Oh my! How About a Little Update?

Wow - i can't believe i've neglected my blog this long!!

In general, things have been quite good. The snow has made riding difficult, but i also picked up a Niner RIP9 full suspension 29er mountain bike, which has been a BLAST! It handles well in the snow as well. ;)

My training is starting up for 2009, i've got two basic focuses for the year: sprinting and time trial power. That's it! I plan to improve both...if i'm not training one, i should be training the other. My sprinting is probably one of my biggest strengths, so of course it makes sense to improve on that even more. My biggest weakness appears to be my TT power...i can hold a decent amount of wattage over 5-6mins, but after that, i get diminishing returns...so that needs to change. There's no reason i shouldn't be able to hold that for 30+mins!! (Well, other than not having trained it at all for the last couple years!) So, that's the groundwork for me for 2009 - feel free to comment/discuss this in the comments section. =)

And yes, i'm seriously considering a few cross country mountain bike races for 2009 as well!

I should also include a recap and highlights for the past few months:

TRACK
* tied for 2nd overall (with futurestar Jacob Schwingboth) in the Trackfest Madison series, won a snazzy jersey for that
* won the overall in the GVVA weekly points league

Overall i was pretty happy with my track riding. Unfortunately, the year ended prematurely due to conflicts with the WSPRS as they closed down the track for specious reasons, as they wanted to build a stadium ON TOP of the velodrome (yes, fill it in.) Luckily, it appears they've changed gears, and no longer wish to do this, and it's looking promising that we'll have a track for 2009.

ROAD
* finished 3rd in Cat4 at Bastion Square (didn't trust my legs, waited too long to sprint)
* finished 3rd overall in the A's in the Victoria Cycling League (ha!)

I hardly did much on the road this year, the VCL final was a fluke, i had a few opportunistic events, if it wasn't for some TT's, low attendences on the road, and of course my strength on the track, i wouldn't have factored in at all. The roadies definitely fair better on their terrain, in great part due to the hilly courses, which slaughter me. The rare flat crits are much preferred. ;)

CYCLOCROSS
* Whirly Whirl World Champion ;)
* finished 12th overall Inermediate in the 'Cross on the Rock series after 6 events

It was a fun 'cross season, with the Wed night races, and the excellent series by Norm and Wendy. While my general 'cross skills are pretty solid (cornering, barriers), what kills me in these events is the need for TT power. I can stick with the leaders for the first lap, but of course, i blow up shortly there-after. This will change for 2009, so look out. ;)

Best event for me was the Juan de Fuca 'cross event - unfortunately there were no laps on the velodrome, but there was a nasty-ass run-up that was HUGE, and each lap while i'd catch people on the flats, they'd all pass me on the run-up. Very frustrating....but in the final lap i managed to pace myself just right, and maintained my lead in the run-up, and even made some ground by the finish...i think this is the only event i managed to finish ahead of Roland in!

The final event was also a bit of a success for me, i decided to start off more 'easy', instead of gunning it and trying to stick with the leaders. This worked out well, as i ended up actually racing (instead of on my own) with a small group, and managed to work my way up, passing one fellow (who fought HARD), and got close to another, but couldn't quite close the gap at the end. It was sweet actually duking it out tho. =)

OA VICTORIA
Our club had a *fantastic* year, and here's a highlight of all our amazing members:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pnfzlMjRxwTsEWTpK45rFcg

Too much to highlight, but i'm very proud of all our competing members - you all kick ass!! =)

(Our club is looking for sponsors for 2009, fire me a note if you'd be keen to alighn with the OrganicAthlete Victoria chapter!)


Alright, that's the breakdown for the last few months, i'll try and post a bit more frequently - happy 2009 all! =)

2008 Provincial Championships!

Sorry for the lack of communication, i've been uber-busy both organizing and racing at events!!

First up is the BC Track Provincial Championships! It was a small group of riders, my main threats being Julian Base from Whistler, and locals Bob Cameron and teammate Emile DeRosnay, racing over three days with the regular assortment of championship events.

Main highlights were medaling in four events: Madison, Kilo, Keirin and Omnium (which is a combination of five events: the 200m, kilo, pursuit, scratch and points races).

The Madison was especially cool, with Rachel Canning as my partner, we both rode our butts off, and she towed me along to earn a medal!

From 2008-06-22 - ...

There we are in the midst of an exchange. Note that as she drops in, she'd be going about 30kph, and i'd be coming in below at about 50kph, and in the exchange i transfer my speed to her, and then slow up, and wait for her to pass again, and reverse the exchange, and then i'm back in for some action. =)

The Kilo was pretty straight-forward, rode a 1'17"86, which is a PB, behind Julian and Emile by about a second and a half, Emile took the gold, yay for getting OA on two Podium spots!

The Keirin was a hoot, i got into 2nd position, with a lap to go Julian sprinted off, i charged after, and was looking at Silver until Glenn edged up beside me, and snubbed me at the line!! Ahh well, i couldn't be beat by a better guy. =)

From 2008-06-22 - ...

The Points race was a brutal affair, Julian, Emile and Mike Laxdal managed to break off the front and i got caught behind, and spent about 30 laps chasing with Glenn and Bob Cameron..Bob had cracked, and Glenn was doing very strong pulls, i was not too much of a hindrance, but we couldn't seem to close the gap...always about a 1/4 lap behind..they must have been trucking too..so frustrating!!

The Omnium worked out well for me, i got the 2nd fastest 200m time (12.818, another PB, not bad after two days of racing my butt off!), and finished 3rd in all the other events, for my final Bronze.

OA did well, Emile got a couple golds, Gillian put on some strong performances, winning several of the Women's events (tho her only competitor was Rachel, but she still rode well in the bunches in which she was placed). Jan Tize, a new OA Vic member, also put on a lot of strong performances, but crashed out with a broken collarbone. Kevin won the Citizen Omnium racing quite well at his first major track event!

A collection of photos from the event can be found here. Also, a funny random video i made based on an Oak Bay Bikes group ride: