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

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

First Ride on Big Orange

All built up, nice day, feeling like mixing it up, so i went out for a shortish MTB ride on my new orange RIP9 MTB frame!

Upgraded from an older version, partially for the stiffer, stronger frame. Mostly for the color! (Oak Bay Bikes had this as the centerpiece of an orange shrine for a while..haha..)

Still gotta dial in the suspension a bit, but felt great off the start! Once i hit the trails, i could tell the rear end was different..definitely stiffer. Otherwise feels much the same...love the glow tho. =)

Trip was pretty straight-forward, i'm calling it the Up & Down.
Took the trails most of the way out, except for a few shortcuts to save some time. (If you're looking for a non-road way to bike to the dump, check out my Garmin map link below. It's a bit longer, but so much better.)

Went up Meadowbrook, Executive, did Shock Treatment (it's changed a bit, and was really wet in the woods!!) Up Skull, then the Regional Trail up to the bottom of Lemmings Run, which was the highest point of my ride (239 meters up, according to Garmin!) The bombed down Who's Yer Daddy, Nightshift, Skull, and back down to Executive and out..and part road part trails to get home. Limited the climb (the trail's head is actually a bit higher) as it was getting a bit late.

Ride to Meadowbrook was 50min, spent 40mins riding the Dump, and then another 45mins ride home. Neat to have all this data...and you can check it out yourself!

Here's the data from my Garmin, including Power, as my MTB is wireless:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25548286

Click around on the buttons, lotsa neat stuff. Be sure to check out the 'player'.

And here's the power data from WKO:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgdbj3nx_16cj64tdg2

Broke down the three portions of the ride, and all the rest of the data is there as well.

OBB ride tomorrow, looks like it'll be a wet one! Will be cool to have a map of the route tho.

Peas out!

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

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

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

Birthday Ride!

Gotten a little behind in the updates! Trying out a slightly different format for this one.

So today is/was my birthday! 34. Yip!

Headed out for a ride, planning to pull off a 30min Tempo. Felt good off the start. Kept an eye on my HR, it was in a good range. I've been hit with a 'low level' cold the last few weeks...my HR would really elevate riding at my EM pace..today it was down where it should be - yay!

Made my way out to Sidney the usual way, it was overcast with a threat of rain. Opted to ride the Ridley and take a chance..it was my birthday!!

Started my Tempo in the usual spot, and was tearing down Lochside, and at the corner just before the MacTavish construction, this huge, oncoming water truck crosses the road and into the bike lane and just STOPS THERE!!! WTF?? I manage to stop, although i was well over 30kph...i get around it, and pick up my pace again, and then i see what this truck was doing: soaking the road. WTFx2?! The road had been dry (very slight spitting), but this goof was driving along dumping water on the road.

I slowed down, as i don't want to get any more dirty/wet than necessary...summer bike and all. I look ahead, and there tons more water on the road. GAAH!! I'd gotten 17min into my Tempo, and was feeling GREAT. I've since checked my watts, and i had been averaging 270w. For fracks sake..

I pulled the plug there, if i were to keep going, i didn't know how much further the road was wet, and it's pointless to have a 5min break in the middle of this type of interval. Ahh well, here's the brief summary:

Ave Wts: 270

Ave HR: ~170

Ave Cad: 73

Ave Spd: 32.1kph

There was even a perfect headwind, so i wouldn't pick up too much speed downhill...gaah.. Not 100% on the HR, PowerTap head wasn't picking it up..

So one new feature of my entries will be GPS data! The Garmin Edge 500 i ordered finally came in, and has some pretty sweet features! I *love* having the big Lap/Interval functions and visual. The worst thing about the PowerTap head unit is that it only displays 3 items. I typically have Watts, Speed and Time (or Cadence.) Now i have all that data right there..hehe.. Unfortunately it can't connect to my wired PowerTap unit (what i have on the road), so no power data, but just about everything else is in this file:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25415146

If you're non-American, click on 'Metric' in the top right to make sense of it all. ;)

Lots of neat stuff you can click around on...i love the mapping and elevation features. This will be even cooler when i get out on the MTB (esp. since it IS a wireless PowerTap.)

Today i also did another Mt Doug effort. Last time i went up was Jan 21st, did it in 8min flat, averaged 310w. Today did it in 8:08, but only averaged 305w.. On the Garmin link above, it's Interval #7, if you want to check out the elevation data.

So another thing i'm doing is posting ALL my wattage data, but instead of filling up my blog, i'm going to save it in Google Docs, so here's today:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgdbj3nx_15d6ndbwhq

You can see the Mt Doug effort, the Tempo, the Garmin section (the same period recorded as the Garmin) and the entire ride, which has me riding to the shop, and back home from there. (I don't really feel the need to include my home address. ;)

No major peaks, although my 1 and 2hr NP are pretty high, averaging 243w over 2hrs..that's a lot more wattage than i'm used to seeing over that period!

The other news: i've upgraded my Niner RIP9 mtb to the orange frame i've been lusting over for months:



It's significantly stiffer, and ORANGE!!! Hopefully will get out for a ride on Thursday...if not, Sunday. =)

Calling it a night, g'nite world! (I'll update the rest of my last week soon!)

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

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

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

A Week And The First Ride

*phew* Busy week! Took the Noah out yesterday, here's some catch-up reporting:

Tuesday (15th) - Climb

Climbed 3hrs w/Kelly, started work on some 10b's. Feeling pretty good!

Wednesday (16th) - Rest Day...plus..

I was actually planning to get out for an MTB ride, but Alyssa was keen on riding out, and i didn't want to on the cold, rainy day that it was...so i lingered around the house....good thing, as early in the afternoon an email from Scotty at OBB popped up in my inbox, with a photo attachment....i'll give you one guess which frame i've been waiting 9 months for that had arrived. ;)

I was actually half-naked, about to get in the shower (bet you appreciate that detail), but threw on some clothes and hoofed it over to the shop. WOOT! I was very excited. Drooled over it for a while, compared the sizing to the Blue, matched-up nicely.

That was pretty much the day there. =)

Thursday (17th) - Ride w/Emile

Decent day, made it out 2+hrs with Emile. I was worried he'd crush me, but near the Wallace Rd turn-off (heading away from town) i'm motoring along and look back, and i'd dropped him! When he catches up he says "you're going too fast!" HAHA! One of the only times i'll ever hear that from Emile. He wasn't feeling great and had a head cold the next day, but we eased off a bit, and he also just drafted a while. 2nd half of the ride was a bit slower, good start tho.

PowerTap details:

Entire workout (195 watts):
Duration: 2:14:38 (2:29:55)
Work: 1556 kJ
TSS: 150.2 (intensity factor 0.822)
Norm Power: 214
VI: 1.1
Distance: 64.681 km
          Min Max Avg
Power: 0 853 195 watts
Heart Rate: 77 183 153 bpm
Cadence: 26 120 91 rpm
Speed: 3.7 60.4 29.1 kph

Friday - Climb

Headed to the gym with Mical Dyck, who had an awesome session, matching me route for route for several climbs. Impressive as she has only been climbing a couple times in Oct, and not since the spring before that..i'd been back on the wall five times over the last three weeks, building up. She's an excellent climber, very strong and smart, picking up the routes very quickly. Nice to have another great climbing partner, she'd get back up to working on 11a's in no time if she weren't to be taking off for work!

My session was good, the main goal was to complete the final two 10a's that had stumped me, and i did it! What that means: NEW SHOES! Next visit i get to break out my FiveTen Jet7 kick-ass climbing shoes. =)

Saturday - OBB Ride

Decent number of people out, maybe 30. It was the first ride that was a fair bit slower! Even through Land's End we hardly picked it up (although just enough to drop Alex - sorry buddy!)

Much bigger group for the sprint.. Emile took off the front just before Camosun. No one responded...i was a few bikes back, and i believe blocked in a bit, and had taken a recent pull... A few people pulled off the front and Dave MacLeod decided to give chase, and he did a spectacular pull, bringing us within striking distance of Emile at the hill at the bottom of the sprint.

I was actually feeling pretty good, and Dave was starting to blow up, so i jammed out to the left and started up the hill, seated. Craig Richey had been in front of me (and behind Dave) and he stood up as i was passing him, he started to crank it and WHAM! I looked back and he was sitting on his top tube!! The rest of the sprint wasn't much, i basically coasted up to the line, Emile had slowed quite a bit, so i 'won', although we were all looking back to make sure Craig was okay, which he was..chain had fallen off the big ring. He also broke a cleat in the process, but fine otherwise.

I also took the King of the Overpass, not even challenged..so a double-crown ride for me. ;)

The numbers, as you can see, an easier ride, measly TSS of only 222. ;)

Entire workout (166 watts):
Duration: 3:12:51 (3:31:22)
Work: 1909 kJ
TSS: 222.6 (intensity factor 0.835)
Norm Power: 217
VI: 1.31
Distance: 98.293 km
         Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1027 166 watts
Heart Rate: 81 188 144 bpm
Cadence: 20 131 88 rpm
Speed: 0 65.2 30.7 kph

Sunday - MTB

Got picked up by Alex (thanks again!!), and met with Jamie and Alyssa at the parking lot (they rode out, i didn't want to with the rain!)

Fun day of riding, did my regular loop, rode pretty well overall but we were taking it pretty easy. Noticed that i was still pretty sore from the climb on Friday - it really takes it out of my arms and back!! At the end of the day, it looked something like this - surprised by the difference from AP and NP:

Entire workout (163 watts):

Duration: 1:32:16 (2:43:39)

Work: 901 kJ

TSS: 113.7 (intensity factor 0.86)

Norm Power: 224

VI: 1.37

Distance: 15.386 km

           Min Max Avg

Power: 0 1023 163 watts

Heart Rate: 70 178 145 bpm

Cadence: 30 201 77 rpm

Speed: 3.8 34.4 10.3 kph

Monday - Climb

2.5hrs with Kelly, first day back in the Jet7 shoes - they feel SO AWESOME. I didn't want to start wearing them right away because the soles have very sharp edges, and i didn't want to wear them down floundering around as i got my form back..so i set the rule of having to clean all the 10a's before wearing them.

