Going the distance

I logged quite a bit of distance on my GPS in 2012. I had good intentions of doing a lot more riding with my club but family commitments and general laziness limited those rides. I started off well with a group ride on 31 March but I didn't keep it going. I finished with just one group ride over 100 km but also had one of 96 km and 99.94 km. I wish I had had a lot more that long or longer. In 2013, I really want to do a few Grand Fondos with Rich.

Commuting was my main mode of riding this year. There was little snow early in 2012 so I was able to cover over 500 km in the first two months. That's not bad for a commute of just 8 km each way. I was able to stay ahead of last year's pace for commuting and even kept things going during the very snowy November and December. I don't care about the cold but it's the snow and ice and really slow me down.

I wonder how many extra km I could have had since I don't wait around to get satellites at the start of a commute and I turn my GPS off a certain distance from home. I roughly estimate I have around 400 commute files so I'm 40 km short for every 100 m I didn't record on each commute. My total commuting distance was 3045 km, up about 250 km from 2011. I only had 646 km of training on my bike, up 370 km from 2011. My racing distance was almost exactly the same: 98 km in 2012 and 97 km in 2011. There was a huge difference in how I did that distance as I did fewer cyclocross races this year but one was an endurance event. A normal cyclocross race is a little over 10 km for me but I did 37 km at the endurance event. I also did some recreational riding which means pulling my girls around in the bike trailer.

In the end, I recorded 3855 km on my GPS. I classified 3836 km as cycling, 10 km as cross country skiing, 8 km as hiking, and 1 km as skating. I spent over 177 hours riding my bike. I could match my 2012 cycling distance by jumping on my bike and going to San Diego.

My goals for 2013 are to do a little more of everything. 3000 km of commuting is pretty good but exceeding 1000 km of riding with my club should easily be doable. Grand Fondos average around 150 km so a few of those would help and they'd break my current single ride maximum of 130 km. I'm considering doing the 31 km Birkie if I get a lot more skiing in and, if I can make my speed skates more comfortable, I should be able to beat the single kilometre I did in 2012. I also hope to motivate my friends to do a backpacking trip or two so I could even have a better year hiking.

Puncheur Cross

The Puncheur Cross took place on Sunday and was my worst outing of the season so far. The course was a long one taking place in the mountain bike skills park in Devon. I liked the section on the river bank and the run up the stairs but it was not your typical cyclocross course. There were some short, steep, awkward climbs and quite a bit of bumpy, wood chip trails. I ended up crashing in the sand pit early on my first lap. My rear shifter got clogged with sand and I wasn't able to get out of my lowest gear. Racing on a course I didn't enjoy and stuck in my lowest gear meant I dropped out after just one lap.

I covered 2.6 km in 11:34 with an average speed of 13.5 km/h and a maximum of 24.6 km/h. My average heart rate was 147 bpm with a maximum of 158 bpm. I crashed before my heart rate had really ramped up and I coasted from there.

In even worse news, I lost my head-to-head season series to Rich, 2-0. I think I could have beaten him at this race, especially since he fell, was run over by the race leader and had his rear wheel knocked loose. That's definitely what I call getting lapped in dramatic fashion.

Lion's Den Cross

I was back out on the 'cross bike today at United Cycle's Lion's Den Cross. The weather was completely different to my last race as it snowed early in the morning. My new wheels had arrived earlier in the week and I was watching the weather as I thought about which tires I would use on them. A Facebook posting claiming that the hill would be taken out if it was wet made me decide on my Michelin Mud 2s. Well, the Mud 2 isn't a true mud tire and the hill was left in the course, despite how wet it was.

The Sport race was actually the second one as they decided to schedule the Experts first. When my race started, the Experts had cleared the racing line but there was still snow on the course. The sun came out before my race started and all the snow would be gone by the end. The mud would definitely not be dried by the end.

This year's race was run in the opposite direction of the previous few years. This meant the spiral came early in the lap and I had to climb the steep side of the hill. On the first lap, the spiral backed the field up quite a bit as the switch from a right turn to left was quite tight this year. For the hill, I was glad for the spikes in my shoes so I could run up. On my third lap, I tried to climb it on my bike but I couldn't recover from a rear wheel slip about 3/4 of the way up. For the descents, I ran down the first little bit and mounted my bike on a little flat area. Most riders around me did the same thing. The whole way down was very, very slippery. The whole course was quite slippery and I lost count of the number of little slips and skids I had. Luckily, I didn't have any crashes.

