The leaves have pretty much all changed colours and have already started to fall, the trails are no longer lines of dirt in the distance, now just a big cluster of leaves and branches. I've gotten into the swing of things for school and the cross bike is starting to come around thanks to a quick pit stop at Liberty! today (thanks). I've decided that the mountain bike race season is over for me, after an awesome night ride on Wednesday night with JF and the boys from Hamilton, I realised that I just want to enjoy what is left of the none-snow riding conditions before we get to that point in November-December where the trails are too wet to ride and we have to wait for the snow to cover them. I'll go hard Tuesday and Thursday nights on the cross bike and go for fun mountain bike rides when I have the time on other week days, so probably one a week.
I'll be doing the races listed on the right and possibly a few across the river until I have no motivation to go hard left, hopefully I can get a few solid races in before that. The only iffy thing about training this time of the year is that it's the easiest time to catch a cold because everyones immune systems weaken simultaneously with the drop in temperature and the strong presence of new bacteria and viruses because everyone is getting sick, causing a negative spiral of sickness until the right antibodies and macrophages are recruited. Hopefully the season doesn't have to end that way but if it does, so be it, that's just the way she goes. I'm being very careful by always wearing multiple layers on my chest and eating a whole lotta greens, to the point where I'm eating baby spinach right from the box like De Cal showed me at Elliot Lake.
So, what have I learned this year from road and mountain bike racing? Can anyone really boil it down to two or three things in point form? Not a chance, not if you want to be realistic anyways. Every ride, there are millions of synapses firing in your brain, new bridges/connections are being formed the whole time you're riding. You learn the whole time you're riding the same way you learn from every little thing you do during the whole day, it may not be obvious or even clear what you have learned, but you're learning. During rest, your brain can sort out and store everything you've learned in long-term memory, the more time you spend resting, the more the brain can thoroughly sort out and store. What you have just learned from your ride becomes a little part of who you are until it has been totally forgotten, if it ever does, some day down the road. So, what have I learned? Ride and learn, race and learn, that's the only way to get experience because experience isn't measured in how many years you've been racing or riding but instead how many hours you're logged in the saddle riding or racing during those years as well as the quality of those hours.
I went through a pretty rough patch this season in terms of motivation on the bike, I really didn't think I would keep racing right through September, I was ready to call it quits before Buckwallow and my performance at Buckwallow didn't help much for motivation even after taking a week off work by going on vacation prior to the race. It took a while for me to really realise the importance of rest in practice and not just in theory and the amount of rest needed relative to workload, there is still alot to learn. All things that I will carry over to next season and do right this time.
I'm not going to write a recap race-by-race, but I do want to touch on one race; the Squeezer. I was asking around after the race and nobody seemed to have seen my awful start, I thought for sure since I was closest to the sidewalk that's the first thing people would notice; everyone seems to be going forward except for that guy in black who's going backwards. Turns out, I have video evidence! Look for the last racer to go by the camera in the lane closest to the camera (sidewalk), if you're good, you can listen for the loud crunching/dinging noise as I go by.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Squeezer
The big local bash has come and gone, for me, it went a little something like this;
Start was awful, I got clipped in and dropped my chain about 20 times before I finally got going. I was pretty much in last and had to blow quite a few matches to catch back up to the back of the group. When we turned onto St Paul I took the far outside line, no brakes because if I slowed down I would need to stand and hammer to get going which would innevitably result in dropping my chain. I blew a few more matches to get much closer to the front and by the time we got on the gravel I was in a good spot. That turn is pretty slow though, so of course I lost pretty much all my spots when I kept dropping my chain trying to get up to speed. From there to the trail I just remember barely being able to breathe or see, ending up on the grass a few times as a result of this and just barely missing the big pile-up.
There we go, some trail, it was hard to keep up trying to spin in my little ring but I tried to keep it as smooth as I could. I forget who I was with but the guy leading our train was going super slow in Marv's new singletrack and myself, Wagler and Paziuk couldn't get by till the twisty open stuff before the first road climb. I hammered hard up that and we got a good group of 3 working together and another 3 or so hanging on to the back. I didn't mind working because we were gaining on the next bunch. Kept it smooth on the next set of trails and hammered up the second DeCew climb bringing only 2 with me. Some fast trails, road, more fast trails and next thing I knew I was with Etzy. Him, Jamie and myself were working on the road then I lost them in the trails not being able to stand and hammer out the bigger gears.
Mike from Long Sault was my carrot through Brock, along the creek and into Suzanne's. The gap stayed the same from 2 bridges until after Suzanne's, when Garrigan was closing in (he had a flat) I took it easy hoping to be able to grap his draft when he came by. Kind of worked out the same way it went for De Cal when he tried to grab Watson's wheel, I tried to gather up some motivation for a good sprint up the hill but with no one in sight there was nothing to bring out that epic effort where every single muscle in your body is flexed, mouth is open and inhaling is harder than breathing in Toronto.
Not ponying up the cash for a big ring might have been the wrong decision, but I couldn't bring myself to spending another 260 bucks on a freakin chain ring for the second time in a year, I just couldn't do it. Oh well, I'm already fired up for next year's race and despite the circumstances, I finished 18th... AGAIN. Another goal failed, but I'm happy with the effort I put in and I'm thinking a top 10 isn't unrealistic for next year, but I'm not one for long-term thinking so who knows?