Good session, worked more on the 10b's, and started working on a couple of the c's.

Tuesday - Ride - RIDLEY RIDE!

Oh wow. First thing i can say: it was worth the wait. This bike is freaking AMAZING.

First thing i noticed as i'm headed to the Switch Bridge to meet Chad is that when the bike gets around 40kph, it just wants to go faster. It really flows through the air...

Getting out of the saddle uphill feels SOLID. I'm noticing how sloppy other parts are, like my front wheel.

The Lizard Skins bar tape is AMAZING. Very comfortable, and the tactile sensation is PRIMO. LOVE IT! I'm buying boxes of this stuff. And the orange looks hot, esp. now that i've swapped in a black Conti GP4000. And nice matching bar plugs too. Stylin'!

Over the jittery stuff the bike surprised me - it actually soaked it up, and i was pretty comfortable! I was expecting the stiffness to be too much, but the high-frequencies are nullified nicely.

Final 'a-ha' moment was riding up Ash Hill, i kept seated, and amazingly i could feel each pedal stroke going straight to the wheel. Normally it feels like energy is going into the cranks and BB and perhaps the chainstays or seatstays are flexing, but this just felt SOLID. All my work was going into making the wheel spin. Very nice.

The fit is great, i'm going to try raising the seat a hair, and slide it forward a wee bit, but otherwise i'm pretty freaking happy with it!!! I can't wait for the summer to race this thing!!

Otherwise a good ride with Chad, hope i didn't bore him with all my surprised expressions and fawning over the bike..hehe..

Entire workout (201 watts):

Duration: 1:57:07 (2:03:06)

Work: 1403 kJ

TSS: 152 (intensity factor 0.886)

Norm Power: 230

VI: 1.14

Distance: 57.035 km

          Min Max Avg

Power: 0 875 201 watts

Cadence: 29 136 90 rpm

Speed: 3.7 64.6 29.4 kph

Didn't put on the HR strap, was in a hurry, running late!

Wed (today) - Climb

Felt pretty good, got out for 3hrs w/Kelly and Mical. Made more progress on the 10b's and c's i've been working on...should be able to clean some of them in the next session or two...figuring out the tougher bits, and letting my fingers catch up.

Pretty fried again, my back and fingers still ache as i type!

That's the last few days, it's been an exciting week!! Looks like tomorrow will be another dry day, so hoping to spend some more time on the Ridley, might do my 'Hour of Power' route to compare numbers.

Friday, got an easy/fun/social MTB ride planned, aiming to hit all the trails we normally pass on (Green Ribbon, Sofa King, etc). 'Big Bike' day as some say.

Saturday is the annual Boxing Day TT - again, if it's dry, i'm hoping to ride the Noah out! First race! Eeep!

And Sunday ought to be another MTB ride.

Happy Winter Salsa everyone!

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

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

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

Bike! Bike! A New Bike!

This is just a brief note to highlight that my new bike, a custom green Ridley Noah, which i've been waiting on for nine months, has finally arrived!!!

Finished building it up tonight, here's how it's looking:



Click for a slightly larger image - apologies in advance for the front tire, it's all i had laying around, it'll get swapped for a black one soon. I'm actually *very* happy with the orange Lizard Skins bar tape, it suits it perfectly (and feels really nice! =)

It's a small size, oddly (i'm 5'10). I prefer a shorter top tube, and the Medium was up around 56cm - them Belgiums must be huge - waaay too long for me. It was a pretty easy build. Didn't have to cut the seat mast, i just popped the biggest spacer in the seat mast mount, and it was actually the height i was looking for!

It's built up mainly with the Campy Chorus that i had on the Blue, and the SRAM Red cranks as well (165mm, same as my track bike.) It's actually a very similar set-up to my Argon 18 Electron track bike, maybe 1/2" longer wheelbase, and the saddle is a bit lower on the Noah, but that's due to the lower BB. Seat and bars seem nearly in the same location otherwise...so hopefully will be an easy transition between the two (assuming i ever get back on the track..)

I took it for a brief spin up the street - it feels SOLID. Rock solid. No flex anywhere (except the wheels!) I'm very much looking forward to getting it up to speed. Maybe tomorrow, if it remains dry!!

Last thing i need to do is install the wiring for the PowerTap... Not crazy about that (visually speaking), but it'll be a while before i can afford a wireless unit........next big upgrade. ;)

Special thanks to the kind people at Oak Bay Bikes, as well as Norco, for making this all come together!

Got my regular training updates to catch up on, more soon!

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

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

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