Chasing Pole Position

I'm a fan of Formula 1 - The cars, the maneuvers and the innovation. Take away the extravagant lifestyle and I think there are a lot of similarities with mountain biking. Both are are constantly pushing the technological aspects of their sport while competing on a worldwide level. Athletes are given new technologies to try during actual races as well. It could be a new aerodynamic upgrade for an F1 driver or maybe some new 650b wheels for a mountain biker.

One thing I really like about Formula 1 is the qualifying sessions. Constantly putting in lap after lap, searching for the smallest of gains while at the limit of your machine. Drivers try to shorten the braking zones and get on the throttle sooner without losing control and ending up in a wall. So what does this part have to do with mountain biking?

Enter Joyride 150. The long xc loop is essentially one lap of the Joyride Grand Prix and my Kona Kula Watt is the car. Coupled with my Garmin 800 and I have a means of tracking my fastest laps.

I started off with a slow warmup, to pick the lines and understand the different obstacles along the loop. After that I start to up the pace a little bit and set a baseline lap. The first hard lap was 3:00 minutes. I immediately improve on the next one to 2:34. The subsequent laps were all around the same time. It was surprising to realise just how hard it was to take off a few seconds on a lap. There was also difficulty from running into the back of other cyclists. (I called them backmarkers) Laps 10, 18, 21 and 23 were pit stops of varying lengths. Usually just getting some water and taking an easy spinning lap.

Two hours of chasing fastest lap makes for some fun and a great workout.

Beyond the What?

What does it mean to bonk? Unfortunately for me, the word is used more often in reference to having sex nowadays but I use it in the context of cycling and other endurance sports. (So that's where I'll explain it) I'll start with the definition!

Verb

bonk (third-person singular simple present bonks, present participle bonking, simple past and past participle bonked)

1.) To experience sudden and severe fatigue in an endurance sports event due to glycogen depletion.


Ok so that's what the word means, but I want to give you a true understanding of what bonking feels like. Because before you actually experience it for yourself, (you don't want to though) words will never do it justice. 


Have you ever traveled to a big city in Europe, walked all over to each and every single one of the tourist spots, just walked all day, all over, and finally collapsed in your bed at the hotel/hostel/train car/bus stop and remarked "Oh man I'm so tired"? This is not bonking.

Have you ever stayed up really late into the night, cramming as much as possible for tomorrow's exam, only to wake up the next day in exactly the same position and then realise that you must've crashed without knowing? This is not bonking.

Have you ever gone into a Beep Test/Multi-stage fitness test, hit your absolute limit while diving for the line as you try to make it across before another beep disqualifies you and you collapse on the sidelines feeling like you're going to cough up your entire respiratory system? Sorry, you still haven't bonked


In any of these situations, you'll give it a few minutes and then you'll get back up on your feet and you'll be good to go. Bonking doesn't work that way. Once you've bonked, it's going to be at least a couple of hours before you can even think about being able to strain yourself again. When the definition says depletion, it means absolute and total depletion of any energy source your body has to burn. Sometimes people think they can will them selves on, push themselves just a little bit more and keep going. No. You can want to go all you want but there is no willing an empty tank in a car to keep the engine running. When you bonk there is literally nothing left for your body to use to make your body go.

So cue the severely reduced pace. If you pushed on, you'd be going so slow you'd be embarrassed, if you even realised what you were doing. You'll be so out of it mentally you'll look like a zombie to other people. Speech becomes difficult. Holding your head up is a chore. I think the only thing that keeps me moving in a time like this is muscle memory, the body moves on its own without any input from the brain. You automatically seek out food sources and try to gorge yourself on whatever is available. Even thinking is difficult as your thoughts come in waves of gibberish and ravenous pleas for energy but answering those pleas is too taxing.

Some people wonder if it's like some kind of out of body experience, where you're just kind of floating, looking down on yourself and unable to really experience your body like you normally would. To that I say wrong. Instead you are all too aware of every since inch of your body and how it's all screaming at you at the same time. You can feel your stomach and how it feels like it's the size of a walnut on the verge of consuming itself and imploding. You feel like the bones in your legs have turned to wet, soppy noodles surrounded by the pulverized meat that are your muscles.

Maybe once you have consumed twice your body weight in food you'll see some semblance of normalcy. But hopefully after reading this, you won't want to ever bonk and you'll eat a freaking granola bar before it's too late.

You don't want to be like me in this picture

Winter is coming

Winter is coming, a truth seldom lost on anyone this time of year. All of a sudden the sun goes out at 5pm and you're starting to calculate your Jens factor for everyride...

 

 Weather starts to become the biggest obstacle in terms of what stands between you and getting on your bike and pedaling. For starters, there's always more racing!

University Cups - There are only 4 races from the end of September into October but they're great to hang out with friends and still compete against some of Ontario's best. This year I raced UCups #3 at Hardwood and #4 at Ganaraska. Hardwood is always a great place to race at and I must say I was happy with my effdort there as well, putting in a 9th place. The conditions were also sublime - the air was crisp, the sky was clear and the dirt was dry - You can't really ask for much better conditions. I suppose we had to pay for it by racing at Ganaraska though..

Credit: Vuk

Conditions on this day couldn't be more opposite. It was muggy, rain was falling and the ground was slick with mud and more than a few horse patties. (Just another obstacle on the trail) This is one of those races I'd like to forget, I started off really slow and could never find my legs. I concentrated on riding smoothly as possible and was pleased with how I was riding in the slick, tricky parts. I feel like I've come a long way racing in adverse conditions since the Canada Cup at Hardwood. (Which was like riding through a flood)

Credit: Vuk

I don't mind so much racing in the wet, it's the cleanup afterwards that always gets me. And not the cleanup of my person, I mean cleaning up my bike. It seems like the bike never quite feels the same after a wet race even when you clean it really well - Until you overhaul everything that is.

Superstorm Sandy was the nail in the coffin for riding regularly outside. It was off the scale on the Jens Chart and the roads and trails in my area have just been crap since then. Training has largely moved inside.
For most people this might mean the dreaded trainer (see: http://beyondthebonk.blogspot.ca/2012/03/misery-machine-aka-trainer.html) Fortunately for myself and many other in the GTA we have Joyride 150. If you haven't been there, then you need to go. A massive indoor bike park that has everything from jumps, skinnies, pump tracks and even a full street park. It's completely set up for progressing your skills - Never jumped a bike before? Spend some time on the easy pump track to get an idea of how to handle the bike through the dips. Then you can move onto small jump lines where you barely come off the ground, then onto bigger air jumps and finally onto the massive foam pit where you can try adding tricks without the fear of a trip to the hospital if you fail. I spend a lot of time on the pump track while I'm there and it actually gives a killer workout. I also spend a lot of time progressing on the jump lines - I've never been super stable while airborne on my bike and I'd like to change that. They expanded the pump track since the last time I was there, adding in a banked wall that goes 3/4's of the way to the ceiling. SO much fun to ride sideways

The curve in question

Almost had it!

Roller skiing is starting up as well. I'll be doing a post on that a little bit later

We've had two new additions to the family this past month as well. Meet Riesling and Riley.

That's all for now

Time for some maintenance

So far I've only had my Specialized Venge for about four months. In the past I've usually been one to do all my equipment overhauls or part replacements either at the beginning or end of a season. Take the chain for example, It's the most abused part of your drivetrain. As it sees more and more use, each of the 110 odd links start to stretch and elongate the chain as a whole. That lengthened chain then starts to mesh higher up on the teeth of the cassette which in turn causes the cogs to wear down even faster. If left alone for too long, eventually the chain will start slipping off the gears. If that happens, it's too late to just replace the chain as the cassette will be too worn for a new chain.

This is a common problem we encounter in the shop. We inform the customer that their chain is nearing the end of its life and recommend it's replacement. If they wait too long, a $30 dollar repair can become closer to $100.

I almost didn't follow my own advice. 4500km on a road chain is a bit too long I think. I used the chain checker at work and it checked out in the 100% of chains that need replacing. I installed a new Ultegra chain in the hopes I wouldn't have to replace the Ultegra cassette at the same time. The problem with owning expensive bikes is that the price for parts is way higher than most other bikes. Customers are shocked (and sometimes even angry) when we tell them that the chain on their $4000 dollar mountain bike is $80 instead of the $25 one they just saw a customer with a CCM walk out with. In my case, the chain was $65 and the cassette would be $130.

I give the whole drivetrain a cleaning when I replace the chain because it doesn't make sense to install a new chain on a dirty bike. As I go to remove the cassette from the free hub I run into a little difficulty....
Each of the cogs are jammed onto the splines and completely stuck. Thank god the shop has a chain vice tool - it's the best for gripping the cogs so I can spin them off the freehub.

So once I finally got all of the gears off I was able to survey the damage. I don't know if it has anything to do with the lightweight materials used in the freehub body construction that makes them easier to dent, but maybe it was just the massive amounts of power I'm laying down :P 

 At the end of the day I finished the clean, installed the new chain and didn't experience any slippage. Next time I'll swap it all out a little sooner. Hopefully I won't have destroyed the splines by then

Countdown to a Race!

 What goes into a race weekend? Clearly to be successful there's a lot more to it than showing up and riding your bike really fast - There needs to be some form of preparation, in this case going as far back as mid August. As such, I present to you my countdown to Provincial Championships!

Dawn of the First Day:
3 weeks remain
This race is obviously a bit more important than the others - it's the championships! As a result, preriding is open much further in advance than the other races. What better way to spend time than practicing the course I'll be racing on? (Not like I'd be doing anything else)
This stage is all about the recce, or the reconnoiter. I travel the course at a very reduced pace so I can learns the ins and outs, the ups and downs and the lefts and rights. I experiment with different lines so I can find the fastest way around the course with the least amount of effort. Take this rock garden for example...

There's a bumpy bit of trail and it takes a few runs to see the best way through and to be able to do it at race pace. After just a couple of times through it, I'm feeling confident enough to move on. Three total laps on the day and it's back to training

Dawn of the Second Day:
2 weeks remain
Another early preride. Got to ride the course with Adam Morka and he was able to shed some light on the more tricky sections. This time saw some more recce laps as well as some at race pace.

The course has a lot to offer - twisty singletrack, steep climbs, wide open descents and ruthless rock gardens. Not to mention some jumps...

