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Dave
Mayle has been hard at work training his mind and body for the 900km
ride around Prince Edward Island. The following is a collection of
his thoughts along the way. |
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Asian
Inspiration
The
"Tour de PEI" is just over a week off. Last big
ride, [Thunder Bay to Mississauga] I was wracked with nervousness
about not being up to it, and the same is true this time - and I'm
3 years older ... Just returned from a ten day whirlwind trip to
China, during which time we ate too much, drank too much, sat around
too much, and went to bed late almost every night. As usual, the
jetlag [12 hours time difference] made me more than sluggish, and
for the first few days back, I had to literally force myself to
ride. Luckily, they don't give you steaks, baked potatoes, cookies
and chocolate bars in China ...
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| On
the subject of forcing yourself to ride, I picked up Lance Armstong's
book "It's Not About The Bike" in Hong Kong, Armstrong has
won the Tour De France four times. [99, 2000, 2001, and 2002!] The
Tour de France is the toughest bike race on the planet. The book tells
of Armstrong's amazing battle with testicular cancer and how he fought
back to winning form from near death. There's also a lot of cool cycling
stories in it, and I hoped that would motivate and inspire me to ride
when I got home. It worked! I read the whole thing on the plane; "couldn't
put it down." |
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Along
for the Ride
Training
this time of year, I've encountered large numbers of Monarch
butterflies around the countryside. It seems there's a bumper
crop this year, and that is directly related to the "noxious"
milkweed. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves,
and in fact, on the milkweed is the ONLY place they reproduce.
It
is true that monarchs migrate large distances from the south to
the north, and then back again, following the same traditional route
every year. The new butterflies are born at either end of the migration,
and know the way by instinct! It makes me wonder when I see one
flying north at this time of year - I guess he might have missed
a turn?
I don't like seeing the beautiful yet amazingly tough little creature's
journey ended by some unnatural obstruction like a car. Sometimes
they hit me on my bike - I nearly fell last weekend trying to miss
one. It's the worst when you see one wounded and dying on the roadside,
his little navigation system out of order; the epic journey tragically
cut short.
Here's a link to a map of the monarchs' migration routes: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/monarch/monarch_map062001.html
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