My first training ride after surgery

What a beautiful Saturday morning for a ride with my cycling friends in "Le Peloton" ( www.lepeloton.ca ). Today, we headed south from UBC along Marine Drive, braving strong westerly headwinds out along Iona near Vancouver International Airport, then along River Road out to New Westminister and back. Believe it or not, the wind was so strong, my cheeks flared out like a chipmunk whenever I took in a gulp of air. There is only one time I've ever had to ride in a wind like that was when some friends and I were cycling through the Copper Triangle mountain passes in Colorado a few years ago. It was all I could do to keep a steady hand on the bike when a crosswind would hit. I later learned that gusts had reached as high as 67 km/hr - which would explain the whitecaps frothing in the ocean off Iona Beach.

Iona Beach, near Richmond.

The photo (not mine!) is from http://picasaweb.google.com/joekuo/2007Summary#5125424973104070146 )

As you can imagine, the return ride along Iona road was absolutely a completely different experience. It as if an unseen hand was gently pushing our backs, so that we were coasting along at 40-45km/hr (25 -28mph) without effort. In a car, that my not seem like much, but on a bike, that's a pretty fast pace. So, 70km after we started out (a short ride, thanks to those headwinds), my cycling friends and I were in a coffee shop sipping a latte, talking about my upcoming GearUp4CF ride in June. I am so happy to be back on the bike again. My right ankle, broken last year, performed splendidly in its first big test since my surgery just over two weeks ago. It feels like I am completely recovered.

By the way, we're looking for a few more riders to join us on this magnificent fundraising ride for CF, from White Rock to Banff. This requires a serious commitment, but it will be great fun. The ride is limited to 22-24 cyclists. Interested? Contact the GearUp4Cf office, located on the website www.gearUp4CF.org and let them know as soon as possible.

Late afternoon update: It's a good thing we came back when we did. It's starting to hail now. What a wild day!

A visit to my surgeon

I took a trip to the orthopedic surgeon today to have my stitches taken out from my ankle surgery two weeks ago. I'm delighted to report that I've got a clean bill of health, and a green light to start training in earnest! That's a relief, as I've been cycle training in the garage for three nights this week already. The only caveat was, "Just don't crash for the next month or so".

Thanks for a fantastic beginning!

I've just received word that, together, we've made over $1100 for Cystic Fibrosis in just one week! I am excited and encouraged by the tremendous generosity and warm wishes I've received over the past few days. Please tell everyone you know of our goal. If you could please forward the link to our web site at http://www.gearup4cf.org/index.php?/The-Riders/2009-Riders/Stan-Shaw.html . your support could easily be multiplied many times over. Together, we can make a huge difference for CF kids!

The lovely photo is of Cassandra, featured at http://www.cysticfibrosis.ca --->

A great start

No details yet, however, by what the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis organizers are saying, your response has been tremendous!  If you have already contributed, thank you!  Please send along my link to GearUp4CF, at ( http://www.gearup4cf.org/index.php?/The-Riders/2009-Riders/Stan-Shaw.html ) to anyone who might be interested in hearing about it.  I've also put together a poster that will print out nicely with any color printer if you think you would like to put something up next to the office water cooler: 

To print it out in a beautiful 'publisher-ready'  format, just click on:
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=ddgjpd8g_0hfhkq2fn

Select "View published presentation in a new window"  (you don't need a Gmail account for this).  Then look for the little "actions" link at the bottom of the screen. Click on it and select "Print" from the pop-up menu.

But first, before training, I have a few details to attend to....

Some of you know that, after a certain incident while ice skating with my kids last year on New Year's Eve, I was presented with this new accessory by the VGH surgical team. I've been told that it is typically installed on the dominant foot of cyclists for added power on those big hills.

 January 2nd 2008---->

It didn't slow me down too much though. Three months later, I was back on Cypress mountain cross country skiing. Later, in May, I was cycling with friends in Boulder Colorado.  Still I had that nagging feeling that keeping those screws and plates embedded in my ankle would not be good for me in the long run. Besides, all of that "power assist hardware" might give me an unfair advantage over my other GearUp4CF cycling team members when we climb up those mountain passes this summer!

So, yesterday,  I had it taken out. Ouch. Actually, it wasn't so bad.  It's only a day later, and I'm already walking around unassisted and without so much as a Tylenol.  I suppose having a rather high pain threshold bodes well for a successful ride in June.  At any rate, thanks to the great surgical team at UBC Hospital, I will be back on the road cycling within a couple of weeks.  And then the REAL training begins.

<----March 30th 2008

Fundraising starts today!

Today marks the beginning of my 'official' fund-raising campaign for GearUp4CF! The web site describing the tour is ready, (including my bio, posted at http://www.gearup4cf.org/index.php?/The-Riders/2009-Riders/Stan-Shaw.html), and I'm heading down the long road training for this great ride. Early support is crucial, so I need your help! I look forward to hearing from you.