Cross for Kids

Today was the Cross for Kids at Canada Olympic Park and another disorganized trip to the race for me. As I was about to put my bike on the car rack, I noticed I had another broken spoke. I'm going to get through the final few races of the season and then get a new wheel in the Spring. I spent a few minutes to change the spoke and try to get my wheel close to true. I noticed after the race that the rim might have still been rubbing the brake but there's some dirt that needs to be cleaned off my bike before I do a proper truing job. Anyway, once I got to the race, I also noticed I forgot my water.
The course at COP had to be changed due to the ski hill opening very early this year. As we were racing in amongst the bobsleigh course, skiers were on the main hill and junior lugers were practicing. Unfortunately, the covers were on the corners so you couldn't see the luges go past. The bike course favoured climbers. There were two good stretches on sidewalks that were difficult for me. Technically, there were lots of turns but nothing too difficult. Still, I didn't find a good flow through many of the turns. I did manage to have fairly consistent lap times but, again, I finished one lap behind the winner. I did have some racers around me most of the time. I have decided to be more aggressive with my passes but it was still difficult to pass when the rider I was trying to go around would wander all over the track unpredictably. I passed a few riders in the sand trap.
I completely six laps for 9.6 km in 42:50. I had an average speed of 13.5 km/h and a top speed of 35.6 km/h. There was about 35 m of climbing every lap. I averaged 171 bpm with a maximum of 182 bpm.

Blow Street Cross

Today was the Blow Street Cross in Calgary. I spent almost all my time since the Oval Cross two weeks ago training by doing my university homework and eating cookies. The weather has not been nice for cycling and I haven't bought a trainer or made time to hit the gym at the UofC. I made things better by spending my warm-up time driving home to pick up my race numbers. Still, the weather improved enough for this weekend that most of the snow had melted from the park where today's race was held. The snow and wet grass created some interest to a mostly flat course. My front tire slid quite a few times as I entered chicanes, there was one spot where I couldn't get traction with my rear tire as I tried to get going up a hill after a corner and one corner was quite tough with roots on the entry and in the apex. There were some boring parts due to long straights. If I had some conditioning, it would have been a good course for me 'cause I'm not a good climber unless it's a short, technical climb. After the fun I had at the Oval Cross, I did put the cleats in my shoes but they weren't needed on this course.
I ended up one lap down, completing six laps in 43:31 over a distance of 12.3 km. I averaged 17 km/h with a maximum of 35.9 km/h. My average speed dropped after my first two laps due to my lack of conditioning over the last little while. There was only about 15 m of climbing every lap and the stretches through the trees interfered with my GPS a bit. I don't know how dependable my heart rate info was but I averaged 179 bpm with a maximum of 187 bpm so I was definitely trying my best.

Oval 'Cross

Sunday morning saw me back at the university for the Oval 'Cross. It was supposed to be the same course as the previous night but snow and rain made the organizers shorten the course for the Sport race. During my warm-up, most of the hilly, twisty section was unrideable. They put that section back in for the Women's race right after mine and it seemed slightly better for them. There were many spots that I could easily ride the night before but had to try to walk in this race. On the steep descent that was so much fun the night before, I had to ski down on my shoes. A long, off-camber section by the tennis court fence was extremely slippery and I ran it on my second and third laps. In retrospect, I should have tried to ride it because running was really slow due to how slick things were. I also didn't attempt riding the sand pit, which I rode every time the previous evening, because it seemed tougher when wet and throwing the sand in the air really gunked up my bike the one time I rode a short section of it. My pedals were so full of mud and grass I wasn't able to clip in for most of my last three laps.
I ended up completing four laps in 39:26; longer than the night before despite the shortened course. I covered 8.5 km for an average speed of 12.9 km/h and a maximum speed of 31.4 km/h. I had an average heart rate of 164 bpm and a maximum of 177 bpm.

Dark Knight

Saturday night was the Dark Knight cyclocross race at the University of Calgary. It was my first nighttime race though, being in the first group, meant most of my time was spent in the early twilight.
It was an interesting course with two distinct sections: a hilly, twisty section on an embankment by the tennis courts and a more open section near the student residences with two sand pit sections. The forecast had been promising rain and snow all week but it didn't happen before my race. Due to the mayhem of last year, this race had different categories and didn't belong to the official ABA calendar. My group contained 65 riders of a variety of abilities. This meant I always had someone to race and the first trip through the twisty section was slow due to the numbers and some people unable to ride some of the hills. I was able to get more flow in my later laps as things thinned out. The crowds were great and really loud. There was lots of encouragement for anyone, like me, who could ride the sand pit or some of the steeper hills. The most memorable part for me was the steepest descent. As the sky grew darker, the descent and the following corner became bewildering due to the flashing lights and loud music. It was definitely a rare experience for a race.
I ended up one lap down so I completed four laps. It was definitely getting too dark for me to continue as my last lap was 40 seconds slower than each of my second and third laps. I did 9.6 km in 38:45 for an average speed of 14.8 km/h and a maximum of 32.8 km/h. There was about 25 m for climbing each lap. I averaged 169 bpm with a maximum of 187 bpm.