Dawn of the Third Day:
24 hours remain
Last day for preriding and I'm kinda dreading things - There's a rainfall warning for the area, the most we've had all at once this year in fact - 50mm. That does not bode well for the course. Considering how technical things are if you add slippery conditions into the mix it's going to make a tough course a living hell. Especially when that slippery is because of a torrential 50mm of water. Before heading up I check the organizers web page - preride is cancelled, they want to preserve the course for tomorrow. A very smart decision. There have been plenty of opportunities to preride the course and riding on it in these conditions won't gain you anything but some smelly laundry and a dirty bike.
I still have to get some intensity in before the race but I just end up doing that on the road near my house rather than on the race course. At least it saves me three hours of driving...

Training over, it's time to prepare for the race day in earnest..

7:00 pm
18.5 hours remain

Time for dinner! Classic chicken and pasta in a home-made tomato sauce. Nothing special here, moving along...

8:00 pm
17.5 hours remain

Time to fill up the car! Nothing sucks more than leaving the next day and realising that you have to stop for fuel on the way. It just ruins the groove! No longer driving to the races in a '98 Town and Country, I get to do it in my WRX. (This make me happy)

10:00 pm
15.5 hours remain

This step is pretty straight forward, lay out the race kit and put it in a bag. Don't want to rush in the morning trying to find things. The next step is the final tuneup on the bike. This is where I take it into my shop
(shown here http://beyondthebonk.blogspot.ca/2012/07/a-tour-of-my-shop.html)
At this point I've already given the bike a thorough cleaning and it's just minute adjustments at this point. If I have to replace brake pads or replace cables then I've left it far too late. I make sure it's shifting properly, the calipers are properly aligned, the tires are pumped and the chain is lubed. The last thing I do to it is attach the race number for Ontario Cups, #613.

11:00 pm
14.5 hours remain
Now that all of my equipment is taken care of and it's all staged in the foyer I start to prep myself. Cue the hot shower and shaving...

 And don't forget this is a cycling race! The leg hair has got to go!

That's more like it.
Immediately after it's time to hit the sack.

Dawn of the Final Day
4.5 hours remain

 9:00am means wake up time. Starting the races at 1:30 has been by far the best part of racing in Expert. In Sport we had to start at 11:45. As you can imagine, waking up this late wouldn't be possible.

10:00 am
3.5 hours remain
Time to break fast! I eat my breakfast about three and a half hours before race start. The goal is to hit the start line feeling full on an empty stomach. I have pancakes because they burn pretty clean and some eggs because they're easily digestible protein. A glass of OJ washes it all down and aids in digestion.

After the b-fast we pack the car and head out. Once I get my contacts in I only truly worry about three things
1) The bike
2) The shoes
3) The helmet                           As long as you have these three things you can race

12:00 pm
1.5 hours remain
I arrive at the race site an hour and a half before race start. Normally I do my race check-in the day before but since it was closed I pop in quickly to get my name on the start list. At around 12:45 I start my warmup and end it right before the race starts so I can hit the line running.

1:30 pm
The Beginning of the End
Race start. Four laps of physical pain and mental anguish. The body cries for an end to the torment but the mind wills it on harder.

I'm inside the top 10. I went easy for the first lap and wanted to push harder as the race went on. Halfway through my second lap however I noticed that steering the bike became a lot harder. Anytime I tried to turn the bike it wouldn't track straight and it would roll to the outside on any sharp corners. As I came through to the jump I realised I must have a slow leak in the front tire. The only option is to race as long as possible and hope the tire stays on the rim.

Alas it wasn't to be. About a quarter of the way through the third lap I was riding on my rim. My race was over...
Not a way anyone would want to end a race, but there's still plenty of racing left to do this season. As I ended this series with a DNF, I can only improve on it. And you know the best part about cycling, besides the actual riding bit?




The recovery of course!

Special Thanks to the girlfriend for taking all the pics!
.... And to Bailey who cares so much about my racing :P

Shop Sightings

So I haven't been into the store as much, having found a new job and all, but I still come across stuff in the shop that either makes my jaw drop or head hurt. Let's start with the headaches!

First on the docket is this Roundatil. The re-designed rear... triangle is meant to be more vertically compliant, absorb road shock and allow you to ride longer, easier.

Yeah it seems to ride like any other hybrid out there. Furthermore the price point is WAY higher for a similarly spec'd bike. Lastly, it's ugly. I mean c'mon look at it. It looks like it has a disease. Moving on

Here's a rear suspension pivot with an air chuck in place of proper bearings and bushings. No it doesn't work so great. No he didn't want to fix it. Yes it boggles my mind how it all holds together.
Now for some good stuff!

 *drool drool drool*
One of the guys in the shop just got his new wheels in. ENVE carbon wheels. They don't even paint them so as to save weight.

They look freaking amazing

I want a pair

That is all

The Road to Provincials

The Ontario Cup series is drawing closer to the end. September 9th is the final race of the season and it's looking to be a doozy.

This year we are returning to Highlands Nordic for the final day of racing. Last year was apparently so well received that we're getting a second dosage. Personally I missed this race last year but I've gotten plenty of chances to preride the thing and I can say it's going to be tough. The course organizers are really aiming to lay the hurt on us as the course is relentless in causing cardiovascular agony.

