The certainty of taxes

I spent Saturday looking out at the rain and doing my taxes. On the whole a somewhat disheartening way to spend what should have been a lovely day for riding. (I'm actually early this year. In Canada the deadline is April 30^th, so we get 15 days more than Americans to do our taxes.)

As expected, last Wednesday I managed to get a nice ride in to school and back and then core exercises in the evening. Thursday was my day with baby, so I had a lot of pushing the stroller around. Friday I had a great ride to school and then over to Bowen Island in the afternoon.

The ride along Marine Drive from the Lion's Gate Bridge to Horseshoe Bay is one of the best road rides around Vancouver, certainly one of the most popular. Although the road is a bit narrow and has a few blind corners and hills, the views are amazing and none of the hills are too long. On my mountain bike I can make it from downtown Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay in under an hour. And, best of all, warm sunny weather and short sleeves. (I know, we are very spoiled on the west coast.) And then on Friday evening more core exercises.

Saturday was the aforementioned taxes, but on Sunday I managed to squeeze in an hour and a half road ride out to UBC and back. My training plan from Cory called for a 2 ½ hour ride on Saturday and an hour and half on Sunday. I'm a bit naughty not sticking to the plan, but between teaching and looking after a 2 year-old I think that I'm managing to stick pretty close.

Today was supposed to be another hour and a half ride, but I had to get home to take on baby care. One thing that I have to say about caring for a two year-old, you certainly work the core muscles. Carrying her around in my arms, on my shoulders, or heaving her in and out of the crib all works muscles that I didn't really use as much as I should have pre-baby.

Tuesday's plan calls for a 45 minutes road ride, but I think that I'll be able to stretch that out to 1 ½ to 2 hours.

I need a nap, even if my two year-old doesn’t

Ah the life of a parent. The battles with a two year-old can be epic. She does not want to have a nap, but I could sure do with one.

My daughter has now decided that she only needs one nap per day. In the past she could be counted on to go down for an hour or so in the morning and then another couple of hours in the early afternoon. Now, to badly use a quote from Dylan Thomas, she chooses to "rage against the dying of the light". So, instead of a child engaged in peaceful slumber I have to deal with a cranky toddler who is so tired she is falling down, yet refuses to put head to pillow.

And what effect does this have on my riding? Well, it puts a slight dent in it. A half hour bicycle commute on Monday and the same again today. Now, I know that I should not complain. I got in a nice ½ hour ride each day, the weather is lovely and the views were amazing. But I really need to be building my base and some longer rides will help. I'd hoped to put in an hour and half on both Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday will be more core exercises, and I may manage to get a longer ride in before school.

About a month to the first cross country race of the season. I'll be interested to see how I do. The old Giant NRS 1 will be pressed into service yet again. I'll be making a few minor changes. I'm continuing to take my tyre pressure down to find the sweet spot between traction and flats. I recently read an interesting research paper that showed that lower (Under 30 psi) tyre pressure is faster on every surface except pavement. In the past I've gone old school and ridden with 40-45 psi. While I rarely get a flat, my bike does tend to bounce around a bit in the rocky rooty single track. With slightly lower pressure I hope to gain more traction, increase my speed and still avoid flats.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

This time of year the Vancouver area is spectacular. The flowers are up, the leaves are popping out on the trees, the cheery blossoms are out every where, and despite the snow on the mountains, in town you don't need a coat.

And it is this sort of weather that I have to contend with. I know, I'm a very lucky fellow.

Thursday I did my 1km and 4km time trials. The problem was that it was really windy and I had to try and find a part of my route that was flat and not too windy. In al I rode about 40 kms in 1:40. The times were not great. I've never been a great sprinter. At high school I ran 800m, 1500m, 3000m and cross country. I avoided the 100 and 200 at al costs, and only did the 400 under duress.

Friday was just a commute to and from school. Nice weather, but a bit windy. 20 kms in all. Then in the evening I did some more core exercises.

Saturday the plan called for a 3.5 hour ride. I put in 3:32 and re-rode the 100 km Pacific Populaire course. This goes from Vancouver out to UBC and then down to Lulu Island (Richmond) and back. Even riding on my own I managed to ride slightly faster than last weekend. The fact that it was less windy sure helped.

And today, Sunday, I rode the Richmond portion, 65 kms, of the Pacific Populaire course. I will have to do some more exploring around Richmond. It is pretty remarkable, you are only 20kms from downtown Vancouver and it is completely rural. Sparsely travelled roads, blueberry farms, and frequent great views up to the North Shore Mountains. The downside is that it is all completely flat, so I will have to do some hill work to compensate.

Tomorrow I'm back at school, so I'll have my commuting ride around town.

Real Life Rears Its Ugly Head

On Monday the training plan called for a 90 minute ride and I managed to squeeze in a two hour ride. (Lucky me.) The joys of a holiday Monday.

