Tuesday night cyclocross #3

This week's Tuesday cyclocross race was back at Gold Bar Park. As much as the first course at Gold Bar played to my only strength, this one showed more of my weaknesses. The climbs were sprinters' climbs so I didn't suffer too much from an extended effort but I knew I would lose time on the long, grassy straights. I was behind one woman on the first and second laps who I would catch on the few sets of corners and on some of the little climbs but she was able to pull away on the straights. Shantel pointed out Lori-Ann Muenzer for me before the race and, for the second week in a row, I completed my first lap right behind her before she started to fade. The barriers were on a hill just after the start/finish line and I got over them faster than Lori-Ann and I didn't see her again until the end of the race. I introduced myself after the race and she's a very nice, very approachable person. Like a true track cyclist, she encouraged me to convert my commuter to a fixed-gear and come out for track next year. I was able to ride all of the climbs, though I ran up the climb after the barriers, but I had a little trouble with my back tire slipping on the last climb and I felt I was very close to sliding out on a few corners. I've been commuting on pavement on my 'cross bike using my Nokian tires tires almost the entire summer and the centre of the tires seem quite worn which would explain the trouble on climbs but not the corners. These are the tires which came with my bike but I've never really liked them for racing so my plan became to just use them as a commuter tire. I've just put on a pair of Michelin Mud 2 tires for this Saturday's School of Cross. I'm planning on leaving these on my bike for the rest of the 'cross season. I have a pair of Michelin Country Rock tires coming for my mountain bike, which is supposed to be my commuter bike but I had so many flats this Spring every time I put slicks on it I switched to my 'cross bike. I ended my night in 22nd spot out of 34 racers in my group. Two places worse than last week with six more riders. I completed 8.7 km in 26:35 for an average speed of 19.6 km/h and a top speed of 38.5 km/h. I averaged 169 bpm with a maximum heart rate of 182 bpm. I again had consistent lap times. Officially they were 6:33, 6:31, 6:34 and 6:44. I knew the little climbs and long straights were taking their toll on me. I also lost a little incentive to push hard as I finished 20 seconds behind the woman in front of me and 20 seconds in front of the man behind me. Although, my heart rate averaged 174 bpm on both of the final two laps.

Tuesday night cyclocross #2

This Tuesday's cyclocross race took place at Capilano Park. All my talk about starting at the front and fighting for the first few corners was not put to the test as, right after the start, the course turned right and climbed a hill then went over the barriers. As expected, I was slow up the hill but I'm much quicker than other riders around me over the barriers. The following single-track section was enjoyable but my least favourite part of the course was right after; some sweeping corners around trees on a gradual uphill. The top part of the course was good with more wide corners and a quick down and up dip. There were a few technical corners but this seemed to be more of an endurance course which didn't suit me. The full results were available this time and I finished 20th out of 28. I made up one position on the last lap as someone, who had just passed me, suddenly had his brake rubbing on something. He probably rolled his tire off somehow and was rubbing his tube as he suffered a sudden pop to his back tire. I made up one more place as I caught a fading Erin Middleton going over the barriers. She quickly took the place back around the baseball diamond but I hung on her wheel for most of the rest of the lap. Just after we witnessed the tire explosion, I passed her and was able to stay in front until the end. I felt I was faster through the corners and I went just before the last technical section. As I scanned the results, I noticed that I beat Olympic gold medalist, Lori-Ann Muenzer. I'm sorry to say I wouldn't recognize her if I saw her but Marg recognized her during the race and picked up the tempo. Unfortunately for Marg, Lori-Ann was toiling in the C race and not in Marg's B race. Luckily, there wasn't a velodrome section on the course. Corey's not going to believe that my lap times were 5:41, 5:34, 5:36 and 5:34 plus the run-up at the beginning. In total, I covered the 6.6 km course in 22:42 for an average speed of 17.4 km/h with a top speed of 29.8 km/h. I had an average heart rate of 164 bpm and a maximum of 186 bpm. I was a little tired to start the race as I rode 8.6 km to work in the morning and 20 km from work to MEC to Marg's to the race. I did another 19.5 km afterwards to get home.

Tuesday night cyclocross #1

I returned to cyclocross racing today after two years off. As expected, it hurt quite a bit. I'm about 10 kg heavier than I'd like to be and 15 kg more than where I'd ideally be for racing; though it's been over 20 years since I've been that light. My training this summer has consisted mainly of commuting 20 minutes each way to work. In fact, about 1650 km of the 2000 km I've done so far in 2011 have been classified as commuting.

Anyway, I registered in the slowest category and started towards the back. I'm debating about starting further forward and fighting for position around the first corner since I always get caught in the bottleneck and am all over the rider in front of me for much of the first lap in all my races. Today wasn't any different and I even got a little impatient and put an aggressive pass on some other racers through a few of the corners. I didn't hear any complaints from behind the few times I came into a corner from off the racing line, got position on the rider in front of me before the apex but had to sweep wide, across the racing line, coming out of the corner.

I really enjoyed today's course as it was mainly flat. I'm a poor climber but I like to think I'm a good bike-handler so it suited me. I was able to ride a steady race and didn't have to blow myself up once or twice a lap on a climb. I noticed I tended to catch riders in front of me through technical sections and lose a little ground on the straights. That's to be expected because of my poor fitness.