Big thanks to everyone who helped put on such a great event and to Marv for building some more sweet trails, that guy is awesome.
Solid rides to De Cal and Etzl for top 10's, amazing.
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Start was awful, I got clipped in and dropped my chain about 20 times before I finally got going. I was pretty much in last and had to blow quite a few matches to catch back up to the back of the group. When we turned onto St Paul I took the far outside line, no brakes because if I slowed down I would need to stand and hammer to get going which would innevitably result in dropping my chain. I blew a few more matches to get much closer to the front and by the time we got on the gravel I was in a good spot. That turn is pretty slow though, so of course I lost pretty much all my spots when I kept dropping my chain trying to get up to speed. From there to the trail I just remember barely being able to breathe or see, ending up on the grass a few times as a result of this and just barely missing the big pile-up.
There we go, some trail, it was hard to keep up trying to spin in my little ring but I tried to keep it as smooth as I could. I forget who I was with but the guy leading our train was going super slow in Marv's new singletrack and myself, Wagler and Paziuk couldn't get by till the twisty open stuff before the first road climb. I hammered hard up that and we got a good group of 3 working together and another 3 or so hanging on to the back. I didn't mind working because we were gaining on the next bunch. Kept it smooth on the next set of trails and hammered up the second DeCew climb bringing only 2 with me. Some fast trails, road, more fast trails and next thing I knew I was with Etzy. Him, Jamie and myself were working on the road then I lost them in the trails not being able to stand and hammer out the bigger gears.
Mike from Long Sault was my carrot through Brock, along the creek and into Suzanne's. The gap stayed the same from 2 bridges until after Suzanne's, when Garrigan was closing in (he had a flat) I took it easy hoping to be able to grap his draft when he came by. Kind of worked out the same way it went for De Cal when he tried to grab Watson's wheel, I tried to gather up some motivation for a good sprint up the hill but with no one in sight there was nothing to bring out that epic effort where every single muscle in your body is flexed, mouth is open and inhaling is harder than breathing in Toronto.
Not ponying up the cash for a big ring might have been the wrong decision, but I couldn't bring myself to spending another 260 bucks on a freakin chain ring for the second time in a year, I just couldn't do it. Oh well, I'm already fired up for next year's race and despite the circumstances, I finished 18th... AGAIN. Another goal failed, but I'm happy with the effort I put in and I'm thinking a top 10 isn't unrealistic for next year, but I'm not one for long-term thinking so who knows?
Big thanks to everyone who helped put on such a great event and to Marv for building some more sweet trails, that guy is awesome.
Solid rides to De Cal and Etzl for top 10's, amazing.
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Saturday, September 25, 2010
The night before the Squeezer
Rode the course today with De Cal, a good quick pace to open the legs up and ride the local trails one last time before we race them. I always get so pumped for this race, it's the biggest race I do during the year, so many people watching and being able to line up with all the top riders in the province from the cadets to the elites, it's sick.
It's time for bed, in 12 hours I'll be warming up then soon after it'll be go-time. It's gonna be a great race, I was hoping for some rain today to stick to tradition but a little change is always good I guess.
Plate number 14, now I gotta crack the top 15, hopefully under 1:15 as well. Took a look at the start list posted on the OCA website and the A1 wave looks pretty freakin stacked, hopefully she goes tomorow.
It's time for bed, in 12 hours I'll be warming up then soon after it'll be go-time. It's gonna be a great race, I was hoping for some rain today to stick to tradition but a little change is always good I guess.
Plate number 14, now I gotta crack the top 15, hopefully under 1:15 as well. Took a look at the start list posted on the OCA website and the A1 wave looks pretty freakin stacked, hopefully she goes tomorow.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Oh shit!
School work is starting to pick up, this year I'm doing things a little different than last year. Instead of focusing on riding before school, I'm going to actually put a little effort into my classes and see how that goes. Last year I got a little crazy with off-season training; fully dedicating myself trying to hit 24 hr weeks through November and December, not the way to go about doing things. This is the time to just relax, if I don't feel like riding or I know I've got alot of school work to do then riding is out of the question.
I love the Tuesday and Thursday night cross practices, but it's hard to find a ride there when my class finishes at 5 and cross starts around 6. Burgoyne is easier because the place is just down the hill from school, but both days it's French and my friend who has the same course drives me there in her brand spankin new Ford Focus, I don't even want to try to run the idea by her of throwing my greassy bike in there. The first one I drove myself, but not too long after that my sister drove the minivan into a hydro pole and knocked it over, she's fine but the van... not so much.
On top of that, the basement flooded yesterday because the hot water tank rotted out and water was running out of it all day. Brand new laminate flooring in and alot more stuff such as speakers and even the christmas tree are damaged and I don't even have to tell you what a pain in the ass and how corrupt the insurance companies are. Alright, I'm going to stop myself from ranting on about corruption, I'm pretty sure out of 40 hours or so of driving this year with De Cal, 30 was spent talking about corruption.
