I’m feeling a little bit better

Thursday, June 24 – Rest Day

Of course, this is also my "I'm feeling like crap and trying to get better day". But even though it may be a rest day off the bike, I spend time out with my daughter in the morning and again in the afternoon. Her favourite place in the world is the library. She recognizes the logo and her first real word, apart from mama, dadda, baby etc, was library. Now it may be that we've been to the library almost every day since she was born, or the fact that everyone at the library knows her name, or perhaps that the library is next door to a fire station, but regardless there are worse places that a kid could hold a fascination for..

Friday, June 25 – 26 kms in 1:30

Cory's plan called for an hour and half or road work. But as I was on Bowen Island, and my only bike there is my cross country bike, I had top improvise. I did a few kms of rolling hills to warm up, then a bit of fun single track, and finally about 15 kms of road with a few obligatory hills along the way. I'm still not feeling 100%, but the worst of the cold seems to be going away.

I'm also fiddling with the fit with my bike. I changed the seat and I'm experimenting with saddle position to find one that will suit me for the duration of the TR. The new saddle is another Selle Italia TransAm. Not the lightest saddle around, but one that suits me. For long rides it offers a great combination of weight and padding. I hope to get all of this stuff sorted out by the end of June.

Saturday, June 26 – 15 kms in 1:02

Today's plan was for a 2 hour technical ride. But I really didn't feel up to it and only went out for an hour. I have mapped out a route that offers a nice warm up on pavement, some technical climbs, some technical descents, a bit of double track and then a plod back up the road back home. I actually circumnavigate one of the mountains on Bowen Island, but as part of the route is on private property I have to be a bit low key about it. Generally the land owners don't mind if locals ride the trails, but they are less enthusiastic about the prospect of hoards of people from off-island appearing in their back gardens. Eventually the land in question will likely be subdivided and the trails will likely be opened to all. That may be some time off in the future.

The route in question has a technical climb up five short climbs on loose double track. The climbs get progressively looser and harder to climb. On a good day I can clean the whole route. Today I was stopped by hills four and five. Despite three attempts on hill four I could not ride it. I kept spinning out in the same place. I put it down to not being 100% and worn tires. (But a poor workman always blames his tools.)

Tomorrow's ride is longer and on the road. I hope I feel better.

I feel like complete crap

Monday, June 21 – Rest Day
A rest day, but I feel like hell. The head cold has arrived with a vengeance. In previous years I would get this type of cold in January or February. I teach business, mainly marketing and operations, at the Bachelors and Masters levels. The schools I teach at attract mainly students from Asia, especially China. And, as you might expect, when they go home for Christmas or Lunar New Year they often bring back some new and exotic virus. Every Year it seemed that a horrid cold would make the rounds at school just after the students returned from Asia.
Now a cold in winter is expected, but to come down with this in the summer is a travesty. Perhaps I'll just have to put it down to globalization.

 
Tuesday, June 22 – 29 kms in 1:11
I managed two laps around Stanley Park after school. While I'm not feeling 100%, when I'm riding I feel okay. I cough less and don't seem to have any trouble breathing. But I'm taking it pretty easy and not pushing too hard. The last thing I want to do is burn myself out when I'm trying to get better.

 
Wednesday, June 23 – 5 kms in 0:21
I killed my bike! Well not quite killed it, but I managed to break a spoke on the rear wheel of my road bike on the way to school. I was just accelerating away from a traffic light when I heard a pop and felt the rear wheel start to rub. One of the spokes in the rear wheel had broken at the nipple. As the wheels have a low spoke count this caused the wheel to go out of true immediately. I limped to school keeping my speed down and avoiding all unnecessary acceleration and deceleration.
To avoid any possible damage to the bike I headed home by bus and dropped the bike in for service. This truly was one of those, "I was just riding along" incidents.
Once I got home I did my 30 minutes of upper body exercises. Tiresome, but necessary.

No Test for the Wicked

Thursday, June 17 – 9 kms in 0:35

My schedule is all over the map, and with the new semester my rest day will changed from Thursday to Monday. But as classes don't start until next week, so I managed to get a short ride on Bowen Island. Just 30 minutes. The terrain on Bowen is so hilly, that even short rides often include some impressive climbs. For instance, the start of every ride I do begins with a 60 metre elevation gain over the first 300 metres. So, even if I am trying to take it easy, the rides all start with an anaerobic shock to the system. To compensate I make good friends with my granny gear and take my time on the ascents.

 

Friday, June 18 – 25 kms in 1:34

As I've said before, no matter where you ride on Bowen Island you face hills. You either get better at riding hills, you move or you stop riding. There is one flatish section of road towards the west side of the island, but it is only a couple of kilometers long. This is a far cry from the 10 kms TT route that I use out near UBC. Over the entire distance I think that you gain and lose less than 25 metres in total elevation.

From my house on Bowen Island I can ride just over 12 kms and climb a total of over 500 metres. I also get one of the great views in Western Canada. From the helicopter pad at the Coast Guard radar station you have a view from Mount Baker to Vancouver Island. You can also see downtown Vancouver, UBC, the airport and all of the marine traffic to and from Vancouver Island. And all of this is available for the cost of a $10.00 ferry ticket from Horseshoe Bay. If you are in the area, I highly recommend Bowen Island. As a place to ride it offers everything from family friendly trails around Crippen Park, the challenging climbs and flowing single track of Mount Gardner, or the jumps and stunts of the bike park and awe inspiring creations of Dangerous Dan (http://www.flowriders.com/).

So, for today's 1 and a half hour ride I made the journey across to the south side of the island, tied together a bunch of single track and relaxed. Overall a very pleasant ride and a warm-up for my adventure tomorrow.

 

Saturday, June 19 – 49 kms in 3:46

Way back on January 1^st I struggled in vain to get onto the Test of Metal website and register for British Columbia's most popular cross country mountain bike race. Somehow 800 people did manage to register in 24 minutes. This set a new record, but I was not one of the lucky few. So for the first time since I started racing in 2003 I had to sit the race out. Oh well, there is always next year. So, instead I had a two hour technical ride planned. But as often happens, things did not unfold quite as planned.

Today I rode with Anthony, my 2008 TransRockies partner. He wanted a last tune-up ride before he tackled the BC Bike Race, and I knew that on technical terrain I'd benefit by trying to keep up with him. I plotted a route on Bowen Island that took in as much single and double-track as possible, and also threw in a few necessary climbs.

