more sunlight.
• sitting on my bike trainer for endless hours

But, on the flipside, I miss the good things:

• all of you...yeah you!
  
• the soft crunch of snow and the bite of the cool air as I run under the moonlight
• wasting time (or sometimes working!) at Starbucks or Oolong Tea House
• running crazy-hard cross country races and the good soup and goodies afterwards.
• watching hockey games in the bars/pubs on 17 Avenue (cricket just doesn't cut it!!!)
  

I'm sure I can think of more points for each, but you get the picture.

So anyways....

The Tour Down Under was great to watch. The last pro race I was able to catch was part of a stage in the Tour of Denmark in August 2005. There isn't much chance of catching pro cycling in Canada. I managed to catch the first and last stages and part of stage 3. This race only keeps growing in prominence each year... it will be a world class event someday. There was also women's crit series and veterans race series as part of the event. All this road racing has me thinking about possibly getting a road bike again when I return to Canada.

Unfortunately, the usually perfect South Australian weather was not so perfect. A 1 in 50 year monsoon rain trough descended from the Northern Territory and inundated central and south Australia, and even sent rain as far south as Melbourne. Some areas in the outback received 150mm of rain in less than 12 hours! Despite the deluge, everyone was happy to see the rain in the middle of a long-term drought. There is plenty of talk here about how most of the major cities in Australia face serious water issues... and by that I mean completely running dry!

Training has been going very well, as I hit my first big week in January with over 20 hours of training. A couple easy weeks to recover and get a massage, and now this week I'm going to try and hit the magic 30 hour mark. It's been a slow month at work, so I have had plenty of time to get out and enjoy riding and running in the hills. With none of the distractions of being in Canada, I get to bed early every night, eat well, and feel great, despite the volume. Honestly, I'd prefer to be a little busier at work though, gotta make money! If anyone is looking for a part-time webmaster...

posted by Greg Nicholson @ 1/23/2007