My classes this year are much better than last year because I've only got one elective this year and it's French, as in oouuuhh la bicyclette! One of my professors is the mother of one of the young guns in the club, the one and only Biran. Her class is growth and development, I call it child exercise physiology because that's what it is and it sounds alot cooler haha.
I'm going to start posting up some of the things I learn that have to do with exercising, unless you guys also want to hear about verbes and le complément d'agent, nah didn't think so.
I love the Tuesday and Thursday night cross practices, but it's hard to find a ride there when my class finishes at 5 and cross starts around 6. Burgoyne is easier because the place is just down the hill from school, but both days it's French and my friend who has the same course drives me there in her brand spankin new Ford Focus, I don't even want to try to run the idea by her of throwing my greassy bike in there. The first one I drove myself, but not too long after that my sister drove the minivan into a hydro pole and knocked it over, she's fine but the van... not so much.
On top of that, the basement flooded yesterday because the hot water tank rotted out and water was running out of it all day. Brand new laminate flooring in and alot more stuff such as speakers and even the christmas tree are damaged and I don't even have to tell you what a pain in the ass and how corrupt the insurance companies are. Alright, I'm going to stop myself from ranting on about corruption, I'm pretty sure out of 40 hours or so of driving this year with De Cal, 30 was spent talking about corruption.
My classes this year are much better than last year because I've only got one elective this year and it's French, as in oouuuhh la bicyclette! One of my professors is the mother of one of the young guns in the club, the one and only Biran. Her class is growth and development, I call it child exercise physiology because that's what it is and it sounds alot cooler haha.
I'm going to start posting up some of the things I learn that have to do with exercising, unless you guys also want to hear about verbes and le complément d'agent, nah didn't think so.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Oh snap!
Since Paul's I've been pretty exhausted, especially before noon, so this morning's lecture from 8-11 wasn't the funnest thing in the world. There was no way I was getting on a bike Sunday, but I did play some hockey, the combination of fried legs and being super rusty because it was the first skate of the year made for an interesting game. I didn't ride Monday either only because I didn't have any time at all, it's been so nice out that it's a shame not to get out for at least a short spin.
I went straight from class to cross today, I was pretty exhausted but started riding around the park and felt much better. My legs were unusually sore considering how slow I was going but after 10 minutes or so I was able to finally shift up to the big ring. I found out there was a run-up on the course so I was heading to the truck in one of my smallest gears and next thing I knew my chain was in two pieces. I haven't had any problems at all with that chain then it just suddenly snaps in two places when I wasn't even hammering. Good thing we got some cool people like Conlon in the club who let me use his pit bike, that thing rode super nice. Thanks alot man.
Did 2 laps of a pretty tough course, then rest, then 2 more laps and have a close encounter with a man cutting across the course with his dogs. One would expect a sorry for such a gesture but instead I had the pleasure of receiving a nice warm f**k off. Then rest again and be told that there have been numerous complaints of destructive cyclists riding around causing alot of damage to multiple blades of grass and we needed a permit to be there, then one more all-out lap. I felt alot better than I thought I would during the efforts but I was faiding big time on the second lap, hopefully after another easy day I'll be tip-top at Thursday's cx practice.
I found out that although I might not have a natural talent for fixing my bike, I'm sure good at taking it apart. The only thing left on my road bike is the crankset/bb, I don't think I have the tools to take it off and I can't find anything online on how to do it. I'm hoping to get it all cleaned up, re-greased, re-cabled and re-bar taped before the end of the mtb season to free up the stand to get some work done on my cross bike. The saddle seems to be at the right spot now but needs to be raised a bit and the hoods need to be moved around and maybe a longer stem.
Got my Ambrosio Nemesis' in today, pics soon to come!
I went straight from class to cross today, I was pretty exhausted but started riding around the park and felt much better. My legs were unusually sore considering how slow I was going but after 10 minutes or so I was able to finally shift up to the big ring. I found out there was a run-up on the course so I was heading to the truck in one of my smallest gears and next thing I knew my chain was in two pieces. I haven't had any problems at all with that chain then it just suddenly snaps in two places when I wasn't even hammering. Good thing we got some cool people like Conlon in the club who let me use his pit bike, that thing rode super nice. Thanks alot man.
Did 2 laps of a pretty tough course, then rest, then 2 more laps and have a close encounter with a man cutting across the course with his dogs. One would expect a sorry for such a gesture but instead I had the pleasure of receiving a nice warm f**k off. Then rest again and be told that there have been numerous complaints of destructive cyclists riding around causing alot of damage to multiple blades of grass and we needed a permit to be there, then one more all-out lap. I felt alot better than I thought I would during the efforts but I was faiding big time on the second lap, hopefully after another easy day I'll be tip-top at Thursday's cx practice.
I found out that although I might not have a natural talent for fixing my bike, I'm sure good at taking it apart. The only thing left on my road bike is the crankset/bb, I don't think I have the tools to take it off and I can't find anything online on how to do it. I'm hoping to get it all cleaned up, re-greased, re-cabled and re-bar taped before the end of the mtb season to free up the stand to get some work done on my cross bike. The saddle seems to be at the right spot now but needs to be raised a bit and the hoods need to be moved around and maybe a longer stem.
Got my Ambrosio Nemesis' in today, pics soon to come!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Paul's Dirty Enduro 100km
What an epic race, I can pretty much sum it up like that. There's nothing better in the world than nearly 100km of singletrack in one day.