Whenever I'd ridden with Anthony in the past I'd been faster uphill, while he had been much faster down. I think to a certain extent this is a function of riding by myself so much. I'll try to climb anything, but turn into a complete wimp on descents.

There is a lovely piece of single track on the west side of Bowen Island. It goes from Laura Road down to Malkin Creek. While not overly technical by any stretch of the 8imagniation (No big drops etc.), it is rocky, rooty, steep in places and if you are not paying attention the potential for a crash does exist. The last time Anthony and I rode this he beat me down by 2 minutes. This time I was about 20 feet behind him. So either his new lightweight all mountain bike is slowing him down, highly unlikely, or I'm riding this technical terrain better that I have in the past. I think I'm getting better, and personally I blame Cory.

But I must admit to a sin. Cory's plan called for 2 hours and I was out for almost 4. I think that, despite my best intentions, sometimes riding is just too much fun to quit after only a couple of hours.

 

Sunday, June 20 – 49 kms in 2:01

What a difference a road bike makes. Almost the same distance as yesterday, but in about half the time. Of course no rocks and roots on the route also helps. The down side is that I seem to be coming down with a dreaded summer head cold. This starts in the nose, then annoys the throat, and finally settles in the chest. And I spend hours trying to "barf up a lung".

So, feeling misery coming on I took it easy on the ride.

Three days at three hours per day

Saturday, June 12 – 40 kms in 3:07
Now that's more like it. Despite the rain the past few days, the trails on Bowen Island were in pretty good shape. The plan called for a three hour mountain bike ride and I went over the target by seven minutes.
I rode a tonne of single-track and also threw in a few big climbs. I was pleasantly surprised at how I managed to handle the technical descents. The rock gardens were less trouble than I remember them being last year. I suspect that the exercise that I've been doing have really helped my core strength and that has helped Keeping the bike upright and on track on those loose descents.
My one disappointment was my ride through Cape Roger Curtis. This 640 acre property was sold a few years ago for about $16 million. The zoning allows 59 10-acre lots. (Which would leave almost none of the area undisturbed and little parkland in this previously untouched corner of the island?) The owners proposed a more comprehensive development with over 500 residential units and thus a much larger built-out population. The development would include some community facilities and also a shopping precinct. And about ½ of the total land area would be turned into parkland. But it was not to be. It reminds me of the old joke. What is the difference between an environmentalist and a developer? The environmentalist has a house in the woods; the developer wants to build a house in the woods.
Anyway, what were formerly nice little single-track trails are now wide two-lane plus broad shoulder compressed gravel roads to cater to the logging trucks and construction vehicles. And where the roads have not been finished there are huge expanses of mud, just waiting to wash into the nearby streams.
But overall a great ride and I managed to stay in the saddle for lots of stuff that I have had to walk in the past.

 
Sunday, June 13 – 34 kms in 2:53
Another three-hour mountain bike ride. I missed the goal by 7 minutes, but was over on Saturday, so I think that meets the target.
Some of the same route as Saturday, but a bigger climb and a descent where I chickened out. as per usual. Near where the Skid Trail meets Hiker's Trail Road there is a rocky chute. And about ½ way down the chute there is a big sharp point rock on the right side. It is in exactly the right spot for me to come off on the drop and whack my head. I'm sure that hundreds, if not thousands of people have ridden this chute with no incident what so ever, but as I ride by myself so often I'm scared that I'll be the one person who dismembers themselves. I should just buy some armour and learn to ride stuff like that.
I could feel the effect of yesterday's ride as had to dismount in a few places I rode cleanly yesterday. And as this was day three of my 3-day riding camp I could feel some fatigue. Not really surprising at all. I really felt the effect of the previous day's riding on one of the final technical descents of the day. I was a bit off the ideal line and managed to T-bone my wheel and go over the bars. No major injury, but a crash always affects your confidence. I took it easy for the balance of the day and got home safe and sound. Nothing broken and the bike still intact.

 
Monday, June 14 – Rest day
In two months we'll all be sitting in Canmore wondering how we managed to make it through the past 7 days of riding. Many people will be crossing the TR off their "bucket list", and I'll be wondering how to convince my wife that an 8^th TR would really be a good idea.
Despite the lovely day, I followed the plan and stayed off the bike. But a few more days like this and I will be going a bit squirrelly. Summer in Vancouver is so nice, and to be off the bike is really a hardship. 10 years ago I don't think I'd have said that, but now I'm a 2-wheeled addict. I ride more distance each year than my wife drives.
One side effect of all of the riding is that I need lots of work done on my bikes. I took my Spinergy Cyclone wheels in to the shop to be overhauled before the TR. The rear wheel needed the most work and after some examination it was determined that it needed both a new axle and a new freehub body. The problem is that as my wheel was version two, and Spinergy is now up to version 4, they no longer have the parts. So now I'll have to swap the whole wheel. Luckily Spinergy does have a reasonable trade-in policy, but it will be a bit more expensive. But as I've said before, you really need to start the TR with a well maintained bike and all of the parts in very good condition.

 
Tuesday, June 15 – 23 kms in 1:05
Yeah, I got to do a 1 hour ride today. This consisted of a short jaunt up to the blood donor clinic, for number 260, and a follow-up ride down to Marine Drive. Nothing too strenuous, and as per usual I didn't feel any ill effects after my donation. In previous years I would have probably gone for a longer ride, but I'm trying to be good and stuck to Cory's plan.

 
Wednesday, June 16 – No ride, Daddy Duty
I accomplished half of Cory's plan for today. I was to do 30 minutes of upper body and core exercises and a 30 minute ride. As I was on daddy duty I didn't get the ride, but I did manage to work on the core. This stuff has to help. And along with lugging my daughter around I'm sure that I'll feel the benefits come August.

Work gets in the way of riding

Thursday, June 10 – At school, no riding

So much for plans. Cory's schedule had me riding 30 minutes today, but I had to be at school to meet the Dean at 8:00, so arriving hot and sweaty was not really in the cards. Then I had to hang around to meet "The Men from the Ministry", and then the Associate Dean in the afternoon. The outcome is that I have an extra course to teach between now and the TR. The money will be welcome, but inevitably more teaching will mean less riding. Oh the sacrifices we make to be financially solvent.