I completed five laps in 42:21 for 10.1 km. The course was quite twisty and it seems my GPS might have missed about 400 m. I had an average speed of just 14.3 km/h with a maximum of 28.1 km/h. My average speed definitely took a hit from all the running up and down hills. I had an average heart rate of 152 bpm and a maximum of 187 bpm. The average is actually a little low as my GPS didn't record correctly for the first lap. My last four laps averaged 164 bpm each lap. I think I rode a little too relaxed and could definitely have had a higher heart rate. I sat behind one or two slower riders for much of the first lap and gave riders a lot of room to lap me on my last lap so I was giving up time in both of those situations. The only person I was really racing dropped out early on the third lap with a mechanical problem so I was on my own for most of my race.

The only other things to mention was that the new wheels felt very nice. It's a bit difficult to compare them with my old ones after one race, especially since I also changed my tires and this was my first wet race of the year. Also, it was good Marg wasn't around. Today's barriers seemed really high and I've had a few talks over the years about barrier heights with Marg. I agree that those of us with short legs are unfairly punished on really high barriers.

Red Cross

Today's race was the Red Cross. It was nearly the same as yesterday's course but run in reverse. This direction actually flowed a little better and I enjoyed it more. I also ate a little better in the morning and was feeling good for the start of the race. The pack seemed smaller today and strung out fairly quickly so there wasn't as much chaos in the first few corners. That being said, one Redbike rider decided to dismount for the difficult downhill hairpin and, when two riders in front of me had difficulty with the corner, he still wanted to push past us all and I got a good whack from his bike as he carried it by me. It didn't gain him much of an advantage and he slowed considerably toward the end of his second lap at which point I was able to make an easy pass.

Unfortunately, the end of my second lap was also the end of my race. The tough little hills cause tightness in my back and I was also experiencing a lot of pain in my left hip and leg.

I completed just 5 km in 21 minutes for an average speed of 14.4 km/h and a maximum of 24.7 km/h. My two laps were consistent at 10:22 and 10:28 plus a little lead up at the beginning. I averaged just 165 bpm with a maximum of 178 bpm. That's a little low but the first lap usually appears low as it takes a minute or two to get my heart rate up on the start.

Jim Horner GP

Today was the Jim Horner cyclocross race. It was your typical Alberta 'cross race where the designer found a hill, in this case the termination of Mill Creek Ravine, and made the riders to go up and down as many times as possible. The designer was also in love with hairpin turns, some of which were situated on the sides of the hills to add extra toughness. While I'm normally better at short, sprinter's climbs than those typically around me during a race, I counted nine climbs of various lengths around the course. As you can see from my GPS data, it was a very stop/start kind of race for me due to the hairpins and climbs. My forearms were actually very sore in the afternoon due to all the hard braking which was required around the course.

I have to say I really didn't like the course during the pre-ride but, during the first two laps, I was able to make some of the first half of the course flow a little better so I enjoyed things a little more at that point. As usual, the first technical section became a gong show at the back of the pack as some riders ahead of me fell on one of the few open corners, which was also on a sidehill. Someone broke the tape at that point and a few riders went outside one pole, avoiding both the crashes and the lowest part of the corner. The crashes bunched a number of riders back up so the next two hairpins were also very slow. The only other bit of interest to my race was the longest steep climb on the course. It was on a narrow trail surrounded by high grass. On my first two laps, I was behind the same rider who dismounted and ran up. I feel I could have run up faster than him but I didn't feel like getting off the trail so I was actually able to catch my breath a little. I had no one in front of me on my third lap so I decided to ride the hill. I was able to do it but I almost stalled at the top. I'm considering either a smaller chainring up front or a larger cog on my cassette as these short, steep climbs seem very typical in my races and a slightly easier gear would help.

I ended up doing four laps, for 10.1 km, in 44:46. That put my average speed at one of my slowest for a cyclocross race at just 13.5 km/h with a maximum of 25.3 km/h. There was a little run-up to the start and then my lap times were 10:42, 10:55, 11:24, and 11:25. I really felt fatigued after my second lap and really wanted to be pulled because I was a lap down after just three laps but, at that point, I was still on the lead lap. I averaged 171 bpm with a maximum of 180 bpm so I was on the limit of my anaerobic threshold pretty much the whole race. All the short climbs mean there's never a choice of how to pace yourself through the race.

I have an equipment update. Once again, I really felt like my rear wheel has lots of internal friction. It seems that even my old commuter rolls better than my cyclocross bike. So, on the advice of a teammate, I was back on the Williams Cycling website and saw that they do have some alloy clincher 'cross wheels. I have a pair on order and I really hope they're here before the Lion's Den 'Cross on 20 Oct. At this point, I'm leaning towards switching my cassette over to the new wheels and continuing not to have a second set of wheels in the pit.

Tuesday Cross 3

Tuesday night's cyclocross race featured a course which, I think, should suit me a little better. It was very flat with lots of difficult turns. Some turns got a little easier as the night wore on as leaves were cleared from the racing line. I'm not a good climber and I tend to go through corners faster than those around me so it should have been a good race for me.

After last week's fiasco through the first few turns, I had considered trying to be in front for the first corner but this course had a few gentle corners before the sharper turns. I did move up after the start but I was still stuck behind some riders who were slow through the corners. Lots of corners with short straights meant it was difficult to get past riders. I really tried to sprint out of corners when I thought I could overtake someone in front of me who was a little slower. Single barriers in two different spots helped me quite a bit. I'm normally faster than those around me when it comes to getting off and on my bike and I received some pointers from Aaron Schoolar the night before.

My lap times turned out to be very different from my expectation. Traffic usually slows down my first lap and my second lap was affected by pulling off to the side right in front of one of the most difficult corners to let the leaders of the A group go through. It ended up costing me quite a bit as two or three riders in my group had just been passed and I couldn't jump back on the track right in front so I lost a few positions. In retrospect, I shouldn't be such a nice guy. I actually pulled off to the side again on that second lap. I think I was pushing the limit of low air pressure in my tires and my rear actually felt like it was going flat. It seemed okay when I stopped so I ended up completing the race. The stops were fast enough that my GPS didn't end up recording any rest time. I thought I might have been pushing a little too hard for my fitness level on the first two laps but, if I did end up backing off, I must have picked up speed through the corners as my third and fourth laps were, by far, my fastest. My heart rate was about the same for all four laps so there isn't much proof that I backed off.

In total, I covered 7.2 km in 24:49 for an average speed of 17.4 km/h and a maximum of 30.2 km/h. The maximum came right at the finish line as I thought I had someone right behind me through the last corner and I didn't want to give up one more position at the end. I had an average heart rate of 168 bpm with a maximum of 179 bpm. My lap times were 6:15, 6:24, 6:07, and 6:02.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with my current cyclocross bike. I have a feeling that there's something wrong with my rear hub and it feels like it has some internal resistance. It's not an obvious problem but something that I feel is there. I'd also really like a new bike, as mine is nearly 8 years old, and I'd really like to get a new one with disk brakes. My club's bike shop doesn't have any bikes with disk brakes in stock and I don't know when they might get any. I have a friend who tweets about her great wheel sponsor but they're out of stock until 22 Oct and my season ends 11 Nov. Plus, new wheels doesn't get me a new bike with disk brakes.

Tuesday Night 'Cross 2

I did my first Tuesday Night 'Cross race today. I missed last week for some meet the teacher time. I liked the course though I found there were long, non-technical sections where I needed better fitness. There were two good sections of turns, one on the side of a hill and one while cruising down a slight downhill.

I covered 7.32 km in 27:24 for an average speed of 16 km and a maximum of 33.4 km/h. I averaged 166 bpm with a maximum of 178 bpm so I was pushing fairly hard, for me. My heart rate was a little low on the first lap because I started towards the back and the turns on the sidehill slowed down the group severely. I tried a few aggressive passes but I would get halfway beside the rider in front of me but then I would get cut off and have to get back in line. It took nearly a lap for me to get to my pace without someone going slower than me through the corners. My lap times were 7:15, 6:34, 6:42, and 6:53. My average heart rate was over 10 bpm lower on the first lap, at 157 bpm, than my other three laps which were 168 - 170 bpm. I'm thinking about starting at the front next week so I can get through the first corners at a good pace and let everyone else worry about passing me.

Hop 'n' Hurl cyclocross

Hardcore Bike hosted the Hop 'n' Hurl cyclocross race on Sunday. The course was quite a bit different than most 'cross courses with lots of pavement stretches and some single-track. There were a few corners with roots which I just couldn't get right. Still, it was a challenging course and it was good to be out racing.

I covered 10.3 km in 40:27 with one fall. I averaged 15.3 km/h with a maximum speed of 28.9 km/h. My heart rate averaged 162 bpm with a maximum of 177 bpm so I probably could have pushed a little harder throughout the race. I put in four consistent laps of about 6:40 but my lap times fell off at the end to 6:50 and 7:03 though my average heart rate was consistent over all of the laps.

School of Cross

The first true cyclocross race took place today with my own club hosting the School of Cross race. Last weekend was an enduro-cross race but I'm not counting it. In the past, I haven't liked the School of Cross course because the school grounds where it's held drop away into a ravine. This usually means long grass, very bumpy trails, and up and down a steep hill too many times. However, this year the ravine section seemed to flow better and it was a more enjoyable course for me.

I've felt my best during races where I slurped down a Clif shot a little before the start. I was eating them last week during my race and felt good and I had one left so I ate it about 20 minutes before my race started. If any of the three people who read this know where I can get Clif shots by the box, please let me know. Anyway, I was a bit surprised to feel pretty good throughout the race. My heart rate did spike each lap as I came out of the valley which meant not pushing hard on the easiest section of the course but the urge to cut the fun a lap or two short never came. It might have helped that I had two teammates nearby for the opening. I lost track of Wes behind me late in the first lap and had Bruce right behind me going into the barriers for the second time but I could hear he had some trouble on them and I noticed a good gap on him the rest of the way. After the finish, I saw that Wes dirtied both of his knees during the race and Bruce said he had problems on two occasions. I don't know Wes very well but I know Bruce is a good Cat 4 racer. He's much stronger than I am on the road but it was only his second 'cross race so it must have been my experience and maybe a little better off-road bike-handling skills that kept me in front of him.

I completed four laps in 35:39 and was one lap behind the leaders. I covered 9.2 km at an average of 15.5 km/h and a maximum of 26.1 km/h. I averaged 170 bpm, which is just two bpm below my anaerobic threshold, and had a maximum of 183 bpm. There was a 30 second run up to the start/finish line and I had laps of 8:40, 8:38, 8:54, and 8:57. I thought the first lap was slow, due to all the traffic on the first lap. I then thought I picked it up for the second lap but this doesn't appear to be the case. I was expecting my body to start telling me to stop so I backed off a little on the third lap, thinking I would have two more to do. I was a little surprised to see two laps to go as I started my fourth lap and I expected to be passed soon by the leaders so I knew I'd probably just have one lap left to do. I was pretty set in my position so I just did enough so no one would catch me.

Kettle 'Cross

The cyclocross season started with a different format on Sunday. For the first time in Alberta, an endurance cyclocross race took place; the Kettle Cross Enduro. The course was a 37 km loop in Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area. While most racers would do the Full Kettle, a two lap, 74 km race, I decided to do the Half Kettle. I did a lap of the course with four ERTC teammates about a month prior to the race and 37 km of bumps seemed like it would be enough for me. There was also a 15 km Tea Cup option.

The race began with all of the about 170 riders starting together with a one kilometre neutral start. I seeded myself towards the back of the starting pack and a few riders moved past me during the neutral start. I had made a tactical error before the race by taking my bathroom break too early before the start. When it came time to stage for the start, it was too late to go again. At about 10.5 km into the race, I was relieved to see, and use, an outhouse.

I knew the race was going to be, for me, about two hours of tough riding. I could tell I wasn’t into the race mentally right from the start as I was content to either sit behind slower riders or not try and push a little to stay with some slightly faster riders. I should have used the beginning to get a little ahead of pace instead of trying to save something for the end.

From my pre-ride, I knew that the bumpiness of the course would take its toll on my body. My triceps and shoulders became sore towards the end of the race but it was my back that was a major problem. Even though the entire course has a variation in elevation of just 45 m, my GPS recorded 200 m of climbing. I wouldn’t say there were any flat sections. I was always climbing or descending. With no flat sections and the constant bumps, I just couldn’t relax my back and was quite sore from about 10 km on. This meant I was constantly trying to stretch and relax on all the downhills so I didn’t carry speed into the next little climb and I also couldn’t attack the climbs too well.