I suffered a little mental fatigue right at the end. I convinced myself that the last corner marked by blue tape was just after the blue tape. I was really deep in the corner when I realized I should be turning before the tape. I locked up my back tire on the grass and skidded sideways into the tape. A guy and a girl, each on mountain bikes, were able to get past me and stay there until the finish line.

Overall, I covered 7 km in about 22 minutes for an average of 19.3 km/h and a max speed of 27.2 km/h. My lap times were 5:36, 5:23, 5:29 and 5:27. It hurt a lot but I love racing cyclocross. I don't know the official results but I feel I had a respectable finish. My goal was to not be last and it seemed there were a number of riders coming in behind me.

Half active transportation

I was able to get in one and a half active transportation outings in this weekend. The half came first on Saturday when LP and I were looking after my cousin's two kids. The eldest is three days older than my eldest and the youngest is a year younger than my youngest. We didn't get their carseats from my cousin and we wanted to go to Kites Over Collingwood. LP loaded up our two in the bike trailer and took off down the lane. I collected the last few things we needed and buckled my cousin's kids into the van and started driving. LP and I arrived at Collingwood Park at nearly the exact same time. I measured the ride on Google Earth once and it's about 4.5 km. All four children had a good time with the kites that they decorated. The bouncy castle and squishees were also a big hit with all the young ones.

On Sunday, LP and I took the girls over to see their grandma for dinner. It was a perfect evening for cycling and, after doing a little yardwork, we got home just as the sun was setting. We had the turtle lights flashing on the trailer, just in case.

There was a bonus active transportation activity today. LP came downtown with the girls this afternoon. I'm told they went to City Hall and played in the fountains. They then came for a visit at my work. We took the bike route on 102 Ave home and were able to cover the 8.9 km in half an hour. Biking and pulling the trailer with two little dozing girls is truly a wonderful way to commute home.

A summer of exploration

LP and I are very happy with the location of our new house. We have been able to enjoy a number of activities around the city without relying on our car.

Foremost is our proximity to the school grounds. LP often took the girls to play in the park during the summer. She met a few other mothers and some of Julie's future classmates. Julie starts preschool in a week and we're planning on sending both girls to the school for its Chinese program. They'll have a short walk and will be able to enjoy hot lunches at home.

The first activity to which we enjoyed walking was swimming. The local pool offers an hour of free swimming each week to community league members. We're close enough that even Shannon could walk there before she turned two. LP has also walked to the local grocery store with the girls when she just needd a few items.

LP used her bike and trailer to take the girls to the library and new splash park a number of times this summer. After taking a route across the Whitemud and 170 St which wasn't very friendly for family cycling, we were able to plot a much quieter route on Google Maps. She can now get to the splash park in under 20 minutes along bike paths and residential streets.

We also travelled to three big events this summer by bike. In July, I pulled the girls in the trailer downtown to watch the Capital Ex parade. It's about 9 km to downtown along the river valley trails. LP pulled the girls home in an hour since I had to be at work. In August, we biked to Heritage Days at Hawrelak Park. Three weeks later, we again biked to Old Strathcona and the Fringe Festival. The kids' section of the festival seemed to get off to a slow start on its last day but the commute was enjoyable and the girls both napped for 40 minutes during the ride home. I guess my riding style just isn't exciting enough.

Thinking about thinking

Here's my attempt to try and start writing again. Now that I've completed my Masters of GIS, I've had to do much, much, much less writing. Issues of urban mobility are still on my mind and I'm planning on sharing some of my experiences. I now live in a more walkable neighbourhood and I'm enjoying not needing the car to do everything. I hope to post about the enjoyable walks I've had taking the kids to the pool and getting groceries. My wife's been pulling the bike trailer to libraries and splash parks all summer. We also opted to take the bikes for our family trips to Heritage Days and the Fringe Festival. I hope I'll also have a post or two about a new LRT line which is supposed to pass close to my home. It's still a long way away but I'm looking forward to it.

Plus, I'll soon have some stories about suffering at the back of the pack in cyclocross races.

Child Labour

The most disturbing thing I have personally experienced while on field school is occuring right here in Cambodia. The children of Siem Reap are being exploited by their parents to work as hawkers around the temple complexes like Angkor Wat. Our tour guide, a Cambodian born in Siem Reap who resisted his own father's attempts to have him drop out of school to become a fisherman or help with the rice crop, has instructed us not to buy from the children. I don't know how much it costs to send a child to school in Cambodia, but the parents feel it's a better investment in their child's future to have them sell beaded bracelets and cheap fans to tourists. I'm not saying Cambodia is bad and the West is perfect, mind you. Child exploitation is probably occuring in nearly every country in the world. By not buying from the children, the hope is their lack of production will make the parents give up the exploitation and send their child to school. I've seen enough adult hawkers at the sites to believe the family wouldn't lose much money by not using the children. If someone has the counter-argument as to why these children should be chasing tourists around, I would like to hear it. The only benefit I can see if that very young children learn how to count three American dollars and enough English to pester foreigners. It's hard to ignore and turn away these small children but I think it's for their own good. I did help one little boy today though by doing a bit more than just ignoring him. He was chasing my group around, trying to sell fans even though he looked to be about the same age as my eldest daughter. He had a runny nose so I got out a tissue and helped him blow his nose. I have troubles even thinking of sending off my eldest daughter to hassle tourists like his parents have done to him. I don't think I could ever be poor enough to consider it.