So, once I got home I had lots of preparation to do for the course which I start teaching next Thursday. I've taught a very similar course, Business Strategy, previously, so the "ramp up" will not be too horrendous. But it is a new textbook and you need to spend some time getting familiar with the textbook author's perspective and approach. Oh well, tomorrow I'm scheduled for a 3-hour mountain bike ride. That will be a welcome respite form the book grind.

PS "The Men from the Ministry" was a BBC radio comedy series about the bumblings of a couple of petty bureaucrats. If you've ever worked in any branch of government lots of it will ring true.

 

Friday, June 11 – 70 kms in 2:32

I've been a naughty boy again. The plan was for Friday to be day 1 of a three day mountain bike camp. I'm to ride 3 hours on my mountain bike per day for three days. And on the first day not only did I only ride for 2 and a half hours, but I also did it on my road bike.

The new course I'm teaching has rather thrown a spanner in the works and I had to track down course materials and get ready for next Thursday. So I was on the phone to the publishers and then downloading all of the course materials from the textbook website. This meant that I didn't get out until late and only had two and half hours to ride before dinner. Also, my mountain bike and I were in different cities, so it had to be on my road bike. I had to ride some relatively flat roads to get to my destination and then did hill repeats for 45 minutes. Hills are one of the few areas where I feel good and can generally maintain a good pace. On a race like the Test of Metal I pass people on the climbs, only to have them blow past me on the technical descents. In road races they say that climbers win by minutes, while sprinters win by seconds. On the TR the strong climbers often finish hours ahead of the people who are in their granny ring, or off their bike pushing on the big hills.

So, while it was not exactly was Cory had on the schedule, it was a pretty good ride. For tomorrow and Sunday I will put in an honest three hours per day on the mountain bike riding double track climbs and single track descents.

The rain it raineth every day

Tuesday, June 8 – 26 kms in 1:15

I was slightly naughty again. The plan called for this ride to be 60 minutes and I stayed out for 75. I must restrain myself and listen to the experts. I took my usual route out to UBC. This involves a minimum of traffic except along Marine Drive. There the biggest hazards are the landscapers' trucks parked in the bicycle lane. Coming back I passed tonnes of students who were leaving the UBC campus. The number of people who persist in using their cell phones while driving, despite the new law and the hefty fines. But the people who are sending text messages while driving are the most dangerous. Their vehicles seem to randomly wander from lane to lane and they appear to feel that traffic lights and stop signs are merely suggestions. No wonder helmets are compulsory in BC. However, in a car/bike accident the bike (and cyclist) never wins.

June 9 – Rest day

This was to be a commuting day with a 30 minute ride scheduled. Shorter than in previous weeks, but that is the plan. This is a focused week with three days of three-hour mountain bike rides Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But the family work schedules got moved around and so I must adapt.

So I had another day off with my daughter. These are my enforced rest days and also my day to run errands and do laundry. Inevitably I make a run to the library and often the grocery store. It was pissing with rain this morning which meant that it was time to do laundry. My goodness small children can create a huge pile of tiny, though very dirty clothes. Around our house there are three equal-sized piles of laundry; cycling clothing, toddler clothes, and everything else.

Today my daughter managed a three–hour nap in the afternoon. Now I wish that I'd taken advantage of the opportunity for some sleep. While the low volume weeks will help my overall training, probably the best thing I can do is make sure that I get enough sleep. My daughter sleeps through the night, but it is getting light so early these days that she sometimes is up around 5:30 or 6:00. This morning was 7:30, so that was a welcome respite.

I looked over the plan for the next two months. There is very little similarity between Cory's plan and what I've done in previous years.

June 7-13 – 11 hours

June 14-20 – 7.5 hours

June 21-27 – 8.5 hours

June 28-July 4 – 14 hours

July 5-11 – 7.5 hours

July 12-18 – 17.5 hours

July 19-25 – 2.5 hours plus the Gearjammer

I'm sure that the plan will help me, but I will have to resist the temptation to ride more in the low volume weeks. I'm sure that the inevitable house repairs will fill the extra time.

 

PS The quote is from Feste in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. I've seen it three or four times and good productions can be very funny. But is does depend on actors with good timing.

No rest for the wicked

Monday, June 7 – 14 kms in 0:51

I think that this was supposed to be a rest day, but the weather was so nice that I just couldn't resist. After a 6 km morning walk with my daughter to the library, I had a very easy ride in the afternoon. I was on my road bike, but stayed in the saddle the whole ride and just cruised around the neighbourhood looking at houses that sell for more than I'll make in my lifetime. (Or to be more accurate, a couple of lifetimes.) This is the sort of easy ride that I never do. Whenever I ride around UBC I find that I always try to chase down the rider ahead of me. This sort of riding probably did me no good what so ever in the long term.

This year I'm really trying to stick to Cory's training plan. After all, he is the expert and if I hope to get any benefit from his advice I actually have to pay attention to it. In the past my biggest problem is that my training just consisted of riding my bike, and more riding was always better. Now, following Cory's plan, I'm actually following a structured pattern of rides with light and heavy weeks, a mix of road and off-road rides, and some off the bike exercises as well.

That being said, I got my weeks mixed up. This week Cory has me scheduled for 11 hours of riding, with three 3-hour mountain bike rides Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Next week is lower volume with only 7.5 hours scheduled.

So the week starts out slow and easy and then I go crazy for three days straight hammering on my mountain bike. I have some routes picked out on Bowen Island with big climbs, lots of single-track, and some technical descents. As I have six TransRockies under my belt I know that I can ride consecutive long days, but with Cory's help I hope to ride those days faster and be able to recover better between days.

A missed ferry, fish & chips, and a race by myself

Friday, June 4 – 46 kms in 2:18

This was supposed to be an easy 1 ½ hour ride to Bowen Island. Just a pleasant cruise along Marine Drive and then a pleasant ferry ride to an island paradise.

Oh the folly of man. I left late and had to go luck a mad man. I got every red light going through Vancouver and then all of the red lights through West Vancouver as well. The end result is that I missed the last ferry of the morning by 8 minutes. I should have realized that the rolling resistance of Hutchinson Pythons on my XC bike would mean the difference between making the ferry and have a 2 ½ hour wait for the next boat. On my road bike or on my pig of a commuter with slick tires I can make it from Vancouver to the ferry in just over 50 minutes. On Pythons it took 1:01.