The course starts very narrow so fighting to be on the front of the pack will be all the more fierce. It turns quickly into a steep climb and even quicker into some narrow singletrack. After a jump and foray into the first of many rock gardens, the course opens up into a very wide, very long climb to the top. In the winter time I come to Highlands to do a lot of nordic skiing, the sport this venue is known for. It's really interesting to see what it looks like without six feet of snow and to race in the opposite direction up the steep climb.

Getting back into the singletrack is an exercise in restraint. All the other courses would demand that you put the hammer down but everything here is so devilishly tricky that it's just not worth the energy to sprint from braking zone to braking zone. Maintaining a steady pace and carefully picking your line through the trees and huge rocks will serve you better in the long run. Even the downhills here are harder than they look as they're littered with rocks that require the utmost concentration. No chance for a physical break as your body gets pounded by the stones and if you try to take a mental break you'll probably find yourself picking your bike up out of the bushes. One wrong step through the rock gardens and all of your momentum will be instantly sapped and you'll have to work hard to get that speed back. Do that for four laps and you might not have enough for a fighting finish.

The course is just so relentless in every way - tricky singletrack, harsh downhills and butt-busting rock gardens. To be honest though, the departure from courses that only need raw speed for a course that requires more efficiency and strategy is fitting for a provincial championship. I'm also really glad I got the rear suspension overhaul done on my HeiHei a while back because that's the bike I'll be using. The course is just far too rough for a 26er hardtail I think.

Training this week has seen me keep the intensity but cut the workload so my body can peak just in time for the race. Of all the training days I've had, the legs have felt really fresh and more than capable for what the workout is asking for. I'm really excited for the race because I definitely feel like I'm on top form but also because I'll have a cheering section. The girlfriend has wanted to see me race for sometime now and she's not going to miss this chance - I have to make sure to put on a good show!

A tour of my shop

With all the racing and training I do, I need a place to get some work done on my bikes. I have the actual store I could bring my bikes into but it won't always be available and I'm more than likely to get in the way of the guys who are actually working. In fact, I'll probably end up doing some work if I go.

Which brings me to my own shop. Currently located in my basement it serves as my bike storage and repair room. Naturally I like to keep it neat and organized (no it's not always like that) and I also like to see my tool collection :D

So of course in the centre of the room we have the actual bike stand. It's surrounded on all sides by the five bikes in my possession (Still need another one!) The floor is a spongy interlocking kinda material so I never worry about the floor getting dirty or scratched.

Opposite the stand in the last picture is my actual tool board. A magnetic board in the upper left holds things like screwdrivers while everything else is hanging by a screw. ( Except the headset press on the far right, I don't have screws long enough to hold that thing up) Underneath the board I have all of my chain lubes, degreasers and rags. One of my most used items is the blue magnetic bowl on the left. As you can imagine it keeps all of your tiny pieces together when doing overhaul work.

Off to the left of the tool board I have all of my big spare parts (Plus my truing stand) Spare tires, brake rotors, bleed kit, aero bars, stems, saddle, old brakes - anything I've come across that I think I may need later on. I also have tonnes of spare pedals. Eggbeater, SPD, toe clip and platform.

More tools on the shelf. Spare brake pads, valve caps, tubeless tire sealant, tape, screws - just a bunch of spare bits. I also have all of my lights for night riding (I'll go more into detail on these later) Then I have my portable toolkit and socket set. The numbers are re-usable for races throughout the season. (left to right - Trek Wednesday Night Series, Canada Cup, Ontario Cup)

Automatic Transmission

Came across this in the shop the other day. It's an auto shifting bike. I've certainly seen bikes that shift on their own before, the Trek Lime for example. The front hub of that bike measure the bike's speed and electronically shifts an internally geared hub at the back. It only has three gears but the transitions are quick and nearly seamless.

This bike on the other hand is automatic in an entirely mechanical fashion. Three black plastic pieces on the rear spokes are connected to a disk that goes around the freewheel and rests right up against the rear derailleur. As the wheel spins faster and faster, the centrifugal force spreads the plastics tags further apart, which in turn force the disk to push on the derailleur towards a harder gear.

It's really cool to see it in motion so I took a video!

It's great on the upshifts but the downshifts take a wee bit longer, not exactly ideal when you're coming up to a hill. Still though this is all controlled by the wheel, there are no shifters on the bike and the only thing we're doing in this video is turning the crank

OCup #5 Sudbury

Sudbury is a new addition to the circuit this year. It's a race that requires an overnight stay but no good reason why I couldn't go. I had never made the drive up to Sudbury on my own before, the only times being asleep in the back of our XC ski team bus in the middle of winter. After completing it both ways I must say it's a very beautiful drive. I left just before noon and got to my hotel in downtown Sudbury at around 3:30 (I was motoring pretty quick) I checked into the race hotel and then proceeded 20 minutes outside of the city to the race course.

