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Saturday, July 23, 2005

It's Like A Drug -- Log

I'm pretty sure it's addictive...i definitely feel 'better' after riding...and if i go a few days without, i suffer withdrawl...! I also enjoy it immensely...does this stuff come in a needle?

So another week gone by, including another successful race, and nice, long ride today:
Tue - rode w/Andy out to check out the course for an upcoming Triathlon, out by the airport, was a 3hr ride, not too intense.

Wed - rest day! Did a bunch of work. *gasp!*

Thu - Points Race with the Victoria Cycling League...where a bunch of roadies come down to take us to task...fun fun!

Unfortunately, Team Dr. Walker is much like T-Mobile, where each of us are interested in getting our own points...so we're not much of a cohesive unit.... It was basically several of us against three Organic Athlete guys, and they did a pretty good job securing 2nd & 3rd place. One of their guys (a time-trial specialist) made it off the front about 1/2-way through the race. I told our team he was a TT guy, but no one really made a move to pick up the pace too much.. I was tired from doing a short pursuit after a sprint at that point. Luckily he never caught us, tho got very close....his other two teammates were doing a good job defending, by slowing down the pack when they got to the front.

Overall the race was great for me, i was in on the first 3-4 sprints, getting points, plus several later on, including crossing the finish line 3rd (after the guy way off the front, and on big Matt's wheel - woohoo!) My efforts in the sprints got me 5th place as well, which was well-earned.

My strategy was pretty simple - don't work too hard, don't chase down breaks solo, get good positioning before the sprints, and sit on a wheel on the sprints. Worked like a charm. =)

This victory moves me from being tied for 5th to 3rd overall in the 'A' points listing - yip!! Unfortunately the next guy (speedy Vinko) is ~30pts ahead of me, and it would take a miracle to get anywhere near him......i shall try tho, as i defend my position..!

Fri - turned into a slightly longer day than expected! Went for a 2hr ride with Andy in the morning, then out to the track for Madison practice, and logged 115km for the day. D'oh!

(Madisons are a special track race, where teams of two riders work together in a points-format race. It's sort of a tag-team effort, as only one person is racing, and the other is sitting/resting above the blue line. Every few laps, the other person comes down as his/her partner is getting close, and gets literally slung into the race, where they basically exchange speed, and the other racer goes up to rest. It's a very fun experience! I've organized Madison races for next week. Fun fun!)

Sat - big, long ride with Kevin! Logged 160km (100 miles) heading up the Malahat (local moutain), around Shawnigan Lake, out to Duncan, Cobble Hill, over and around somewhere else, back to Shawnigan, back up and over the Malahat and into town. Took 5.5hrs, and averaged 29kph. That's the longest ride i've done in a while, and definitely the fastest i've ever done that much concrete..! It was basically just the two of us (Jim from the track came along, but turned back at Shawnigan), and we were riding two-up most of the time, so no draft.

I felt really great the whole time, we never really went too hard, keeping a nice pace, right in the HR zone that works really well for me. Couldn't have been more perfect.

For food, i had a couple Clif bars, two bananas, a baggy of figs, almonds and dates, and my orange drink, as well as finishing off three bottles of water. Oh, we stopped before the final climb at a corner store and had a soda. Mmmm..sugar! Didn't sit so well on the climb, but i was fine overall. Unfortunately there isn't much better to buy at a little shop...the juices are all pretty gross too. Oh, my HR monitor tells me i burned through 3,500 kcalories...wow.
I'm looking forward to more of these rides..! I felt fantastic at the end...neck was a little sore, but other than that i felt amazing, and could have easily ridden another couple hours...which is a really incredible feeling. Really nice to know i can pile on the miles and not suffer! I didn't really know until i did it. I think my next longest ride is ~110km, but i've done that several times.

This next week is gonna be pretty fun too!

On Monday, we're doing Flying Lap attempts at the track, which is a full-lap sprint for the best time. We do the 200m a lot, but the 333m should be interesting.. More Madison practice afterwards.

Tuesday will prolly do a short ride. Wednesday i'm planning on doing another road race, this one's at Caleb Pike, and is supposed to be fairly 'rolly', and well-suited for a trackie. Yip!

Thursday is Madison night, racing my first Madison!

I'll prolly rest Friday, then do a couple more rides on the weekend, including another long one (hopefully!) Tomorrow will be a fairly easy spin as well.

Keep the rubber side down, and hairy side up! =)

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Name:
Dave Shishkoff
aka Dave Noisy
Location:
Victoria, BC
Canada

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