With my extra time I checked out a relatively new development a bit north of Horseshoe Bay. I can see the houses from my deck overlooking the ocean. From the development's large green water tower there is a fabulous view of Howe Sound and Bowen Island. After my ride through the development and a cruise back along the highway to Horseshoe Bay I stopped in for the obligatory ferry-delay meal of fish & chips with an ice cream cone for desert.

As it turned out the first ferry of the afternoon was 35 minutes late and my overall journey, door to door, was almost five hours.

 

Saturday, June 5 – 26.3 kms in 2:00

In lieu of the XC race on the North Shore I made my own race on Bowen Island. I've been linking up some trails to try to make a "Race Around Bowen" route. Bowen has two other circumnavigation races, one for kayaks and the other for sailboats.

I rode as much single-track as I could find and threw in every big climb that there was en route. I found that there were more trees down than the last time I was on the route, and this made some of the riding a bit discontinuous. Some were small enough to just ride over, but a few were massive. A huge cedar blew over. Like most trees on Bowen it had incredibly shallow roots. Bowen Island has very thin soil and in high winds it is not uncommon for trees to blow down. This leads to frequent winter power outages, a reliance on candles and fireplaces, and a high birth rate.

As my race had only one rider I had a lock on both first and last place. I tried to go at race pace the entire distance but in reality it is hard to really push yourself that hard when riding on your own. One of the nice things about riding on Bowen is that I ride the trials so frequently that I know them pretty well. And after managing to ride up a loose rocky climb, it is great to turn around and hammer down at top speed. Well, top speed for me.

So, I know that with practice, or lots of practice, I'll be able to ride more of the trails on the Shore.

 

Sunday, June 6 – 33 kms in 1:36

Over the next week Cory's plan is for me to take it easy and cut the total time and distance way back. If there has been a gaping hole in my training in previous years it has been these low volume weeks. If riding is good, more riding must be better.

But the body needs a rest, and I've never really given myself the chance to rest. In past years I've commuted by bike to work, and so every working day I had a 30 km ride. Inevitability I would hammer on the way to work in order to make it to school on time. I know; if I'd left a bit earlier I could have taken it a bit easier.

The plan for today was a 1 hour ride to flush out the legs, but as I was riding from Bowen Island to Vancouver the ride was destined to be longer than an hour. After the short jaunt down to the ferry, and the rather picturesque trip across Howe Sound, I rode along Marine Drive back to Vancouver. I saw very few other riders en route, perhaps because Sunday was the Westside Classic road bike race.

In all an enjoyable ride, a bit longer than Cory's plan, but easy and fun.

A beautiful day in the neighbourhood

Thursday, June 3 – Rest day

Another Thursday and I was on daddy duty. This means no riding, but lots of walking. (Which makes sense as this Thursday is my rest day.) A couple of trips to the local library, and a jaunt to Home Depot to pick up some more tile for the bathroom.

I also stopped by my local bike shop and brought them some coffee. My daughter and I are in there a couple of times a week. I keep trying to get her on a run bike, but she has her heart set on a purple tricycle. She already has a red trike and we all know that red does go faster.

Tomorrow I'm off to Bowen Island taking the scenic route along Marine Drive. An hour and half from door to door, with a detour around Stanley Park. With luck today's great weather will hold and I won't get soaked en route.

I still suck on muddy single-track

Wednesday, June 2 – 45 kms in 2:02

Well, the weather didn't hold and I did not manage to get over to the North Shore to pre-ride the Lezyne Marathon XC (http://northshorebikefest.com/) race course. I think that I will have to reluctantly have to give the race a miss. The forecast for Friday and Saturday is for showers. I know that I suck on that sort of technical terrain, and wet muddy conditions will only make it worse. It would be silly to risk a crash and injury in slippery conditions.

I took a ride out to UBC along Marine Drive. On Sunday there is a road race, the Westside Classic (http://www.teamwedgewood.com/files/2010-westside-classic.php), around Pacific Spirit Park. Apart from the Pacific Populaire (PP), I've never done a road race. (And the PP is NOT a race, it is a timed ride.) I rode the race course and saw a few people pre-riding the route. It is a nice 10 ½ km loop with one short climb. I also did a bit of riding on the trails in the park and found them to be very muddy. This is what made me decide to give the Lezyne Marathon XC a miss.

Yes, I am a complete wimp. I should just suck it up and learn to ride that stuff. Well it will happen, but not this week.

Bleed and ride

Tuesday, June 1 – 16 kms in 42 minutes

Every second Tuesday I go to Canadian blood services to donate platelets. (258 donations to date.) The platelets are destined for either people with bleeding disorders or people being treated for leukemia. In some cases I'm matched with a particular recipient and my platelets, once checked for disease etc., go to that specific person. I've never felt any ill effects from donation and hope to hit 500 donations by the time I'm 62.

I rode up to the clinic, and then after donating took a short ride through one of Vancouver's leafy neighbourhoods and headed home for lunch. After the rather energetic rides of Sunday and Monday, I didn't have quite as much energy today. (Not entirely surprising.) Tomorrow, if the weather holds, I'll head over to the North Shore to pre-ride part of the race course for Saturday's Lezyne Marathon XC race.

770 kms for May

Monday, May 31 – 62 kms in 2:11

Close but no cigar. I was hoping to hit 800 kms for May. I managed to do over 770 kms in the month. Most of it was on road, but I managed to get a few good single-track rides in on Bowen Island and during the Orecrusher up in Squamish.

Today was another day of wacky Vancouver weather. It pissed with rain all morning and I was thinking that a ride this afternoon would be a soggy and miserable affair. After lunch the rain cleared up, the roads dried and I headed out on my commuter bike. This beast, and 1990 fully rigid monster with a rack and fenders, does have the solitary benefit of slick tyres, so the road sections are pretty fast. They barely make up for the fact that it weighs about 10 pounds more than my XC bike. (And it is about twice as much as my carbon fibre road bike.)

For some reason known to no one I thought that I'd have another go at my 10km TT route. Well, I think that slick tyres make more of a difference than bicycle weight. I managed the route in 16:32, almost 2 minutes faster than yesterday on my XC bike.

