Banff BikeFest

This past weekend was the biggest, best, highest-level race I've ever been in. Had super fun and got a few good results over the 4 days of racing. A super quick recap, since I'm in need of many recovery Zzzz's.

Prelude: With Jared at Ironman Coeur d'Alene, Dallas knocking off 1,600km in 3 days, 18 hours, and Trev busted up from his 65km/h crash at the Pigeon Lake road race, the Speed Theory cycling team had room for a couple of cat 3 shleppers...enter Keith and I, stage right. Banff-Lake Louise tourism has really gotten behind the race, and offers a total of $20,000 in cash to be won, so the best teams from western Canada and a couple of NW US teams come to compete.

Thursday afternoon was the hill climb on Hwy 93...6.5 km of undulating pain and ascending. Since I have a remarkably heavy road bike, quite a nice TT bike, and was lucky enough to have Trev/Speed Theory lend a set of lightweight Shimano wheels, I bucked the trend and took my Cervelo up the hill. Managed a decent 34th out of 84, and I gave a sigh of relief that I wouldn't be laughed at all weekend. Alex, probably our strongest all-round rider, didn't have a good race, which threw us a bit, because this was supposed to focus the team on our GC hope. Frank threw down a storming ride to be fastest for our team, in 24th place.

Friday took us out on 1A for a very picturesque, fun course that had sections of one-lane, one-way, twisty, rolly road - total blast. I crumbled in the final km and ended up back in 59th.

Saturday's TT was great, I posted a time *5 minutes, 29.7 seconds faster* than last year!! which funnily enough was 34th, keeping my overall at...34th. Saw some big names in the results sheets below me...wow.

Photo: kayphoto

That evening was some of the hardest, highest-intensity racing I've ever done, on the best crit course ever...but I couldn't handle the pace and ended up getting lapped, although I managed to be the last person not in the pack to be lapped. I found out today my little brush with one of the barriers cost me $150 for a new brake/shifter.

Photo: Bill Quinney

Final day was the road race, on a great 13km circuit with some tough little hills and wild descents. I was feeling the pain, for sure, but not too badly, but got stuck in a minor crash that put me just out of reach of returning to the pack...game over. Bummer, but all in all a great experience, and general good times with the team.

Coldplay!

Jess's Dad, Ken, invited Jess, Tim and I to come a Coldplay concert. Wicked seats, and an absolutely amazing performance. They started out with a few well known tracks that got everyone fired up, then performed from a stage a catwalk on stage left, right in front of us, then a stage way back in the stadium...basically all over the shop. They released some giant yellow balloons that bounced around the crowd for a while, and later a shower of coloured paper. Sounds cheesy, but it was good times. Lead singer, Chris Martin, was totally rocking out, and it didn't hurt that we got a free CD on the way out. Probably my favourite concert ever.

More Photos From the Decathlon

100 - There were 2 false starts (the first from me), so my start was more tentative then usual. That didn't stop me from moving into the lead at the 40m mark, though, BAM! Finished in an acceptable 11.95 with a 0.4 m/s headwind. (current decathlon PB - 11.58, +1.0)

LJ - I was looking for a PB in this event since the the last competition was 2 cm off and after two 100m races. The first jump was a solid 6.18. This set me up for 2 nothing-to-lose attempts, a foul and a 6.24. (current decathlon PB - 6.32, +2.9)


An amazing takeoff, only to have the official raise the red flag, signaling a foul.


SP - 8.43. Technique was off despite a PB a few weeks ago. If only those legs (as seen in the photo below) could be harnessed! LOL. (current decathlon PB - 8.54)


HJ - During the pre-comp meeting with the official, I asked for the heights to go through 1.66, a 1cm PB. I missed the first attempt at 1.63 but the second was an excellent jump. I couldn't repeat it at 1.66. (current decathlon PB - 1.65)

400 - 1. The lane draw sucked. I got lane 6... of 6. 2. Competitors in lanes 4 & 5 pulled out. 3. One the guys that pulled out false started... Despite this, I managed to stay out in front the entire way. The time so just how out of shape I still am: 53.57 (current decathlon PB - 51.44)

So this was a solid, but not spectacular Day 1. My score at this point was 2837. Current PB is 3030.

110mH - The second attempt at getting 3 strides between hurdles was much more successful than the last - 8 of 9. With this new stride rhythmn it was almost impossible to get a huge new PB - 19.83, +1.0 - previous PB, 21.22.

