Welcome!

This blog/site is a collection of my thoughts, articles and other general excitement tied into cycling, training and competing as a vegan bike racer and athlete.

Articles of Interest:

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

It's a Rest Week

It's been a rest week for me, so not too much going on right now..

BMX Worlds are here in Victoria, right beside the track, and they've taken over the infield; we're off, so i'm chilling this week. =)

Had a good 'last race', a week ago. It was a longer Points Race (42 laps), and i *finally* beat Mike Cooper - yeah, baby!!! Sorry, don't mean any disrespect, he's a great racer, but he's been kicking my ass all over the track all year, and it's nice to return the favor for once. =)

Typically the local races are shorter, 30 laps or less, so he's always got extra gas for the line...but that night i managed to keep the pressure on, scoring about 8pts more than him. Didn't win the race tho, Don Gillmore the Immortal was out, and lapped the field three times..hahaha.. Finishing 2nd after Gillmore is a feat in itself tho. If anyone *did* latch onto his wheel...look out!

It's been an interesting Tour de France... Rasmussen (or Ras-Use'n, if you ask me) was ejected due to highly suspicious circumstances. This after Vino, and another rider testing positive. Nice to see them cracking down. I was joking with my fellow OrganicAthlete riders that we should post our Anti-Drug Policy on the OA website. He joked back saying we should test for pesticide residues...that might be an interesting thing to offer while touring..hehe!!

It'll also be interesting to see how many riders actually donate their year's salary, as they all committed at the beginning of the race, if found doping.

As for the finish...i'm cheering for Cadel Evens. A while back, there was a rumour that he was vegetarian, but unfortunately it's not true. Still, i'm cheering for the guy. And Levi, who doesn't like Levi. =)

On the 'cross front, i've order the Campy Chorus parts, so they'll likely be in fairly soon, and then can build it up -- yeehaw!

HELP WANTED

I'm looking for a front wheel, if anyone has any suggestions.. I'm going with a disc brake for the front (i do a lot of hill repeats, often in the rain, and don't want to change brake pads every two weeks), and so looking for something that's a bit more 'aero', with a lower spoke count, but of course has a disc brake on it....any suggestions, as to pre-built wheels, or something i could build up? Is there a hub with disc brake bolts that is low spoke count..?? What rim? Thanks for any tips. =)

That's about all for now. I'll be racing in the BC Master's crit on Sunday, around Windsor Park here in Victoria, should be fun! Then Monday and Thursday i've planned an Omnium week, which should be pretty awesome. Monday will have the 200m and 500m sprint, and a Scratch race, and Thursday will have Pursuits (3km for me) and a Points race. The idea is to compete in all five, to be the best overall.....looking forward to it!

If you haven't seen it before, i publish a monthly vegan newsletter here in Victoria, called The Victoria Vegan. There's a vegan sports section, and i write about a number of items, the most recent is about all the yummy summer fruit. Check it out!

S'all for now, sports fans, have a great weekend!

Labels:

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

TrackFest #2 and Two PBs!

It's the Tour de France, what the heck are you doing reading my blog?! haha..

Anyway, while the real cyclists are duking it out au francais, a few of the speedsters in BC came out last Saturday to tear it up at our oval for Trackfest 2, and the third in the FloraGLO Track BC Cup.

The weather was practically perfect, not too hot, and in the afternoon a slight breeze picked up. Also, a long-time vegan email buddy, Jeremy Moore (aka VeganPotter) came up for the week to visit and race - he's used to be a thrower, training for the Olympics, but switched to bike racing a few years ago, and i've been giving him advice.. He did quite well in the B sprints!

From 07-04-15 - Bu...

That's him, as well as Tasha, showing off her new OA gear. =)

I was feeling pretty good when racing began with a 30 Lap (10km) Scratch Madison.

From 07-07-07 - Tr...

Teams were all completed, but i managed to talk Bob Cameron into partnering with me - yay! I told him 'make sure you're in an 82 or less' and he responded 'oh, don't worry, i'm in a 79!'. Rocket. (We had gear restrictions, so teams would stick together.)

We started at the back of the pack, testing our exchanges, there were six teams, so there was a fair bit of traffic.

From 07-07-07 - Tr...