Two silly time trials

Monday, May 24 – 40 kms in 1:34

Victoria Day. A holiday in Canada and the unofficial start of summer. This is when people head up to the lack, open the cottage and take an ill advised swim in the still too cold water. In Ontario they celebrate Britain's longest reigning monarch with fireworks while here in British Columbia it was yet another excuse to get outside and enjoy the great weather and fine scenery. The Monday plan calls for a commuting ride of 90 minutes or so. I managed to get out to UBC on my pig of a commuter bike. About 15 kilos and fitted out with a rack and fenders. A sturdy ride for commuting, but not the most inspiring ride. I knocked off 40 kms in just over an hour and half. I can manage a pretty good pace on the bike and it always shocks riders on road bikes when I pass them, especially if I'm hauling panniers as well.

 

Tuesday, May 25 – 26 kms in 1:05

A quick ride out to UBC and back. I was on my dreaded commuter bike and it is such a pig. The one saving grace is that it has slick tires and once I get going along the flats I can maintain a pretty good pace. I need to get back on my road bike.

 

Wednesday, May 26 – 9 kms in 0:26

Wednesday's are one of my core days. This starts with the dreaded Plank and then some variations on sit-ups and crunches. But I did manage to get a short ride in to school and back. Only 9 km in about 25 minutes, but it is better than nothing.

 

Thursday, May 27 – Rest Day

Daddy duty again. This is my rest day but I usually manage to get a few long walks in with Sarah. I've said it before, nothing like a small child to help with the core workouts. Yet another cry of, "Up me daddy" and I'm hauling around 13 kg of wriggling toddler on my shoulders. We run, or rather walk slowly, and check out the neighbourhood.

 

Friday, May 28 – 40 kms in 1:48

Hills, please make them stop!! Normally I don't mind hills. I just put my head down and grind away until I get to the top. Today Cory's plan called for hill intervals. I though flat intervals were bad enough, but these are downright evil. The plan if to find a 7-9% hill and ride it over and over. But finding a 7 to 9% hill on Bowen Island is tough. Most of the hills tend to be steeper, with one regular ride being 24%. (And this is a paved municipal road.)

The plan calls for a 1 minute interval climbing, then rolling back down to the bottom and doing it again. For me the problem was each time I rode my minute uphill I made less progress. The difference was not huge, 5 metres or so, but my diminishing performance was a real pain. Some time I'll do this again and see if I can 1) get any higher, and 2) improve as I ride more intervals in the set.

The other problem is that the gearing on the road bike is a bit narrow for Bowen Island's hills. I need to replace my cassette and try to find some slightly lower gears. (I have a 12-26 and probably need to go to a 12-28, not much of a difference.) The other alternative is to replace the cranks with a compact set. That is, however, a much more expensive proposition.

 

Saturday, May 29 – 23 kms in 60 minutes

By the time I got out for my ride this afternoon the rain had long since cleared. This should have been a hint. About 400 metres into my ride I felt some drops on my legs, but as the sky didn't look too threatening I kept on pedaling. In retrospect this was likely an ill advised move on my part. The sprinkling turned to rain by the time I got to the middle of the island and so I cut the ride a bit shorter than I had hoped. (Silly me. I was only going out for a short ride and didn't bring rain gear.) It turned out that if I'd stayed closer to home I would have avoided the rain altogether. Ah the perils of riding in a place with hills. The rain can be just around the corner, or over the top of the next hill. On the TR I expect changeable weather and always have a jacket with me, but then on the TR one can easily be out for five or six hours. (My longest TR day was day three in 2004. We finished in 11:23.)

The weather should be better tomorrow and I hope to get out for a longer ride. So far I've racked up 665 kms in May and with luck I'll get close to 800 by the end of the month.

 

Sunday, May 30 – 45 kms in 1:41

I must be mad. What would possess a grown, and some would hope sensible, person to attempt a 10 km road time trial on a full suspension cross country bike? I guess part of the reason is that my road bike is on Bowen Island and I'm not. The other is that I was interested to see the effect of XC tyres, extra weight and suspension on my time. Well, overall I'm not too displeased. 18:26 for 10 kms.

Riding with my baby brother

Monday, May 17 – 20 kms in 0:53

I go directly to school, but I usually manage to take a loop around Stanley Park on the way home. A long time ago I came to the conclusion that all cyclists are competitive. But I think that it is not just cyclists, it is just human nature.

Today I was coming home with fully laden panniers. I didn't anticipate that I'd be very fast up the hill in Stanley Park, but then I saw the three riders on road bikes up ahead. Could I catch them? Yes I could and took immense pride in passing them up hill. I do get a few odd looks from people when I pass then on my laden commuter bike. But, as I've said before, hills are probably the only thing that I do moderately well. (Okay, the only thing that I don't completely suck at.)

 

Tuesday, May 18

Another typical day in Vancouver. Even when it rains it usually doesn't rain all day. I headed off to school, but took the bus rather than riding. I don't really have anywhere to store a wet bike and a pile of soggy bike clothing. I don't mind arriving home soaking wet, but riding to school through the pouring rain and having to stand at the front of a classroom while dripping on the carpet is not my favourite pastime. But in hindsight I could have ridden. It was only spitting when I left for school, and by the time I was coming home the rain had stopped altogether. Just goes to show. If you have a chance to ride, seize it.

I made the TCR blog. Evidently I'm making progress. Who knew?

Hello to all the cyclists and triathletes out there!

 

Spring is finally here, for those that live in Calgary! This blog is going to discuss power improvements and training.

 

At TCR Sport Lab, we are constantly testing and training people with power. As you know, power is the new kid on the block with measurement devices becoming more affordable and popular. We have been tracking several athletes as case studies over the winter. All of the athletes want to improve with hopes of riding faster this race season.

 

Below is a case study of a mountain bike athlete who is training for his 7th TransRockies stage race this August. The athlete considers himself an "average age grouper" and recently had a new baby. His goals are to have his best TR ever and improve on his climbing ability.

 

We started his training program in January with some Critical Power (CP) testing. 4 short tests done over 2 days: 10km TT, 4km TT, 2km TT and 1 km on a stationary bicycle ergometer. Critical power is a term that refers to cyclists anaerobic cycling ability and lactate tolerance. Many people are familiar with Anaerobic or Lactate Threshold as training marker which is best tested in a lab with a lactate monitor or metabolic cart (VO2). Critical power is essentially a workload just above a person's lactate threshold and can be done without a lab. We chose this test because the athlete lived in Vancouver and did not have access to a lab for testing.

