Today I went for a ride at Moose Mountain where I like riding on the sweet technical trails snaking down the hill. This area is one of my favourites and I ride it a lot. That is why I like using the Moose Mountain road as a bit of a marker of my fitness. I have all kinds of great loops that I string together but sometimes when I want to see how I'm feeling I time myself from the bottom parking lot to the top parking lot and then go on with my ride. Today, I did my first time test and I finished the climb with a time of 31 min 50 sec. I'm pretty happy with that. It's less than a minute slower than last year's fastest time of 31 min flat. but it was colder and muddier conditions... Feel free to race me. E-mail me your times and maybe I can post them on the side-bar (exact times only please, honor system). I've posted mine there to keep track throughout the year. The start is the gate at the bottom parking lot and the finish line is the sign just before the top parking lot... This climb is great for hill reps for training for Transrockies or La Ruta or something similar.
Also, FYI, Jean-guy is a little muddy but rideable and rhubarb is perfect condition (but just as steep as ever).
Saturday, April 28, 2007
ABA Cup #1 Lethbridge Coulee Cruiser
Well, it was a close race. Too close for comfort... Unbeknownst to many who just showed up to watch or race a mtb race, there was another race going on. The race for the longest hair in the men's Elite category! With the absence of Andre Sutton, I thought I would be a shoe in but, in true competitive fashion, Roddi Leg brought his "A" game. It was too close to call so a rematch will occur on May 13th in Edmonton at the ABA #2.
Now, in the mountain bike racing I didn't get a tie for 1st. I got 6th actually which is a little bit worse than what I was hoping for but all in all I am extremely happy with how I raced. I stayed strong and raced my race. I was just lacking a bit in my high-end anaerobic fitness (plus, maybe a bit tired from 26 hours of riding in Moab that week and the 15 hour drive). Not that I am trying to make excuses. This week has been good for causing me to overreach in my volume and intensity. Hopefully I recover strong and quickly.
Thank you to the Headwinds Cycling Club for organizing and putting on the event. As always, they did a superb job of putting on a race. The course was the typical coulee style riding that Lethbridge has some of the best of but was extremely difficult (I always find this course difficult but this year was borderline masochistic) . Only 2 riders (to my knowledge) rode the whole course every lap. There were extremely steep hills that were causing everyone to get very friendly with their granny gear (except the few that chose to race a single speed). Good job to everyone that raced!
A special congrats to Mical (super woman) who won the elite women's race and the top 3 elite men, Roddi Lega (flying this year), Dallas Morris (always strong and bringing his "A" game to races), and Brian Bain (first elite podium, AWESOME JOB!).
Cheers to everyone!
Pictures will hopefully be up soon.
Now, in the mountain bike racing I didn't get a tie for 1st. I got 6th actually which is a little bit worse than what I was hoping for but all in all I am extremely happy with how I raced. I stayed strong and raced my race. I was just lacking a bit in my high-end anaerobic fitness (plus, maybe a bit tired from 26 hours of riding in Moab that week and the 15 hour drive). Not that I am trying to make excuses. This week has been good for causing me to overreach in my volume and intensity. Hopefully I recover strong and quickly.
Thank you to the Headwinds Cycling Club for organizing and putting on the event. As always, they did a superb job of putting on a race. The course was the typical coulee style riding that Lethbridge has some of the best of but was extremely difficult (I always find this course difficult but this year was borderline masochistic) . Only 2 riders (to my knowledge) rode the whole course every lap. There were extremely steep hills that were causing everyone to get very friendly with their granny gear (except the few that chose to race a single speed). Good job to everyone that raced!
A special congrats to Mical (super woman) who won the elite women's race and the top 3 elite men, Roddi Lega (flying this year), Dallas Morris (always strong and bringing his "A" game to races), and Brian Bain (first elite podium, AWESOME JOB!).
Cheers to everyone!
Pictures will hopefully be up soon.