I didn’t have any issues with the course itself. At my slow speed, I wasn’t surprised by any of the few tight corners and I bunny-hopped two of the bigger ruts across the course. I did have one rider crash nearly right in front of me when her front wheel slipped out.

According to my GPS, I covered 36.4 km in 2:01:51 though my official time was 2:09:07. I spent a few minutes in the outhouse and I had four or five minutes at the side of the course lending out my tire levels to someone else who had a flat. I noticed quite a few mechanicals, including a few who had some long walks to either the start or somewhere that they could get a ride to the start. I averaged just 17.9 km/h and had an average heartrate of 167 bpm with a maximum of 181 bpm. I expected my heartrate to be lower as I really felt I could have pushed harder over the last half of the race if my back wasn’t bothering me so much. I also was on my own and, when you don’t have people around to race, it’s easy to lose mental focus and start to coast.

2011

I set a personal record in 2011! I logged 3240 km on the bike with my GPS. That beats my previous best of 3138 km in 2009. The most striking difference is the amount of climbing I did those two years. Last year I did just ten vertical kilometres of climbing while I did over 25 km in 2009. The main reason for all my riding was commuting. I rode most of the winter months which I didn't do in previous years. In total I commuted for nearly 2800 km. I didn't race very much in 2011 which is why I only logged 277 km of training and 95 km of racing, all of that cyclocross. My highs in training and racing were 290 km and 459 km, both in 2009. The final 68 km I classified as recreation and that mostly consisted of pulling my girls around in the bike trailer. Other than commuting, those are some pretty bad numbers for someone who likes to race bikes.

In 2012, I think I can set another personal best in total distance. I'm just one week into January and I'm already near last January's total will lots of more good cycling weather in the forecast. I'm planning on commuting a lot more for the rest of the Winter and into Spring. I didn't do much in January, February or March last year. It should be easy to beat 277 km of training. Thursday hills are about 35 km for me and a weekend ride is easily over 60 km; 80 km if I start from home. I'll have to see about racing but I would like to at least do cyclocross again in the Autumn.

Provincial Masters 30-39 cyclocross

The provincial cyclocross races were held in Devon on Saturday. I made a strategic mistake on Wednesday when I decided to follow my race licence and register in my proper age category. Not wise for someone who finishes at the back of the slowest category to suddenly decide to race some of the fast guys in the higher category just because they have a similar age. We also had a small field of just 15 or so racers so there were very few other silly old men at the back of the pack with me. And by very few, I mean none. Well, I did pass Tim but he had wiped out on the gravel on the start of the first lap. It didn't take long for him to get back past me. I would find out later that he only completed one lap before dropping out since he bent his derailleur hanger. So, technically I wasn't last because there was one DNF but I'm pretty sure I was the only one who finished a lap down. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable race. It was a fun course with one climb which got a little steep at the end. The downhill was a little bumpy and had a sharp left turn at the bottom so I couldn't go down too fast. It took me until the last lap to finally ride through the sand pit by the playground. I had a little crash on my second-last lap as I went through the sand coming out of the forest trail. I quite enjoyed going through The Agitator except I see it really messed up my GPS. I'm missing about 800 m of the race since I did six laps and my longest lap is 2.55 km but my total is just 14.63 km and there was an extra 100 m or so from the start to the start line. The only part of the course I didn't really enjoy was the north end before coming back to The Agitator. There were no interesting turns and a few bumps on the racing line which I could never seem to avoid. I hit one in particular quite hard on a number of laps and was jolted by my saddle each time. I ended up with a bruised tailbone after the race and I think it's from some bumps in the north end of the course though it might have been from my adventures in the sand pits. It's been quite sore for a day and I think it'll take a few more before it completely goes away. In total, my GPS recorded 14.63 km of racing in 51:29 for an average speed of 17 km/h though I think it should be 15.4 km and an average of 17.9 km/h. My lap times were 8:06, 8:17, 8:26, 8:46, 8:58 and 8:47 plus the little run-up to the start. My average heart rate was 168 bpm and I had a maximum of 184 bpm. This was my last bike race of the year and the golf clubs are in storage too. I'm now waiting for it to get cold and start snowing so I can switch to skiing and skating. Since I don't ski that much, I'd prefer the snow to wait a little since I only need about 25 more commutes to work to break 3000 km for the year.

