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.