Calgary loves riding bikes
I believe it was H.G. Wells that said "I have new hope for humanity every time I see an adult on a bicycle" or something along those lines at least. Well, today, driving back from a ride of my own I must have seen close to a couple hundred adults on bicycles and, like H.G. Wells, it makes me feel good. I saw loads of mountain bikers in the Station Flats parking lot in Kananaskis, I saw groups riding up an down hwy. 66, there were groups of 20 to 30 roadies around Bragg Creek, and lots of people riding on hwy. 22. I saw people I knew and tons that I didn't. There wasn't a 30 second stretch from K-country to Hwy. 8 that I didn't see someone on a bike... Awesome!
Yes... the promised posts from Moab and Lethbridge are coming.
Yes... the promised posts from Moab and Lethbridge are coming.
Monday, April 23, 2007
back home.
Today, is my first day back from wandering in desert like moses, only instead of a staff and sandals, I had a bike and helmet. It was a sweet trip. Stay tuned for reports and pics of the rides and the first ABA Race in Lethbridge.
Oh... for those that were wondering, I didn't get my bike in time. That's okay. These things happen. I'm keeping my fingers crossed to get it before ABA MTB Cup #2 on May 13th.
Oh... for those that were wondering, I didn't get my bike in time. That's okay. These things happen. I'm keeping my fingers crossed to get it before ABA MTB Cup #2 on May 13th.
Monday, April 9, 2007
If found please return to me ASAP.
Well, okay, maybe it's not lost. It just feels that way because its not clipped in to its owners shoes.
As a lot of you know, I'm going down to Moab, the land flowing with milk and honey (a little joke for all those Old Testament Students) this Thursday. Right now i'm still waiting for my 2007 Giant Anthem Advanced. This ride is going to be sweet! I'm praying it comes in before Thursday so I can introduce it to the Porcupine Rim Trail.
Keep your fingers crossed...
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Snow, Cowboys and Coca-Cola
Snow, Cowboys and Coca-Cola, the makings of an interesting ride... Yes, this Saturday's ride was good and had it's fair share of adventure in it to boot.
Bright and early I leave my house to meet Erik and Craig at Edworthy Park so we can commute together to the official meeting place at the Westhills Starbucks (Geez, I hate supporting Starbucks by starting our rides there). The last two Saturdays have had great rides starting here. There have been 20 to 30 people at the start and people with all different fitness levels. It's fun to start a ride like this even if the big group is short lived because I like the community feeling that occurs with numbers like that. Anyway, (I digress) I didn't expect to see as many people for this ride since the last ones had temperatures in the high teens and the current forecast was for 3-5 degrees and maybe a bit of snow. Still, I think there were about 10 to 12 guys there.
We start the ride promptly after Craig, Erik and myself get there since we arrived a tad bit late due to my inability to keep things organized. The weather is getting worse and my motivation to go fast is not there in part due to the cold temperature and in part because I am reading a great book on base-building. About 30 minutes into the ride Erik and I allow ourselves to slide off the back of the group as it races up one of the mini-hills on Lower Springbank Rd. I've noticed this scenario to be a trend on these rides. I'm guessing the initiator was Mike (Good on you, Mike, but not for me right now). Erik and I ride together and in a few minutes Craig drops back to ride with us.
At this point the weather is causing a lot of people to question how good of an idea it was to throw on the lycra this morning rather than pull out the skis. The snow is coming down fairly hard but not really accumulating. Our small group meets up with the greater group as they debate their options from the intersection of hwy. 22. The weather is coming from the north so I figure we just ride toward it and pop out the other side (hopefully). If not, at least we'll have a perfect tail-wind riding home from Cochrane. Not everyone agrees and the greater group divides into a plethora of sub-groups each going their own way.
Going North seems to pay off as the skies clear and the temperature climbs. Sweet! Ed, Tom, Craig, Erik and I get to the watering hole in Cochrane (the Coffee Traders) and notice about 10 bikes outside. As fate would have it, we ran into some of Calgary's finest riders. Everyone grabs a warm beverage of choice and enjoys the good company. Some of the discussion leads to extending the ride a bit further by heading west and eventually we settle on riding the Forestry Trunk Rd to where it turns to gravel north of Waiporous (One of my favourites... too bad it is an out n' back for a road bike and not a loop).
The group is now Dallas, Anthony, the Prof., Erik Craig and myself. I like riding with people who are on a similar agenda and know how to co-operate with each other to make the ride more efficient. I thought, overall, this was a great group. It made for a fun ride up through the foothills. Unfortunately, Erik had to let us go as we headed north. He was feeling the effects of a very difficult week at work (I don't know if I would have even made it to the start if I were in his shoes).
So, as we head north on the Forestry Trunk Rd. we run into a bunch of rancher/cowboys who are herding a huge group of semi-wild horses along the road. They take up the entire road and I think all of us are a bit confused as to what to do. Do we just ride through the herd or will that accidentally scare them into stampeding us, leaving us flat and lifeless to be scraped up by our loved ones after the fact. The cowboys (and girls) are giving us mixed signals. Some are saying slow down, others are saying stop and still others are saying get out of the way. Dallas, Craig and I stop pretty much immediately and Anthony proceeds slowly but eventually stops and the Prof tries to ride right through. This startles some of the horses and causes everyone involved a bunch of unneeded stress. I have never seen cowboys that mad before except for on old episodes of "Bonanza". Apparently, one of them clocked the Prof. right in the head. In all the commotion one of the horses makes a turn down one of the driveways to a ranch and the whole bunch starts galloping that way. This clears the way for us but makes a whole lot more work for the ranchers (I doubt your reading this, but sorry). We continue on as the ranchers yell at us to "go back to the City!" I'm not sure that all the ranchers handled the situation with grace but I still think it is our obligation to be as accommodating as possible. The last post is about cyclists being hated and after this I can understand why the next big diesel 4x4 lays on the horn and throws a Tim Horton's cup at us... I know no one from our group was trying to be hostile but I think it is our duty to represent our clubs and sponsors appropriately and our sport with excellence. I have to admit I was a bit embarrassed... No need to dwell on the issue.
Awesome ride the rest of the way with the temperatures just getting warmer and warmer (much higher than the weather man had predicted). As we spin into Cochrane again, the group decides to purchase some calories at the gas station to fuel the last 35 km. I decide I'm all right with nothing but, when everyone gets a caffeinated beverage with no less than 250 calories including Anthony's Rockstar Energy drink, I should have re-evaluated. I make it quite respectably to the city limits where our group splits to head to our respective dwellings but I do notice that my fuel system is running fumes. As I ride through Bowness with Anthony, I find it increasingly difficult to stay beside him and, for that matter, concentrating on keeping the bike rolling in a straight line began to be a difficult task. The dreaded bonk had got it's grasp on me. I tried to remain coherent as I explained to Anthony that I was going to buy a Coca-Cola from the Safeway. He understands my mumbling and we part ways. It took me about 5 minutes to get the proper coinage out of my jersey pockets because my dexterity seemed to leave me just as my balanced blood glucose level had. Finally, I consume the precious calories and regain the ability to ride my bike in a straight line.
What a great ride. These are the ones you remember for a while. Bad weather, good company, good weather, great scenery, random horse stampedes, bonk-induced tunnel vision--perfect!
Bright and early I leave my house to meet Erik and Craig at Edworthy Park so we can commute together to the official meeting place at the Westhills Starbucks (Geez, I hate supporting Starbucks by starting our rides there). The last two Saturdays have had great rides starting here. There have been 20 to 30 people at the start and people with all different fitness levels. It's fun to start a ride like this even if the big group is short lived because I like the community feeling that occurs with numbers like that. Anyway, (I digress) I didn't expect to see as many people for this ride since the last ones had temperatures in the high teens and the current forecast was for 3-5 degrees and maybe a bit of snow. Still, I think there were about 10 to 12 guys there.
We start the ride promptly after Craig, Erik and myself get there since we arrived a tad bit late due to my inability to keep things organized. The weather is getting worse and my motivation to go fast is not there in part due to the cold temperature and in part because I am reading a great book on base-building. About 30 minutes into the ride Erik and I allow ourselves to slide off the back of the group as it races up one of the mini-hills on Lower Springbank Rd. I've noticed this scenario to be a trend on these rides. I'm guessing the initiator was Mike (Good on you, Mike, but not for me right now). Erik and I ride together and in a few minutes Craig drops back to ride with us.
At this point the weather is causing a lot of people to question how good of an idea it was to throw on the lycra this morning rather than pull out the skis. The snow is coming down fairly hard but not really accumulating. Our small group meets up with the greater group as they debate their options from the intersection of hwy. 22. The weather is coming from the north so I figure we just ride toward it and pop out the other side (hopefully). If not, at least we'll have a perfect tail-wind riding home from Cochrane. Not everyone agrees and the greater group divides into a plethora of sub-groups each going their own way.
Going North seems to pay off as the skies clear and the temperature climbs. Sweet! Ed, Tom, Craig, Erik and I get to the watering hole in Cochrane (the Coffee Traders) and notice about 10 bikes outside. As fate would have it, we ran into some of Calgary's finest riders. Everyone grabs a warm beverage of choice and enjoys the good company. Some of the discussion leads to extending the ride a bit further by heading west and eventually we settle on riding the Forestry Trunk Rd to where it turns to gravel north of Waiporous (One of my favourites... too bad it is an out n' back for a road bike and not a loop).
The group is now Dallas, Anthony, the Prof., Erik Craig and myself. I like riding with people who are on a similar agenda and know how to co-operate with each other to make the ride more efficient. I thought, overall, this was a great group. It made for a fun ride up through the foothills. Unfortunately, Erik had to let us go as we headed north. He was feeling the effects of a very difficult week at work (I don't know if I would have even made it to the start if I were in his shoes).
So, as we head north on the Forestry Trunk Rd. we run into a bunch of rancher/cowboys who are herding a huge group of semi-wild horses along the road. They take up the entire road and I think all of us are a bit confused as to what to do. Do we just ride through the herd or will that accidentally scare them into stampeding us, leaving us flat and lifeless to be scraped up by our loved ones after the fact. The cowboys (and girls) are giving us mixed signals. Some are saying slow down, others are saying stop and still others are saying get out of the way. Dallas, Craig and I stop pretty much immediately and Anthony proceeds slowly but eventually stops and the Prof tries to ride right through. This startles some of the horses and causes everyone involved a bunch of unneeded stress. I have never seen cowboys that mad before except for on old episodes of "Bonanza". Apparently, one of them clocked the Prof. right in the head. In all the commotion one of the horses makes a turn down one of the driveways to a ranch and the whole bunch starts galloping that way. This clears the way for us but makes a whole lot more work for the ranchers (I doubt your reading this, but sorry). We continue on as the ranchers yell at us to "go back to the City!" I'm not sure that all the ranchers handled the situation with grace but I still think it is our obligation to be as accommodating as possible. The last post is about cyclists being hated and after this I can understand why the next big diesel 4x4 lays on the horn and throws a Tim Horton's cup at us... I know no one from our group was trying to be hostile but I think it is our duty to represent our clubs and sponsors appropriately and our sport with excellence. I have to admit I was a bit embarrassed... No need to dwell on the issue.
Awesome ride the rest of the way with the temperatures just getting warmer and warmer (much higher than the weather man had predicted). As we spin into Cochrane again, the group decides to purchase some calories at the gas station to fuel the last 35 km. I decide I'm all right with nothing but, when everyone gets a caffeinated beverage with no less than 250 calories including Anthony's Rockstar Energy drink, I should have re-evaluated. I make it quite respectably to the city limits where our group splits to head to our respective dwellings but I do notice that my fuel system is running fumes. As I ride through Bowness with Anthony, I find it increasingly difficult to stay beside him and, for that matter, concentrating on keeping the bike rolling in a straight line began to be a difficult task. The dreaded bonk had got it's grasp on me. I tried to remain coherent as I explained to Anthony that I was going to buy a Coca-Cola from the Safeway. He understands my mumbling and we part ways. It took me about 5 minutes to get the proper coinage out of my jersey pockets because my dexterity seemed to leave me just as my balanced blood glucose level had. Finally, I consume the precious calories and regain the ability to ride my bike in a straight line.
What a great ride. These are the ones you remember for a while. Bad weather, good company, good weather, great scenery, random horse stampedes, bonk-induced tunnel vision--perfect!
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