Started off really slow, maybe too slow, but I remembered that the first 20km means nothing. I got caught by a couple guys and we rode together for a bit, they told me we were on perfect pace for a 7 hour finish time, I sure as hell didn't want to be riding that long. We were already 14km in, so I picked it up til the first feed zone. Topped up one bottle then headed off with a higher pace. Finally caught the lead female who was going really strong, I kept on going solo til the second feedzone with no one ever in sight. The only things keeping me on edge were the sounds of the forest that had me thinking someone was close by, but anywhere I looked I couldn't see anyone.
I arrived at the second feedzone feeling super fresh, Bretton Matthews and SS guy were just leaving. I stopped for a bit, took my arm warmers off and grabbed some fresh bottles, I even stayed for a PB&J sandwich and some banana and found out I was already 18 minutes behind the leader, which wasn't De Cal yet. I felt really strong so after I got rid of angry legs I picked up the pace. I only rode with Bretton and SS guy long enough to know they were from Midland, or Kitchener, I can't remember anymore and that SS guy's favourite band was from where I'm from before I rode away from them. I was riding strong and was hoping that someone would appear in the distance, but nothing. I heard the 60km start cheers and made my goal to hold off all of them, third feedzone and I'm still feeling strong, got some more PB&J, threw a banana in the jersey and kept on going hard. It was frustrating not seeing anyone and I had some stupid crashes just from losing focus.
I was hoping to either get caught or catch someone soon so the time went by a little quicker. Still no one close by when I got to the fourth feezone, I wasn't feelinf tired at all yet so I was hoping to be able to pick it up even more and have enough to finish strong. I tried picking it up and had to drop the pace within 10k or so, I got dropped by the 60k leaders and... ah man I can't remember what happened for the last 2 feeds but at the last one I was 15 minutes down from De Cal, that got me motivated but "motivation means nothing if you don't have the legs" as Lance has said. I had nothing left, it was discouraging how slow I was going but I was close to the end and was just hoping to hold my spot. Finished just ahead of JC from the 60k, apparently he was riding behind me for a while, I didn't notice.
I'm happy with just finishing, I was hoping for a top 5 but 6th is quite alright. It was just an accomplishment to finish, the course was amazing, the climbs were painfully long, the downhills were long and fast, the trails were flowy and endless, it was epic. The first 40k was the thoughest part and when we came through the strart/finish I thought we were going out for another lap of it. I'm glad we didn't. I'm already looking forward to next year, my arm warmers didn't make it back from the feed and a couple bottles, but it was worth it.
I knew De Cal would win it, I would have been surprised if he didn't, 18 minutes is a pretty commanding gap. I sense a new course record set next year. JC had a solid ride for being a bit out of shape.
Big thanks to everyone who helped put on such a great event, marking that much trail so well is no easy task. The draw prizes were great and the food was delicious, what a day.
Started off really slow, maybe too slow, but I remembered that the first 20km means nothing. I got caught by a couple guys and we rode together for a bit, they told me we were on perfect pace for a 7 hour finish time, I sure as hell didn't want to be riding that long. We were already 14km in, so I picked it up til the first feed zone. Topped up one bottle then headed off with a higher pace. Finally caught the lead female who was going really strong, I kept on going solo til the second feedzone with no one ever in sight. The only things keeping me on edge were the sounds of the forest that had me thinking someone was close by, but anywhere I looked I couldn't see anyone.
I arrived at the second feedzone feeling super fresh, Bretton Matthews and SS guy were just leaving. I stopped for a bit, took my arm warmers off and grabbed some fresh bottles, I even stayed for a PB&J sandwich and some banana and found out I was already 18 minutes behind the leader, which wasn't De Cal yet. I felt really strong so after I got rid of angry legs I picked up the pace. I only rode with Bretton and SS guy long enough to know they were from Midland, or Kitchener, I can't remember anymore and that SS guy's favourite band was from where I'm from before I rode away from them. I was riding strong and was hoping that someone would appear in the distance, but nothing. I heard the 60km start cheers and made my goal to hold off all of them, third feedzone and I'm still feeling strong, got some more PB&J, threw a banana in the jersey and kept on going hard. It was frustrating not seeing anyone and I had some stupid crashes just from losing focus.
I was hoping to either get caught or catch someone soon so the time went by a little quicker. Still no one close by when I got to the fourth feezone, I wasn't feelinf tired at all yet so I was hoping to be able to pick it up even more and have enough to finish strong. I tried picking it up and had to drop the pace within 10k or so, I got dropped by the 60k leaders and... ah man I can't remember what happened for the last 2 feeds but at the last one I was 15 minutes down from De Cal, that got me motivated but "motivation means nothing if you don't have the legs" as Lance has said. I had nothing left, it was discouraging how slow I was going but I was close to the end and was just hoping to hold my spot. Finished just ahead of JC from the 60k, apparently he was riding behind me for a while, I didn't notice.
I'm happy with just finishing, I was hoping for a top 5 but 6th is quite alright. It was just an accomplishment to finish, the course was amazing, the climbs were painfully long, the downhills were long and fast, the trails were flowy and endless, it was epic. The first 40k was the thoughest part and when we came through the strart/finish I thought we were going out for another lap of it. I'm glad we didn't. I'm already looking forward to next year, my arm warmers didn't make it back from the feed and a couple bottles, but it was worth it.