DT - Argh! The warmup was very good. There was lines marked out at every 10m, so I could easily see that I threw more than 30m during warmups (that would have been a massive dec PB). What happened in the actual competition was a bit unfortunate. The first throw felt a bit off coming out of the back of the circle - foul. The second - foul. I needed to make sure that I got points for this event, so I had to do a standing throw - 25.09 (current decathlon PB - 26.10)

PV - I didn't have access to a stiff enough pole, so I was in the right frame of mind from the beginning. Cleared my starting height of 3.51, but not 3.71. Disappointing. (current decathlon PB - 3.80)

JT - Here I could have easily set a new PB, but I didn't take the time to clear my mind after the pole vault and set up for the next event. I just wasn't feeling it. During the first approach I let my arm drop and the end of the javelin clipped the ground (26-something), on the second I overstrode and fouled the line, the last was a barely acceptable 30.49. (current decathlon PB - 33.22)

1500 - I chose to follow the pack. First lap was done in 71, a little faster than the goal of 76. During the second the athlete leading the pack pulled out, and had I been more experienced in running the 1500 I would have passed and lead out at this point. Instead I needed to heard that the last lap was done in 86. I made my move and finished in a surprisingly easy 4:42.6 (current decathlon PB - 4:39.7)

Due to the massive hurdles PB and unusual (for me) occurence of a decathlon with reasonably solid (for me) results for all the events, I hit a Day 2 PB of 2186 and an overall decathlon PB of 5023 - the first over 5000 points. Woot.

Coming, in 4 weeks time: PBs in LJ, SP, HJ, 110H, DT, JT, 1500 and overall. BAM!

Tim's decathlon

Haven't got time to do a full report of all the butt-kicking Tim did on the weekend at his "practice" decathlon, but here's a teaser: Tim on his way to his first win of the weekend.

Hail, rain, snow, and....time trials?

We've had some pretty nice weather for the past week or two in Calgary, particularly on the weekends. So it was a bummer to see this Saturday's (today's) Speed Theory ITT land on, and be bracketed by, days of forecast rain and even snow. Given that a) it was not a mass-start event, and b) so many people had signed up and/or spent many an hour in organizing the event, race director and Speed Theory el capitan Trev made the ballsey decision to go ahead with the race. And a good thing. The weather cleared up, and despite a bit of hail reported by some racers, it was generally pretty nice weather.

A straight, not-yet-driven-on new stretch of highway was the fantastic venue, with barely an incline to be seen. The significant head/cross wind and very wet road were a challenge, but everyone I talked to after the event was happy to be out.

But the big news was my first win of my cycling career!! After coming last in my last TT last year, few (including me) saw it coming, but apparently the hard work over the winter paid off. A big thanks to Speed Theory for hooking me up with my sweet ride, the Cervelo P3C, Trev for the lend of his race wheels (get well soon, buddy!), and Rob for his TT helmet...certainly I would be well down in the rankings without your gear.

The stats:
distance: 30km
time: 42:49.5
average speed: 42.03km/h

And before anyone says anything, yes, I bet I could save a few seconds by closing my mouth! :)

Photo by Torin Segstro

Pigeon Lake RR

Super day of racing up near Edmonton. Rather than plagiarize my own blog post, I'll just link to it:

http://speedtheorycyclingteam.blogspot.com/2009/06/pigeon-cat-3-recap.html

Penticton training camp

Wow, what a camp. Headed to Penticton, BC, home of the Iron Man Canada, for 5 days of big rides and bigger hill climbs.

Sunday was a tough intro to local riding: the 180km IMC loop, followed by Apex: 11km of 10-11% grade road. Holy moly. Second day was a gentle 100km to Summerland, a couple of repeats on Giant's Head (2.5km, up to 18%) and a nice ride through the country side. Tuesday we did a monster ride down through the US, back through the most casual border crossing ever (described as a guy sitting in a lawnchair beside a 6 person outhouse)...totalling 220km! Wed my bro Tim and I went back to Summerland to take a bunch of photos of the orchards in full bloom, then we rode through Summerland again, and the Kettle Valley Railroad on the way back.