Tuesday night cyclocross #6

The last Tuesday night cyclocross turned out to be the most fun one for me. I decided to run a much higher tire pressure since I was having issues with my tires on grass at the 35-40 psi I was at in my previous six races. The grass was firm so I decided to pump them all the way up to 60 psi and they felt great. It seemed I had more grip in the corners and on the many off-cambre sections. I also enjoyed the course which, though lacking in technical turns, had a number of good, sweeping turns and the first barrier placed parallel along the slope of the hill that I've ever experienced. It turned out to be a great challenge to many as most cyclists dismount on the left side of their bike and that was the downhill side. For 'cross dismounts, I usually swing my right leg off the bike and coast with my left foot on the pedal so I had no troubles with this barrier. I did see a few racers crash through the barrier and I was able to make up a lot of time on the racers around me every time we went over it. During the race, I was always fighting for position with a number of other racers around me. While starting my last lap, I think I heard Corey yelling at me to chase down a rider a little ways in front of me. I had noticed on the previous laps that he had difficulties in the corners, relative to me, and was quite slow over the barrier. I caught him on the first few corners and made an easy pass over the barrier. I didn't, however, ride hard enough after getting back on my bike and he caught and passed me on the gradual uphill leading to the second barrier. I lost a little more ground on the dip section as I rode the wrong line in order to let someone from one of the higher categories through. I tried to keep the gap with the rider ahead during the straighter sections of the course and I closed some of the gap while going through the two sets of corners. By the final set of corners, I was right on the rider's back wheel. Despite not being in a big enough gear and not being able to change gears because I took the really bumpy line to the finish, I was able to get ahead by a wheel in the sprint for well back in the pack. I ended up 14th out of 19 racers. I finished the 6.3 km course in 21 minutes with lap times of 5:10, 5:13, 5:15 and 5:09 plus the run up at the start. A negative split of just six seconds on my last lap probably shows that I was mostly waiting for the final sprint finish instead of really picking up the pace on the final lap. I had an average speed of 17.6 km/h with a maximum of 30.7 km/h. My average heart rate was 166 bpm with a maximum of 179 bpm.

Red Cross

Sunday was the Red Cross cyclocross race. The course was the same as the previous day except run in reverse. This made the course a little faster than the day before but some of the descents became a bit trickier. I liked the course run this way a bit better though I rode the wrong line in two of the downhill hairpins which made those corners much more difficult than they needed to be. It wasn't until I was lapped on my fourth lap that I saw the better line that the leaders were using. My day started out better as I remembered to bring my GPS. This luck didn't last long as I crashed on a little downhill chicane about halfway through the first lap. I had noticed it was a little slippery going up the day before and, with the awkward, off-cambre exit, was even more treacherous going downhill. My front tire slid out from under me as I was going through the chicane and I ended up on my side with some grass stuffed up the leg of my shorts. My chain also came off in the crash and I tried, unsuccessfully, to turn the cranks and have it catch and put itself back on. This is much easier to do on the road when you're not on the side of a grassy ravine. I tried twice and the chain jammed each time. I had to relent and use my hand to put my chain back on. By that point, I was way off the back. Before the end of the lap, I was able to catch and pass the rider I lapped the day before but I had pretty much lost interest in the race as I was alone for the rest of it. I still rode the corners fairly tight and have a good scrap on my right arm from a brush with a wooden picket. I think a few of the riders I was with at the back of the pack during the Jim Horner GP decided to get a head start on their turkey on Sunday. My GPS data shows I lost a lot of time with my crash and chain issues. The first lap can be a little slow for riders at the back since there's lots of slowing down to get through the bottlenecks until the field gets strung out. My first lap had a moving time of 7:43 while it had a duration of 8:03. Twenty seconds of not moving seems like a lot and that doesn't include the going slow with my chain off. All my lap times were 8:03, 7:16, 7:30, 7:36, 7:41 and 7:41. My total moving time was 45:27 and I covered about 12.6 km for an average speed of 16.6 km/h with a maximum of 27.7 km/h. My heart rate averaged 167 bpm with a maximum of 177 bpm.

