If you visit my street on a Saturday morning in May, youB次元官网网址檙e likely to find a four-year-old boy chasing a seven-year-old boy on their bikes screaming obscure references only a cycling fan would know.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a breakaway, Nibali wins!B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淣o IB次元官网网址檓 Nibali, your Froome.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淣o, I donB次元官网网址檛 want to be Froome.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淔ine, you can be Nibali, IB次元官网网址檓 Quintana.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲ait, can I be Quintana?B次元官网网址�

I had the same conversation with my brother when I was a kid except it was Gretzky and Lemieux, and not European bike racers. ThatB次元官网网址檚 not to say weB次元官网网址檙e a bike racing family. WeB次元官网网址檙e not (at least not yet). But we love riding for recreation, and we love following the sportB次元官网网址檚 big races via the internet, which are mostly in Europe and finish during breakfast time here in Victoria.

And if it sounds abnormal, itB次元官网网址檚 my fault. Well actually, itB次元官网网址檚 Ryder HesjedalB次元官网网址檚 fault. He is probablyB次元官网网址� wait, Ryder is totally the reason IB次元官网网址檓 training for my fourth straight

A few years before I got into cycling, it was 2010, and I was sitting at the Victoria B次元官网网址 sports reporting desk. I took a call from Seamus McGrath, the director of Tour de Victoria and who I knew of as a two-time Olympic mountain biker. He phoned to tell me about this new mass participation cycling event he wanted to create across Greater Victoria. I remember he had to visit all 13 councils from Sidney, to Oak Bay to Sooke.

I said, B次元官网网址淪o youB次元官网网址檙e saying, you know this Ryder Hesjedal guy riding to fourth place in the Tour de France?B次元官网网址�

That summer I started watching and reporting on Hesjedal each day. My wife and I fell in love with the morning routine of watching Hesjedal and the peloton ride through the French countryside before heading off to work.

But it still took me five years before I joined the Tour de Victoria on its fifth edition in 2015.

. I started in with the 45km from Sidney. I learned I really didnB次元官网网址檛 know much about cycling or how to train for it, except that I was scared enough to know I needed to get in a lot of rides.

On that 2015 ride I had to stop about 10 minutes in and borrow a friendB次元官网网址檚 multi-tool to tighten a broken crank, and then I repeated this act the whole ride (he let me take the tool). The next year I took the bike in for a pre-ride tune up at (the wrong) local bike shop in anticipation of jumping up to the 90km ride and, once again, I had to stop and tighten the crank about five times throughout the ride.

I got the bike fixed, finally, and had a much more enjoyable 90km ride in 2017.

To challenge myself again this year, I am making the jump to the Harbour Air Seaplanes 140km. IB次元官网网址檝e never biked beyond 100km, and only hit that mark once, so IB次元官网网址檓 serious when I say this will be a big jump for me. I am a full-time parent, reporter, and masters student, so finding time to bike is not easy.

Finally, IB次元官网网址檓 proud to say the amount of cycling I watch is starting to be outmatched by the amount of cycling I actually do!

Look for my upcoming blogs about my painful but rewarding first experiences accomplishing popular local rides that are part of the Tour de Victoria, including the legendary Munn Road hill climb, riding in headwinds, and sneaking on the back of group rides.

-Travis Paterson is a community reporter for the Saanich B次元官网网址 and local Black Press papers. At night and on the weekend, he is a spandex-loving poser on a bike.