Giant's Head is the peak on the far left of the horizon:




More orchards:



Thursday was my favourite ride...after a quick stint of work in the morning (while Trev knocked off a 100km ride) Trev and I drove to Oliver, then rode up Mt Baldy, which gained something like 1450 metres in 30 km, oh, and 24km of that was a gravel road! to the ski resort, down the back-side, to the summit of Anarchist, and then down Anarchist, through Osoyoos and back to Oliver. Kewl!

Velocity RR, Aerobic Power TT

The road race's plan was to attack, attack, attack...except for the odd man out, me, who was going to sit in as plan B and be ready for the sprint. Plan went well, I had a bit of fun near the front thwarting attempts by the non-represented teams to organize a chase, and although Stephen was sheparding me for the last few km, I was biting on every (fruitless) attack (mistake number one) and then flinched when someone swerved toward me with two km to go (mistake number two)...balanced on the edge of the road for 10 metres, before rolling into the ditch. Race over! Bugger. But Alex stayed away in the break and got a solid second place, to put him spitting distance from moving up to cat 1/2.

Next day I was less organized than usual (my bikes were being transported in Mike G's van (thanks!) and I had trouble finding him)...a quick warmup, realized I didn't have a number on yet, but made it to the line in time number-less. Hit it as hard as I could have hoped on the way out, passed some people and felt great. On the way back I was passed by rocket-man Trev and another guy (that I passed back, take that!...then subequently was re-passed by). Got a 4th for my efforts, and beat my previous PB by 2 minutes and 10 seconds!

The TTT was wicked fun. Alex and Keith are super-strong dudes, and we hit it pretty hard. Rotations weren't perfect, but we felt great about the pace and think we did well. No word on time or results yet.

Lethbridge stage race

A quick post since the race is already two weeks old...and I had a crappy end to the weekend.

Drove down with Andy Sat morning in gorgeous weather to the hill climb. I knew I had to get my new cassette (yes, I now have two cassettes. So pro!)on and deal with my powertap wheel having the low-gear (13-26) cassette, but I managed to fart around long enough (basically hang out with all the people that had they ducks in a row already) that my warm-up was a last minute panic, and luckily Alex was kind enough to throw my cassette on for me. Anyway, after the stressing, I got to the line in time (I think that's 3 and 3 for getting to the line in time now), spun like a mofo for the first flat section, before getting in a groove for the hill.

I often finish TTs thinking "did I really push it, or was there more to give" and when hill climbs are usually decided by a few seconds, it's easy to doubt yourself. But once I crossed the line I was hyperventilating and wheezing like I had to do the hill climb under water, and my heart rate was 4 beats off max, so I think that was all I had to give.

I think I would have had a shot at winning, except that, well a) I'm not that fast..., but b) it was about half as steep as Edworthy, and not really a hill-climber's hill per se. I was stoked to get 3rd. And lucky as hell that I beat A-Train by 1 second.

That afternoon was the MTB race, but since the only single track I've ever ridden was two years ago, and I don't own a mountain bike, I didn't think I was going to do it. But Trev was awesome enough to lend me his wicked bike, since I was racing with the Novices and he was racing Expert later on. Started off feeling good, crushed the first hill (compared to the 15 or so other people in the field, but was still gauging my comfort level at the top and was riding at the top in about 3rd. Trev and co were there, and yelling at me to pass...so I passed, and hit the first downhill in first. Woohoo! Traversing the hills at the bottom (think 45 degree hill with a 6 inch wide horizontal trail cutting across it) was not going so well for me, but the women's race slowed me down to a coordinated speed for the most part. But when was up to me I was often coming out of the track and have to unclip a pedal to stay upright, then taking forever to get clipped back in, since they weren't my pedals or shoes...thanks for the loan, Tom! I was considering riding in road shoes, since Trev thought I could do the entire course without unclipping, but since I ended up running half of it, it was lucky I had MTB shoes!

Anyway, that's how my race went, with one dude that was clearly a better bike handler, but potentially not as fit, passing me a couple of times. He'd just re-passed me with about half a lap to go, so I was taking a few (more) risks and bombing down the hills, when it all came unglued and I bailed down the hill (luckily in the grass) with the bike using me for cushioning. Back on the bike, battle battle, unclip for the friggen uphill again, and then I had no chance. But a solid second place anyway.

