Oh, Hi! I Didn't See You There! -- Log

Okay...i'm a baaaad vegan bike racing blogger...updates getting a little too long in-between! Well, here's a marathon session for ya!

My Riding

Been busy...still riding a bunch, tho the last few weeks i've been taking Wednesdays off, a bit too much non-riding activity demanding my time (all of a sudden people want their websites redesigned!) I've been feeling really good tho, overall. A bit slow, but strong and solid. Weather hasn't been so nice, we've basically been hovering just above zero since the last update..! My feet have finally climatized, and now take a fair bit longer to get cool, and even then they don't seem to freeze as much..heh.. There was one rainy day that was quite miserable, with 60kph winds..but otherwise i've been dry at least. Also did the Malahat/Shawnigan Lake a few weeks ago, and my legs were totally munched, and i think this was one of my hardest rides in the last year or so... Thanks Kevin. ;)

My Eating

Still downing buckets of Vega, i feel like Superman using that stuff!

Andy gave me a pile of protein powder (hemp and soy), so i've been trying it out.. I can't say that i feel like it's making any difference. I've been using it for the last 3-4 weeks, and i've gained a few pounds (not what i want, actually! I'm up around 154, would rather be below 150!!) and have been rather gassy. Not liking the gassy thing at all.

So, despite increasing my protein load 25-40%, i gotta say that i'm prolly getting enough protein normally and have no need to suppliment. I'll keep using it until it's gone, and we'll see what the weeks after are like, but otherwise i can do without the putt-putts...to put it mildly. ;)

My Gymming

Time in the gym has been quite productive. I've not missed a day, going twice a week since October (i believe!) I've switched from doing lunges to step-ups. I saw another fellow doing them three weeks ago, and i couldn't help but notice how incredible similar his movements were to cycling...and lunges don't look anything like what we do on a bike!

I'm still increasing my weight and getting used to the lift..i did 50lbs (x12 reps, not maxed) last week, and will increase that to 60lbs this week. (Step-ups are where you basically step straight up onto a bench; great isolation excercise, as the other leg can't help. Will also build 'braking' muscles i figure with the descending portion of the movement. ;)

My Improvements

I've hit a few PB's, almost by accident. I can now do 25 pushups in a row...pretty incredible, considering my previous best was around 18, and a year ago i could prolly barely do 10-12... Not too shabby for a cyclist. =)

I also hit 198rpm cadence coming down a hill a couple weeks ago...wasn't trying to hit a high, just thought i'd try and spin 'real fast', and i looked down, and saw 198 flash on my computer...eeep! I must have looked like the Road Runner. Meeep meeep!

My Other Stuff To Share

Watched some of the speed skating at the Olympics - it's interesting to note that this sport is *very* similar to track racing - the times and speeds around the lap are close, and we do similar distances. I know a number of riders have come from speed skating.

There's also apparently a vegan on the Canadian speed skating team, check out Jonathan Guilmette! It says here that he'd like to start a vegan restaurant, and here is his profile. He's done some impressive skating!

Also in the vegan athlete news, fellow carboholic Christine "Peanut" Vardaros sent me an email to say hi after she noticed the link to her on my links page. We've fired a few emails to each other, and she's really great. She's been kicking some serious ass in MTB and cyclocross for a number of years, and has now been hired by a Euro team to race on the road, so she'll be over there racing for the summer - very exciting, and all the best Christine!! =)

Lotsa neat stuff about her here, plus an entertaining and inspiring race journal (with photos!) she updates frequently. Don't forget her own site is here, tons to read! (And if anyone reading this talks to her, get her to get her new track bike on a track!! =)

Saw a neat article on VeganPorn about how we veggies tend to burn more calories by eating lotsa carbs (which flies in the fact of the fAtkins crowd.) Oh, on top of all the other negative stuff, red meat damages your DNA too.

On the side of silly, here's a video of two cyclists getting into a fight..hahaha! The backwards spin-punch is my new favorite move. =)

My Lastest Week Of Riding

Back to my world of training, here's what i've been up to the last week or so:

Sat (Feb 18th) - 2hr ride, did an hr with the BSide gang.

Sun - 2hr FM w/Andy, he did a great job sticking to my wheel! Haven't ridden much with him since the fall, he's still killing himself over those silly triathlons. ;)

Mon - back on my bench press routine, the beefcake that is Dave Noisy is currently doing 4-5 reps of ~120lbs. (100lbs, plus the bar, which i'm guessing is ~20lbs.) BEEFCAKE!!

Tue - 2hr FM plus several Stomps. Mr Carmichael tells us stomps are good for transferring muscle-gains in the gym to the bike.

Also hit the OBRC for my Tues Nite w/o, did legs, bi's and tri's plus shoulders. I've got time between step-ups, so added these in.

Wed - too much werk, no time for a ride...but they say recovery is good for muscles..!

Thu - 2hr FM, plus gym. Legs plus back, and am doing delts again (skipped them until now) with the leg-ups. Upped my weight on the leg press, now doing ~9 x 180lbs single leggers. (Funny, it goes up to 400lbs, and pushing that with 2 legs is some effort..but i'm pretty good single-legged doing 1/2 that..heh)

Fri - more recovery!

Sat - 2hr "TT" w/Kevin - he kept the pace up the whole time, i figured 'why not!' =)

Sun - 3hr ride, 2hr w/Sarah, whom i hadn't seen for a while, nice to chat with her and catch up! Also did some more bench presses....building up my massive chesticles.

My Upcoming Training and Racing

I've sort of been 'floating' the last couple weeks as i decide how i'm going to plan my season..but it's now all worked out. My first peak (maybe i'll actually peak!) will be at the end of May for a busy three weekends in a row - first is our own Victoria Trackfest #1, followed by the Victoria Cycling Festival (planning on doing the infamous Bastion Square crit, not sure if i'll do the road race too..) and then the week after that is the third Burnaby Velodrome Challenge - holy bike racing Batman!

Then i've got another three months for the Track Provincials in Burnaby at the end of August, plus two more Trackfests, and some other BC Cup road races i'll try and get into..

As well as these, my weekly schedule will change quite a bit. I'll be at the track every Monday and Thursday (timed events on Mon, and racing on Thu) plus i'll alternate Tues nite TT's and Wed nite Road Races..it's gonna be a busy frackin' summer!! This all starts in April...doom..doom..doom..

My Wimp-Out

I've got to get me some shut-eye, so i'm gonna skip on the Muvo update, but fear not, i have been rawkin'. =)

My Closing

Keep on spinnin'!!!