Always around christmas time

This week was scheduled for my Base 1 R&R week, it didn't really start out as so but having done nothing but a game of hockey, a 45min run, and 70+ hours of sleep logged in the past 5 days it seems that I'm right on schedule. Every year around christmas time I get this bug, no fever, no cough, but massive congestions and a whole body ache with some chills which makes for some very uncomfortable holidays. Good thing we go back to school on the 11th so I get another week than usual to enjoy my time.

Hopefully I'm good to start my Base 2 off tomorow with some quality cross training with De Cal, snowboarding that is !

Ok this time I really was skating

Pretty much in the same position as yesterday, waiting for my feet to thaw out. I got out for 4 hours today but probably 3:30 of it was ride time. Woke up at 8 to figure out how to get to Lock 8 park in Port to meet up with Sara from the SHCC for a ride. Turns out it was the easiest shit, just follow the canal path said Jeff K and sure enough that's all you had to do. She drove in, got ready and we headed out.

Got into the trails and they seemed to be perfect until we found our first ice rink when she was leading. There was a good competition for most graceful ice rink crash. She managed to somehow throw her bike out from under her and land sitting down and I had a little burst of speed and was deciding which trail to take when the ice chose for me and it was neither and I flew off the bike but managed a mid-air summersault and landed with no pain at all.

Nothing seemed to be working for me today, drivetrain was all messed up because the chain is brand new and the cassette might be done fore, my fork turned rigid, and my egg beaters ate through the backplate and are starting on my shoes... gotta change those asap.

All in all good day, sun was out the whole time and not a cloud in the sky. Had a sort of bonk on the way home in the headwind, I realised that I don't eat enough before I ride (just a bowl of oatmeal this morning). If I'm going to be putting 3-5hrs 6 days a week, we'll see if I stick to this, I'm going to need alot more fuel.

I was skating at one point

Got my last exam done this morning and couldn't wait to clear my desk of all textbooks and binders to start a full out 2010 plan, still waiting on those 2010 road o-cup dates though. My goals have been pretty much set alreay, might make a few small changesé I'm not too sure if there is going to be Lake to Lake or Tour of Pelham, there was talk that it wasn't going to happen and a few weeks ago they took their website down ??????

My feet are just finishing thawing out right now, the chrono read 3:30 on the mtb today. Took the trails along the canal from Welland to St. Catharines then did a couple hours of 8x12/brock/short hills and back through the 2-bridges trail and the same mtb trails home. Weather was decent, perfect when I was in the singletrack where I was moving much slower and working much harder then the roads and doubletrack. I was going to stay in St. Catharines for another 30min but the snow was coming down pretty good and I was having a tough time with the FastTracks at 40psi on the hills. Slipping and sliding everywhere across the trails, ended up going backwards a few times.

Saw the same deer about 6 times in the 8x12 trails with all the switchbacks, she just kept running onto the trail a little further down where I would be in a couple minutes. Lots and lots of deer shit on the trails, I had a feeling I was going to see one today.

Oh yeah, and the Canadian Geese are still here ???

What else is new ?

So another day chainless and cyclocross-bikeless means another beautiful day on the trainer. Tried to mix things up yesterday with plans for some weights and yoga until I found out that my mom cancelled the family membership at the Y, seems I didn't go enough during the past six months... race season!!!

I did, however, get some cross country skis dirt cheap and now waiting on a similar deal on some boots so I can do some of that when the snow falls.

Today's trainer session consisted of 2:20 at a pretty good pace (not sure if you can call it a pace if you aren't going anywhere). Of course I was watching a movie, Changeling which is based on a true story and Angelina Jolie is in there. Pretty intense movie, her son gets kidnapped and when the police say they found her son and she gets him back it's not actually her son, daaamn.

Attempted some core work afterwards but that lasted 15 minutes and I was pooched. Still got a good burn in. Eggplant parmesian, chocolat milk with protein powder, and some blueberries will tie me over until supper. Then the studying begins...

Trainer bound....

It seems I am yet again forced to ride the trainer. I have decided not to take out my sexy mtb or road bikes due to road/trail conditions and the only way I can go outdoors is my beater; no chain for it...

After the endurance ride yesterday I decided a spin up/iso-leg interval session would keep everything upbeat. This one hurt;

- 1h warm up spin
- 8x5min build to max cad. (hold for 30s)
- loosen spin till 2:00 mark
- 12x1min iso-leg (6/leg) no recov.
- endurance spin till 3:00 mark (add saddle time)

Iso-legs felt tougher but stronger today. I did this by switching between 2 gears (1 higher then I am used to) and still keep recovery time at 0.

Got work tomorow so I plan on making that a power day by doing an intense set of weights then possibly yoga &/or a 1h spin.

Advil or Ride my bike ?

Yesterday I woke up completely congested and throughout the day it turned into a full out cold. The cross race was totally worth it. Took some advil and decided not to ride the bike, haven't had a day completely off where I had no work, training or anything whatsoever to do in a long time.

This morning I was still congested, this time however the advil was substituted for 3:15 on the trainer while watching King Kong. Great movie, didn't expect it to be that good. That movie has just been sitting there for over a year now in my house and I never bothered to watch it. After a warm shower and some stretching all the bad shit was sweated out and now I feel 100% better. There is no cure quite like time in the saddle.

"The helicopters took him down"

"It wasn't the helicopters, it was beauty killed the beast"

First cross race... she was even tougher

My first cross race ever was in 0 degrees, 6 inches of snow and freezing rain, perfect. Took the hole shot like I planned on doing and right before the first corner, which was pretty much a forced dismount on the first lap, I threw the hands in the air as if I was coming across the line first. It was a thing of beauty, put a good gap on the field from the first run part then it was pretty much all down hill from there. The 45 minute shit show took alot out of me, by the end there was not much left in the tank, not enough to push through the snow anyways. I was being realled in so running was all I can do to hold my spot, which was 6th I think.

Stayed around and watched the 1 oclock race to see Chown destroy the hills, Jay not listening when I told him to gear down but still being able to ride the hills every time, and Box taking a hard-earned win. It was a close race right till the end between Box and Chown. The last racer showed everyone how to properly hydrate in the pits with a nice tallboy of Stella Artois. The 1 oclock racers toughed it out for 60 minutes and got 6 1/2 laps in, some 5 1/2. We went for 45 and got 3 1/2 laps done.

I defenitely underestimated the brute force that is needed for cyclocross, I'll be at the New Year's cross a little more prepared and hopefully on the bike more.

Picture stolen from Jay (McGyver)'s blog, after the hole shot on the pavement there was a u-turn and pretty much forced run section.

First cross ride... she was tough

Got up sooooo early this morning, 9 freakin 30 !!! Arrived at the bank in Fenwick for 11am to meet Rob Watt and the legs were already burning. First time ever riding a cross bike, couldn't even hold 30 into the headwind. We headed out to a school to do some hard efforts on the bumpy and pretty hilly terrain. Hopped into a rocky pit of some sort and got my first official cyclocross crash, bumped my head off the slide and all, no gracefulness whatsoever. Got used to some mounting/dismounting and a little stair run up. We went to some church and found some pretty sick doubletrack in the back forest and headed to some other school where they were setting up for the parade and found some more of the same type of doubletrack. Trying to ride beside a frozen puddle my front wheel caught some ice and the bike disappeared, this crash hurt alot more than the other one, ice doesn't cushion a fall very well. Found some trails that looped around and some that went into nowhere at all. Stopped for a little ice sliding break then the ice build up on the cleet made for another stop.

Got back to Rob's to pump up the tires and have an M&M cookie (thanks) and headed off for a crit effort through a subdivision. By the time we were done police were blocking off the roads and people were lining the streets to see us finish the workout so i gave them what they wanted and threw the hands in the air a good 500m before the finish to give my salutations. Rob thinks they were there for the parade, but all the blood in his body was pumping to his muscles and not enough to the brain.