 

From January to May, the cyclist had a 5 Watt increase in his critical power from 279 watts to 284 watts. See the graph. As you can see, a cyclist with 279 watts of power is pretty good to start, but he was still able to top off his "cranking power" for those short hills.

Any type of improvement is always good. A couple of points that are interesting:

 

Most of the cyclist's improvements came on the short distances as this was our goal.

• 3 watts on 10km
  
• 12 watts on 4km
  
• 12 watts on 2km
  
• 10 watts on 1 km
  

 

To be honest, this is pretty good for a guy that has done TR for 6 years! It is not like we are working with a guy who was new to cycling.

 

What does this mean? Adding 5-10 watts of power to short hills would allow you to keep your heart rate about 5-10 beats lower and enable you stay out of the granny gear more often on those crazy TR climbs.

 

Professional riders would kill to add 10 watts to their performance on short TTs!

 

When you start working with power, 5-10 watts changes over 4 months is a pretty good improvement with experienced athletes. In addition, if you are a person with a new baby who has had some crazy episodes of the flu and sleep deprivation, 5 watts on your CP is great!

 

The next step in this cyclists training program is to develop his ability to ride those long TR days by increasing his volume. He is on his way to a great TransRockies #7.

 

Source: http://tcrsportlab.com/content.php?LoadPage=Articles#Changes%20in%20Power%20for

 

Wednesday, May 19 – 37 kms in 1:56

Last night I picked up my baby brother at the airport. He is visiting from Australia en route to visit more family in Toronto. When I say my baby brother that is not really fair. He's 43, a senior advisor to a major politician in Australia and a good 3 inches taller than me. For the past 5 years I've been trying to convince him to come and do the TransRockies with me. With luck he'll come in 2012 when he's old enough that we can race in the 100+ category.

Today we headed out for a nice ride around Stanley Park. There are two routes around the park; the cyclepath next to the path for walkers and joggers, and the road. The cyclepath is shared skaters, and it does tend to be slow going at times. As we were riding for the companionship and view we took one loop around on the cyclepath and then a second loop around on the road. In all 37 kms in just under 2 hours. A very pleasant, and never anaerobic, couple of hours. It is so nice to ride with someone, and I don't do enough of it. It is one of the reasons that I like marathon events like the TransRockies. You get to spend lots of time riding and talking with people from all over the world.

 

Thursday, May 20

Thursday is my rest and my "off the bike" day. But as Thursday is also the day I don't teach, the day my wife works, and thus the day I'm on daddy duty. But on most Thursdays I go for long walks with my daughter and spend 2 to 3 hours on the wrong end of a 20+ kilo stroller. I'm sure that these long walks pushing the combined weight of stroller, child and groceries helped me when it came to the hike-a-bikes.

We spend the day running errands with my brother. Visiting from Australia he was on a mission to try to buy a few bits of gear that are either unavailable or very expensive down under. We hit a few cycling and outdoor equipment shops and he managed to cross quite a few things off his list. We also hit a couple of computer stores for some bits and pieces. (I know, bits, a horrible pun.)

 

Friday, May 21 – 38km in 1:43

In Vancouver it may rain, but it does not rain every day, or usually all day. This morning started out wet, but the forecast held out the promise of a dry afternoon and a sunny, though not hot, weekend. I spent the morning invigilating an exam at school, and then headed home for lunch. Lachlan arrived and we headed out to Horseshoe Bay. I thought that we'd have lots of time to spare and so we took the long way around Stanley Park, rather than the shorter and more direct and boring route along the causeway through the middle of the park.

By the time we'd crossed the Lion's Gate Bridge we had 10 minutes in hand. (I'm sure that I'm like many commuters and keep track of where I need to be when along my tide. In order to catch one of the afternoon ferries from Horseshoe bay to Bowen Island I must be on the north side of the Lion's Gate Bridge no later than 15 to the hour. Any later and I run a very slim chance of making the "10 minutes before sailing" cut off. As we proceeded along marine Drive headed to the ferry I noticed that we were getting a bit slower, and by the time we got to the marina at Eagle Harbour I had to abandon my brother to make sure that I could buy our tickets before the cutoff. I made it to the ticket booth with 3 minutes to spare. But it turned out that the clock on my bike computer was running 4 minutes fast and as my brother only 4 minutes behind me we would have made the cutoff. As it turned out the ferry was running late, not unexpected on a long weekend, and we had time to grab and ice cream cone. It is nice to have a relatively guilt-free treat at the end of hot ride.

The ferry over to Bowen Island one of the great tourist bargains in the Vancouver area. For $9.50, plus $2.00 for your bike, you get a round trip ride and some of the best scenery around. People pay thousands to see these sights as part of their cruise to Alaska, and you can get them for 12 bucks.

 

Saturday, May 22 – 54 kms in 3:21

This is one of the days that makes me so glad to live out here on the west coast. In the early afternoon I got in a 20 km single-track ride with my brother.

Photo: Opa, the biggest tree on Bowen Island

This was one of the first times he's ridden technical single-track since he visited Canada in 2005 and rode the Test of Metal. (His first and only cross country race.) He rode my 2002 Giant NRS 1 and I rode my pig of a commuter with zero suspension and slick road tires. (I think that he got the better part of the deal.) It was gratifying to see that exercises that I've been doing, along with lugging my daughter around, have improved my core strength. This shows in an improvement in my ability to control the bike on technical terrain. I'm still a complete chicken when it comes to big drops, but on the less steep terrain I think that I'm making improvements.

After our single-track we retired to the deck and had a couple of Virgin Caesars on the deck and enjoyed the view of Howe Sound. (The Caesar is a rather odd Canadian drink originally made with vodka and Clamato juice. Garnished with a salted rim, a stalk of celery and Worcestershire and Tabasco to suit. Think of it as a slightly more interesting Bloody Mary.)

After our rest we had to hop back on the bikes and ride down to catch the Bowen Island ferry and then into Vancouver.

Photo: Queen of Capilano – Snug Cove to Horseshoe Bay

I always find that the ride from Horseshoe Bay is slower than the ride to Horseshoe Bay. I think that part of the reason for this is that when I'm going to Horseshoe Bay I'm usually racing to catch a ferry. Hence I push myself as hard as I can and turn the hills into intervals. The ride back was 33 kms and my brother was feeling the effects of our earlier single track efforts.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my performance despite the fact that I was on my 20 year-old pig of a rigid commuter.

