Wakey wakey body, eggs and bakey

It is about time I got back to it. I have been working on speed which is short intervals with lots of rest. Last weekend was taking that and putting it into a long ride.

We did the Calgary 70.3 road portion on Saturday. It is beautiful. There are some good hills but it was laid out to avoid most of the killer foothills around Calgary. We watched the Mt Vonteux stage at Jay and Dee's house in the morining then jumped in the truck to head to the Ghost River dam. Shanye is the only one doing the 70.3 but Lisa, Alana, Craig, Myself, and Alana's Sister Barb were keen to try it out. Barb is visiting from France and quite a good triathlete. It was hot and every now and then the occasional show down would happen.

Here is the course:

Course-http://www.mapmytri.com/ride/canada/ab/calgary/741668699102

The legs didn't feel good but it is funny how they will still respond when needed. I recorded a new max heart rate after Craig, Shayne and I did a 3 man break and then sprinted for the last hill. 176bpm-never thought it was possible. All the rest and speed work are allowing me to reach new goals.

Sunday was family day with the in-laws in from France so the workout was done early. Baldy then Prairie View/Chief Hector all at high tempo and/or race pace. It hurt but felt good to be back pushing for some duration. I think it will help wake up the body and, more importantly, get the mind ready for the suffering of another 7 day race.

Back at it this week and we will see how things roll Tuesday.

Mical and Jeff take on the TR

Yep, we are throwing our helmets into the TransRockies Ring.

I have convinced Mical to joining me for another 7 day stage race. We had been talking about doing it next year but we feel this is the year as all things are lining up for us.



We agree the goals will be the same and it will be more great training.

I am excited and leery at the same time. This will be my third stage race this year and it takes a lot out of you. Physically I have to keep up with all the training. Lucky for me I have a die hard training team. Mentally I have to stay focused on the race and work my life around it. At times I find the latter harder to do then the first. A million thoughts go thru my head each day:

-am I hydrated
-am I rested
-when will I work out
-will I be strong enough
-how tired will I feel
-how will I fit work in
-what if I have this cider

It starts to wear on you after a while. I know that I have a base. My goodness, if I don't believe that then I am really missing something. I will be working on speed over the next months to try to challenge some of my competitors. Lots of guys have speed and a good start I will try to get one as well. It can really set you up for a race or allow you to put some pressure on.

It seems a bit counter intuitive to train speed for a stage race but I don't think there is a doubt that I can ride my bike for endurance.

I know that I will have to rest well for the TR as it will be longer in the saddle the BCBR, but not the Cape. The one thing that I am super giddy about is riding another 7 days with Mical. She is such a great partner and friend to have on the trail. I know we will have some fun and I will be holding on for dear life on the fast descents.

My reward after this race?? 5 days at the cottage in Manitoba!!!! No bike, just a lounge chair and my nieces and nephew, and in-laws.




My neice Raelyn and I at the cottage.

Training Partners

After my week off boy did it hurt to get back on the bike and train again. It started Tuesday night at Edworthy hill with my team. We did 6 x 2 min all out efforts. Man was I in trouble. We made it to 3 before someone asked how many we were doing. I could have easily said 4 but as the Coach I had to get in the workout.

That is the best thing about a team or training partners. Once you say it you have to do it. 6 is was. Not a pretty sight to see a bunch of people gasping and wheezing "sprinting" for the orange gate of Hell/Heaven. I don't know which one to call it because it is hell to get to but heavenly because you get to stop at it. We do a staggered start on the hill so that we are all close to each other at the top. It makes for some interest "sprint" finishes.

I fins I push myself when I workout with others. This is not a new thing for anyone I am sure. It has actually been a limiter for me. I like working out on my own and with my schedule find it easier to just go when I can/want. Working out with others brings out the competitor in me and I will push beyond what I think I am capable. I normally push thru these boundaries in races but it is far more beneficial to be doing it in workouts as i get in so many tries in a week. This is new to me this year. I have sat in my basement and done Ed and Cochrane hill by myself for years. This year is a true effort to get out and hammer. Doing hills with Mical, my BCBR partner, early in the year showed that I could go beyond.

So thanks to everyone who comes out and jams with me. I appreciate it.

A week of Hedonism

I am all about sacrifice and reward. Gearing up for a March stage race then getting back and doing the same for a June stage race required a lot of focus and commitment. One of the things that kept me on track was the idea that I would take a week off after BCBR and do NOTHING.

Well that is what I did. I taught core on Monday and practiced team time trial skills with Jay and Alana on Tuesday. That was it. I was working hard on the reno but stopped for tea and a nap some days.

We went to our friends Holly and Colin's wedding on Saturday and drank a little and stayed up long enough to have last call at the Drake in Canmore. I rode the single speed on the Highline trail on Sunday with Alana, Ryan, Fazian, and Matt. Things felt great, but I should think so after that much time off and all the calories I consumed, lots of ice cream.

There was the reward. I am glad I did it. I feel good and the energy is back. The heart rate responds the was it should and I want to ride my bike again. I will be trying to get my training in by going to the crits and riding the single speed. It is time ot have some fun with my fitness level and focus back in for Provincials at the end of August. But for now....Lets's ride for fun.

Riding the BC Bike Race

What could be better than going on a week long trip where all you have to do is ride your bike from pint A to point B, then chill, eat lots, and sleep? Answer: doing it twice in one year.



Doing the Cape with Greg was awesome and now I was going to ride single track with Mical. Oh the joys of life.



Mical and I have never really rode together. Once in Fernie 3 years ago and some road rides, then her killer hill sets at Edworthy, but no real MTB rides. She has a very busy schedule once racing starts and is hardly in town. We decided to go out and do Baldy and Chief Hector and get to see how we ride together in prep for the BCBR.



It was raining and we had just done the Canada Cup in Canmore the day before. We had run near exact times for the 3 lap race and knew that we were aerobically the same, but what of all the subtle little things in one's personality that could come out in a 7 day event. Well, we knew we would be okay after the first uphill and downhill. On the way up were riding the same and Mical had no problem stopping for me so I could have my M&Ms. She galdy poached all the good colours and was off up the hill again. We stopped at the top of Baldy, enjoyed the low lying clouds, the moist air, and the fact there was no one else around. Mical lead the way down and we soon discovered that I would be trying hard to hold her wheel for a week. We were both yahooing and weeeing all the way down the trail. We stopped to see if a couple of riders we came upon were okay and they were laughing at us because they could hear our exclamations of joy all the way down the mountain. Yep, for this single track odyssey we were going on Fun was number 1.



Our goals were to have fun, ride hard, podium and the dream goal was to win.

Day 1 start chute discussing strategy or ice cream, I can't remember.

Day 1-North Shore

Talk about being nervous. I am riding with a National athlete against other National athletes and Olympians. We knew we had to have a good start and hammer hard until the first choke point just so we would not be backed up.


Here is my heart rate profile, speed and altitude for the first 12 minutes of the race. My max heart rate is 171 bpm and I have not seen my HR in the mid 160s all year. Yep, it was an average of 167 bpm and the pace was 20 kph uphill!!. You can see the choke point where we had a 20 second break then a short down before heading up Old Buck.

North Shore riding is unbelievable. I thought Mical and I would be okay as we are both good descenders. There is a large difference between riding the north shore and racing it. I ended up running most of it because it was faster then trying to pick my way down. I had the leg out, stomach on seat, ass way back style and still couldn't pull it together.

We had a great day and ended up 2nd.

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeOPu2he8Uo it is 8 minutes long but you get the idea. Whoever took the video is a great rider.



Day 2-Naniamo to Parksville.

Started riding the "Abyss" which was awesome. lots of rock step ups and descents to start but then it turned a little soft and loamy. It was hard to ride as you couldn't see the roots so every bump was reactionary and slowly tired out your arms and back. Didn't think I would really look forward to the road but when we came out we both sighed with relief. We picked up a good pace line with DeadGoats Devin and Eric and hammered out some good turns at the front. The boys in the pace line were starting to fade but didn't want to get "chicked" ( my new favorite saying as told to me my Leah Davidson) as Mical was doing her share at the front and we kept the pace high. Into Parkville for a night on the beach.

Now this may sound pleasant but it was one of the detriments for us the next day. The dinner was not exceptional and had little in the way of carbs. The wind was so strong that the tent tried to eat both of us. It blow the sides in and covered my head and Micals feet. The next morning's breakfast, Day 3, was eggs, sausage, ham and greasy has browns. Not the best racers food.