Hop 'n' Hurl

Sunday was the Hop 'n' Hurl cyclocross race at Goldbar park. I was disappointed that the course on the technical guide was not the actual course as I enjoy the trail at the south end of the park. Instead, the course circled the lake and then headed to the north end of the park. The trip around the lake included a short section in sand which could be ridden if you stayed close to the lake where the sand was harder. There were two chicanes that offered some challenges. On one easy climb, the course had three very tight corners and, shortly after that, there was an off-camber chicane which had a high-speed approach. I tended to brake a little going into the last one because I thought my front tire might slip in the grass and send me sliding under the course markings.
The start offered few difficulties until a tight set of corners on the far side of the lake. The whole group was still fairly close together at this point so I almost had to stop while waiting for the bunch to feed through these corners. After that, I picked a few good spots to pick up a place or two but also gave up a few places as I settled into my race. I ended up riding alone and seeing very few people during my last three laps.
My lap times varied between 10:37 and 10:50. I completed all four laps for a total of 13.8 km and finished with a total time of 42:59. My average speed was 19.2 km/h with a maximum of 45.3 km/h. There was about 45 m of climbing on each lap. I didn't work as hard during this race compared to the previous day as I averaged only 162 bpm with a maximum of 178 bpm.
Recently, I've read about time trial pacing and not going out too hard. I followed this approach for my two cyclocross races this weekend and, while I've felt good throughout both races and finished with consistent lap times, it might be better to fight for position earlier in the lap. I'm not fighting for wins but I am losing quite a bit of time waiting for the pack to filter through some of the technical sections. Having someone to chase would also prevent me from falling asleep mid-race once I'm alone and have settled into my position.

School of Cross

Saturday was my first cyclocross race of the season. After some troubles with Bow Cycle while trying to buy a new back wheel and that causing me to miss my first four races, I got a wheel on loan until they find a wheel they can sell me. The course in Edmonton offered two contrasting elements; a mostly flat section in the playground with an overabundance of twists and turns and a short ravine section with a difficult downhill followed shortly by a difficult uphill and then some stairs. The playground contained the barriers, which someone said were much higher than UCI regulations allow, a trip through some deep sand and course markings which were difficult to see. I wasn't the only rider who took a wrong turn or two. Now, after that short list of negatives, it was actually a great race. Kyle was giving great commentary and updates so racers knew what was going on, there was lots of snacks from the Wild Earth Cafe and the playground was still accessible so Julie was content while I raced.
My race got off to an interesting start as a Hardcore rider missed clipping into his pedal and caused a small crash right off the start. It happened right in front of me but I just stopped and waited for the pack to get rolling again. No major technical sections kept the pack moving well until a good order was established. My first lap was my most eventful due to the crash, a small crash of my own just before the stairs and planting my bike in the deep sand instead of picking it up cleanly while I watched a rider in front of me try to carry some speed into the sand. I really enjoyed the hairy descent but never had any troubles with it. I have some mountain bike experience so I knew to use my top brakes and get my bum well behind my seat. In fact, I had my stomach on my seat while going down it. I was able to do the very short but difficult climb on my second and fourth laps. I'm not sure how many riders had to run up that one.
I ended up completing four laps as I was lapped by the top three riders late in my last lap. My lap times were consistant between 9:59 and 10:10. In total, I raced for 40:13 and covered 10.3 km for an average speed of 15.4 km/h and a top speed of 35.1 km/h. There was just over 30 m of climbing each lap. I averaged 173 bpm with a maximum of 186 bpm.

Water sports

I don't like water. It ruins all the sports I enjoy. Cycling and hiking in the rain isn't enjoyable. Baseball games get cancelled. Outdoor speed skating is finished when your rink looks more like a pool. On Friday, water wrecked a good round of golf for me. I'm well aware that water hazards are part of the game and I shouldn't complain if I'm not smart enough to stay away from them but my latest round of golf went from good to worse in a hurry when I stopped avoiding the water.
On the first hole on the Spring nine at Elbow Springs, I was the only one to avoid the water but a three-putt meant a double-bogey. A one-putt then saved a par and I got another par on the third hole. Pulling my drive left and being knocked down by a branch then putting my second shot into a fairway bunker meant another double-bogey. Four holes, four over par. That's a good round for me so far. Then, I started finding the water.
The fifth hole was a par three and I mis-hit a four iron and just barely missed clearing the water on the left. The penalty and second tee shot cost me two strokes. Next, I topped my second shot after a great drive and it rolled a short distance into some reeds just before the water hazard. That's an extra two stokes than if I hadn't topped my second shot. The seventh hole was the same as the fifth. If there's no water I can still chip on and get a bogey. The eighth hole was straight into the setting sun. I cheated by not penalizing myself for a lost ball because no one was able to see any of the drives due to the sun and I was the only one not to find my ball. I got a penalty anyway because I didn't see the water hazard beside the green due to a small hill and staring at the sun. I dropped beside the water and chipped on. The last hole had water on the left side and my drive rolled into it. I was able to bogey the hole even with the penalty.
If there was no water, or if I had just avoided it, I could have saved myself eight strokes. Instead of an average 53 over nine holes, I'd have shot a great 45; bogey golf. I've shot 100 a few times over a full 18 but never broken that so any nine holes under 50 is good on my card. Maybe I'll take a few lessons next year and finally break 100.