The course was so much fun during the preride. The opening double track section is super duper long so I know there's going to be some pace trains forming. Some quick but steep ups in the single track but nothing overly technical. There's a big doubletrack section halfway through before the big climb of the course. It's not very difficult in terms of steepness but it just goes on for some time. It culminates on arguably the coolest and most beautiful section of the course. The entire top part is across true Canadian Shield terrain. Bare rock is marked by little spots of spraypaint for you to follow. Once you reach the top you're treated to a stellar view of the area before plummeting back into the trees.

Photo: Walden Mountain Bike Club

Now this course was difficult for two reasons. The first being how bumpy it was. I guess we're spoiled here in "Southern" Ontario with our smooth trails. Adam asked me if I had thought about racing on my full sus bike here but I stuck with my hardtail because I like it better for racing. Boy what a mistake that was. The course was so crazy bumpy that I had difficulty keep the rear wheel on the ground. Seriously anytime I wanted to pull an acceleration I would get bucked off the saddle - any semblance of rhythm was no where to be found.

The second reason it was so difficult was the dust. Yes this is mountain biking so we're no strangers to getting a little dirty, but this was a whole new level. It was so dry prior to the race but I didn't think that would be a problem... Entering the first single track I was about 7th or 8th position. A dust cloud so big was thrown up that you literally could not see the trail. Breathing was like sticking your face in the garden and trying to inhale it. Anytime you wanted a drink you first had to lick the dirt off the water spout to unclog it. I race with contacts in but due to the dust I rather would have been blind than having a beach's worth of sand stuck in them. This is what I looked like post race. Keep in mind I was wearing full sunglasses and had poured a lot of water on my face at this point..

I really enjoyed the whole weekend trip up to Sudury. Beautiful course and fun changeup from what is typical on the OCup circuit. I wish I had brought my full suspension, something to think about for the future

OCup #4 Albion Hills

I had some high hope for this race, Albion is as close to my home course as you can get. It's the kind of course I could get away without preriding and no matter what combination of trails they did for the race I would have no problem finding my way around.

Pre ride of the course is standard fare. You immediately know it's going to be typical Albion - FAST. There is next to no climbing, just lots of fast everything. Come race day though there's something wrong. It's hot. Like, stupid hot. There is absolutely no breeze and the ambient temperature is 38 degrees. Add humidity on top of that and it's miserably hot out. I drain two bottles just in the warmup. I'm very thankful that my parents have come to watch so they can do my feeds, hydration is going to be very important.

I spend a good time warming up, I want my body clearing and sweating before the race starts so there's no transition in the race and I can immediately get to work. The long warmup however ended up backfiring on me somewhat. New for this race is that they're combining us with the Expert 50-55. All of a sudden there's twice as many guys in this start category which makes getting a good spot on the start line impossible. I try to find my way around the outside at the race start but I get literally run into the bushes on the side of the trail.

I quickly get frustrated with how I'm being held up in the singletrack. I know the trails so well that I can't help but constantly have to brake to avoid the slow guys in front of me. I spend the entire first lap just trying to make up positions. I finally catch up to a familiar wheel from someone in my category but I'm so knackered by that point. Coming around the final corner Sean (the organizer) is on the side of the course with a hose that's pumping water form the river, anyone who comes by he gives a head dousing of cold water. The start of lap number two I get my first feed from my dad, that water doesn't last long. My heart rate is usually high but it seems like I'm working even harder than usual. I attribute it to the heat and press on. I make up a few more positions but my earlier effort is hampering my later efforts. I get on a train of three other guys but eventually lose their wheel and am left to finish the race on my own. Turns out my result was pretty ok finishing seventh, only three minutes of the leader and around a minute off the podium.

I must have spent several minutes after the race just sitting in the shade dumping water all over my self. I think I did  a good job with the hydrating though as  I wasn't ever dizzy or weak like some of the others. In fact there were quite a few DNFs due to the heat. I was glad I was able to finish but slightly disappointed to be so close to the podium.

Canada Cup/Onatrio Cup Numba 3!

Right so forgive me for my lack of updates but life has been busy (RBST) and it's easy to forget about these things.

Going back in time here a wee bit as this race was over a month ago but here's the race report anyway.

Did the preride with Adam Morka who took me over all the course obstacles and showed me some good lines. The course is very cool and lots of fun. Nice mix of techy-y obstacles and double track sections so you can make passes. On the prerace intensity I have a few stumbles on some terrain I should be pretty smooth on but even if I can't make it over that stuff so easily, my legs are feeling good enough to make it all up.

So waking up the morning of the race brings a grim weather forecast. It's amazing how a little bit of rain can completely change a course and Hardwood didn't get just a little, it go a lot. I was so glad I brought my wet weather tubeless tires to the race otherwise the whole race would have been an exercise in futility. The opening stretch to the race is very long so even with my bad starts I am able to move up to just off the front very quickly. As soon as we hit the first singletrack section it all goes to hell. The course is so wet through this section and so torn up as we're the last category to go through. Traction is at a minimum and although I have the legs, I don't have the ground to lay it down on. That was a trend for pretty much the entire race.