Day 3-Cumberland

After the lumberjacks breakfast we took the buses to Cumberland for some wicked riding. Starting in town we headed for the dump road and the Forbidden Plateau. We were riding strong but got stuck behind a Masters riders that slowed us down in the single track. We popped out on the road with the Luna Chicks, Rocky MT ladies, the leading Master team, and us. We drove a mean pace line and I was able to head up front and tow the line for a while. Probably one of the coolest things ever!!!!!!! We took the road to the big climb of the day which was 45 minutes long. The down hill was excellent but we still had to make it back to the trail network behind Cumberlnad and the infamous Space Nugget run. I knew we were close and kept encouraging Mical that it would be worth it. We bared down and got the climbs done.

Beware of the Muntain Reggan- Micals friend ended up way out on the course, was hidden by some bushes and as we passed yelled "GO Mical!" No big deal except I never saw him and by the time he yelled Mical was passed and I was right beside him. I nearly filled my chamois I was so startled.



Day 4-Cumberland to Seschelt

The dreaded 4:30am wake up call. This starts our 6.5 hour logistical trek to the start line. It is not bad but it does knock you down a notch on the day and it showed. We tried to sleep on the ferry and buses but it was too brief and not solid. There was a lot of power lines today and it felt very much like a Trans Rockies day. Our team had a moment and we needed to re-group and re-evaluate. We had been going hard for 4 days and were fading ever so slightly. We were in third and could not chase back on. Goal number one: have fun, so we reeled it in for a few minutes, ate, drank, talked and made it to Aid 2. We could just see 2nd place and knew that we were not doing that bad despite the challenges. The day did not get better but it did not get worse. Well, except at the end we were finally having some fun, zooming down hill jumping logs even the ones that were there to stop us and turn us. We went off track, lost 2-3 minutes and had the 3rd place team pass us while we were lost to get 4th on the day. That hurt a little and we quietly went about our recovery rituals.



Day 5 Seschelt to Langdale

We knew this was going to be a fun day and we had a 31 minute lead on 3rd place. We decided to get a good start then settle in to a good pace and loose strategic time to avoid a blow up. It was a long technical day both up and down and the pace was great.

I did start to get a little poopy this day as it became quite apparent that Mical was the better descender. I could keep up but had to keep pedaling back on, using my engine to gain the speed. Watching Mical descent has made me better as well. She is very smooth, chooses good lines, and rarely makes mistakes. By the time we made it to the end of the day it was almost all down hill, fast flowy, and fun. Deadgoats Pat and Geoff were on our tail and by the time we hit the road they lit it up and beat us to the finish by seconds. It is a lot of fun racing people you know.

We lost 2 minutes to the Cannondale-Monavie team of Sue Butler and Brian Alders but we were good with that and still held a 31 minute lead on them.

Third on the Day but still Second overall!!!!

Day 6 Squamish

The riding was incredible!!! We used the same strategies as Day 5 and went for the start and settled into our on pace. It is amazing how tired you get riding nothing but single track.

High lights:
- robs corners-over 50 left, right berms
-Psuedo Tsuga-great drops and corners
-Power House Plunge-after 5 days of technical riding it was over before we knew it
-watching Ryan Leach do his thing

We gave up 2 more minutes to Cannondale-Monavie but that was part of the plan. It was hotter and we expected to catch them on the down hills but they were riding well and we only saw them in the beginning of the day.

Day 7-Whistler

I was so nervous sitting in the start chute. I had to battle the voice in my head that was worried about wiping out, mechanicals, getting lost, anything to do with losing our 29 minutes lead over third. We were over an hour out of first so that didn't look good but Mical always the positive one kept saying " you never know", maybe a stage win? Nope but we should have got an award for effort.
The start was straight up the ski hill and then the cat track. It was not the best course off the start as they had us climb the cat track to descend the cat track. We finally got in the single track and were right behind 3rd. We marked them and stayed as close as possible on the uphills and gain time back on the downs.
We were riding together with them until just after the Aid station.

To quote Mical's blog " On one of the steep gravel climbs Sue spun out and I heard the voices in my head.. "She's walking it, you can walk it too, we've got enough of a lead"....but I liked the voice that said "F&*% it, I'm riding this thing". Jeff was determined not to get "chicked" and as soon as we crested the hill we both grabbed a couple of gears and started givin er."

