Friday, March 23, 2012

Swimming in Cyclist Style

When working in a shop you are often asked many of the same questions on a daily basis. Being surrounded by triathletes, one of the most common questions I hear is "Do you do triathlons?" My response is always a coy "No, I swim like a rock."  Which isn't necessarily true as I can swim well enough to not drown in the first 3 minutes of being in the water but that's about it.  Jenn has a standing offer to work with me on my swimming when I want it to truly learn but for now it doesn't fit into my long term plans which means it gets no short term love.

Yesterday, my body was more tired than I it was letting on.  I know this because the plan was to pick up the bike and gear from the shop, eat some lunch and then go for a ride.  The plan was derailed when I fell asleep on the couch after eating lunch and didn't wake up until 3 hours later.

At that point my normal routes from the house would have me playing in traffic during rush hour so I opted to head across town to Westcreek and head a bit west from there.  After being on the bike for a few miles, I had come up with a route in my head then it donned on me, I was about to go swimming in a pure cyclist fashion.  I would ride towards all the roads which are named after some form of water.  

I started in the creek and road towards the river (River Rd).  Like most rivers, the road tends to really flow especially after a lot of rain.  Well the rain on this day was rush hour and I decided to save the splashing around in the river for another day.  



Instead, I thought diving into a Shallow Well would be a bit safer.  After all I was wearing a helmet and there aren't any no diving warning signs posted or flashing in my head. With no fear of spinal injury or head trauma I jumped in just deep enough to get my leg hairs wet while keeping my chamois dry.   


The route was beautiful, the flow was steady and I think I am now a believer in this thing people call swimming.  But for now, my swimming and your swimming will continue to defer ever so slightly.