Days of Rest -- Log

Hello world!

Been taking a bit easy the last few weeks, taking a couple days off a week, as track season is ending. There's a crit in Oak Bay tomorrow, but i've decided not to enter.. Seems like it could be rather sketchy (Cat 1,2,3 both men and women together), and i'm not sure what Cops for Cancer spends their donations on (ie, vivisection) - and it's a fundraiser for them. So, best to just sit out and watch.

Lessee what i've been up to..be sure to read about the races from last night, very fun!

Tue (Sept 6th) - whoa, gotta get in the way-back machine!! 2hr EM ride w/Kevin, inc. 40mins Temp

Wed - rest day!

Thu - race night at the track! Last night that counts towards points... I'm far enough ahead that i'm guaranteed 3rd place overall in the local standings, woohoo!!!

The night was good, got 2nd in the Scratch race - Chad took off (twice), on the second time we let him go ahead...with four laps left, Kevin was in front of me and gunned it, and we broke away and pursued Chad, tho didn't get more than 5 meters close...still, got 2nd! Good call by Kevin! Also got 4th in the Points race (tied with Matt, but he had more 1st's), nothing to recall, was a good race...and the end of the season pretty much!

Fri - rest!

Sat - did half a BSide ride, had to be back in town to tell people Canada needs to stop killing seals, and also promote that Paul Watson was in town. He gave a talk on Sun nite, and it was surprisingly good. He said 'i believe eating any creature from the sea is a crime', and at the end of the talk, i asked if he could speak on this more, and how veganism is direct action. And he did. =)

Sun - full BSide ride, only Kevin and i carried on for the water, and i did the full route around.

Mon - went to the track, did a few sprints, including Matched sprints, was fun.

Tue (Sept 13th) - did my third CTS field test. Kind of a weird one.. My average HR went up a few BPM (this is what i use to base all my training on) but i actually rode a tad slower, and not quite as far... I'm guessing it might have been the cooler weather. New #'s mean i get to ride a little harder when i train now, woot!

Wed - rest-a-roo

Thu - Fun races at the track, plus BBQ! Since it's our last official night, we did all fun races (some of which i'll move over to Mystery Nights!)

First up was what we called a 'Chuckwagon' Race! We split the bunch (~20 peeps, all levels) into three teams, and the idea of the race is that the team that has all their riders cross the line first wins!

We started off just blocking...we lined up in front of the pack..pretty funny! After that, i got all my guys (the Blanks, since we didn't get the green or red armbands) all lined up behind me, and we just rode as a train. It was a 15 lap race, and off the top there was a small break...which of course is pointless in this race -- you need to keep your team together!

So i just pursued at a steady rate, and caught the guys at the front (towing my Blanks, as well as a ton of riders from the other teams.) They pulled through, then there was another attack, and again, i just towed the line back up... By then, there were maybe 4 laps to go, so i just sat at the front, with all my guys behind me, and slowly upped the pace.. Started at about 40kph, then by the last lap had it over 45kph....and my plan worked perfectly!

All the other racers were trying to get by my 'Chuckwagon', and we won pretty handily. =)

Next up was the 3 Minute Race. It's where we do a neutral lap, then the bell goes, and the timer starts. No one has a clock or computer, and what happens is after the next bell (at 3mins), it's one more lap.

Thing is, if you cross the line before the 3Min mark, you're OUT! So it's sort of a 'slow' race. Well, not really.

I was keeping track of the time in my head..or trying to. Oddly, i got it wrong, and crossed the line a little too early...gaah! (Last year i believe i won this race..heh..)

The third race of the night was a Reversed Order Win'n'Out. It's a Win'n'Out (first person over the line every other lap wins, starting with 1st, etc..) except the order is reversed - the first lap gets you 5th, then 4th, etc..

Unfortunately a few people got this mixed up, and thought they had to be, say, 4th over the line. That seems like crazyness to me!!

Anyway, i went for 2nd, and got it uncontested due to this misunderstanding from others. Ahh well.

Final race was a 2 Lap One-Legged Race, which was HILARIOUS! If you're ever out on the road, and wanna do something really different, get the other riders with your to have a 1 legged race to a signpost or something, it's really worth it..!!

We started the race pretty steady, some guys were actually bobbing out of their seats trying to 'sprint'. Chad was up at the front, which was no surprise, as he's had the most experience doing this. (He toured across Canada, and had some sort of malfunction with a crank, and ended up riding an insane THREE DAYS through the mountains with one leg..!!)

So after the first lap i had cruised by everyone else, and caught up to Chad....got in his draft for a few seconds to recover. (We were going about 18kph..heh..) I then attacked!! Okay, pedaled harder. You can't really attack with one leg. I got beside him, but then i started to run out of steam...we were coming through the final corner..prolly topping 21kph..!!! I started to drop off a bit, and came in second again behind him...good job Chad!!

And that's probably it for racing on the track this year!! Had a great time, got some pleasing results, and it was really good to race against all these guys. =)

So, now it's time to nestle into some fall/winter training routines...

On another note, there were a couple interesting articles in the latest newsletter from Chris Carmichael:

• Interesting article on caffein, and how it can improve your performance...i was very surprised by this, and will prolly try it out.
• Also, an article on carbohydrates and mood, and how they can affect you, and actually make you happier..!! One more reason to avoid low-carb diets.

Looking forward to a couple good rides this weekend!