Well that was the turning point, we were racing from out front and had clear lines on the down hills. We gave it everything on the ups. Soon they were out of sight but we still kept driving it. Mical and I had a talk on Day 4 about what is worth it and what isn't and how that statement can motivate you to great results. That is all we kept saying as we rode in the red zone for the rest of the day. "It is World Cup racing, it is worth it" and by golly we were flying. the course took us way below the start line and 5 km more then the profile said. I even messed with my own partner when I said this should be the last climb. When it was apparent that it wasn't Mical firmly stated"Don't ever tell me that again". We laugh about it now, thank goodness.

The finally climb was 2 km on steep road. We sounded terrible, huffing and puffing and blowing the top off. As we crested the top of the pavement I told Mical to bring us home only to have her jam on the brakes as we had to climb a stair case to get to the single track. Mical summed it up great with " WTF"..

Once on the single track we knew we had second on the day and second over all. What a rush. Down to the finish line where John and Gloria (Dee's parents), and Jay awaited us. Alana, my wife was there also and surprised us the night before by flying in for the finish.
Happy to be done!!!


The first order of business was a shower then to the bar for a cool cider.

The awards were surprisingly quick and it was really surreal to be up on the podium with 5 pro athletes.



I have the hardware and memories of a fantastic race. I just found out that it is almost $1000 cheaper if we sign up now for next year. It must have been a good race as I am giving it serious thought.

The thought process of not quitting

Lets talk about the Iron Lung. I have never had a good race at this event. Last year it was cold and rainy. I had to beg the Georgetown climb every lap. I ended up tired, sore and almost last(assuming you couunt me in forn to fthe guys who DNF). But I had no doubt that I would finish the race.

Now this year was a bit different. I had the good stress of watching the Spinsisters racing that morning which was very exciting. But it does take some energy to do that but it was well worth it. This was only my second ABA cup race and I had just gotten over being sick. So I knew it would not be the best race but it is all training anyway.

Elite Men had 5 laps to do, 5 Devonian drops, 5 Georgetown climbs, 5 hard and technical single track climbs. I knew that I would be tired and near the back but I was okay with that. I was riding into my 4th lap and just after the fast rolling section off the start I flew into the single track full of roots. I have done this lots of times and didn't think anything on it until I just touched a root, got on top of the bars and had teh handle bars turn completely sideways. Here was the result:

I have another picture just after the race that shows all the blood and gorey details.

So there I am lying on the ground wrapped up in my bike pondering life. I know mmy face hurts and that i am bleeding from someplace on my left cheek. I use the back of my glove to find out where the blood is from and how bad it is. I push against the bone and deduce that it is not broken. I run my toungue around the inside on my mouth and make sure I still have all my chiclets. Then I just lie there for a few seconds. I get up and look down the trial. Then a voice in my head say" it is just not your day". I turn my bike up the trail and start to walk back to the start/finish line. This would have been the first race I had ever quit. I turn the bike around and decide to finish. No, I turn the bike around again and start walking out. I stop again and turn the bike around stare down the trail and ponder. Maybe just one more lap. I am not bleeding that bad and the course is kind of fun. Down the trail I go. I ride totally within myself and start having a much better time. I nail the DD, I cruise the Orchid, I sit in on the GTC and before you know it I am back at the start. Well heck, I have done 4 I might as well do 5. Not caring about my time I ran almost a faster lap on number 5 then 2 and 3.

At the finish Jay meets me away from the crowd. He knew I was injured. He just came up asked me if I was okay and did I need anything. I said no and he rubbed my back in that "good job, I am here for you" way and sent me off on my cool down. It really looked worse than it was. My eye did swell shut but soon healed up.

So, was it the right thing to do, should I have stopped? I was the only person who could decided that. The battle in my head went on for a while but after a good self check and deducing the extent of my injuries, finishing was the right call. Just because it does not go your way does not mean you give up. There are many lessons to learn about perservering and changing a game plan once in motion. I pride myself in having finished the race, no one would have faulted my for it but I would have always second guessed the decision. My bike was working and the injury although painful did not limit my ability to ride. From racing to training ride in one quick splat of the face.

Enduros !!

I was a little nervous to do my first enduros back in Canada. I had such a good ride in South Africa but due to the weather and the schedule it was going to be a while until i could test the legs.

The TransStoney was going to be the firstof the year but there was a ABA Cup race teh day before at the same venue. Oh well it is all training right??