I knew De Cal would win it, I would have been surprised if he didn't, 18 minutes is a pretty commanding gap. I sense a new course record set next year. JC had a solid ride for being a bit out of shape.
Big thanks to everyone who helped put on such a great event, marking that much trail so well is no easy task. The draw prizes were great and the food was delicious, what a day.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
If you don't use it, you lose it
But, if you overuse it, you'll lose it too.
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I'm talking about fitness of course. After my race at xc provincials I figured that that was my peak, along with Elliot Lake but misfortunes had me out of both races, but I feel like I'm still getting stronger as the weeks progress. It was hard to judge my fitness during the 2 weekends off racing using only the Tuesday nighters but I knew I wasn't loosing anything. Had confirmation of that on the weekend and I know that if I would have raced the marathon a little smarter or knew how to handle my cross bike a bit I could have done a bit better, but there are always millions of "what ifs".
I'm most likely being a little too cautious right now with training but I guess it's better than what I did in April. I couldn't get out of bed earlier than 11:30 today and when I was finally up it felt like I had only slept 4 hours, not a good day to train. It's almost 10 now and I'm pretty much ready for bed, maybe it's just my system trying to fight all the new bacteria that was introduced to my body during the first few days of school. Either way, it's all about learning, trying to figure out what the happy-medium is for myself when it comes to trying to maintain peak fitness, even just trying to figure out if you've peaked or are peaking. If I don't push hard enough then there will defenitely be some loss in fitness and I know all too well what happens when you push too hard.
So I was giving cross some thought, maybe I'll give it a good go and not just a go. I spent all season looking forward to the next one and having the "I just wanna get this one over with" attitude but now that I'm happy with how things are going I'm starting to look at things more from weekend to weekend. It saddens me to think of the whole season as a throw-away and how much fun I could have had if I would have trained alot smarter. It's an awesome feeling to be super-pumped for a race, do well in it, then before you're even recovered from it you're already so pumped for the next one. So I'll go hard for cross, I'm not going to invest nearly as much money as I have on xc and road, maybe it's just that I can't because it's all going to educational purposes at the moment but I'll gor hard from a training perspective. I feel like I've got alot left to give for this season and I won't be satisfied if I end it now.
Heading out to Port Hope tomorow with De Cal, apparently the conti breakfast at the hotel has a waffle machine, I'll be all over that. A 100k mountain bike race should burn at least 10 giant waffles, maybe I'll have 11 just to be sure. I know I don't have to say it but... stoked!
A few pics from Jump the Cheeseburger, courtesy of Dr. Cheung (ok, stolen from Flickr);
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Mansfield Marathon Champs
Just finished my "Health and Physical Activity Promotion" course, the course title is pretty deceiving because I thought it would be something along the lines of how to make the proper bristel boards to encourage kids and not-so-in-shape people to exercise but it's not that at all. The professor is the ex-athletics director so he's got some pretty good insight on alot of things, he asked some pretty interesting questions today that get you thinking quite a bit. Makes the 3 hours go by a little quicker but I'm hoping my ass doesn't cramp up everyday from sitting in such a small chair for so long. Could be because of the race, oh yeah, the race.
So I arrived at De Cal's just before 7 and there was no time waisted getting packed up and gone, we were out of the driveway by 7. A few stops for this and that and we arrived at Mansfield, got a pretty sweet T and suited up to warm up. I found it funny how my warm up for this race was longer than my warm ups for the first o-cups at the beginning of the year, race and learn.
The start was pretty relaxed, my race almost ended very quickly when I tried to ride over the first bridge over a log and nearly ate it since it was as slippery as ice. The first hill was a hike but thankfully there wasn't much more of that, I stayed at a steady pace with no one around and slowly realled in the 2WE/3Rox train of Preston, Jamie and Cory. We rode together for quite some time, it was great to follow them in the trails because of how smooth they ride, we picked up the pace after the first feed zone because a couple SSers were catching up, can't have that. I still had a full bottle by the second feed zone and I remembered Kerton saying the 1st and 3rd weren't too far apart so I skipped it and kept riding. I was riding very smooth in the ST and going hard on the climbs, ended up realing in a guy who told me he was in 6th. Kept it steady and caught another guy from La Bici before the third feed zone so I thought I was in 5th. Right on.
Turns out I was 6th with 5th 2 minutes ahead, that got me pumped, a little too pumped maybe because I started going super hard on the DT and standing to hammer all the climbs, no one was in sight but I was hoping I can hold the pace and the guy in front was cooked. My legs were feeling great but I had to back the pace way down because of how sore my back was, upper and lower, it was awful. Coming towards the parking lot I was just happy I made it and kept my spot until we turned right and had to go up one of the biggest climbs and I saw Tim Carleton just ahead. I couldn't bridge, I was done, it was just a relief to make it to the top of the climb and crawl in to the finish alive.
