The Cervélo went into the bike shop this afternoon for an overhaul in advance of the big ride next summer. The parts I ordered came in from out of town and I got the call to drop it off for the changeover, it should be back in a couple days a rather different bicycle.

• Bullhorns and Aerobars swapped off for a pair of drops
• I’m keeping the indexed shifters from the aerobars and moving them around to the drops, some touring style shifters
• Swapping TT brakes for some real ones
• Rear cassette changed from 11-23 to a 12-27
• New chain and cables
• I’ll be putting on some superfat tyres, well like 25mm, but that will have to come at a later date when stores start carrying summer stock again.
• Some white bar tape to tie things together and trick people into thinking I’ve been a roadie all along

The parts that actually needed to be changed were the cassette and handlebars. The bigger cogs will be appreciated so I’m able to manage climbing some passes next summer and not slaughtering myself in the process. The handlebar swap though is a matter of safety. I intend to ride almost everyday in a paceline (of sorts) and bullhorns are not the safest nor the most comfortable way to do so. So sadly I’ve given up the aero-position for the next year or so, I’ll probably miss it but I have to remember the tradeoff, my thighs will grow faster this way!

Today a few hundred students invaded the Substage area of the Students Union Building on campus. It wasn’t to study for the exams that are coming up in a couple weeks, it was because today, December 1, is World AIDS Day. The University of Alberta Dignitas Youth Chapter joined several other chapters throughout the country in hosting the “Race for Dignity” – a 12-hour stationary bike-a-thon fundraiser in support of community-based HIV care in Africa. Teams of participants pedaled stationary bikes for 12 hours in the University of Alberta’s Students Union Building (SUB) to support Dignitas International’s innovative community-based care model. For more information about that check out www.ualberta.ca/~dignitas

I scraped together a team of friends through my small group with IVCF and we covered the 12 hours of riding in style. Our team totaled over $300 in donations and contributed to the more than $11 000 raised today.

I rode the home stretch from 6pm through till the finish at 9pm. I threw a summer tyre back on my fixie and put it on a trainer. It turned out to be a bit of a higher gear than most team members of mine appreciated, oops, but that’s just how things turn out sometimes. I realized that even though I’m commuting back and forth to school that the whole end of my body involved with sitting on a bike seat is a bit out of practice for long stretches. I’ve got re-acquainting to do before I start packing on really long miles for the ride next summer. The legs felt OK though and I have no intention of letting them go jelly-like between now and the time the snow finally melts. I was satisfied that I’m still in alright shape and maintained an average heartrate of 148 for the post-warmup 2.5 hours of the ride.

I did a bit of an experiment with eating, mostly because I’m a sucker for gastrointestinal punishment and like to see how much I can process while still putting out decent power. There was way more food left at the end of the day than we were ever going to eat, and that gave me an idea. I decided to keep my heart-rate above 150 bpm and chow through food to see how many calories I could get in before I could tell it was going to be a good idea to stop. I cruised in full throttle:

• 2.5 bananas, 300 cal
• 1/4 chocolate muffin ~100 cals
• 6 cookies, ~150 cals
• 2 bottles gatorade 360 cals
• 3 oranges ~150 cals

All that (excess of a thousand) in about 40 minutes, then I could tell! I would have guessed I could have done around 1200 because my stomach was pretty empty, not quite I guess. I didn’t push it to the point of nausea, there has to be another experiment left for another day. It was an entertaining experiment and I managed to still ride well when feeling full, effort steady-plus or plus-plus and heart rate was above 165 for a sizeable chunk in there when I was at my fullest and there was some loud drumming going on to help push the pace.

I put together a short form for my SeatoSea website that allows people to submit an email address to receive email news. Just a quick form found on the Sea to Sea Homepage for anyone to fill out an email address and receive news.

I figured I could hold off and fiddle with that code at a later date but I’ve been keeping tabs on traffic to that part of my website and have noticed that there are plenty of people getting here from the “BLOG” listing on the CRCNA website. That prompted me to do this sooner than later. The option is there, sign up if you’d like to hear about the experience… probably a weekly thing during the summer and maybe a few messages in the lead-up months.

I was doing a good job being not completely distracted by Sea to Sea in the later part of this last week. A Quantum Mechanics midterm was sufficiently scary to keep me from doing much other reading or writing about the bike trip than just the seatosea tasks that were landing in my email inbox. I was asked to write an article for The Banner so there’s been a bit of that kind of correspondence going on. Anyhow I’m not writing about that, because it’s pseudo-top-secret until the banner comes out in Jan, but I am writing because of a pleasant seatosea surprise this evening.

