Oh Thank Heaven for 7-11

...and I mean that.  They sponsored this:  The BC Parkway.  I couldn't find a site that did it justice but this one had some good pics and it looked like they were having fun....
I recommend this ride for anyone.  Neat thing is if you get bored, tired, or suffer bike malfunctions you are always within walking distance of a Skytrain station.

I thought it was a great ride.  Not too hard for this old body.  Of course I had to get there first so my trip started in North Delta, over the South and North Arms of the Fraser River via the Alex Fraser and Queensburough Bridges and into downtown New Westminster.

The trail starts around the 22nd Street Stn and winds its way gently uphill into Burnaby.  Central Park is the point where you can almost say it is all downhill from here.  I rode into downtown along excellent shared pathways, roadways and dedicated bike lanes...all the way to The Vancouver Convention Centre.  After picking up mail for my mum and dad I cycled up Hornby, over the Burrard Street Bridge and met up with a friend.  The grand plan was to go do some work for a friend...but my legs protested a little too much.

I have to show my wife that I am doing a little bit of training so she is a little more confident in my race readiness...and not ready to drop dead on the trails!

Save money: park your car and ride a bike

So I did that.  Left my car in Vancouver and after meeting my wife after her work we went home.  Of course we checked that car would be in a spot that it wouldn't get towed the next day.  Trouble is we didn't go back to town the next day....nor did I think once about where we parked the car.  Apparently the car DID have to be moved by 3pm on Monday.

Somebody moved it for us and charged me $150.

I was convinced that we had parked it somewhere just a little better and my tired legs protested as I turned the bike around to ride another 5km to the compound.

The theory was good.  Poor execution of the theory cost money.

If I were in a triathlon I could run in the Clydesdale category.

I think 100kg is the cut off to be a Clydesdale in a triathlon.
So I took my sorry excuse for a fine tuned athletic body out for a run.  It was a beautiful night and I was going to pop over the Burrard Street Bridge from Kits Pool and come back over the Granville Street Bridge and back to the pool.  I felt pretty good so I bypassed Granville Street and ran to the Cambie Street Bridge.  Still feeling pretty good I decided to run around Science World and then back to the pool.  This was an error in judgement  I kind of regret!  Now my run-run became a run-walk.  I also was going to miss my ride to the Jericho Sailing Club for beers (add 6k to my now walk-walk-run).

As I run I try and think about stuff.  The train of thought revolved around my (slowly dying) legs.  That's is what Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy is like.  Slowly dying legs.  Duchennes MD is a genetic disease that affects the gene that makes a structural protein important to muscles.  The muscles of the legs being the largest, symptoms related to standing and walking are first noticed.  From the age of 5 or 6 deterioration of the the leg muscles almost always leads to being wheelchair bound by 12.  DMD seems to creep north from the lower body up to the torso and arms.  Life expectancy for most is between their late teens or early twenties.
I know many boys from Canuck Place with DMD.

I miss the house.  I need to figure out some time to get back and be an active volunteer again!