We'd never done a Madison before, but it worked out perfectly! Soon, we were near the front, and by the end of the race, we'd had a healthy break off the front, and held it - woohoo - victory!! Nice way to start the day. =)

Next up was a 30 Lap Scratch, with mixed A's and B's. I'd say this was one of my best races ever. While i only finished 5th our of seven A racers; i did some remarkable (for me) bridges and efforts, riding stronger than i think i ever have! Unfortunately, i bridged myself to a break with 3 laps left, and the pack soon followed, and i didn't have enough pepper left for the finale...still, everyone was impressed with how i rode, including myself!

Normally not one to sprint, i signed up for the 500m ITT, knowing that there weren't any of the 'big' sprinters, i thought i'd give it a shot. It was also the initial voyage of my new Bell aero helmet.

I was still in my Madison gear (47x15), but managed to fly to a 38'87, which is a new PB(personal best) for me by exactly one second! It also landed me in 2nd place, behind Bob Cameron who nipped me by two tenths of a second.

From 07-07-07 - Tr...

A 25 Lap Tempo followed, this was my first time racing this event.. The way the race works is that points are rewarded *every* lap, the first rider over gets 2pts, the second gets 1pt, and whoever has the most points at the end wins!

I stuck to the front to score points on the first lap, then wheeled away from the pack, thanks to a block from my buddy Kevin. =)

I stayed out front and solo'd for about 6 laps, when Glenn joined me, and we pulled a few laps together, but then the pack caught us.. There was another attack, and i was a bit tired from the long solo effort, but Kevin chased down the other solo rider, and stayed away as well. Funny, he finished 2nd in the race he didn't consider one he'd do well in. ;)

For myself, it was my first podium finish at a BC Cup, my 13pts left me in 3rd place!

After the break, the final Endurance event, the 42 Lap Points race, was on. Readers should know that this is my favorite bunch race. =)

It was a smaller field, as Glenn wasn't feeling up to par, but none-the-less, this enduro-focused race was high-paced. Off the top i score 2nd place points in the first sprint, and kept it rolling for the next few sprints.

From 07-07-07 - Tr...

Unfortunately, Chris and Jonathan from Masi-Adobe put the hurt on with some team tactics, attacking and counter-attacking, and that left the three of us (Bob, Kevin and myself) hurtin'.

From 07-07-07 - Tr...

There we are chasing. =)

Which is pretty much how the race ended...they stayed about a 1/4 lap ahead, and Bob didn't really contribute to the chase much, and broke off for the final sprint, but i had secured all the higher points in the laps leading up to the final sprint, and so finished comfortably in 3rd - yet another podium finish for The Shish!! Yeah!!

On the sprint side, i sat out for the matched sprints, but jumped into the Keirin, and chased Glenn hard, but couldn't get by, finishing 2nd. Still, not bad for this non-sprinter.

There were also two other Madisons, and it turned out that Bob thought i was joking about the gear limitation in the first race! Despite that, we still managed to win the remaining two Madisons, making it a hat trick! Woohoo! That was pretty sweet.

So, all-in-all, an excellent day! If i can keep building on this up to Provincials, i might see some more podium finishes...!!

Speaking of which, despite feeling pretty torched, i decided to have a go at a 4km Pursuit on Monday night. First i drafted Jeremy through his effort, pacing him and cheering him on. His goal was to get under 5'30, and he got a 5'27 with relative ease - great work buddy!! That's the fastest time on the track so far this year!

From 07-09-07 - Ae...

There i am cheering him on. He held 44-45kph for the first 10 laps, then i got him up to 47kph with 2 to go, and up to 50kph on the final lap!

After that, i felt inspired myself, and decided to give it a go. I wanted a PB too, and so i figured i'd try and hold 44kph. If it wasn't happening, i'd just quit the effort.

So, i started up...got myself up to 48kph, and floated down to 45 over a couple laps...so far so good. A few laps later, i was starting to feel it, and thinking i should quit, but looking down, i saw i was still holding 44kph, and so went a few more laps....by the time there was 4 to go, i was down to 43kph, and really starting to hurt, but i decided to endure. No point in going that far and quitting now!

I gave it a bit more gas and got it back up to 44kph, and might have touched 45kph in the final lap....hit the line....and i wanted to DIE!! OUCH!!! That was BRUTAL!

It was a very warm, dry night, and my throat was parched!

I wheeled back to the infield, and was amazed with my time: 5'32!!!!! Now, that's not my personal PB (that was a 5'22 in Burnaby) - but it was certainly a PB on my home track - YES!!!

Despite barely being able to talk or walk straight, i was elated!! Getting *so* close to my goal of 5'20 for Provincials...!! So, i've got another six weeks to buckle down, and continue to build on this....

From 07-09-07 - Ae...
There i was shadowing Jeremy - my position is looking pretty good i think! I'm also enjoying riding like Superman in my skinsuit. You might also notice that the orange sticker on the helmet is from Mighty O Donuts, an organic vegan donut shop in Seattle - how about a donut sponsorship? =)

That's it for now, i'll sign out with a cute cartoon i found:

Labels: ,

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Hello Wolrd!

Hey there sports fans - yes, i'm still alive!

So, first up, guess who has a new, cool aero helmet?

From 07-04-15 - Bu...

Anyone know of cool vegan stickers i can put over the Bell logo? It's about 11cm wide. I'm prolly gonna peel the red decals off as well. ;)

Also, my cross frame arrived, here it is with the fork - TOO COOL!!

From 07-04-15 - Bu...
Perfect match with the OA kit, eh?!!

I'm looking forward to building this thing up.. Will race it in the fall, then add fenders and ride as my winter bike after. I'm planning on more Campy Chorus, and since i'll likely be doing a ton of hill repeats on this thing, i'm going to get a disc front brake (canti rear). That way i won't wear through rims or go through a pair of brake pads every two weeks from all the wet descents.

As for the world of riding...i did a couple more TT's, and have been pretty unhappy. I got down to 26'31 the day after my Pursuit PB, but then floundered back up to 27'18 the following week. I can really only suspect that i was fatigued...so now i'm resting more carefully. Not sure when i'll do the TT next..i'm pretty focused on my Pursuit and track training for the next month. I've laid out my training plan, and will stick to it as much as i can.

Haven't ridden a whole lot that's worth mentioning otherwise, track has been rained out several times..

Sat, Jun 30th had the Sidney Twilight crit - i dropped in for the hell of it. It actually went quite well, i started relatively close to the front, but need to make sure i'm AT the front from now on. No more mistakes.

After a while, i ended up in a chase group with three others, and we were pretty well matched, and held a nice steady pace. The course was great, didn't have to brake in any corners, and we held out speed well. Unfortunately, Steve Baird (see video below) was also there, and demolished the field, with 7 of 46 starters finishing. We lasted about 20mins. My buddy Mike Elkink came in second, in the pack sprint - woohoo!

Sunday i managed to get myself out of bed at 5am and headed down to the ferry to ride Hurricane Ridge! Album of pics here.

It's a great climb, tho spending 1hr 15mins at 65rpm really killed my legs! It's sort of a race, tho i didn't really truck it, just keeping a steady pace. Fastest guy was around 54mins. I also slowed-up big time after thinking i should eat. I was under the impression it was a 1.5hr climb.. I was actually about 15mins from the top when i decided 'gee, i should eat!' and cramped up trying to stuff some food in my face.

Note to self: don't eat on the way up next time!

From 07-07-01 - Hu...
There we are at the top - proof! 5,000 feet of elevation.

From there, we went back down (25mins descent!) and did a fantastic 80km loop of Sequin, very nice terrain. Wonderful day, thanks for the great ride Joe, Kim, Scott, Paul, Jamie, Doug and...older dude who's name i've forgotten! (It's funny, you can't really see, but in that pic i'm wearing one leg warmer, and a knee warmer on the other side..haha)

Coming up is Trackfest #2 this weekend - woohoo! I'm not in great condition for this, back to a 'build' phase, but i'll truck on anyway. My buddy Jeremy (veganpotter) is going to be visiting as well, so i'm back in action as a Vegan Cycling Destination. =)

I'll sign off with a few neat links i've come across:
That last video is insane... For those who are curious, that's the 'Observatory' climb - yes the one i do repeatedly in the winter, tho not nearly so quickly! Enjoy the climb. =)

Steve does the climb in 5'03 or so..breaking the previous record by about 30 seconds, incredible! On top of it, i just got an email from him - he did the Sidney TT in 22'51 tonite - WITHOUT a proper TT bike. Holy crap. He's coming out next Monday for a Pursuit - this will be awesome.

Labels:

About Me

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

Click for more!



Contact me and let me know if you're a vegan cyclist with a blog!


Organic Athlete

Oak Bay Bicycles

Fueled With: Vega

Also...

VeganFitness.net

Powered by Blogger