Time to Face Realty

It has been July 22nd since my last post.  I actually posted again in early August but the blog program crashed just as I went to post it - and I could not recover the lost material which took about 2 hours to prepare.  Actually the same thing just happened tonight - so I am writing this for the second time.

I did not want to write and keep telling you how sore my knee was.  Sometimes, there were bright moments where there was no pain at all.  But when I began to push it a little, the pain came back.  Any distance above 6 kms would cause the knee to begin to swell and at 8 kms, it was swollen enough to make me limp for the next two days.  On top of that my Achilles Tendon started to get very sore beginning at the end of June and continuing until now.  So about two weeks ago I realized that there was no way I can walk the Camino and I actually packed up all of my stuff into a big plastic container and put it in the attic.

Me when I first start out on the bike!

But still not wanting to let go, I started researching about riding a bicycle on the Camino.  Did you know that you can rent on for about the cost of flying your bike to Europe, and included in the price is the helmet, water bottle and holder, lock, luggage rack, spare tube and tools, etc?  They will deliver the bike to the hotel where you are starting from and pick it up from where you plan on ending.  So I got my bike out (which I had not rode this year at all, and maybe 3 times all of last year, and never for the past 30 years - and rode it 12 kms three nights last week.  I did 12 kms in about 35 minutes - and actually enjoyed it.  AND no knee pain or Achilles Tendon pain - just a bit of a sore bum.  You can really cover a lot of distance in a short time. It takes me over two hours to walk that same distance.   I took the weekend off as I was busy doing other stuff (and almost killed myself but that is another story).  So on Monday, I rode 30 kms and everything was fine other than sore bum again.  Feeling quite good about that, I went out and bought padded biker shorts and biker gloves and a helmet!  I did more research corresponding with a couple of people who have rode bikes on the Camino, and also checking flights from Toronto to Europe (Barcelona and Madrid mostly).  The ride yesterday though was terrible.  The padding in the biker shorts seemed to cut off the circulation in my upper thigh, my wrists were sore, and my bum very sore.  So I thought that today would be the final test.  Try 30 kms again and see how it goes.  On the Camino, I would want to average 50 kms per day.  So out I went again, this time without the biker shorts.  The last half was extremely painful for my butt, my wrists hurt, and for the first time, my shoulders began to hurt.  So that is that.  Not enough time to get into bike shape.  I am calling it quits.  If I had someone to bike with, then maybe.

So I want to thank all of you for your support and encouragement and tips.  I am going to continue to train but without a specific goal in mind.  I will have to tell my boss that I no longer need six weeks off in a row for vacation.

Me about half way through the 30 km course

Mind you, I have not checked into renting a horse or a mule.  Hmmmmmmm...........................

The Niagara Gorge (Again?) and Up the Hill

On Saturday, I went with a fellow hiker to the Niagara Gorge.  I know this is beginning to sound like a broker record but I love hiking down through there.  It is a tough hike, listed on our schedule as 'strenuous'.  You have to watch every step but time goes by so fast down there because of the beauty of the scenery and the fact that if you are not careful, you could get seriously hurt.  Earlier this spring a guy fell into the fast waters and drowned, and just this past week a police office chased a guy down into the Gorge - the guy fell to his death and the police office fell and broke his leg and had to be airlifted to hospital.

My hiking friend Heize in the Gorge

It is hard to believe but the trail goes across here

Heize climbing the 20 stories out of the Gorge

On Sunday, I joined 20 other hiking club members to walk the 'Up the Hill' hike.  It starts at the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment, climbs straight up, does a big loop through the forests along the Bruce Trail, then heads back down the escarpment back to the start.

Bruce Trail Hikers

I was able to get out twice this weekend with the Bruce Trail Hiking Club.  On Saturday, we hiked from a small town called Dain City along the Welland Canal to a lakeside town of Port Colborne and back.  The hike was 16 kms long and took 3 hours and 7 minutes.  The temperature was 29C, which is funny because if you look back to one of my posts from January, we hiked the same trail - only it was -18 C.  A big difference.

Today (Sunday), the club hiked around the Glenridge Quarry.  I remembered to bring my camera today so there are a few pictures from today's hike.

