"Down In Mexico"

“Feelin free as the air”….Edward Bear I think? And Canadian I think? And yes I’m in the beautiful city of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, the home of some of the most terrific people in the world and many of my friends. Well actually I'm only on the plane at the moment but I’ll be there by days end. I knew when I accepted this assignment that it would be a potential challenge to work my training around, and yet I will figure it out. Of course the worst days are the flying days because it takes so much out of me, but if I’m smart I can use them as easy days, maybe run the hotel steps or something. I will try to always have a hard day before I fly and also on my first day back.

Anyway, towards further putting my “insides on my outsides” I want to talk about how I woke up this morning. Maybe someone has some advice for me. I had a terrific day yesterday with my great ride and I had a pretty good nights’ sleep last night at a hotel near Toronto airport. Then why oh why, did I wake up this morning in this dark, dark mood? I was reluctant to bring it up because that’s not supposed to be the way it is for a guy who has everything anyone could ask for, and who is currently on a terrific journey, and I worry that people out there will see me as weak. As I thought it about during the day however I decided that there are probably many, many people out there who suffer from the same kind of inexplicable depression. To those of you who have never been touched by this problem be grateful. One of the reasons of course that people keep this crap inside is because of the embarrassment factor, and that’s why I struggled making it a part of my ‘confession’ today. But I say screw it! I’ve been through too much to bother pretending to anyone. If there are those out there that consider me weak on account of it then so be it. When I had cancer I didn’t have to apologize for it, so why for this eh? All that being said I am firmly committing to understanding it better and putting in place ‘natural solutions’ to make it better. Of course it’s hard because very much like drug addiction, the tendency is to deny the problem and just go into hibernation. I believe that for me to find the long term solution without drugs, I am going to have to fight it head on….that means ‘no pain, no gain”. That means probably facing my demons and coming to terms with them as opposed to hoping they’re gonna go away. A good example for me is my relationship with son Jonathan. He has a very serious drug addiction that he may never recover from. Along the way, to feed his illness he will do many bad things to many good people including himself This is a tough thing to face but somewhere in there lies the answer. It has to be about facing the realities of your situation and being happy despite it. Again, any words of wisdom are welcome.
So that’s my whining for today, sorry but.... if you're not familiar with the old computer acronym ‘wysiwyg”…figure it out.

On another topic, I decided to jump on the Lance Armstrong bandwagon. Those close to me will know that I have never been a big fan because in my mind he suffered from being too much of an arrogant American for my liking. But what the hell do I really know about Lance Armstrong? Maybe he wakes up every morning fighting depression? Besides it’s not his fault he’s American, it’s his parents! I have always believed and continue to do so, that he has used performing enhanced drugs at times during his career. Whether that’s true or not is however irrelevant to the fact that he is clearly the greatest cyclist the world has produced to date. I also believe that he is serious in his convictions to raise money for cancer research, and I also believe that in his quest for the 2009 Tour de France he will be completely clean. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you look at it I don’t think he will win….he may not even be near the top. Besides, Claudette and I own personally autographed Lance caps that my cancer buddy Mike sent me during my illness. So, Go Lance Go! I have decide that he will be one of my inspirations as we both prepare for tough physical and emotional challenges in 2009.

Today I want to include a note about my good friend Kelly. Her mom underwent serious surgery this morning to deal with breast cancer and I want to think positive thoughts for her. She has 5 young grandchildren and so I know she will survive, as I don’t think there’s a more powerful reason to fight the fight. Oh and by the way, a mastectomy is now day surgery!

Boy oh boy, that’s been a pretty serious post so far eh? Especially for one that started out with “feeling free as the air”. So how to juice it up a little? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is the national elections coming up in both Canada, and the U.S. Talk about comedy! Do those guys really take themselves seriously? Maybe it’s their way to deal with depression eh? Stick your head so far up your ass that you can’t even breathe let alone take time out to deal with any reality. And don’t anyone try to tell me that any one of them is any different, no matter how serious and sincere they may appear at the moment. There, I feel better now. And I absolutely guarantee that I will get a comment from son Michael who is my social conscience, and an avid follower of both political scenes….let er rip Mike!

So maybe a little bit about my training for the day. I’m actually writing this before it happens, so that puts me one up on son peter, who knows everything that has transpired to date in the entire world. I know the future. Here it is. After a long day flying I finally got to Hermosillo and headed to the plant to say hello. I took my luggage with me and before I headed to the hotel to crash, I went to the swimming pool at the plant….,yes at the plant! They have a 25 metre outside pool which is befitting in a city where the summertime daily temperature is frequently over 40 degrees Celsius. So don’t feel too sorry for our poor Mexican industrial employees. Magna prides itself in taking care of their people which means different things in different cultures. In Hermosillo it means keeping them cool.

Anyway, I got in the pool for the first time in years, and was not disappointed by my rust. I had to start by taking rests after each 50 meters but in a series of efforts I managed to complete a kilometer. That’s a good enough start for now, and I know it will come gradually. The best thing is that the swimming is going to make my arms a little sore, and that’s exactly what they need. I will try to swim again for the next few days, and supplement that by running stairs at the hotel. If I can at least get back to comfortable in the pool during this trip I will be happy.
Oh yah...when I got back to the hotel I did a few stairs just to justify having dinner.



By the way...since the Bike question has been squarely settled by both Cory and Elly, how about something like this.


I would like to dedicate day 8 to my grade school teacher at St John elementary in Arthur Ontario. Sister Michaela is dead now but I continue to hate her. The only thing I can conclude from the way she treated me is that she must have been much unhappier than me. I am going to finally try to forgive her.

“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise, than saved by criticism.”

Live with passion!
love peter