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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:
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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! 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. 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. 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. 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. 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'. 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! 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.... 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: pursuit, race
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Happy Happy, Joy Joy!
First up: a poll! (A poll!) Overall, it's been a good post-Trackfest week! Monday, went out to the track to help organize the sprints..rain. Tuesday, considered the TT, but the weather was crap, so didn't ride. Took an extra rest-day on Wednesday. I also considered the VCL Crit, but had a GVVA meeting in the evening. Thursday, was back at the track. First event was a Chariot, as there were only three A's (two others came out, but had a tumble in the initial Madison. They're healing up and fine!) As could be predicted, Simon and Cooper stomped me in the 1-lap sprint. I managed to stay on their wheels tho, not bad considering i was in an 82" gear. ;) Next up was a Miss'n'Out, combined A's, B's and C's. I stuck to the 82" gear, knowing my strategy off the top.. The race started, and a sprint goes by, and i slide up at the front, and i get up there and pin it at 40kph, and hold it. For about 15 laps. =) There was one odd attack from Simon, who sprinted by me, but i got up on his wheel in a few moments, and let him draft me for a lap, then he fell back, and i just carried the speed through. Cooper was still on my wheel (i think he was the whole time) - and so we traded pulls for a couple laps, and to my surprise Roland (track photographer extraordinare!) guns past Simon, to join us in the Final Three (in a Miss'n'Out, once there's three riders left, an extra lap is added, and it's basically a Matched Sprint between the finalists.) Crap -- Cooper pretty much has this in the bag...ahh well, i've got to try something! We're going into corner 3, and the bell will be rung as we come out of corner 4.... We're not moving very fast, but i see he's slowing down, and is a good 10m behind me....so i drop the hammer! I dash away as fast as my little legs can carry me, the bell's ringing, and i'm flying by! I glance back, and i've got some decent distance! I keep spinning away, but sadly, but the time we hit the line again, he's caught me and edged ahead...ahh well. I couldn't have played my cards much better...will have to keep trying strategies on that guy. ;) Friday i chilled. Saturday was the Oak Bay group ride, and due to MORE RAIN, only about 10 peeps turned out (as opposed to ~50 that we've been seeing!) We got a decent ride in, despite the foul weather. Sunday was more of the same, tho lighter rain. I couldn't bear to ride in it, so i decided to spend an hour on the trainer instead, which was actually a really good idea. I've got to start logging tons of miles in the aero bars, and so hooked 'em up, and did a few long intervals in them, to start acclimatizing myself to them again. Monday was an awesome day for me - Pursuits at the track. My goal for the night was to get ~5:40, and hold ~43kph. I was a bit nervous, as it was getting cooler (which means everything slows down! You can go 10-30 seconds faster depending on the weather..!) I went out fairly hard, got myself up to 49kph, then spent a couple laps coasting down..and accidently went too low - i got down to 41kph - oops! I was feeling really good, and picked it up to 43-44kph, and basically held that. I got a bunch of the other guys to start on the other side, so i wasn't riding all by myself...and i was getting pretty close. I was happy with how i was riding, so i eased up a bit with a few laps to go, and then gunned it for the last lap. Before i was even finished, i knew it was a success! I was holding 43-44kph, and it was relatively effortless!! Not only could i have easily smashed my own PB on the track that night, but i would have done it on a cool night. That felt really good. This means that i might be on track for hitting my goal of getting under 5:20 at the Provincials in August...fingers crossed! Anyway, here are the splits, there's one lap 'missing', and we actually finished one lap short (i inserted the 11th lap with 28", that would have been a fair guess.) 29.94, 26.98, 28.85, 28.59, 27.64, 27.40, (27.60), 27.76, 28.01, 28.08, (28.00), 26.91 = 5'35"76Sweet!! That's my fastest time in Victoria. ( Or it would have been, again, this is a lap short, i'm just filling in the blank, but it's unlikely i would have lost 2 seconds, which was needed to get a new PB, the old being 5'37 here in Victoria.) That feels really awesome. To think, a year ago i got a 5'48, and i actually remember the night, with my buddy Kevin on my wheel! Funny, i got the exact time he got during that effort! ( This blogging thing is way too cool to track past events!) In other news, i've decided on my next bike! The good men over at OBB helped me pick out my future Cyclocross / winter bike! I'll be picking up a Salsa Chili Con Cross, a scandium race frame, that, of all things, comes in GREEN! It'll be light and comfortable - music to my ears. Also, by the luck of the universe, i'll be scoring an orange fork from Scott, that comes from a Salsa Las Cruces. It's gonna be one SWEET looking bike!!! I'll be building it up with Campy Centaur, and my Powertap and Kysiruim Elite will get moved over as well, and should come in under 20lbs - the frame is 2.94lbs, and the fork is 1.6lbs. A winter bike i'll be excited to ride - how do you like them apples? There won't be much of a rush to build this up tho, i'll keep the Norco as my wet ride bike for now, and race this through the 'Cross season here, and then put on fenders, and retired the Norco to permanent commuter duty. =) Before i start dumping cash into this, i still need to get an aero helmet.. Any suggestions on where to find a good price on the Bell models? Labels: log, pursuit, trackfest
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First Pursuit of 2007!