One section of the course is called Boneshaker. The aptly named downhill is intimidating but I was feeling pretty confident about it after Adam showed me a fast line down it. During the race however I was thrown a curveball. My category was originally supposed to ride Boneshaker from the top with an option to take a slower detour that enters halfway down. I didn't find out until it came up in the race, but they forced us to take the detour - I guess they didn't want people killing themselves. This completely messed up my speed so I came out of the detour way too hot and hit the second half of the descent with twice as much speed as I would be carrying from the top entrance. Hard on the brakes almost sends me over the bars and into the watching crowd. Fortunately I avoid the embarrassment and pull out probably the fastest clear of the section.

All the other downhills on the course are an absolute mess - no grip is available, they feel more like sledding your bike down rather than riding it. Brake inputs, steering inputs, there isn't really much point. You get your initial aiming at the top and if you got it wrong then tough shit. When you combine that with other people on the course who get it wrong then it leaves no room for error. In fact I don't get some of them right until the the last lap and there's no one around. On more than one occasion I have to bail into the bushes to avoid running into the back of another competitor who went down in front of me. As I mentioned earlier this wasn't a race you could really push at. I finished just outside the top ten feeling super fresh.

Post race was spent trying to get all the mud off of me and the bike. Mud was everywhere and it made me think of the 24(12) hour summer solstice a few years back. This didn't make me like racing in the wet anymore...

Holy Smokes Update time

A lot has been going on the past few weeks so things fell a wee bit behind on the blog. Sunday the 13th was OCup # 2 in Uxbridge

Pre-ride went swimmingly. I thought the course had really improved since that last time I was there 2 years ago. Of course last time the course was soaking wet and my front brake started leaking DOT fluid the moment the race started. That race was a DNF so I figured I must be able to eclipse that one easily, right? All I need to do is finish. The course is far more technical than the one at Mansfield. The 1:30pm course has some really gnarly bits that keep you on your toes and take away any chances of resting a bit before your next effort. Steep drops through rocks, really tight switchbacks and some nice off-camber downhill cornering. The final rock garden is way easier than it looks as you can skip the first half of it if you just stick to the right then cut across halfway down. My overall impression of the course is that it's gonna be a harder race just because there's no long downhill like at Mansfield to rest on. It's gonna be high heart rate and effort all the way through to the end.

So race day. Well so much for eclipsing last year's result - DNF on the second lap. At the furthest point on the course while coming out of a section of single track I went OTB (over the bars) I don't know how it happened or even what I did, all I remember is that my legs were hurting like hell. I crawled to the side of the trail and managed to get my bike out of the way. Everyone who rode by asked if I was ok but I waved them all on while trying to compose myself. I was on the ground for probably 5 minutes. At that point I realised my race was over. I limped all the way back to the start line and came home. Blegh.

Even now 5 days after the accident I have a 6 inch diameter bruise where I impaled myself on my handlebars. It's not causing any problems so I can still ride and push as easily.


I also did the Trek Wednesday Night Series at Hardwood Hills. I wasn't able to get off work until later so I was late getting to the venue. By the time I got my registration all sorted and number plated zip tied on, they were calling the one minute warning. I came up to the start line with absolutely zero warmup and no idea what the course was. The pace was pretty easy off the start so I had no trouble moving up right away. I found another senior expert rider and stuck with him for a bit before I crashed. I simply lost control when I came into some obstacles and I had no idea what line I should be doing. Trying to push a hard race pace without any prior knowledge of the course is crazy hard. One moment you've got the throttle wide open before you realise that you need to be slowing down for a blind corner. Made for some hairy racing. I settled in between two riders so I could pace off them and stay on the trail. They were going slower than I would have liked but the race was just for fun anyway. The finish was a lot of fun. I could hear someone catch up to me really quickly and try to stay on my wheel. As soon as I hit the finishing straight I let off the gas to see what he would do. He stayed right behind my waiting for me to attack. Instead of doing the waiting game, I attacked off the front with about 100m to go. He got right up behind me but couldn't make the pass.

Preparations are underway for the Canada Cup at Hardwood, so these Wednesday night races are nice to help familiarise  myself with the course. I'm hoping for a really good result so I've got a lot of work to do.

OCup Number 1 - Mansfield

OCup number one was at Mansfiield Outdoor Centre this past Sunday and what a doozy, I had forgotten what is was like to race short XC races after a year hiatus from them. Yeah, they still hurt like hell.

Starting with the preride on Saturday I was feeling pretty confident, the weather was perfect and the legs weren't complaining. The course starts with a massive double track climb that's meant to thin the pack a wee bit and then gets right into the singetrack once you crest the top. A few techy sections here and there but nothing you need the brakes for. The first downhill snakes its way left and right as speeds approach 35ish. I expect them to be higher come race pace. The downhill section ends in a sloppy hairpin with really lose dirt, definitely a place for overtaking if you can find the traction before anyone does. Doubletrack allows for some more rest if needed before you hit the techy ups. They're the only real difficult part of the course and once you clear them there's plenty of flat all the way to the final downhill. The downhill to the finish is adjacent to the opening climb, speeds are approaching 60km/h with a few bends and some sandy bits that can catch you unaware.

What I really liked about the course was just how smooth and groomed it was = hardtail all the way.

Race day - So luck my start time isn't until 1:30! Means I can take a chill morning and not worry about getting there on time. Once I arrive, the parking lot is packed! 677 total participants in the day's races. I show up to the start line 15min before the gun goes off and I can barely find room to line up - this will come back an haunt me come race start.