Got back home for some cabage rolls and perogies, a baby salad (baby carrots, baby cucumbers, baby tomatoes, and baby spinach leaves), and a one-week-old protien shake. Removed the water bottle cages from the bike because of its 25ish pounds of beefiness this is where the weight problem seemed to be.

Great workout, nothing to do now but wait for the results to come in

... oh yeah, and race

Burnin' Glucose

Got my second exam over with today... philosophy. Went suprisingly well, finished with an hour to spare. Used the extra time to finish cleaning my road bike, she's done with the outdoors until things dry up again in the spring.

Borrowing my neighboor's Kona Jake the Snake for this weekend's race (not the bad ass green colour of De Cal's), it's a perfect fit. Half a size smaller than my road bike with a longer stem and 172.5mm crankarms ! It's got exactly what I want on it; mostly 105 stuff with some tough Deore hubs. I'm hoping he sells it to me, we'll see. I guess I have to race in the 11am race because I'm no longer a Junior and I defenitely don't have enough points to go Elite if I don't have any races under my belt. I'll try and sneek under the tape right before the start haha.

Didn't get any riding in today unfortunately but I am burning lots of glucose with the noggin to get ready for the double header of exams tomorow. When that is over and done with I'll have plenty of time to ride, especially with a cross bike...

One down, four to go

Got my first of five exams over with today, on to serious matter now...

In this post not only am I going to write down my workout like Peter Glassford but I'm going to give a quote at then end as well like Watson because while I was riding I was watching the Michael Phelps story of the 2008 Olympics that I got for 5$. So here was my workout today (all on the trainer);

- 30min spin for warm-up
- 6x5min build up to max cadence, hold for 30 sec
- 15min spin to relax a little
- 10x1min one-leg (5 per leg) no recovery in between
- 15min spin cool-down

The one-leggers hurt a whole lot, haven't done them in quite some time. Ended up with 1:45, I wanted to go for 2 but I felt a slight pain in my knee so the extra 15 minutes of cool-down wasn't worth it for me. I am following Joe Friel's Training Bible and it sais that I should do 'em at least once a week during my Base period. I was quite motivated the whole time while watching Phelp's races, almost made me wanna hit the pool for some laps.

My coach, JF Bérubé, told me I'm overtraining for this time of year. I'll try and tone it down a bit, for real. Got another exam tomorow morning so I'm going to eat then study... for a bit.

"The reason I win is that I don't like to loose"
-Michael Phelps

Birthday gift from mother nature

Woke up this morning a new person, I am now an adult. Well when I woke up it was more like noon then morning, but either way I got my big boy attire on and headed for the open road. The snow had just started to come down a little bit when I left but by the time I got out to West Lincoln it was coming down pretty hard. Stayed seated on all the climbs today and had a pretty quick cadence going up them. The bigger ones were Ninth st., Decew rd., some stuff around the Shorthills, and 3:02 into the ride I climbed Saylor's Hill. After 3:20 of none stop (didn't even clip out once!) riding I got home and refueled a little bit before heading out to Red Lobster with the family. Of course, about an hour after I stopped riding so did the intense snow fall. Finished a lobster/artechoke dip appetizer and their mega platter or whatever it's called, soooo sooooo good.

Shaving my legs is turning into a one week process, 3/4 way done my rigth leg and 1/2 way done my left. It seems that I'll be heading out to Hespeler cx this weekend with "the scrawny cyclist" Rob Watt. Should be an embarassing display of cyclocross skills on my part, all in good fun. I am now officially jealous of DeCal's new cross bike and I am looking for one myself. I was going to bid on an Alan but when I got home but the bid went from 500 to 620, decided to hold off on that one. My exams might keep me off the bike for the next few days... hopefully not.

We are speedskating shaved legged men

So it's almost 1am right now and I just got back from work. Suprisingly can't seem to fall asleep and decided to do a post since I actually have alot to talk about.