The Bacon Buffet went well I was able to hold a good start pace and stay with Dead Goats Devin and Craig. We went in circles for about 2 hours and got a third out of the day. I was feeling pretty good but was curious how the next day would go.



The TransStoney worked out much better than expected. I darted off the front and Craig Stapler and I rode away after getting back on course due to my wrong turn. We rode together for about 3 hours. It was awesome! I really like riding/racing Craig. he is a great competitor and strong rider. We kept the pace high and roade with each other and were very gentlemanly about the whole thing. He asked if I was stopping for a pit, I said Yes so he stopped too. He slowed to ask one of his teammates if they were okay after a mechnical and I waited for him. I fed him M&Ms in the pits. We wanted to settle it on the course. At about 3 and a half hours Craig dropped back a bit and I "attacked", as much as you "attack" in an enduro. I increased the pace just a bit but kept on it for 2 laps. I could not see him at some of the vantage points so it was my race to win. I stayed with the plan and kept fueling each lap and using time markers to keep the pace. After being rained on and 6 hours I won the first Trans Stoney event. A good start to the season.



The next weekend was the Salty Dog. One of my most favorite races and courses around. The climbs are challenging but do-able. Most of your vertical is on a dirt road and the single track down is so much fun. They have a Salty Pup race for the kids that runs at the same time.
This is a grass roots race that invites all levels of riders to join th fun. It was really cool that our Boys week of riding ended with the race. Rob, Habs, and Ryan threw their hats in the ring with Rob and Habs doing a duo team jamming out 7 laps and Ryan getting 7 laps as well. This was Robbs first race and he may have got the bug.

I had a pretty good cold going but somehow that did not effect the performance? The motivation was low but I just kept doing a lap at a time and thought I could pull out at any time. I didn't though. I just held a steady pace and kept going and going. 3rd oveall with 9 laps in a faster time then last year. I paid for it the next week. I didn't really get out of bed on Monday and Tuesday and thook it easy for the follwoing week.

All that was on the calander for the next bit was the Iron Lung and the Canmore Canada cup before the big BC Bike Race with Mical.

So I am back writing. You can see why I got a C in journal keeping. All these events happen so fast and then I am focused on the next one.



Let's finish the Cape story so I can get on to the new stage race deets.



Day 5

Long hard and fun at the finish. Up and down, repeat. The climbs were good and teh decents fast. The day was good and a couple cool things happened today. No mechaniclals!!!!!! We also made a bold move and jumped onto the wheel of 2 Scott riders. The one taller guy was a work horse and drove the pace hard. So hard he pulled us for 30-40 minutes along a railway bed and moved us up huge n the GC. We were lovingthe free ride and had time to enjoy the view.

The day ended with some actual good single track. Single track that would pass even here in Canada. Greg put the 29ers to work and flowed it nice.


Day 6

Out and back to Oak Valley. Watch out for the scary descent.....owwwwwww...scary descent. Yes it was loose but scary only because of the number of people on it and the spastic moves.
We passed a team along a railroad grade road with a helicopter flying beside us. Full coverage if only we had the sattelite channels to get this at home.
It ended again with some good single track again.

Day 7 and the Finish.

We thought we roade a great day. We passed tons of people. We hammered hard. We dropped some more spots????????????? I guess everyone else had the same idea. It was nice to know we were on our wat to the finish. I warned Greg about the "neutral race zone". The most idiotic thing in racing. We have to pass over a private section of land the has no passing in it. Everyone stacks up and gets so frustrated that it has a terrible feel to the end of the race. They should just stop the race there and let us cruise to the finish and talk to our buddies on the trail. oh well it didn't matter as the finish line rock.

You get ot go up on stage to get your medals, you get your transponder deposit back, AND a kick ass gift basket. We recieved a picnic basket with:cheese/crackers, meats, a blanket, and a bottle of white wine!!!!! It was incredible to hang around and eat drink and chat with everyone. A perfect way to complete the Epic.

Alana and I hung out for another 2 weeks and enjoyed the wonders of South Africa. I won't bore you with the home movies and slide show but Rhinos and Savanna Dry ciders were everywhere.

I took 2 full weeks off training and was worried about the fitness and training I had missed. As you see by the date of this post I have had some time to reflect and 2 weeks off was a good thing.

More to come!!