Turns out riding a somewhat new sport, on a bike set up for someone 6 inches shorter, may not have been the best recovery for the following day's road race. And not being able to handle a mountain bike wasn't good either. After much icing and vascillating, I rode in the following day's race (somehow with another last minute mechancial issue that required panicking and last-minute assistance). Felt great in the first 30km, and was in a breakaway with Alex and a couple of others, when he reminded me it was going to be a long race and we should get back in the pack. Luckily he was there, I would have been dropped for sure otherwise - most hills had me crying for mercy, and although I stuck with the lead pack for the entire race, my spirit was crushed and I couldn't summon the willpower for the pack sprint at the end. Lame!

Not a good first cat 3 RR.

First race of the year

April 15th or there abouts was the first race of the year, but more significantly, was the first race since:
a) I bought a TT bike, an uber-expensive (for me) Cervelo P3C
b) I bought a skin suit
c) I came last in a race, in my cat 3 debut at the end of the 2008 road season
d) I trained my guts out for 6 months over winter in warm (not!) sunny (not this year!) Calgary

So I was pretty nervous...if it didn't go well, then I was threatening to throw my TT bike in the dumpster and take up mini-golf.

I rode the course on the Friday before. When the guy from Crankmasters said it was hilly, well, he should have said really, really hilly. But custom made for a light-weight like myself.

The ride itself didn't go totally to plan...I just couldn't bring myself up to a "PHD level of suffering". I felt fast on the way out, but assumed that the way back would be a painful slog into the wind. Turned out that the way out was into the wind...huh. So I came screaming over the line with about 20km worth of energy left.



But once the results came out, it turned out that I did really well. In fact, I beat my race result from Strathmore, which I did the same time of the year in 2008, only, the race was two kilometres SHORTER! Looks like the hard yards (and big bucks) were not in vain.

No tracking

Camera play for Christmas 2006

Jess and I played around with the camera, making photos to send as Christmas postcards. This kooky one ended up going to our good friends Sarah and Leo.

Jelly bean in Millenium Park, Chicago

The reflective jelly bean in Millenium Park reflects skyscrapers flanking the west side of Michigan Ave in downtown Chicago. Jess and I were in Chicago in November, 2006, for RSNA, a huge radiology tradeshow.

Back to Party Town

Jess's Dad said he wanted to go for a drink the night we flew in, so he was waiting for us when we arrived, as expected. Not so expected was the bunch of friends, stretch limo, and bottles of champagne also waiting for us! We all jumped in the limo and headed into Toronto to a bar, where more friends were waiting. Forgot about any thoughts of jet lag and had a great time sharing stories of our recent adventures with close friends.

Sunny Sydney

Jess and I flew to Sydney for the last two days of our trip. The first evening we were there, we saw a play at the Sydney Opera House called "Doubt". Really good, try to go if you get the chance.

Went for a drink at the vodka bar afterwards. Upstairs was the "minus five bar" which they refrigerate to -5 degrees, give you a down jacket and you get to sit at the carved ice bar and drink out of glasses made of ice. Neat idea if you live in Australia, but just seemed like ending the holiday early to us! haha

Next morning was the Sydney Fish Market, which was great. Zillions of types of fresh-off-the-boat fish/seafood to be bought from a bunch of vendors, plus the option of buying said seafood cooked and ready to eat. Yum!

Then it was off to Bondi. Ate the Bondi Icebergs (what is it with the references to cold temperatures), which was part of the Bondi Swimming Club clubhouse overlooking the beach. Very cool. Then we walked along the cliffs to Bronte Beach and swam in the surf right in front of the "Dangerous Currents, No Swimming" sign.

Next morning, we walked around The Rocks (old, harbourside area of Sydney) like dutiful tourists we are. Waited around till a few minutes after an appropriate time to leave for the airport, then rushed back and grabbed our bags and bundled into a taxi.

Bye, Australia!

Surfing

Went to Torquay surf beach today. Tried teaching Jess and my sister Amanda to surf. Was going quite well until we got into the water...Amanda got washed back into the beach by a wave, Jess fired out in the other direction past the breakers, and I tried to yell intructions to both.

The Games

Went to Shepparton on Friday to see some of my relatives. They have lots of wacky plastic/fibreglass cows around the place, much like Toronto with its moose.

Jess and I went into Melbourne on Sat, toured my old neighbourhood, ate at my all-time favourite pizza shop and watched a triathalon. Did I mention Melbourne is hosting the Commonwealth Games while we're here? Anyone reading this probably does, i.e. does not live in the US. Australia only won the bronze and gold medal for that event, which is why we only have half the medals. Bah. But that gives the tv stations enough fodder that you wouldn't know there were any other countries competing! In all seriousness, the triathletes were amazing. They were able to run 10km in only twice the time I would take to do 5km, AFTER cycling 50+ km and and swimming god knows how far (and I kind of fancy myself as a runner).