On the line I'm basically starting from last. We're given the go ahead and the field takes off fast, I immediately try to move up so I don' get caught behind the slow guys in the single track. Unfortunately the guys are going too hard and it forces me to settle in mid pack. Maintaining my position isn't difficult through the first singletrack but I was being held back by some slowpokes. Now the first big surprise, the downhill that was so smooth yesterday is now riddled with brake bumps from the previous races. It becomes really difficult to hold my line through the turns. One guy goes careening off the track in front of me as he hits a bump while banked in a corner and loses control. No time to see if he's ok as speeds approach 35km/h and we're all still wheel to wheel. The hairpin is a mess. I take an early apex while most go deep into the turn but are forced wide when they all start to fishtail in the loose dirt. Turns out most of the guys are already out of gas from the fast start so I move up the field quite quickly.

Second lap begins and I finally have so open space in front of me so I decide to open it up. One other Expert rider gets on my wheel and we work together to move to the front. Unfortunately we now run into traffic with the Masters field in front of us. From this point on we never had any open space to try and close the gap to the leaders. I get on a train with some others from my class and follow their pace for a bit. Come the third lap we're already passing some of the Elite women who started 6 minutes before us, the traffic is incessant! Someone at the side of the trail yells that the group I'm with is 5, 6, and 7. Cue the attacks. Last lap I lose 5th place half way up the last climb but already held an attack off from 7. I maintain my place all the way through the lap and finish 6th. Not bad for first race of the season but could have done better.

Looking at the lap times of the leaders I basically kept pace with them all throughout the race. The only difference is that they got off the front on the opening lap.

Next race is Woodnewton on May 13th! 15 hours of training this week, time to go to work!
Garmin data from the race - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/173114982

New Bike has Arrived!

After almost 3 months of waiting for a bike that has been on back-order, it finally came in yesterday. (on my rest day of all days) The bike is a 2012 Specialzed Venge Expert, the aero road bike of the Specialized line up. This bike sacrifices a little bit of weight in favour of better airflow. Where a Tarmac is all about the power to weight ratio for the long climbs, the Venge is all about maximum wattage. It's ideal for me in Southern Ontario because there aren't any extended climbs and I do the vast majority of my riding solo, so the reduced drag on the bike is a big plus.

The unboxing!

I picked it up at the shop but took it home for building. Before I left though I grabbed a couple of bottle cages and pedals.

Onto the stand

All done!

Build was very straight forward, even the internal housing was a piece of cake to put it all together. Two black Specialized bottle cages and Shimano Ultegra carbon pedals to top it all off. Of course seeing as I had never used proper road pedals before, I needed some new shoes to go with it....

Some new Pro Road shoes to go with it. The red makes me faster :D

I've only taken it for a short test ride because I don't want to kill myself on a designated rest day. First impression - This bike is FAST. I mean even when I'm just standing on it I feel fast - it's very responsive to putting the hammer down and it just slices through the wind. Having said that though I hope I never have the deal with any strong crosswinds. The downtube on this bike is almost as narrow as the tire but if you look at it from the side, you can see just how much of a blade this bike looks like. It's definitely a looker too, just on my little jaunt around the block I was getting more than a few stares (although that may have more to do with the ridiculously bright red shoes.

Today's workout is just active recovery so I'll only be riding for around an hour. Unfortunately I'll also be doing it on my old shit road bike because it's raining out and I don't want to have my first ride on the new one in muck.

Make up your damn mind, Weather

We had such a terrible tease in March. The mercury was hitting mid twenties for an extended period and I had some beautiful rides. Didn't need any base layers and it's easy to push hard when your body isn't trying to keep itself warm on top of everything.

Then of course we have to go back to winter. SO many training rides becoming miserable simply because it's 5 degrees and wet. No matter how many layers you wear, there's very little to keep out the chill when you're doing 30km/h + and the sun is down. I had a late training ride earlier in the week and the whole time I was out the radar looked something like this...

This weekend's race at Mansfield is calling for a high of 10 - I don't care so long as it's dry, racing in the wet has been forever ruined for me after the "12/24 hour" Summer Solstice race a few years back.

In other news, I've enlisted the help of Adam Morka from Trek Canada to help me with some training. With his guidance my drive has gone way up and I'm looking forward to learning as much as possible from him. Currently he's got me taking it a bit easier in prep for the first OCup.

Bugs EVERYWHERE

Often times when you're riding close to water you'll run into some bugs. It might be a couple that splatter onto your glasses or just one that goes right into your mouth just as you take in a gulp of air. The worst though are the thick clouds that assault your nostrils and populate whatever hair is exposed on your body. Sometimes it's over in seconds but other times it forces you to reroute. Today was the latter kind. I was traveling along the Lakeshore trail on a easy 90km route. I had already dealt with some bug along the way but nothing had prepared me for this. This was a tempest of bugs all right in the middle of my path and invisible until I'm already surrounded.

After clearing the storm

I'm really surprised to run into so many too and this early. I guess it's just something else to chalk up to the mild winter we had. This was similar to a time last year when I was training in Tommy Thompson Park.. 