Oh, and don't let me forget, last Tuesday, by far the hottest day of the year - it was with humidity factored in, 47C or 117F - I led three people from work down into the Niagara Gorge for what turned out to be a two hour and forty-five minute hike.  I really enjoy hiking down there, but I was totally drenched in sweat.  Next Saturday's club hike is down there.

Friday the 13th!

We just had the second Friday the 13th for 2012.  There was one in April.  Every Friday the 13th motorbikers from all over North America converge onto the small lakeside town of Port Dover, Ontario.  The town has a population of about 6000 people, but on Friday, there were over 150,000 bikers there, and some estimates had it as high as 200,000.  It is the biggest one day bike event in North America.  This time, for the first time, we camped there.  My brother, his wife, and our niece stayed two nights.  I just stayed the one night. It was very hot there with the temperature being 35C or 95F.

I have not been hiking much.  My knee still bothers me a bit, and now my achilles tenden is bugging me.  I am hoping that rest will help it.  Here are some pictures of the biking event.

Seattle

Space Needle from far away

Space needle up close

Seattle at night

Convention Centre

Floor to ceiling glass wall at Seattle airport

Light rail service from airport

Mount St Helen from airplane

I was in Seattle 5 days last week for a conference.  I took light rail transit from the airport into the city, which was about a 40 minute ride.  The cost was $2.75 as opposed to $40 for a taxi.  But that meant that I had to walk everywhere I went.  To save some money, I stayed at the Holiday Inn which was exactly a mile from the Conference Center, instead of staying at one of the hotels right beside it.  The savings were about $75 a night that way.  Which meant at the minimum I had to walk 2 miles each day.  But in gathering food, sightseeing, and a 7 mile round walk to look at some shoes I seen advertised, I did lots of walking - mostly in dress shoes!  I did buy a new pair of New Balance running shoes.  At home on Friday, I walked 4.5 miles in the new shoes and regular socks.  No issues other than the bottoms of my feet were a bit sore from a bit of friction -but no blisters.  So Saturday, I gave my feet a generous application of vaseline and wore good hiking socks and walked 7 miles.  During the walk, I could feel a bit of discomfort with my one foot but nothing too alarming.  Upon arriving at home and removing my sock, I had the biggest blister I have ever had on the side of my right foot and it was completely filled with blood.  Just when I thought I had found the right pair of shoes, crap!  It seems that every time I take a step forward, I get pushed two steps back.  It will be a few days before I dare walk again and now I have yet another pair of shoes for my collection of useless shoes.  I have attached some pictures of Seattle.

Karma is alive and well

On Saturday when I went into the office looking for my camera, I asked the Security Guard if she could look in the Lost and Found to see if it had been turned in.  She looked and said no.  So as I said in my previous post, I was going to tape up a poster in the locker room to see if anyone had found it.

First thing Monday morning, I put the poster up.  Then on my way back to my office, I seen a young guy who did not know how to get through the locked doors within our office complex.  He was there for a job interview.  I told him that he had to go to the main entrance and use the house phone to call to be let in.  But instead of leaving it at that, I took him to the house phone to make sure he could find it as he was already nervous enough with the upcoming job interview.  While standing by the house phone, an area of the building that I normally am not in, I seen someone I know who is often in the locker room.  I asked him if he had seen the camera on Friday afternoon.  He said no but he would ask the other men in his office as they use that room often for it is the closest washroom facility to where they work.  The security guard heard us talking and said that a red camera was turned in Friday afternoon.  I would have never asked him because I had asked the weekend guard but apparently she did not check the correct place for the lost and found items.

So had I not walked the guy who was there for the interview to the house phone but instead just gave him directions, none of this would have happened and I would not have received my camera back.  Karma is alive and well.

BUT now that I did have my camera back, I took pictures of my St Catherines trail - this is the trail that I walk every day at lunch - AND there is more!!!!   I met Charlo on the course - she just finished walking the entire Camino in April and this is the first time I had seen her since before she left - so she had lots to tell me and I had lots of questions - BUT - I had to get back to work so I had to cut the discussion short.  Here are some pictures of the trail.

The creek can been seen down below

Heading down from the city

The bridge is the height where I start from