I ended up finishing 6th with Tim under a minute ahead and 5 and a half minutes down from the winner. Huge props to De Cal for the win, he knew he had the win no matter what so he rode a few trails extra out there just to get some better training in for Paul's. After Sunday, I'm super pumped for Paul's, I'll have to hold back a little longer and maybe start out even slower, should be a good learning experience. Nothing much to do this week but empty the fridge and listen to some very smart people talk, maybe a ride or 2.
So I arrived at De Cal's just before 7 and there was no time waisted getting packed up and gone, we were out of the driveway by 7. A few stops for this and that and we arrived at Mansfield, got a pretty sweet T and suited up to warm up. I found it funny how my warm up for this race was longer than my warm ups for the first o-cups at the beginning of the year, race and learn.
The start was pretty relaxed, my race almost ended very quickly when I tried to ride over the first bridge over a log and nearly ate it since it was as slippery as ice. The first hill was a hike but thankfully there wasn't much more of that, I stayed at a steady pace with no one around and slowly realled in the 2WE/3Rox train of Preston, Jamie and Cory. We rode together for quite some time, it was great to follow them in the trails because of how smooth they ride, we picked up the pace after the first feed zone because a couple SSers were catching up, can't have that. I still had a full bottle by the second feed zone and I remembered Kerton saying the 1st and 3rd weren't too far apart so I skipped it and kept riding. I was riding very smooth in the ST and going hard on the climbs, ended up realing in a guy who told me he was in 6th. Kept it steady and caught another guy from La Bici before the third feed zone so I thought I was in 5th. Right on.
Turns out I was 6th with 5th 2 minutes ahead, that got me pumped, a little too pumped maybe because I started going super hard on the DT and standing to hammer all the climbs, no one was in sight but I was hoping I can hold the pace and the guy in front was cooked. My legs were feeling great but I had to back the pace way down because of how sore my back was, upper and lower, it was awful. Coming towards the parking lot I was just happy I made it and kept my spot until we turned right and had to go up one of the biggest climbs and I saw Tim Carleton just ahead. I couldn't bridge, I was done, it was just a relief to make it to the top of the climb and crawl in to the finish alive.
I ended up finishing 6th with Tim under a minute ahead and 5 and a half minutes down from the winner. Huge props to De Cal for the win, he knew he had the win no matter what so he rode a few trails extra out there just to get some better training in for Paul's. After Sunday, I'm super pumped for Paul's, I'll have to hold back a little longer and maybe start out even slower, should be a good learning experience. Nothing much to do this week but empty the fridge and listen to some very smart people talk, maybe a ride or 2.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Jump the Cheeseburger
I had a pretty good week leading up to this past weekend's races, Tuesday was the hilly course and it was pretty sweet hammering with dark clouds moving around and lightning a few miles away, looked like the big shitstorm was going to be unleashed, big disappointment. Wednesday was nothing, Thursday I rushed to get my cross bike together to make it to Chown's cross practice, I learned quite a bit in an hour or so, had a nice crash trying to take a sweeping bend too fast but it's all about learning. Friday was an easy spin on the cross bike after I attempted to tune-up the drivetrain, I've got to say, I didn't do too bad at all.
That brings us to 2 days ago, the Cowbell race called Jump the Cheeseburger for this year. Great event put on by Nathan Chown and a group of volunteers. I actually got to this race 3 or so hours early, I watched what I could of the S4/M3 race then got some spando on to ride the course, got in 3 laps before the next start, cheered on the M2s and women then got some more food and coffee before heading off looking for some singletrack. I found a couple trails but they were super short but still pretty fun. Got in another 2-3 laps before lining up.
I got clipped in pretty quick for the start and was sitting 4th going into the first corner, I thought I'd loose plenty of places quickly but then next time around I was sitting comfortably in 6th or so. I was focusing on riding the corners smooth and accelerating hard out of them, I wasn't burning any matches to pass people, just kept it smooth and waited for them to make mistakes. It worked out pretty good, gained and lost a few spots, I was doing real good at one point closing in on 5th then I started to get thirsty, really really thirsty. I was debating asking Rob Watt to throw me my bottle that was under his chair but I figured I would stick it out since we're not supposed to get a feed unless it's above a certain temperature so I gotta get used to racing thirsty for an hour or try something different before the race to stay hydrated.
Anyways, dropped down to 7th just behind Isaac Smith (big thanks to him for a bunch of St.CCC clothing) he rode away from me but I reeled him back in on one of the flat drag race sections just before the finish. I made a big mistake giving him the inside line on the last sweeping bend, he took it and got around me. That's alright, I probably would have lost the sprint anyways because when I tried to stand and hammer the chain was jumping in the back. OK, so I guess my tune-up still needs a little tune-up.
Big thanks to Chown for putting on such a sick event and for the cool prizes. Huge props to Robby Watt for his W, Wes for totally crushing the M2 field and Sara for coming 2nd in her first cx race ever. Rumour has it Chown won the sprint at the end but didn't take geometry in high school and painted the line crooked.
My cross bike needs a bit of work, function and position wise, before the next cross race which is about a month from now. After tomorow, I'm going to start taking apart my road bike, slowly of course, to clean everything and recable it. Last Tuesday nighter of the year, I'm hoping for a bunch sprint.