Sat night, we met up with my good friends from my home town: Simon, Sharon, Terri, Trev, Claire and Steve. Played a murder mystery, which was kooky and fun.

Went swimming/windsurfing with my family on Sunday. The usual debacle with trying to get everyone out the door. Afterwards, Jess and Brendan and I drove to Phillip Island to see the Fairy Penguins. Very cute. By the time we finished there, all the camping/caravan parks were full or their office was shut. We decided to just crash at one and pay in the morning, then found out we'd left the tent poles behind. So we drove to an empty area and slept in a paddock under the stars. It didn't rain much. Was awoken the next morning by a variety of noisy birds: 4 kookaburras, a rooster, 30 galahs, magpies...

Saw a bunch of koalas at the conservation area, then drove back to Melbourne and watched the bronze medal games of the squash, then caught up with Simon.

Today, I played squash against my brother and Dad while Jess met with some work people. Hello tax deductible airfare! Saw my good friend Margaux for a brief moment, then Jess and I went and saw a bunch of track and field events at the 110,000 capacity MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground).

Climb on!

Wednesday morning, Jess, my Mum and I played 9 holes of golf. Mum hadn't played before, and shooting 62 over par was understandable. I would have broken 50 for the 9 had I not gone 7 over par for the first hole....we're thinking of waiting till next year to go pro!

That night, we went in to "the city" (Melbourne) to see the Lion King. Much craziness with the 40,000+ that were also going in, for the opening of the Commonwealth Games. The show was great.

The next morning Jess, bro Brendan and I left before sunrise for Mt Arapiles. With so much to do this holiday, we only had time for a day trip. Brendan had his first pair of rock shoes to try out, and I got some more shiny new toys at the climbing shop in Natimuk (closest town to Arap).

I was hoping to get a couple of climbs in, including a multi-pitch, but reality dictated the events of the day, and we got on our first climb at 12:30: Watchtower Crack (16, roughly 5.7), 4 pitches. Wild climb...included some slab, chimney, face, laybacking, stemming, and awesome exposure. Fun had by all.

By the time I had a powernap (for an hour and a half) on the way home, we got in at 3am. But since we finished climbing in the daylight, I figure that's not an epic. :)

Time for water sports

Went for a long windsurfing session with my brother Brendan, Dad, and Jess as the beach 10km down the road from my parents'. The wind was near-ideal. Brendan and I did most of the windsurfing, Dad did most of the advice-giving (like sons are going to listen!) and Jess was being supportive. How great is she?

Today, the family got out on our little keel boat (a Red Jacket for the sailors) and we sailed from Williamstown to Brighton and back (about 20km each way). Great weather for it: 10 knots and mostly sunny.



Brighton has these pretty little "bath houses". People used to use them to get changed, but now they're just trendy purchases for people with lots of money.

Climbing with the fam

After getting back from Cairns, Jess and I were greeted by my relatives who were here to see me (and, as it turned out, my new fiancee). I endured much cheek-pincing and "my, how you have grown"'s, but all in all, it was nice to see my extended family after such a long time.

The next day, I decided on a family-oriented climbing trip to Werribee Gorge. Did I mention the forecast was for 38 degrees? It did not disappoint. We arrived at the dry and dusty gorge all set with our picnic-ing gear, chairs, umbrella, esky, etc, and started down the track...only to find out it was a hilly 40 minute hike in the midday heat. Oops, my bad!

We actually did quite well, considering we didn't have a guidebook. I found what was 10b-ish (I'll let report what it is actually rated when I find out, I promise!) part-face, part-layback finger crack, part-off-width 28 metre climb to start off with, and my every member of my family apart from Mum had a good go. This being my family, I don't have any natural giftedness to fall back on...my siblings, and even my Dad, did almost as well as I, with far fewer sessions at Rock Oasis under their belts!

I then set up another top-rope at a 14-ish (around 5.6) climb that all my family was able to get up, even Mum. Yeah fam!

I then suprised myself by managing to get up what looked to be a tough sport lead. In the end, it must have only been around 10b, given my current state of feebleness, but it was so great to be getting back on the rock!