What kind of Blog is this anyway...

Well...it happened..my 92 yr old grandmother passed away this morning at 6:20 am and was notified 10 minutes later. The common denominator to this blog was that the last event, the 24hr summer solstice, marked the wknd she had her first stroke...about three days prior to. To say this was a shock.....not in the least, she was aging and fast. She was a strong independant woman of 92 that golfed every tuesday up until about a month ago. She had wisdom in her presence and youth that gleamed from her eyes whenever you had the opportunity to talk about anything and everything. This was the woman who was part of my earliest memory that would don a knitting needle, sitting quietly in the corner who personified the "cottage" as we knew it. She was advancing in her years.....this is inevitable and to see her age was just what it was. She will truly be missed.

The day I saw her in the ER at Smith Falls was hard......someone so strong.....so independent.....at the mercy of her own mind and body. 92 and a big stroke...odds aren't in anyone's favour....if anyone could "pull through it", it would have been my Granny. I still love the fact that she had a DNR (Do Not Resucitate) on her file....it's her..She will be missed and will always be remembered in spirit with strong association around the family cottage.

A fitness blog.......yeah, that hedonistic, selfish attempt at motivating one to strive to bigger and better. This wknd, my father, who was also my best man at my wedding will be my support guy for this event. It's not about the race or the fact that I will be "suffering" throughout the 5 plus hours ( because really....after 5 hours it gets tough) to get 8 hours of consecutive riding....it's about the fact that I've got a pops who is pumped about seeing and supporting his only son participate in his most recent passion. Another highlight is being able to share this wknd's experience with a guy with whom personifies positivity and recently, dedication and perseverence...Tommy H. This is a guy, with which the first time i met, was sporting a Cannondale Super V, because he cracked the frame on his Gary Fischer Sugar 3....trying to think back to when this guy wasn't tuned in to the positive vibes..can't really tap into it.....maybre a glimpse when we were in Moab our first tour, but that had to do with the fact that he just wanted to RIIIIIDE or EXPERIENCE EVEN MORE of whatever and in present time....would love nothing more than to push the button on my camera with this guy podium'ing in this wknd's event.......RIIIP it TOMMY BOY!!!

Back to introspective...We all suffer.....sometimes when we can control the level of suffering and deepen that level of tolerance, I think this gives us a sense of "control".....in reality....shit can happen big and quickly...so..to think that we truly have control is naivity in it's purist form.

Back to Fitness and the "blog".....bike is prepped and all is packed. Car is out of the shop ready to roll and anticipate an 8 hour event like no other. To say I will better last years performance is as confident as cocky can be defined.....will look at my results from last year and table that my plan is to better each lap by a minimum of 5 minutes and hope to get another lap than last. This should be "do-able". No more keystrokes till monday....have a 5 year old muttering..."oh dad....you are boring me......ohhhh you take so long" bye bye computer...