That brings us to 2 days ago, the Cowbell race called Jump the Cheeseburger for this year. Great event put on by Nathan Chown and a group of volunteers. I actually got to this race 3 or so hours early, I watched what I could of the S4/M3 race then got some spando on to ride the course, got in 3 laps before the next start, cheered on the M2s and women then got some more food and coffee before heading off looking for some singletrack. I found a couple trails but they were super short but still pretty fun. Got in another 2-3 laps before lining up.
I got clipped in pretty quick for the start and was sitting 4th going into the first corner, I thought I'd loose plenty of places quickly but then next time around I was sitting comfortably in 6th or so. I was focusing on riding the corners smooth and accelerating hard out of them, I wasn't burning any matches to pass people, just kept it smooth and waited for them to make mistakes. It worked out pretty good, gained and lost a few spots, I was doing real good at one point closing in on 5th then I started to get thirsty, really really thirsty. I was debating asking Rob Watt to throw me my bottle that was under his chair but I figured I would stick it out since we're not supposed to get a feed unless it's above a certain temperature so I gotta get used to racing thirsty for an hour or try something different before the race to stay hydrated.
Anyways, dropped down to 7th just behind Isaac Smith (big thanks to him for a bunch of St.CCC clothing) he rode away from me but I reeled him back in on one of the flat drag race sections just before the finish. I made a big mistake giving him the inside line on the last sweeping bend, he took it and got around me. That's alright, I probably would have lost the sprint anyways because when I tried to stand and hammer the chain was jumping in the back. OK, so I guess my tune-up still needs a little tune-up.
Big thanks to Chown for putting on such a sick event and for the cool prizes. Huge props to Robby Watt for his W, Wes for totally crushing the M2 field and Sara for coming 2nd in her first cx race ever. Rumour has it Chown won the sprint at the end but didn't take geometry in high school and painted the line crooked.
My cross bike needs a bit of work, function and position wise, before the next cross race which is about a month from now. After tomorow, I'm going to start taking apart my road bike, slowly of course, to clean everything and recable it. Last Tuesday nighter of the year, I'm hoping for a bunch sprint.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Feels like thanksgiving weather, smells like it too
Another windy day, solid ride, but no shakes when I got home, beauty. Cross season is almost here, as well as going back to school. It won't be so bad, I'll have much more energy to get out and ride because I won't be working all day and I've got some pretty interesting classes this year. First year I only had 3 classes that had to do with my major and the rest were all electives, I had stuff like philosophy and political sciences.
I haven't made any goals for cross, just looking to improve my handling skills and have a good time with it. It's also a good way to avoid getting fat and lazy, that's for December. I'm not sure how long I'll last before I burn out, it's been a long season, I'm guessig mid-Novemeber. Once I feel that I've got nothing left, that'll be the end of my season, hopefully all goes well until then.
What remains of the race schedule is pretty much finalized, there's a conflict between the fourth U-Cup and UCI Toronto, pretty sure I'm doing the Toronto race weekend. There's also a conflict with the third U-Cup and ZM Octoberfest cross race, that's a tough decision. After the Squeezer it would be nice to get right into cross but the U-Cup series is awesome and Dave does alot of work to keep it running, it would be a bummer to not get to do any this year. Either way, I'll be racing both those weekends, so it looks like the next weekend that I have off of racing will mark the end of the season.
Time to put on some loose pants for the fish fry/JF's big 4-0 birthday party, mmmmmmmmm fooooooood.
I haven't made any goals for cross, just looking to improve my handling skills and have a good time with it. It's also a good way to avoid getting fat and lazy, that's for December. I'm not sure how long I'll last before I burn out, it's been a long season, I'm guessig mid-Novemeber. Once I feel that I've got nothing left, that'll be the end of my season, hopefully all goes well until then.
What remains of the race schedule is pretty much finalized, there's a conflict between the fourth U-Cup and UCI Toronto, pretty sure I'm doing the Toronto race weekend. There's also a conflict with the third U-Cup and ZM Octoberfest cross race, that's a tough decision. After the Squeezer it would be nice to get right into cross but the U-Cup series is awesome and Dave does alot of work to keep it running, it would be a bummer to not get to do any this year. Either way, I'll be racing both those weekends, so it looks like the next weekend that I have off of racing will mark the end of the season.
Time to put on some loose pants for the fish fry/JF's big 4-0 birthday party, mmmmmmmmm fooooooood.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Change
Well, that has to have been in the top 5 most windiest rides I've ever done. Once again, I was late getting to the meeting point in Jordan so I spent the first part of the ride chassing. The only difference was that I was super late this time so the pack was nowhere in sight, oh, and there was alot of wind. I hammered in the headwind but never got out of my 39T, I took a few shortcuts and met up with them before Mountainview. My legs were there, but I felt like shit overall, when we stopped I couldn't stop coughin up some big loogs and they kept coming the whole way home. Once I was home I had the shakes and passed out on the couch for an hour, sweet, woke up and had a solid munch. My body doesn't cope well with pressure and temperatue changes, hopefully it's just the sudden change outdoors.
Riding in such a strong wind is a pain in the ass but you appreciate it once the ride is done because it gave such a good workout and you have an excuse for walking around the house like a zombie. Well, from the couch to the fridge and back. Oh, and I can't forget those rare times when the wind is at your back and you can ride at some awesome speeds, of course, it comes as a price.