I got the latest “On the Way” news from Sea to Sea organizers this afternoon, and I realized I totally missed the 100th rider signing up for the tour. We’re already at 101! That means I’ve got 100 names to learn. I’m still hoping and praying that it’s 400. I think I speak for everyone when I say bigger is better for this sort of thing. We’re raising funds, and that means that there’s a need for fund “raisers”. Please pray for potential cyclists who are considering signing up. Riding across North America is a major challenge and commitment that needs the support of family, friends and co-workers, and the Spirit’s clear discernment.

After working on the Dignitas International Website for our student group at the University of Alberta for a huge stack of hours, I decided to throw a few hours into my own website and make some pages describing the seatosea trip.

I hijacked most of the code I had written the previous evening and merged it with my journal management software from my existing website. It wasn’t all that tricky and I think it looks pretty good. It is currently set up to extract journal entries from my current weBLOG and post them to that website, the other pages are all static.

I’m at the point where I can really get down to fundraising now, I think I’ve got all the resources I need to start asking people for support. I really want to make sure that I express gratefulness to my donors and allow them the opportunity, if they’re interested, to feel like they’ve got a stake in this undertaking. The last thing I need to code for my website now is a means by which people can sign up for my email list. That shouldn’t be a huge challenge but it’ll take more time than I’ve got this weekend so it may have to wait till I find some time another weekend.

My profile went up today on the website for Sea to Sea. It’s got a shortened blurb extracted from my longer application statement. It’s also got a place for people to donate if interested. I don’t know how much donation will happen online but I guess it’s always an option.

Check me out!

I’m sending in my application today at lunch now that I have received back the endorsement from First.

I’m interested in participating in the sea to sea bike trip from Seattle to New Jersey next summer. As a part of the application process I must seek the endorsement of a CRC church, and because while living in Edmonton I’ve been attending the Baptist church right near campus and my house, First CRC is still what I would consider to be “home”. It would be great if you would bring my request to council the next time you meet, or perhaps raise the idea with them over email I don’t know what kind of schedule council is on for the summer months.

I’m supposed to explain why I’d like to participate. Well first off, I absolutely love cycling and an opportunity like this, to participate in an epic-all-summer-trip is exactly the kind of thing I’d like to do. Next summer is also a unique opportunity for myself as I’ve got a gap to fill between the finishing of my undergraduate studies and the beginning of grad school. The real reason I’m interested in participating in this trip is because of the group that is going and the people I hope to meet, not because it’s the craziest idea I could dream up (I’ll admit that there are crazier ones). Let me elaborate.

After leaving high school I started out at the university in Edmonton, I became involved with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) through some of the first people I met on campus. Over the past 3 years I and have found it to be a place where I have been challenged time and time again to be challenged in my faith and challenged in my developing leadership skills. The leadership team of IVCF has been an amazing community of accountability, calling me to step deeper in commitment with God and his plans. Through intense study of Philippians this past semester many of us have found a real common ground surrounding the idea of partnership in ministry. There has been a real sense of dedication as well as urgency in making our lives, our friendships and ultimately our classes and campus a place where Christ is seen.

I think that the large majority of us, because I don’t think I’m an anomaly, are quick to point out that we form a church, albeit an unconventional one, on campus. I know that this idea is reinforced by attending church services chock full of students. I’ve found, especially during the last bit of this year, that living in such a setting means that I miss out on what a church community comprised of children, parents and seniors has to offer. While it is certainly possible to be stretched and grown in a setting of peers, there are real and significant benefits to being part of multi-generational group of believers. I know that going cycling with the seatosea group is certainly different than hopping on a bunch of bikes with friends from triathlon club and that’s something I’m really keen to be a part of. I certainly hope to learn a few significant things about how that type of thing really plays out. I guess that the appeal of biking every day all summer has evolved into a bit more since I started prayerfully considering the idea and discussing it with other people.

I just received confirmation from First CRC that they will endorse me as a cyclist for the 2008 Sea to Sea bike trip between Seattle and New Jersey. That means I’ll be fundraising like a maniac over the next year and will be biking like a maniac next July and August. Of course there are going to be many more blog posts regarding seatosea over the next year and a bit. I’m really quite excited about the opportunity.