Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Dirty Feet ...

... Enduro in Kamloops on the agenda, recovery ride is what my legs felt like. This race was definitly low key compared to the metal but still great to attend a local event. Its a lap race; 6 hours to get in as many as you can.

Got to the venue a bit late but I quickly figured it was ok as legs didnt feel like warming up any way. Alana and I signed up for women duo and I would ride the first three to make it home before dark. They were staying another day so it worked out well.

Off the star we climbed up a double track hill and I was already on empty; would be a long three hours I thought. After the initial climb some fun flowy single track, felt like sideshaw bob but much longer and with better flow of course. Made it through the first lap and new I only had two more in me which would leave me at just over two hours.... Good thing Alana loves to ride bike :)
Each lap was a little better but with little knee aches and being very tired there was no motivating phrases I could run through my head to make my self do one more. So Alana would get more for her Money! Special deal from me today!....
Got her update and she was the superstar of the day with five laps and got us the win.

While she rode five laps I drove a slow drive back to Calgary in mostly rain. Hope the summer will consider a visit while family is here in a couple of weeks.

Happy Riding!


Saturday, June 16, 2012

Test of Metal...

...pre-ride last night with Alana and Toby was good; meaning we did not get rained on!

Not the same story today! Woke up to rain, raced in rain, and still driving in rain! Word has it the rain has not yet arrived in Kamloops :)

Rain aside this race is still a classic and with 900 happy riders on the start line and all the spectators on the course it is a great race to put on the calendar.

After a little trouble finding my start; well the right one I should say, i did finally get to the right spot after jamming my self in the 3-330 hrs blocks with the age category riders; and u have to have been there to appreciate that this was not an easy task. And only then did I hear the announcement about elites having a block up front. So a little embarrassed I asked one of the guys if I was in the wrong spot and sure enough he looks at my yellow plate and says yes, every other plate was green around me.

The start went off as soon as the Canadian National anthem was sung with no warning; so needless to point out I was a bit slow out of the block as I was still waiting for Ja, vi elsker ....
The start was crazy as it has to be with so many riders, riders from behind creating a wider lane and eventually things go wrong in front of me. Ripple effect and a few folks went down hard right in front of me. Decided then to move over to do the gutter ride and away from most trouble. It was not just crazy scary but crazy fast! The road climb up is not short so eventually I had to start letting folks just go and do my pace. I settled in a manageable pace and paid for it as we entered the trails; it felt I moved further and further back. Guys would pass finding pace to slow, then realizing it was too hard and let group go in front of them, id have to try to pass to close gap again, but passing is not my strong side so it would take a bit and I did a lot of that for the first half. Second half things felt better; the Bonk Hill climb is nice and open and you can ride your own ride, legs felt good but wasn't sure for how long we would be climbing. Chatted with a few guys and thought I had a pretty good idea. Noticed Mical far up in the distance which made me happy to realize the slower pace in the start hadn't pushed me too far back and probably saved my legs a bit too. The climb was definitly longer that I had pictured but not bad; nice for the eyes to get a break from constant dirt spraying in them as glasses were useless today for everyone Im guessing.
Got wheel contact with Mical and favorite part of day was the decents after that; all the spectators and following Mical who is technically so strong helps boost my guts level on the rooty rocky and wet stuff;
Great times and the reminder of why I love this stuff!
And the course end with some great single track; more climbing of course but some nice decent; then a ride through the park and by the time I hit the finish line I was less than 3 min off first, very surprised with how the first half felt.

Besides riding down with Mical; thanks for setting the lines, the guy at the pool with the hose was high on the favorite list too. Not just any kind of hose; hot water! And with no line I got the luxery package! So nice....

So despite weather again; great event!

Now on the road to Kamloops!

Happy Riding!



The week ...

...in between two big race weekends didnt go exactly as planned. A 30 min spin to work and a truck drop off and Toby ice cream ride was all I got in. Most of time after work was spent fixing up bike and getting it ready for the Test.

Bit of a marathon weekend in plan. Drive out Thursday night, get in to Squamish Friday, race Saturday, pack up and haul our self out to Kamloops, race 3 first hours of the Dirty feet 6 hr enduro before loading up and back to Calgary.....

Happy Riding!



Organ Grinder ...

... 5 hrs Enduro!  with the uncertainties in weather and the already pretty wet trail it was scheduled an hour later and a 4 hour race. I was ok with that. The sky looked ok and it was definitly warmer. Planned on riding steady and not too hard. Did just that. Figured 4 laps was all i could get in anyway. After three I really thought hard about pulling the plugg. The bike was in terrible shape; breaks stuck, fork rigid, gears skipping. The trail was getting worse too. But not finishing what I had set out for was not reAlly an easy thing to do for me. And with plenty of time for another round of a muddy but fun loop I headed out.

Good day all in all! Great to see so many out still after a chilly and muddy Saturday. Impressive to even get the rigs ready after what we put them through. That said; with two days of wet and mud my bike has now gone thouh a significant "clean". Wallet clean mostly. Brand new break set, rebuilt fork, new cables and chain and a little soap and water....and magically there looks like a bike ready for more action.

Jon also had a solid day and he had two of his jersies podium today! Nice work!

Test of Metal next.

Happy riding!





Saturday, June 09, 2012

If I could ...

...only keep up with this blog like some. It serves as a great training diary and already looked back to try to remember last years doings....but so many holes. So to close the hole for next years recap of this year....

Last week; not great rides but got in my first around the Glenmore reservoir ride after work one day. Spent the Friday with work at the Turner Valley golf. And if it wasn't for clubs being rented and my manager in my group of four...the clubs probably wouldn't have survived. Not my strong side. I like consistency and there was only luck at a few occasions. Won the longest putt of the day!:)

Saturday a great ride with Alana, Jeff, Steve and Ryan. We did most of the trails around Barrier and lucked  out with no major rain. 3 good climbs and an icebath attempt ...got just above the ancle for about 10 sec. Brrr

Sunday I rode Bragg Creek with Ryan and some of his friends. Perfect Sunday Toby ride. Still some good climbs so a bit more effort in than I needed but super nice day. Scouted a great trail for family when they get here...shuttle up and ride down then the lake....perfect. One day planned.

Monday site trip was exchanged with a team workshop team building event at work. Fun at the core lab and then to play bowling and minigolf; probably cant count it as exercise....Friday 18 hole did go in the book by the way..

Rest week so only road easy to and from work; and  included COP weekly race in as well. Gees..first one of the year and 3 days later and Im still coughing! Short but a killer !

Learned that the hardtail has a crack ...hence headset issues .. Waiting for new frame

Friday was spent fighting with my bike then the expresso maker...got bike working (i broke the 12mm through axle and no way to get it out...thanks Marty). Still fighting the steamer on the mocha machine.

Fading now...

Raced in the snow at Canmore today; June 9th! Not as bad as I expected at the start. Poor Erik got his shoulder dislocated in a hole I almost endoed 3 of 3 chances! The last time I was pre-occupied looking for the puddle ..and whoops ..
Alana showing the mud off below..
Felt ok; didnt push as hard as Thursday to not kill the lungs, rode mostly safe, it was cold, im now finally warmed up (930pm).

Ended day with a huge taco salad..mmm

Racing tomorrow..or not...checking forecast and decide...5hr enduro could be fun but could be cold...

Happy Riding!