Man, i'm so happy to be back on the track ( for the most part, we've already been rained-out several days..bleh..) Last week i did my first Pursuit of the year, and here's my Pursuit Report! First, i've got new aero bars, a combo of the Profile T2+ aero clip-ons, and the T2 Wing base bar. I've used the clip-ons on the road in TT's, and was very happy with them, the T2 Wing is pretty solid (and aero), and i'm happy with that. Here's a shot of me shooting by:  I've decided to start 'high' this year - last month i discovered that as i got lower, i started losing significant power, so i'm starting on the 'safe' side and will get myself down in time. ( You can see how my back is sort of pointing 'up' to my head - ideally that is flat for aerodynamics.) Otherwise i'm pretty happy with my position ( other than my saddle being a bit forward, but hell - if i slide it back, you can see my knee would be behind my pedal when the crank is horizontal..i think i have short femurs or something.) For this Pursuit, i decided i'd aim for 5:50, which meant holding ~41kph. It was a cold night, and i certainly wasn't going to get a PB. So, i hammered out, got my self up to ~46kph, and got comfy in the bars..essentially 'floated' a couple laps, and then started applying a bit of pressure.. Around lap 6 i was starting to feel it in my legs a bit, but nothing severe. I was holding 41kph and feeling pretty darn good. By about lap 9 it was starting to become a strain, but nothing i couldn't sustain. Come lap 11 i started to gas it, and drained myself for final lap. (4km total, 333m track.) Mission accomplished! It was practically the 'easiest' Pursuit i'd ever done...usually i'm gasping by lap 5...i'm really starting to find the balance between over-doing it and what i can hold - thanks entirely to the PowerTap. Here's my splits: 31.1, 27.9, 28.9, 29, 29.3, 29.4, 29.9, 29.7, 29.6, 29.2, 28.8, 28.8 = 5'51"67, 41.03kph average speed. Pretty steady, eh? I think that's the smoothest pursuit i've ever done! Also, it's worth mentioning that this time last year, i got a 6:04, and *killed* myself, and even in May i was barely getting under 6mins. Yay me! Not sure if i've listed my goals for this year, but i'm hoping to get close to 5'15 in the 4km Pursuit this year. =) Didn't ride much last week otherwise - and that was a mistake! The weather was awful, so it wasn't very motivating. On Wed, rode out with Tanya to the Caleb Pike race to watch the race - David Mercer came close to winning the bunch sprint in the B's, and it was all red in the A's. Next ride was on Saturday, with the Oak Bay group. Worst ride ever for me! For the first half, i had a full bladder for some reason, and was feeling awfully uncomfortable. Stopped at our stop in Sidney, and relieved myself. It was quite a bit faster than usual heading out as well. After Sidney, the pace picked up even more, and i had developed a stitch in my side, which just wouldn't go away...again, very fast. Looking at my PowerTap output, we averaged over 35kph for nearly an hour..eeep! I felt alright except for that stupid stitch... Sunday was glorious. Tanya's last ride here ( she's riding across Canada, starting today! Follow along in her blog!) so i decided to go big - we did the Malahat and Shawnigan Lake, weeee! Everyone kept saying 'let's make it an easy ride', and i was cool with that, but for some reason no one really rode like that! (That being Ryan, Joe, Kim and Doug.) We got ourselves to the highway (out along Goldstream to Millstream, much nicer route), and for myself, i wanted to some LT threshold riding, aiming to hold 300 watts up the climb. Starting at the Mt Finlayson / Goldstream parking lot, i managed to hold ~290w for 19 minutes to the S. Shawnigan turnoff. I was pretty happy with that when i got home and looked at the file. =) I figured everyone else was going to take it easy, but soon after Ryan appeared, as well as Joe & Kim, and the rest of the gang - so much for 'easy'!! haha.. We then rode around Shawnigan and up the far side of the Malahat ( i think i'll avoid this in the future...the road is nice and all, and it's a nice climb, but i really can do without the traffic!) My PowerTap turned off at a stop, so i missed some time, but i'd guess it was about 120km in about 4.5hrs. Beautiful day, and very nice ride - i'm gonna do this regularly. =) Reminded me of the good times with Kevin - miss ya buddy!! I found his profile page on the H&R Team page. =) Tonite is the first night for the Sidney Time Trials - times won't be fast since it's so cool, and i have no idea what to expect..i'm going to go and try and hold 280w and see what that gets me! Here's some neat info, thanks to Fredrik, on how gear affects wind resistance: On a 40km TT:
- aero position: 6 minutes
- no water bottle: 26 seconds
- TT helmet: 25 seconds
- skinsuit: more than 1 minute
- aero fork: 40 seconds
- aero frame: 2 minutes
- aero wheels: 1 minute
- shaved legs: 5 seconds
- shoe covers: 13 seconds
(taken from the Swedish cycling magazine Kadens.) Now, a little chat about my bike: As you can see, it's fully built! I've gotten my seatpost ( Thompson, aluminium, for the center off-set), tires ( Conti 4000's, in sexy orange) and front wheel ( Mavic Ksyrium Elite) all from Oak Bay Bikes of course!. It's riding like a dream..i'm very happy with it. Got my clip-on fenders on in the pic, bleh.. And, finally, the Bunny Jeebus arrives from a soggy Easter ride: Keep on riding!! Labels: log, pursuit
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About
Me