 

Sunday, May 23 – 20 kms in 0:59

Ideally I'd like to do longer rides on the weekends, but with the combination of teaching and fatherhood I must remember that my time is not my own. Preparing for the TransRockies was a lot easier when I did not need to be home in time to read a few stories before bedtime. It is not that I'm complaining, it is just that it is such a change. I have no idea how a single parent would deal with the balance of work, family and training. I managed about 20 kms in just under an hour. If I was not a more seasoned TR veteran I would be concerned about such short rides on the weekend. Jim, my TR partner in Edmonton is putting in 3 to 5 hour road rides on some weekends. I know that I'll manage some longer rides soon, and I am not concerned about my endurance. In fact, my shortcoming has always been the opposite. I can't sprint worth a damn. But every year on the TR Jim and I usually manage to pass the same teams late in the day. It is one of those oddities about a stage race like the TR. You settle in with a bunch of riders who are about your speed. They may not be in your category, but you find yourself riding with them again and again. I've always found it a good sign when I'm with people that I've never seen before. It means that either you are having a great day, or the other teams are having a complete crap day. Of course the other alternative is that you could be a horrible day and you are passing the fun crowd at the back of the pack. They may not be the fastest, but they seem to have the most fun.

Time Trials from Hell

Monday, May 10 – 22 kms in 0:59

Even when I'm short on time, Vancouver does offer some great rides. I only had time for a direct ride to school and then a ride around Stanley Park on the way home. This loop is short, under 10 kms, and only has one hill, and that is pretty tame by TR standards, but there is only one stop sign and the traffic is usually pretty light. When I have more time I'll do a couple of loops, and when I'm on my XC bike I sometimes do a few hill repeats on the climb up to the Lion's Gate Bridge.

 

Tuesday, May 11 – 26 kms in 1:12

A loop around Stanley Park on the way too school and then time trials on the exercise bike in the gym on the way home. That bike is such a pig, but that is where I did my first TTs in December, so for comparisons sake, I'm stuck with it as a base line. I do see some improvement in my times and power, but it does not seem all that significant. Cory will do the analysis and let me know who things looks to his professional eyes.

 

Wednesday, May 12 – 35 kms in 1:30

Time trials! Please make them go away. There are all sorts of torture that cyclists put themselves through. Some people hate hills, I put the indoor time trial at the top of my hate list. One of the reasons that I prefer riding to running is that on the bike I get to see more and travel faster. Riding a bike indoors has none of the advantages of riding outside. I know, I'm on the warm (and wet) west coast and half of the people in Canada have the choice of riding indoors or not riding at all.

Cory from TCR is helping me to improve my performance for the TransRockies. Last year he did the TR3, so he know the pain I'm in for. My problem is that, while I'm a reasonably strong endurance rider, I'm all aerobic and don't have the short bursts of speed that really help when riding technical single-track. So, since December I've been on a programme to build my critical power. This week's time trials are supposed to measure the progress I've made. I did a set of TTs earlier, December 2009, and now we'll see if I've improved.

To do the time trails I used the same bike at the gym at one of the universities I teach at. The bike has marginal adjustability and the widest saddle I've ever seen. This thing is not built for speed. But it does keep track of cadence, distance, power, speed, and time.

And then to top off the day, some more core work. Oh joy!

The results are in and to me they looked like a very marginal improvement. Percentage wise I improved the most at the shorter distances, no big surprise, while the improvement over 10 km was pretty slight.

December 2009 Results

1km    1:15     Average 375 watts    

2km    2:42    Average 350 watts

4km    5:41    Average 323 watts

10 km    15:05    Average 287 watts

 

May 2010 Results

1km     1:10    Average 385 watts

2km     2:35    Average 362 watts

4km     5:32     Average 335 watts

10km 14:50    Average 290 watts

 

Thursday, May 13 – No Ride

Daddy duty again so my exercise was confined to long walks with the stroller. Not that I'm complaining. My daughter's first real word was library, which gives you an idea hoe often we go there. I think that bike shop will enter the vocabulary pretty soon.

 

Friday, May 14 – 7 kms in 0:21

I would have liked to get a slightly longer ride in, but the pressures of family and parenthood required that after school I cut my afternoon ride short. Such are the realities of life with obligations.

However, in the evening I did manage to fit my core work in. Not a huge amount of fun, but a necessity.

 

Saturday, May 15 – 38 kms in 2:25

My first race of the season and I have very mixed feelings. This was my fourth time on this course. In 2007 it was the Pre-Test (As in Pre-Test of Metal), and from 2008 on the name changed to the Orecrusher. The route is a 7km loop through single and double track adjacent to a secondary school at the northern end of Squamish. I've made it on the podium twice at this race, 3^rd in 2007 and 2^nd in 2009.

The course suits me to a T and every year I think that I ride it a bit better. There is a LeMans start and then 200 metres around the running track before we cross the road and head into a wide section of gently climbing single-track. They you get into tight single-track with lots of roots, rocks and very few opportunities to pass. The rocky rooty stuff is great; not too step, but technical enough for me to be challenging. And it is never steep, so there is not temptation to try and walk it. I should ride that sort of stuff a lot more often.

Unlike point-to-point races like the Test of Metal, or a TrasnRockies stage for that matter, where everyone ride the same distance, the Orecrusher is a lap race and the number of laps depended on the rider's age and gender. (I know, this is old hat for experienced XC riders, but apart from the Orecrusher I only do point-to-point races.)

The race is also the first of a five-race marathon XC series, the "Hell of a Series". Four of the five races are in and around Squamish, with the second one, June 5^th, on the North Shore. I was planning to do all of the series races and based on my past results guessed that my best result would be in the Orecrusher.

The number of laps required was posted on a sign at the start, and the old farts, 50+, had to do five laps. Unfortunately what was not on the sign was the number of laps required for racers doing the series. They all were required to do six laps. The six lap requirement was announced a couple of times before the start, but a few people didn't hear. No prizes for guessing how many laps I rode.

So after five laps I came across the finish line, went for a little cool down spin around the neighbourhood, changed, and headed back to see how I'd done. This is when the lap confusion emerged. For all age groups there were two sets of times. For my age group there was one for the riders who'd ridden five laps (the race) and one for the riders who'd ridden six laps (the race as part of the series).