Jim Horner Grand Prix

Today was the Jim Horner GP cyclocross race down at the Argyll Velodrome. You'll have to take my word on that 'cause I forgot my GPS at home. I get a lot of enjoyment out of logging data while I'm riding and it felt a little odd to look down and not see my GPS on my bars. I think it's the first time in six years I haven't recorded a ride. The course made good use of the small ravine near the velodrome as the riders had to cross the ravine three times during the race and all the significant twists and turns were located along the ravine's edges. As per usual, I spent my race at the back of the field though I actually lapped one rider. I was close to three other riders for the opening few laps but my stamina is limited and they started to pull away after the halfway point of the race. While I was with them I noticed my usual catching up on the corners and falling back on the straights. I really need to get some power and stamina back in my legs. I should really spend some time at the gym and on the trainer this offseason. Before the race, I was talking with fellow ERTCers Marg and Greg. We got on to the usual topic before a race of tire pressures. Greg and I were both running about 40 psi, which he considered a little hard but good for the course and I consider to be about as soft as I'm willing to go. The difference in attitude probably comes down to our body weight. If I remember correctly, Greg is a little shorter than me but much leaner and has a slighter build. He remarked that he's just under 60 kg. At 40 psi, he only has a total of just over three square inches of tire in contact with the ground. Even in high school when I was relatively fit, I was still heavy for my size. I'm currently quite fat so I outweigh Greg by over 25 kg. I once got a rough estimate of my lean body weight and, if it is still the same today, at 0% body fat, I would be 7 kg heavier than Greg's current weight. My weight means I had nearly five square inches of tire in contact with the ground during today's race. That's not actually a bad thing during a cyclocross race as the tire tends to spread out and float on top of grass instead of trying to sink in and leave deep tracks. Greg and I also chatted after the race about trying to brake less through corners. Cycling is all about momentum and I wonder if that's yet more incentive to lose the 12 kg I should lose. In theory, I could go through corners much faster with the same centrifugal force because of my reduced mass. In today's race I covered an unknown number of kilometres in something over 40 minutes. My lap times may have been consistent but might have dropped off in the end. I felt I worked hard the whole time but I cannot quantify that with numbers on my heart rate.

Tuesday night cyclocross #5

This Tuesday's race should have been my kind of course. It was mostly flat with a good number of turns. After being okay for the School of Cross and last Tuesday's race but feeling slippery during the Hop 'n' Hurl, my new Michelin Mud 2 tires should have been in their element on the wet grass. I wasn't able to take advantage because my race started after the Sun had officially set and ended right around the end of civil twilight. It probably seemed even darker due to the heavy overcast skies. With my extremely poor night vision, that meant I couldn't go too fast and I was often left guessing as to where the course went. Luckily, I wore my contact lenses because my glasses were fogging up on the second lap and I had to take them off as they were making my limited vision even worse. I had the clear lenses in and left them on at the start in case I took a tree branch in the face; a real possibility with all the turns around trees. On my second lap, I was having so much trouble seeing that I entered one corner way too fast. I wasn't able to make my bike turn on the wet grass at that speed so I had to slow way down then lock up my back tire so I could slide it around to get lined up for the exit of the corner. A few turns later I completely left the course, taking another rider who was following me for a little circle so we could rejoin the race. By my third lap, I was starting to be passed by the lead A riders and I had given up trying to ride very hard. I stayed in just to get a little bit of extra exercise. My lap times were 4:37, 4:53, 4:51 and 5:07 with my second lap including a few seconds of riding in a small circle trying to get back on course. I averaged 18.3 km/h with a maximum speed of 27.3 km/h over the 6 km course. My average heart rate was 161 bpm with a maximum of 172 bpm. For comparison, my average heart rate during the School of Cross was two beat per minute above my maximum heart rate on Tuesday. Next Tuesday the start time will be moved up 30 minutes so my race should start before the official sunset. I might ride with my headlamp just in case.

