C4 WNS Time Trial

Last Wednesday was my usual Wednesday night race and it was a Merkx time trial. That's their name for a time trial ridden on your usual racing bike: no aero bars, no disk wheels, no pointy helmets. It was a very warm night at 30°C so I decided to carry water for such a short race. I would finish it before arriving back to the car after the race. I was the second rider to head out and I tried to catch the first rider. I didn't catch him but I did catch two other riders; one guy warming up and one guy who was supposed to be the marshal at the NW corner of the course. Unfortunately, this series has been so well run and I didn't know the guy I passed was supposed to be a marshal that I would end up flying through that corner and only thinking that TWP 262 sounded very familiar. I wound up getting 2:22 and one kilometre of extra effort on the night. I was credited with covering the 16.2 km course in 27:42 (although some people maintain the course was 16.8 km). That gives me a speed somewhere in the 35 – 36 km/h range despite being slightly demoralized by the extra scenery I enjoyed. My maximum speed was 65.9 km/h. I did help three other riders who all approached the same corner together just ahead of the marshal as I was coming back up the hill to get back on course. I noticed one of those riders got on my wheel after he turned around and let me help him part of the way to the finish. I think I was able to ride away from him and open up a proper time trial gap after a short time.

Calgary hills

Last Saturday, I did a little tour of Calgary. I wanted to explore a little route onto the Nose Creek path and then wind around to check out the route from Edworthy Park up to Edgemont. With all the people and dogs walking wherever they please on the paths, I don't advise ever doing serious training within the city. When Julie is able to do longer rides in the trailer, I'll need to know these scenic routes a bit better. I was out for just over two hours and did 52.8 km for an average of 25.7 km/h. I got in the climb up Edworthy but the path to the east back down to the river wasn't suitable for a road bike so I had to circle back to the main road up the park. I also climbed Home Road and up 53 Ave through Edgemont for a total of 470 m of climbing.

C4 WNS Team Road Race

Wednesday, 15 July was a team race just south of Calgary going down towards Millarville. We started with three teams of seven but a late arrival meant a team of eight. The winning team would be the first one to get their third rider, not including their team leader, over the line. Before the race, our leader discussed strategy. Trev is a very strong Speed Theory rider and he was going to be able to move where he wanted in the pack or catch breakaways. We were counting on him to get in amongst the other teams and disrupt their plans. He mostly wanted to isolate riders at the back of any escape and open up a gap which would require the other rider to spend extra energy trying to get back on. It sounded like a good theory but I wasn't there to see how it all worked out.

As is typical for my races, I hung nicely in the pack but tried to stay towards the front. I got caught out once but Trev was able to open a little gap in the middle of the pack and I jumped back in to shelter. As per usual, something happened and I suddenly went from being comfortable to being above my redline. There was a little confusion on the corner after Millarville to head back north. I had to work a bit to catch back on to the group and this got my heart rate rising. The pace also picked up as we started to climb and this usually spells disaster for me. I seem to be able to maintain 90% of my maximum heart rate but closing the gap and starting the gradual hill pushed my heart rate from under 170 bpm to over 180 which is over 96% of my maximum. I caught back on but the hill continued and I was split off the back. Eventually, I was swept up by a few riders and we worked together and broke up a few times over the rest of the course. I would even lose this group the next time we started climbing and had to ride myself back to one lone team mate who had completely used his energy. He and I had been working in the smaller group and he left me on the start of the climb on the second lap so I was a bit surprised when I got back to him and ended up pulling him most of the way to the finish.

I ended up doing 53 km in 1:29 for an average speed of 35.7 km/h and a max of 62.3 km/h coming down from the top of the course. There was 367 m of climbing during the race. I averaged 162 bpm with a maximum heart rate of 184 bpm while trying to stay with the peleton on the first lap. Our team finished second.

Stampede RR

12 July was the Stampede Road Race put on by Crankmasters. I wasn't expecting to do well since it's a Masters race and I was therefore in Masters A and required to do 120 km. The course was rolling and I'd spent the previous week at home with my new daughter and some baked goods.
I felt good at the back of the pack for most of the first lap and was surviving the climbs but I let myself lose contact on some of the descents. Usually my superior mass allows me to catch the pack on the downhill but, with the wind that day, I had to do some work to get back and that proved my undoing. I also started to feel uncomfortable in my stomach and weak in the legs so I was split from the group just before turning south on the first lap. I had hoped to hang in a little longer but it wasn't possible. To get some training in, I continued on for an extra lap until I found a few team mates chatting in the final corner of the lap. I joined them and we eventually rode back to the feed zone to let Corey know we were done for the day. Well, we did have enough energy to sprint back to the parking and enjoy some of the first burgers off the barbecue.
In total, I did 49.33 km in 1:46:12 for an average speed of 27.9 km/h and a maximum of 63 km/h. I did 550 m of climbing. My heart rate monitor was a little flakey but it thinks I averaged 161 bpm with a maximum of 186 bpm. That's not the first time I've beaten my calculated maximum of 183 bpm.

Things might happen quickly...

Since we were expecting our second child and and our first was born naturally, we were told that this birth might go faster than the first one. It really didn't start out that way though.

On Wednesday, Ying noticed she was leaking. We finally were convinced that it was amniotic fluid and she had a small hole in her membranes. She had a few very mild contractions but it wasn't time to go to the hospital. All our research said labour should start within 24 hours so we decided to wait. Thursday morning brought no change: very slow leak and a few more mild contractions. Ying had an appointment late in the afternoon so we thought we might wait for that. We did e-mail Rob and Tammy so I could let Rob know I probably wasn't going to come to work and, since they have six children and Tammy's going back to being a maternity ward nurse, they're a very valuable source of advice for my young family. Tammy phoned back a few minutes later and said to go to the hospital; there's a risk of infection if the membranes are broken so she thought they'd probably induce us. She was bang on.

My Grade 12 English teacher has a great philosophy on life which I've taken to heart, "start slow, and taper off." I would soon find that my second child is good at the first part of this but needs work on the second part.

9:30 - triage in the maternity ward. Ying's membranes are definitely broken and she'll be admitted and induced. Phoned Mom to come up from Edmonton if she wants to experience the birth.

14:45 - Ying's on a drip and the induction has started. Things should take a few hours so I step out for a necessary run to Superstore.

16:00 - I'm back. Ying had a quick nap. Mild contractions but they're more regular.

16:30 - Mom arrives. No change in Ying.

17:00 - Our nurse goes on break. Ying at 5 cm but was at 4 cm last week at her doctor appointment.

17:20 - Contractions are starting to get quite painful. Ying wants an epidural and the nurse covering says she can get one ready but Ying cannot have it in until our nurse comes back since the covering nurse cannot monitor two and assist with the epidural.

17:25 - Nurse goes to make arrangements for the epidural. "If you feel like pushing, press the call button."

17:28 - Very painful contractions. Ying: "I feel like pushing!" Me: "You were only 5 cm a little while ago. I don't think the baby's coming yet." Ying: "The baby's coming!" I hit the call button.

17:29 - Covering nurse comes in and takes a look at Ying: "hit the call button!" Nursing station over the intercom: "Yes?" Covering nurse: "we're having a baby in here!"

17:30 - A doctor who just happened to hear the call and Ying's screams at the nursing station and three or four other nurses burst into the room. "Hi, I'm Dr. O'Keane" We shake hands quickly as he assesses the situation and I try to hold Ying down during another very painful contraction.

17:36 - After a few minutes of pushing and screaming, Shannon Wei Reynard enters the world.

After the birth, Ying's quite shocky because of how everything developed so quickly. Shannon's cleaned up and presented to her grandma. We were all able to relax in the birthing room. Shannon barely cried the whole time and spent a long, long time suckling on Ying and being content. Ying was moved into a room to spend the night. The evening meal had been served so Mom and I picked up some soup and a grilled cheese sandwich from the cafeteria downstairs. Ying proved she had fully recovered by polishing off both in no time.