And That's A Year!

Ooops. Really slacked off on the updates for the last few months!

Well, HAPPY NEW YEAR! =)

Quick recap of the last few months...

Cyclocross

Had a really fun season, rode well, but it ended a bit early.. Raced Elite for the first time, and had to accept getting lapped once or twice by Craig Richey and others.

Started to go downhill when i first got sick in early Nov for a week, which really set me back, and it started on the double-header weekend here....i still went out and rode, and the courses were pretty awesome - so wish i was feeling better - i might have done alright on them. =(

Port Alberni (#6?) came around, and i was feeling better, and had a pretty good race - Roland dropped out, he wasn't having fun...so i finally gained points on him! The course was HARSH tho, especially all the grass-come-mud just before the barriers...then the slick spot at the foot of the barriers, pretty much killing any chance for maintaining the small amount of momentum you might have hit them with..

Here's my Garmin file for this race:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/56382932

Then, the Snowpocolypse happened, and we had like a week of snow, which caused the cancellation of the Finals up at Shawnigan. I was really looking forward to that..gaah.. Provincials were the next week, but i'd been sidelined so much that i had no motivation to head over, so that was pretty much that.

Still, beat Roland in the Cross on the Rocks series points for the first time, so happy with that. =)

The Wed night practices this year were AWESOME. Some of the courses were UNSPEAKABLY FUN, like out at Royal Roads. And huge turn-outs, like 50-70 peeps most nights.

The last 'cross event of the year was an Alleycat-style 'Cross Contaminated' CX race put on by Capital City Cycles, and it was all around 10 Mile Point (starting and ending in the Caddy Bay park), and you had to ride around to 7 different spots to collect tokens. Marty and i rode it together, and he was a superb navigator, and was really fit, so i mainly just clung to his wheel. He motored off after the final stop, so i lost a place to him and another rider (i also killed myself on the OBB ride the day before ;) and finished around 7th. It was very fun. Here's the Garmin file:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58912054

Boxing Day TT

Managed to race it this year (last year my chain seized up!) Very good time for me, about 22:30, which is around a minute faster than any previous effort! I got 3rd behind Jamie Cameron, who rode an impressive 20:19, and Angus Errington who edged me out by 10sec.

Very happy with my wattage, total average was around 292w, i eased off on the way out (it was more downhill), and averaged ~284w for 10min, and then for the 11:30 back, got up around 304w. I goofed near the end tho, i thought i had a kilo to go and started to really hoof it, but it was closer to 2.5k...whoops!

Here's the Garmin file of the race:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/61350546

Toys

I've picked up a lot of neat things in the last few months, to highlight a few:

I raced tubeless (in the rear) for cyclocross, had a Stan's 24h Alpha340 built up to a new wireless PowerTap (yay! No cables!) It'll do double-duty - CX in the fall, and road in the spring/summer.  Surprisingly light, around 950g i think.

Tried out some new tires and loved them: the Specialized Captain's. They're EXCELLENT for local conditions. Better than the Michelin Mudd2's, but very close to the original green Mudd's. I'd give them the edge for stickiness and connection to wet pavement (you'll die cornering on wet pavement on the green Mudds.) Held up really nicely as tubeless as well. I also tried harder pressure this year, instead of around 30psi i went up to 55psi, and i found that actually worked really well (most races were dry.)

On my old wired PowerTap, the Mavic OpenPro ceramic was getting pretty worn (over 3yrs of constant use!! Maybe close to 50,000km!), so i also went with the Stan's rim on there too, but with the Hutchinson Fusion 3 road tubeless -  VERY NICE. You can read my review on the Oak Bay Bikes site. Still waiting for a puncture!!

Swapped handlebars, now riding the FSA Wing Pro (alloy) - i forgot how nice the flat tops are. I used to get numb hands sometimes, it's now GONE. Will be upgrading to carbon on the Noah in the summer, and use those alloy ones on my CX bike (likely a X-Knight - woo woo!!)

Also got a Sugoi RS Zero jacket (i don't have anything windproof, surprisingly), and this has been a VERY comfy jacket so far. It doesn't get too up, at least up to 10C. When it's down under 4C, it's worthwhile putting arm warmers on underneath, and haven't really gone below zero, but i imagine my regular thermal jersey or base-layer will suffice. It has a nice, tight race-fit tho, so no flapping, and there are two easy-to-reach open pockets, and a big zippered pocket as well. Will likely post a longer review on the OBB site.


OrganicAthlete Victoria

Our little club has been doing well, a bit slow this year, but for 2011 looks like we'll have a few new faces out sporting the colors and racing, and i'm really excited that Ridley Bikes is a new team sponsor!! (Big up to Oak Bay Bikes for getting us AMAZING deals on bikes.)

New Years Eve Lucky Draw

I popped into OBB on my New Year's Eve easy spin with Emile, to check out my MTB PowerTap wheel, which is hosed.... It appears the race for the freehub has cracked and displaced....yow!

Backing up a bit: an MTB ride a few weeks ago ended tragically up on BW, we were just starting to hit the main descents (past the 'lookout' spot), and my freehub seized up...i couldn't coast, it just kept spinning around. And then tore off my derailleur to boot. Had to run back to the parking lot most of the way (there isn't much coasting on BW. As a bright point, i learned that this is NOT a trail that would be very fun in reverse.)

Luckily the bolt on the D was easy to replace. Unluckily the PT was pooched. Shipping back to get looked at...this has been a very unlucky hub. It didn't transmit when i got it, so had to send back, and then it wasn't holding a zero very well...and now this. Crumbs.

What's this Lucky Draw you speak of? I saw something familiar hanging up...looked like a TT frame...it had green...it was a SALSA! It's Curtis' (actually Chris') Salsa 'El GoGo' TT frame that i've been drooling over for a number of years...

"What's this doing here?" i asked Gillian. "Oh, Chris was clearing out a bunch of stuff." "Oh!! I've been fawning over this for years, how much??" "It's free." *noise of jaw hitting floor*



I'm pretty stoked to have this now.. I didn't *really* want another bike, but a TT bike isn't going to go unused, and i've actually got most parts i need...i think i'll just have to get shifters (Campy??), derailleurs, a headset and cranks.

I can cannibalize some gear from my track bike (aero bars, seatpost and seat), given that i prolly won't be riding it. (Go to hell you petty prick Mayor Dave Saunders!!!!)

I *could* use the cranks from it, and go single-chainring, but there's some spots it's gonna suck to ride...so i'm thinking another set of compact Red cranks (165mm of course).

I can still use the Noah for TT's if travelling 'light', but for the regular stuff around here, it'll be handy to just swap in my PowerTap wheel.

Riding

Was on the bike 4 days a week pretty much all of December, i think i carried some good fitness through once again (just riding, no intervals.) Been hooking up with the Russ Hayes group on some Tue and Thu nights - nice to have a bit of extra motivation to get me out. (Another gear review is due for the NiteRider Pro700 light, which is AWESOME.) Saturday's i'm still out with the OBB group of course (totally destroyed the field in the sprint in the final ride of the year! =)

In a couple weeks i'll start adding more structure to my training, i'm thinking longer (20-30mins) threshold intervals (270w for me.) Good way to get things going, and bump up my overall fitness. Not entirely sure what i'll do this year...i'm guessing i'll have to suck it up and get out on the road and try to get stronger on the hills, otherwise i'm pretty limited. We'll see...

So, that's 2010, here we go into 2011...have a great one!! =)

PS - i'm pretty active on the Twitter with both vegan and cycling updates daily, so follow me there if you use it too! And say 'hi'! =)

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============