Tuesday the weather and family life were not fully cooperative. My wife Jane has come down with the flu and I spent most of the morning taking my two year-old daughter around the neighbourhood. A great break for Jane, but providing childcare really does put a dent in my riding schedule. (I know, I can hear the screams from here, "don't be such a selfish bastard".) In reality, Jane and I share childcare pretty evenly. At the moment I'm teaching four days a week, and so she is spending a bit more time looking after our daughter. But I had 9 months of parental leave when I was the primary caregiver. So I can change diapers with the best of them, and I know my way around the works of Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon).

By the time I was ready to head to school the rain was coming in fits and starts. I don't mind arriving home wet, but as there is no shower at school, starting a class while cold and soaking wet tends not to make a great impression on students.

On Wednesday the weather was all over the map. I managed to avoid the rain going to school, but got caught in the rain coming home. If you commute by bike in Vancouver you had better be prepared for rain. In wet weather I ride with warm gloves, a waterproof/breathable jacket with pit zips, and over booties. Even with the best clothing, the reality is that eventually you are going to get wet. However, my commute is under 20 minutes and I make it home before I get completely soaked through.

And what awaits me when I get home. More strength exercises. How long can I hold "the plank"? How many times can I repeat before the muscles start to shriek? The exercises are miserable, but I know that they will help.

Back when I started rock climbing I scoffed at people doing exercises to improve their climbing. I thought that climbing was the best exercise to improve your climbing. Now I know better and recognize that off the rock, and off the bike, exercises will improve my strength and performance. Why it took me 30 years to learn this lesson I can only put down to pig headedness.

For Thursday I have two more time trials to do. A 4km and then a 1km. For the 1km the instructions from Cory at TCR are, "Hammer this one all out!" The forecast from Thursday morning is sunny and cool, +4C, so I should be able to get these done before the forecasted afternoon rain settles in.

I must have been mad

When I was a kid, we moved almost every year as my father shuttled from university to university. When my parents spoke about it later my mother's only answer to how they managed was, "We must have been mad".

Yesterday I followed in my parents' footsteps and did the Pacific Populaire. 102.8 kms in about 3 and a half hours. My training plan from Cory at TCR called for Sunday's ride to be two hours long and the start of building my "Base" mileage with sub-threshold efforts on the hills. Well, I overdid it a bit. I started near the front of the pack and managed to stay with the lead pack for the first 10 kms. After that they started to pull away. (Still in sight, but just out of reach.) As you do on most long rides, I fell in with a group of similar speed riders and we rode together taking pulls in the wicked headwinds before we turned around and came back along River Road towards Vancouver. I rode with a couple on a tandem for about 10 kms. Drafting behind them I almost didn't need to pedal.

Like many mountain bikers I suck at riding in a pack. I just don't get enough experience doing it. On the cross country races around Vancouver you rarely need road riding skills. Apart from fire roads on the TransRockies and the Populaire, I rarely ride in large pack on roads. And living on Bowen Island, I do far too much of my riding by myself. I always get to pick the route, but don't build my skills by watching more skilled riders.

Today I had to get out on my bike to spin out my legs. I rode out to UBC and back, putting in 45 kms at a somewhat leisurely pace. As the weather improves I'm seeing more and more road riders out around UBC. Early in the season my tolerance for mud is pretty low. On Bowen Island many on the trails are easily damaged by riders in wet weather, and the mud does wreck havoc on your drive train. So I usually tend to stick to riding the fire roads until after Easter.

With the better weather I'll be doing more off road riding, and working on my technical skills.

The Best Laid Plans

On Thursday I was supposed to do a 2km and 10km time trail. But the weather in Vancouver was complete rubbish. Raining and windy all day long. The minute the weather seemed to clear, the rain moved in and it started pelting down.

For Friday, the plan from Cory at TCR was some weight work. We went over to Bowen Island for the weekend, but shortly after we arrived the power went out. As the heat, hot water, refrigeration, and stove are all electrically powered, this had all the making for an uncomfortable few days. In place of the weight work I lugged boxes of tiles up to the bathroom, demolished the old shower stall, and lugged all the debris downstairs. We ended up heading back to Vancouver to warmth, light, hot food, and hot water. The high winds brought down trees all over the Vancouver area and the road through Stanley Park was closed causing a long detour across the Second Narrows Bridge and through the charms of East Vancouver to get back to the flat in Vancouver.

Saturday started off looking lovely. I was on daddy duty in the morning and had a couple of long walks around the neighbourhood with Sarah. In the afternoon I got out for a ride and managed to get my 2km and 10km time trials done. The roads were dry and the rain held off, but the winds were diabolical. My TT times are much worse that the December results that I recorded. But the December TTs were on a stationary bike in the gym, and today I was out in the wind.

Tomorrow I recover with a 100 km ride. The weather looks slightly better and while I'll get a bit wet, it is only 1-3 mm of rain forecast. The start time is 9:00 am. With luck I'll be home under a hot shower by 1:00 pm.