Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

This eye. Times two. Polarized sunglasses makes it even more striking. But I don't complain, it's my own augmented reality. Just like Instagram.

The reality of my bike rides is that I can't get enough of the beauty of our countryside and oftentimes I take photos while I ride, in the hope of improving my bike handling skills. Or so I think. I also improve the chances of either my phone or my head hitting the pavement as well, but when you ride for a lot of miles, your memories start to get fuzzy and what better way of reviving them other than looking at pretty pictures?

Next week we will be going with our tri club, the FMCT to Muskoka for a training/chillaxing weekend and given that we want to take the advantage of being "on site" to ride the Muskoka 70.3 bike course, we had to ramp up our outdoor rides to a mileage that can guarantee that we're not going to die on those hills. As a reminder, there are 94km of those mother effing hills and not a single break in between.

Given how winter lingered around these parts, we've only been outside on our bikes less than a dozen times, but we've made good progress and kept adding about 10-20km to our long rides and almost doubled the elevation each time.

Last week we tackled 60km and a total elevation of 460m. That profile doesn't look too friendly, does it? But I loved every moment of it. That was Caledon East.

The weather kept changing which made for some interesting photo opportunities. I snapped away and in over two hours, we went from cold and rainy to a gorgeous sunshine that almost put the fields on fire. On a second thought, these may have been dandelions which soon are going to end up my nose and in my mouth. Reminder: stop grinning for the damn camera and close your mouth when you ride your bike.

Drama in the sky

Gold farm

Yesterday we went on our longest ride to date (the pattern is going to continue, please bear with me). It was a perfect day, not too hot, no rain, just a bit of cross winds, but nothing upsetting. This time we chose Caledon West to keep it interesting.

Add 740m of elevation that looks like the elephant inside the snake in the Little Prince. I have no words for this ride. It was just.... wow. Speed, sweat and sun. Nuff said.

Look, I found the elephant!

Does this hill make me look bad ass?

The long hilly road ahead

Next weekend I will most likely be crying in pain, but for now I am looking at these pictures and I am thankful for being able to ride my bike and discover new places, new gears and new muscles in my calves. Life is beautiful. To stay with the Little Prince theme, "it is only with the heart that one can see rightly. The essential is invisible to the eye". Despite the polarized glasses and Instagram, I have been looking within my heart and it longs for the outdoors and adventure. I am learning every day to embrace the moments that flee too fast in life and riding my bike makes those moments last, at least as long as a triathlon season.

Speaking of which, I signed up for another olympic triathlon, less than a month from now. I want to be out there and feel my heart racing with the wind. I want freedom from all the bad thoughts that come haunt my brain more often than necessary these days. This is one of the magic pills and it works for me. I'll keep snapping pictures to document this journey, I know it's all worth it.