Tuesday night cyclocross #4

After the problems I had on the weekend, things seemed back to normal at Tuesday's cyclocross race. I really enjoyed the course as it had a few good turns and the downhill section was fun. The quick downhill was a little intimidating during my warm-up lap but it was really no problem at all. I would have enjoyed a few more turns on the course but the long straight was slightly downhill so it went quickly. I felt good for the whole race and was able to push myself without extended run-ups on hills really pushing my heart rate too high. There is a noticeable dip in my heart rate on the first lap as I decided to draft another rider along the long straight, which I thought was into the wind. The wind turned out not to be that strong as did the rider in front of me. My heart rate starts to climb again as soon as I decided to make my pass. Official results were not available but I finished about where I usually finish in these races with just a small number of riders behind me. If you're interested to see just was cyclocross is like, check out these helmet-cam videos. I haven't seen myself being passed yet. I kept up my even lap times with laps of 7:00, 7:01, 7:08 and 7:05 plus the run to the start. I did 8.4 km in 28:35 for an average speed of 17.7 km/h and a maximum speed of 30.1 km/h. I had an average heart rate of 167 bpm with a maximum of 180 bpm. The night did end poorly as one rider collapsed after finishing. His status can probably best be monitored over at the race blog.

So long, suckers!

Today was Free Admission Day at some of the city's attractions. After my race and a nap, I pulled my girls in the bike trailer down to Fort Edmonton Park. The great thing about taking our bikes was that we got to pass all the cars idling in a one kilometre queue waiting to get into the parking lot. I had wondered if we'd make it to the park since I didn't know if the sidewalk on the Quesnell bridge had been opened yet. Naturally, the bridge was kept open to traffic and the road was completed a few weeks ago but the sidewalk must have just opened this week after being closed for about three years. The alternatives for pedestrians and cyclists was a long detour to the foot bridge between the Laurier dog park and Hawrelak Park or the shuttle. The shuttle has now been cancelled since the bridge's sidewalk has reopened. We used to watch the shuttle bus pass right in front of Mom's house; usually with no one on it. The City's website states that access to Fort Edmonton Park would not be affected by the bridge work. The City must only mean vehicle access as the sidewalk and path to Fort Edmonton Park were obstructed with dirt, gravel and trailers being used for the bridge work. Still, my wife and I were able to ride past all the cars just trying to get to the parking lot. We locked our bikes at the racks right outside the front entrance.

Flopped but didn't hurl

Sunday was Hardcore's Hop 'N' Hurl cyclocross race. It was run in the opposite direction of the School Of Cross race with just a few small modifications in the ravine. I was able to ride a few more parts of the ravine section but there were still six dismounts per lap. I felt better about the course and the race than I had the previous day but that came to an end on the first steep descent into the ravine. I twisted my front wheel about half way down the hill and went right over the handlebars. I got my only revenge against the course by going right through one of the stakes and breaking it. I continued on with grass in my right shifter and tucked between my front tire and rim. I was very surprised that my front tire wasn't a potato chip after twisting it in that rut on a downhill. I didn't really inspect my bike, or myself, before jumping back in the race but I could tell after a while that the rear wheel wasn't 100% and my lower body number was hanging on with just one pin. After the race, I noticed that I'll have to spend a little time aligning my rear wheel before Tuesday's race. Two of the three pins that ripped were still in my jersey. I picked up another DNF after three laps. In retrospect, I should have continued on in both races as they would have totalled about an extra 40 minutes of good training. After my fall, I was running second-last and starting to lose contact with the guy just in front of me. My lap times were more consistant at 9:14, 9:26 and 9:57. I had an average heart rate of 171 bpm with a maximum of 183. I was indeed trying as hard as I could but I don't go very fast for that kind of effort.

Schooled at 'cross

Saturday was the ERTC's School of Cross cyclocross race. I knew it'd be much tougher than the Tuesday races as I'd have to keep my effort up for twice as long. That turned out to not be quite true as I DNFed. This course was like two different courses in one and neither one suited me very well. Half of the lap was spent close to the school with some tight turns mixed in with lots of long straights. The ravine section was mostly steep climbs and steep descents. Over the course of a lap, I had to get off my bike six times. I might replace my small chainring with something even smaller for next year as one or two of the hills could have been climbed while on my bike, if I had a few lower gears. I ended up dropping out after just two laps. I was really struggling at the end of my second lap. I can blame it all on my lack of training though I was also fighting a sore throat and cold brought home by my eldest daughter from preschool. I ended up riding for just 20:09 with my second lap being about 50 seconds slower than my first. I averaged 173 bpm with a maximum heart rate of 184.