Damn bugs are everywhere

 And no matter how thorough you think you are at wiping them all away, you'll inevitably find some more in your hair once you get home.

T-minus 18 days until OCup number one at Mansfield!

Easter time riding

Good Friday I drove North to Albion Hills for some simple riding. No intervals, no sprints, just riding. That day also happened to be Albion's official opening day for spring and seeing as the weather was perfect, I knew I wouldn't be the only one in attendance. So I got my season's pass at the gate and then proceeded to the parking lot by the chalet - It was almost full, bike racks and colourful outfits everywhere.

As I was 5 seconds out of the parking lot, I ran into a teammate from UofT. Rode with him for about an hour and then proceeded to ride on my own. All in all I did 2 complete laps of the trail system. Turns out there are a couple of new trails in there that make the flow in between singletrack much smoother and easier to follow. Trails were dry but not dusty dry so you couldn't ask for better conditions.

Saturday was a busy one in the shop so I decided to take the rest of the day off for some r'n'r.

I'm told by the Specialized rep that the new road bike is "on the water" and provided I have high enough priority, one will be here for me in about a week's time.

This week's training will be slightly wetter if the forecast is to be believed - 3/7 days are calling for rain :(

Training Update

Thank god for long weekends. Training this past week has been super difficult as I'm coming off a 7 day straight work binge and the weekend is a much needed time to do even more riding :D

I had one workout in the Don Valley a couple of days ago and I felt really good. It was between 10:30 and 12:30 at night so it was done with my full light setup and in total seclusion on the trail, definitely one of my favourite times to ride. With the first OCup only 3 weeks away I decided to put in some race pace efforts. When it was all said and done, I felt really quick. Unfortunately I didn't feel like I had the staying power necessary for a full Expert Cat race, which worries me quite a bit. I've been so focused on developing my power for shorter bursts (through short intervals on the trainer) that I've seemingly neglected my endurance. To remedy the situation I'll be cutting back a wee bit on the short burst stuff and focus on the long/easy side for awhile.

And first ride with that in mind was a little jaunt along the Lakeshore.

It was a beautiful day, strong tailwind to start (foreboding I should say...) and I had no work obligations all day. Somehow though, the ride went horribly wrong - I came pretty close to bonking hard. So bad in fact that before even halfway into the ride I did an about-face and headed home. I made it as far as the next Subway restaurant where I wolfed down a 6incher in about 10 seconds. And of course this whole time I'm trying to get home there's a cross wind that's trying to knock me off my bike and impede my refueling. Once I got home I had to restrain myself from tearing through everything edible in sight. But I have to ask myself, what went wrong? I've never had nutrition problems on such a short ride before - My lunch before the ride was a serving of pasta, cliff bar and a bottle of water but I burned through it like it was nothing.

My guess is that the training load I was putting on myself demanded more intake. Cue more food time and bigger grocery bill....

Training also continues off the bike in the weight room. I'll do any kind of circuit workout that swaps between muscle groups each exercise (ie legs, core, legs again, shoulders, legs yet again, chest etc.) Each exercise is done with moderate weight and moderate reps (15-20) but everything is performed explosively. For the most part, racing in Ontario is short bursts throughout the course - there aren't any real extended efforts like big climbs. It's more like short, steep ups then flat or down for a bit and then repeated over and over.

So -----------------> this weekend will be more time spent on long and slow road rides and making sure that I've eaten enough. I've heard that Albion will be open this weekend too so maybe I'll do the long and easy on dirt instead, just no hard extended efforts


Also still waiting on my new road bike to come in... starting to get annoyed....

Shop Days

Almost immediately after attending the Fox Racing Shox tech seminar, a Fox 32 finds its way into the shop. A few warning signs immediately go off - The bike is completely crusted with mud and after further questioning, the fork has not been serviced in its ~5 years of use...

So we check it in for a tuneup....

Removing the lowers

Uhhh, that liquid is supposed to be clear..

So that's pretty much pure sediment inside the suspension. All the seals are shot and even the bushings are done for. Finally - the stanchions are rubbed right through the protective coating (= leakages until they're replaced)

Here's a more fun one - Customer has a Trek Remedy 9 with the new XTR plus derailleur. Anyways the derailleur became really stiff whenever they tried to shift up - Clearly an issue with the tension in the derailleur clutch! So first things first!

Remove the clutch casing

Select the integrated wrench inside the casing and dial down that tension!

All I can say after this is thank god for Pink Bike's Tech Tuesday, otherwise I would have had no idea how to do this.

POST SCRIPT TRAINING UPDATE
As the weather rebounds from hitting almost 30 degrees and then back to flurries my training goes outside and in. The previous week has seen a couple of road rides (the longest being ~90km) As it got colder I found solace in the trainer. Last night was 6 reps of 30 seconds 110% followed by 4 minutes off. Probably the only time I'll willingly listen to dubstep is when I'm grinding it out on the trainer and need the loudest, most obscene amount of racket possible. My theory is that the "music" overloads my auditory senses thus deafening the pain in my legs...

Plan for the coming week is to continue with the volume with a couple of quick intervals somewhere in between. Good Friday and Sunday is coming up so hopefully I'll be able to get in some nice long rides. Also my new road bike is said to be arriving within a week or so, fingers crossed...