I made my attempt at fixing my mountain bike, I've done all I could and it wasn't enough. Time to admit defeat and head on over to the bike shop, after a snooze and some more grub of course. Kill two birds with one stone and get my road shoes checked out, the cleets keep twisting on me even with lock-tite and having my foot pointed outwards kills my IT band.
Just watched José Hermida win the World Champs on the boob tube, not sure if it was live or not but it was a cool race to watch. Too bad for Schurter's mechanicals.
Good luck to De Cal tomorow, hopefully he makes his way back home with some paper. Also to Etzy, Hopky, and Perry at Green Mountain.
Riding in such a strong wind is a pain in the ass but you appreciate it once the ride is done because it gave such a good workout and you have an excuse for walking around the house like a zombie. Well, from the couch to the fridge and back. Oh, and I can't forget those rare times when the wind is at your back and you can ride at some awesome speeds, of course, it comes as a price.
I made my attempt at fixing my mountain bike, I've done all I could and it wasn't enough. Time to admit defeat and head on over to the bike shop, after a snooze and some more grub of course. Kill two birds with one stone and get my road shoes checked out, the cleets keep twisting on me even with lock-tite and having my foot pointed outwards kills my IT band.
Just watched José Hermida win the World Champs on the boob tube, not sure if it was live or not but it was a cool race to watch. Too bad for Schurter's mechanicals.
Good luck to De Cal tomorow, hopefully he makes his way back home with some paper. Also to Etzy, Hopky, and Perry at Green Mountain.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Good late season riding
Since Thursday I got some pretty good riding done, starting with a mountain bike ride on Friday with De Cal. We hit up most of the trails in the St. Catharines area and even got on the Bruce Trail to climb up a small river before parting ways on the canal path. My mtb was working pretty horribly and I had no big ring, but other then that the ride was awesome. Nearly 5 hours of riding and a day off work, good start to the weekend.
Saturday was the hilly club ride, I was feeling awful and was late getting to the meeting point so I spent the first little while chassing the group down, good thing Hopkins dropped back to help me. I had almost nothing on the hills, Etzl was hurting pretty bad too so we crawled into Smithville together. No townline sprint. Sunday was completely different, flat and I felt great. The pace of the echelon kept picking up on the way in from Attercliffe until we reached a point where there were attacks thrown and 5 of us were left. The stretch to the townline sprint got pretty intense, haven't pushed that hard in a while.
Monday I had absolutely no strength after work, just munched out and slept. Last night was the flat Tuesday night course in North Pelham. I guess everyone was feeling pretty cooked because the pace was brutally slow, there were some decent attacks but nothing getting away for even a lap. The 10 laps felt pretty long after nearly puking twice from efforts, I actually squeezed out a half decent sprint on adrenaline alone, timing was way off though. I got a little motor pacing from my dad in the soccer mom mini van on the way home, great draft but I find a truck is better.
Today, again, not much energy. We just finished barn prep today, I was hoping for a day off tomorow to get in a mountain bike ride but I'll be working and I've still got some repairing to do on the mtb. My repairing usually results in a trip to the bike shop, so it'll probably be the TT tomorow.
I won't be doing Via Italia, I think one more weekend off racing would be wise. I'll be at the Marathon Champs and if that doesn't go completely wrong then I'll be at Paul's as well. I was thinking about my goal for the Squeezer this year, based on last year's results I'd have to beat Kinsie to do that, he was fourth U23 at Nationals. I think that's a little unrealistic, if it's a similar field then I'd be happy with a top 15. We'll see how she goes.
Saturday was the hilly club ride, I was feeling awful and was late getting to the meeting point so I spent the first little while chassing the group down, good thing Hopkins dropped back to help me. I had almost nothing on the hills, Etzl was hurting pretty bad too so we crawled into Smithville together. No townline sprint. Sunday was completely different, flat and I felt great. The pace of the echelon kept picking up on the way in from Attercliffe until we reached a point where there were attacks thrown and 5 of us were left. The stretch to the townline sprint got pretty intense, haven't pushed that hard in a while.
Monday I had absolutely no strength after work, just munched out and slept. Last night was the flat Tuesday night course in North Pelham. I guess everyone was feeling pretty cooked because the pace was brutally slow, there were some decent attacks but nothing getting away for even a lap. The 10 laps felt pretty long after nearly puking twice from efforts, I actually squeezed out a half decent sprint on adrenaline alone, timing was way off though. I got a little motor pacing from my dad in the soccer mom mini van on the way home, great draft but I find a truck is better.
Today, again, not much energy. We just finished barn prep today, I was hoping for a day off tomorow to get in a mountain bike ride but I'll be working and I've still got some repairing to do on the mtb. My repairing usually results in a trip to the bike shop, so it'll probably be the TT tomorow.
I won't be doing Via Italia, I think one more weekend off racing would be wise. I'll be at the Marathon Champs and if that doesn't go completely wrong then I'll be at Paul's as well. I was thinking about my goal for the Squeezer this year, based on last year's results I'd have to beat Kinsie to do that, he was fourth U23 at Nationals. I think that's a little unrealistic, if it's a similar field then I'd be happy with a top 15. We'll see how she goes.
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