After a couple of days of confusion and discussion between the organizers and Cycling BC they came up with a compromise. (And like most compromises it is guaranteed not to please everyone.) They will hand out duplicate series points. So in my 50+ category first place finishers in both the 6-lap and 5-lap categories will each get 200 points, with the points going down for the 2^nd, 3^rd etc finishers. Not ideal, but I think a very equitable solution.

When I discovered the lap problem I was pissed, but I think that the organizer, Jim Douglas, and Cycling BC have managed to make a silk purse out of what on Saturday seemed to be 100% sows ear.

My lesson. Confirm everything and make sure you understand all of the rules and conditions. I'll be back next year and hope to get back on the podium.

 

Sunday, May 16 – 48 kms in 2:23

This was supposed to be 3 ½ hours of "Road Base Miles", but after my less that completely satisfying experience with the Orecrusher I took a spin out to Pacific Spirit Park. About ½ of the time and distance was on the road, and then I had some time in the trails.

Well, my middle ring is now officially toast. It was giving me some grief on the Orecrusher, but now any tension and the chain is slipping all over the place. So it is off to the bike shop for a new ring.

I stayed on the trails at the northern end of the park to avoid the crowds. I did a few loops with some wide single-track climbs. I need to spend more time on the North Shore trails to work on my single-track skills. But I do most of my riding by myself and I am a complete coward when it comes to committing to the more technical terrain over on the shore. On Bowen I will climb stuff that I'd be hesitant to descend. And the oddest thing is that on the TR I'll try and ride pretty much anything. In the end I find it is just too tiring to get off the bike again and again. Perhaps an odd reaction to challenging terrain, but one that I'm sure other riders find they make under the conditions.

Trying to do what Cory wants

Monday, May 3 – 33 kms in 1:22

Due to rain I didn't manage to ride to school this morning, but I managed to get a ride in after lunch. Again, it may rain in Vancouver, but it does not rain all day every day. My afternoon ride was on one of my usual routes along Marine Drive towards UBC. This road is a favourite with roadies, and also give access to some easy single-track in Pacific Spirit Park. On week days the park is a nice place to ride, but on weekend some trails can be overwhelmed with joggers and dogs. The steeper trails on the north end of the park tend to be more lightly used and also offer some of the more interesting riding.

 

Tuesday, May 4 – 30 kms in 1:16

I'm not as crazy as I used to be. When I lived on Bowen Island full time I would ride from Bowen Island to the blood donor clinic, donate and the ride back to Bowen. In all, about 80 kms roundtrip. And after donating they do recommend, "NO STRENUOUS ACTIVITY". But that ride was not out of the ordinary for me, and so I wasn't really engaged in anything risky. I think the main concern is people who do something well outside their ordinary routine after donating.

The plan for today was a commuting ride to school and back, but I managed to get a short ride up to the blood donor clinic and then to school and back home.

 

Wednesday, May 5 – 20 kms in 0:51

Cory's plan for this day was a commuting ride and some core exercises. The core exercises are boring, but necessary. I can feel the effect of the plank and the various sit ups and other abdominal work. But I do find it interesting that two years of hauling a 2 year old has probably done almost as much for my core as the targeted exercises. I know that all of the stroller pushing sure helped me when I got to the hike-a-bike sections. I was used to pushing 25+ pounds of wheeled encumbrance up steep hills. And carrying a two year old around on your shoulders all day is more awkward that hauling a cross country bike.

 

Thursday, May 6 – No ride

I really need to buy a trailer to haul Sarah around in. On my days of daddy duty I do not get any riding in. We get some decent walks, but it is my one day off from riding. On the face of it one day off per week is probably going to do me more good than harm, but I really do enjoy riding my bike. So today I had a few long walks with Sarah and enjoyed a fun day with a two year old.

 

Friday, May 7 – 33 kms in 1:29

Okay, I admit it, I am very lucky. My commute to school takes me 12 minutes, and after school my ride to Horseshoe Bay is one of the great road rides around Vancouver. With a great view of the ocean on my left I cruise along Marine Drive doing a few hill repeats. On the face of it, this ride should not be very popular with cyclists. The road is narrow and winding and quite busy. But so many cyclists ride this route that the drivers seem to be used to dealing with us. So, if you don't mind being passed by German cars (Mercedes Benz, Porsche, BMW, and Audi) then it is a fine route to ride.

These days the downside to the route is the amount of construction. I got stopped by a concrete truck that was backing into a building site, and as a result of my wait I missed my ferry. But I got to sit in the sun, have an ice cream cone and enjoy the lovely weather.

After the ferry ride I have a 5 km uphill ride and then I'm home. In all 33 kms

 

Saturday, May 8 – 25 kms in 1:42

Cory's plan called for a 2 hour aerobic ride, but due to the realities of family life I couldn't quite meet his schedule. Every ride I do on Bowen Island starts with a 60 metre climb over the first 330 metres. So while the intent is for an aerobic ride, I start each ride in a state of anaerobic shock. But once I make it up the hill I can pick routes that avoid too much anaerobic work. On Thursday I was supposed to do some hill intervals, but as Thursday was daddy day I did the intervals today. There is a route I regularly ride that has five hills on a great piece of double-track. The hills get progressively steeper and looser and they are a great workout. To ride all five it usually takes a good choice of line (The double-track is also used by 4WD vehicles and the best line changes from week to week based on traffic.), a bit of luck, and enough power. I stalled on the final hill and had to walk it. That happens about ½ of the time, so I know if I do manage to ride all five hills I'm having a good, and/or lucky, day.

 

Sunday, May 9 – 33 kms in 1:35

This was to be a 2 ½ hour aerobic road ride, but I only managed to fit in an hour and a half. I'm stuck with the reality of juggling work, family, and riding, and trying to make my rides match what Cory has planned for me. I know that the closer my rides are to his plan, the better the results will be, but some sometimes things just don't fit together. This was one of those days. I managed to get a great ride back from Bowen Island along Marine Drive, but in the afternoon, when I would have liked to continue the ride around Vancouver I was back on daddy duty. Such is the reality of life and I should just suck it up and deal with it. Like most relatively new parents I do remember back somewhat fondly to the days, not that long ago, when I could go out and ride for hours guilt free. Now I must recognize that I'm ignoring my daughter and saddling my wife with the challenge of entertaining a very active two year-old.