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.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Thursday, 3 May 2012
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
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
Thursday, 26 April 2012
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.
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.
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.
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| The unboxing! |
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| Onto the stand |
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| All done! |
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.
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.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
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.
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..
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!
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| 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..
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| 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!
Sunday, 8 April 2012
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 :(
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 :(
Friday, 6 April 2012
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....
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.
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....
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