Starting from yesterday, I had set my alarm to go for an early morning ride before heading out to Hamilton to visit a friend. Woke up around 11am and it turns out my mom thought I needed the sleep more than the riding so she did me a favour and shut the alarm off for me... much appreciated. After brutal instructions on how to get to Hamilton on the Coach Canada buses from the Welland terminal, of course, we ended up getting to McMaster U at about 5. We spent 4 hours of travelling/waiting to get to a place I can ride to in a couple hours. We got bored and what a great idea we had ! I let it slip that I was contemplating on shaving my legs or not, well the decision was made up, my 2 best friends (who happen to be girls and experts in the leg shaving department haha) were going to shave my legs. After going through 2 razors and half my left leg done we missed the bus and were almost stuck in Hamilton for the night, but we made 'er home.

Onto the most epic day on the saddle ever! Planned a ride with Andrew De Cal in the morning that I almost bailed on but manned up and got a couple coffees and some breakfast in me and I was out the door. She was cold today let me tell ya. A quick stop at his house again for some sandwich baggies and we were gone, everything was great; rodes were dry, sun was almost out and we had a good pace going. Many good blog-worthy photos we could have taken if we had a camera. When we got to NOTL the ground was covered in snow, stopped at Tim Horton's on Cliffton Hill for some ground brew and a muffin when we were asked if we were speedskating, hmmm yeah right down Niagara Falls. Haha, it was a funny moment but we explained that our silly attire kept us warm while we were on our bikes. The closer we got to Ridgeway/Fort Erie the more snow there was. We even seen a couple snow banks. We got onto the Friendship Trail which was pretty sick, lots of tight turns and super dry. By the time we were halfway to port we were riding on a mixture of ice/water/snow piled 3 inches high. This is starting to sound like our dad's stories about the walk to school being uphill, against the wind, in 10 feet of snow both ways but it was insane. After a quick stretch I couldn't clip back in so we stopped for some more coffee and off we were again facing the worst Mother Nature can throw at us. When we got into Port we were both pretty exhausted, Andrew peaced because he wasn't feeling too well at all, no kidding, when it's your first long ride in three months and you're faced with that. He still had to show me how to get home though because the direction signs aren't translated into french for me. Got home with about 160km done today but it felt like 600. Can't say that I have ever done a century in December before. I don't recall much from when I got in the door because about 3km after me and Andrew parted ways I hit the same wall he did. I do remember eating everything in sight though.

The worst part of it all was that I had to work in an hour washing dishes in a steaming hot kitchen. After alot of trips outside for some fresh air and near-vomits I made it through the shift and now I am really starting to feel tired. Later.

Rode with Adam Morka

So yeah, title sais it all. The roads were pretty wet from the storm last night and no sunshine to dry them up. Met at Mossimo's Pizza (the best around) for 10 and rode around the Short Hills and did the STCCC Tuesday Night race loop, Saylor's is always a good climb.

Talked the whole time about this and that, it was pretty sick to be riding with some guy that'll be racing and kicking ass around the world in a just few months. After 2h we parted ways, when I got home I realised how freakin cold I was. My hands are just starting to thaw out now as I write this.

Hopefully get another ride in before he peaces and starts his training in the south where it'll be nice and warm while we are way up here freazing our asses off haha

Got away

This weekend was nothing but work, farm in the morning and dishwashing at the club at night. The positive side of this is that I have some capital again, but at the cost of no riding.

Had a great ride today around NOTL and whatnot, weather was no nice for a december day, I even seen a guy riding in shorts ! Going through downtown NOTL I did some motor pacing and had a good enough tailwaind to pass a car that was doing 40 and caught the car a little ways up. By the time I got on Lakeshore I had a massive headwing and was just hanging on to 29-30km/h when a guy came by me on an electric scooter "you're doing good" he said. There was no way I was gonna let him get away haha, held his 33km/h pace which was pretty easy with the massive draft. I recovered enough to launch an attack but couldn't hold it up in that headwind alone. Some guy (the one in shorts) met up with us when we went by an intersection he was at, he was feeling pretty good too in that draft, he launched out and I followed... this time we got away haha. 3h of ride time, no bridges up when crossing the canals, great ride.

Everytime I make a protein shake with kiwis it burns my throat a little, they aren't going in the blender anymore. My semester is over for school so now I can ride full time, I mean study real hard, until exams then before next semester.