All right, recovery week is over. Suck it up buttercup, time to start putting in the miles out on the road. Hopefully my indoor training time will be kept to a minimum.

The snow is melting!!! It's above the freezing mark but its pouring rain. HMMM.

This weekend while sitting back and enjoying a beer I thought about where I was last year at this time. I was soaking wet covered in mud after the Uxbridge Icebreaker. 50 km of mud.

The organizers changed the date on this race for environmental reasons. Last year there was so much mud it was on the edge of doing damage to the trail systems. They figured by bumping the course to the middle of April the snow would be gone and the grown fairly dried up. Not this year boys!!! It is looking like it could be worst than last year.

This is a race designed for cross bikes because of the long sections on dirt roads. It will be interesting to see some prerace trail reports over the next two weeks. The cross bike may hang on the wall this time, if the snow level is anywhere close to what we have here we will defiantly be riding the glaciers this year and some nice fat tires might be the trick.

On other notes, the second XC Carbon will be here soon.


I'm also trying to figure out what road bike to be playing with this year.

RC8 is sweet


But I'm thinking the RC7. Love the subtle paint scheme


Less than 2 weeks and the 2008 race season starts. Wow maybe winter wasn't as long as I thought it was.

This week has been a test. Started a recovery week and everything was on track and feeling good all the way till Wednesday. Now of course I've been dealing with the issues of the new car and trying to get my ducks in a row with that.

Training was backed down and on Thursday evening I was so trashed mentally that I just curled up on the couch. Everything that could stress me out did. Way, way to many details to put down here.

It was a day of good byes. First one was old faithful.



My Subaru has been great. She was picked up tonight and heading to her new home. If you are looking for a great car that can deal with every weather condition (which we have had this year) defiantly look at this manufacture. All wheel drive is awesome!!!!

Introducing the new hotness.

There are wants and then there are needs. This filled both. Between the turbo charge 6 and the all wheel drive leading to the height adjustable suspension I'm learning now to drive again. To many buttons. Now my excuse for this car is the dog. The Molly Monster gets cold after our winter play time either skiing or hiking so it has heated rear seats for her. Yep, spoiled.

The next on the list of good byes was the Trinity.



Off to a new home of one of the Midland Tri Club members. I hope he puts more miles on it than I did. It was a great dust collector with its pretty carbon tubes.


Last goodbye was my indoor training sessions on Sunday's. It's been great having the club to train with and it's made those long hours that I needed to put in seem shorter. Thanks everyone for letting me beat the crap out of you all winter. Hope everyone is stronger on the road because of it.

The brave soles here for the last workout of the winter. Bring on the warm weather and outdoor play time.



2 weeks till the Icebreaker. Lots of snow still. Should be interesting. Back to abuse, opps I mean build week.

Later

Lots happening the last couple days that I haven't had a few minutes to do any updates. New car=lots of stress, training even though it was a recovery week. . Thank god because I probably would have lost it if I was putting in long hours. More on everything happening in the next day or two.

Suns out need to play.

Here for a long time, not a good time. That was what was bouncing around in my head this morning.

Fluids, check. Food, check. Motivation, Ummmm. It's the thought that counts right? To fill in a few blanks from yesterdays ride. I have never ever had to pee so much in my life. I'm not sure what caused it but for e3very bottle of fluids I put in I had at least 2 come out. Still drinking now and unfortunalty its not beer.

The legs were not happy being on the rollers. Actually it wasn't just my legs that didn't want to be there. An hour thirty in I said screw it. I'll take Molly Monster for a walk and then reattempt the rest of my workout.

That's when the light bulb showed up above my head. Let's go for a bit of a cruise on the snowmobile trails. Up here they are like highways in certain places.

Of course the Monster was in heaven. She goes nuts when I touch a mountain bike.

The first 15 minutes I did debate my decision and this sign was definitely how I was feeling.


Then the rhythm kicked in followed by the smile. It was sitting just a couple degrees below freezing and the sun out. Of course now where can I ride with the dog with no worries of traffic. Another light bulb.

I live on Georgian Bay and its winter. HMMMM Ice equals one really long flat trail!!

Why haven't I tried this earlier in the season?



Of course Molly is loving it. This is great base training for her since trail riding will hopefully be coming soon and she is a little out of shape.

Ice sculptures? Nope the last of the evidence of last weekends puddle jump. Crazy snowmobilers.


Miles to go

Finished my scheduled workout time. I was actually inclined to keep going but the puppy was getting tired and the call of a good home cooked dinner this afternoon had me rolling home. I'm definitely going to get a few more ice miles in before its gone. No salt to worry about out there.

Happy Easter

Later

How much snot can one person produce before dehydration kicks in. I think I found out today. It was a tempo ride today. 4 hours, two option. Stare at the laptop watching a movie or freeze my $#%^# off outside. Yep I took the second option again. Am I a sucker for punishment.

Temperature was hovering around minus 9 when I left. Yep cold. Well the start of my loop is a good mix of 12 percent plus grade climbs so I warmed up quickly. Lots of self control to keep the heartrate down.
This is the reverse route I took a couple days ago where I hit 70km and froze my brain. I'm not sure what hurt more.

From here is was on to one of my favorite training loops. The big chute loop is a 80km loop with a mix of every type of terrain and scenery.

Had to stop here for multiple reason. One was to give the feet a chance to thaw and to try and get a water bottle thawed enough to take a drink. Of course the view is amazing.

Nice empty roads.


Another thaw out stop. Gotta pick your rest stops.

Now how can you not love a route like this.

Normally this is my favorite part of the whole loop. It's a 9km section of fast rolling hills and wicked downhill turns that you can hold at 60 plus km/h. It's very easy to keep pace with cars in this section. Not today. There is so much sand on the road that the thought of leaning the bike at all scared the crap out of you. I've done my safe into second base slide for the season already.

This was one of the cleaner sections.

Whats a ride without seeing ducks!!!

4 hours and they were a hard 4 hours. Because of the temperature I came in feeling really dehydrated. My gloves are almost a solid with snot. It took 10 minutes for me to get the numbness out of my feet.

Options for tomorrow. I think the rollers are going to be the choice. Any movie recommendations?

Rain, hail, ice pellets, snow and the reminisce of St Patrick's Day pretty much made the decision on where I was going to ride today. The road was defiantly not the place.

Hope everyone had a couple pints yesterday. It was a day of recovery with treatment followed up with a few dark brown pops. I think I needed them after the pain that was inflicted on me.

After a 3.5 hour ride on Sunday my back started to tighten up. Not just a little sore but sharp pain. Monday morning things were not much better. Dr. Bill it a not so direct way reminded me what caused it. Yep the guy that nags people about how important recovery and stretching is had been dogging it a bit himself. Ya and I payed for it.

Dr. Bill riped the legs apart. Lets just say that the beer was more for pain killing than anything else.

The day after always reminds me why I get A.R.T. done. Once I got that upset stomach under control the legs felt amazing today. Lots of power in them at the gym but on the bike is where I was happy to see it. 2:10 on the rollers thanks to the Dave Matthews Band and the 2003 24 hour world solo dvd. Both great distractions.

The legs are ready for long outdoor miles. Lets hope mother nature is going to be in a good mood this spring. The mind is needing a change of scenery also.

Lots of other fun things happening but I need rest.

Later

Indoor riding sucks!!!!!! So I didn't do any today. It was the first official club ride of the season. to bad most bailed or stayed hiding in their houses this morning. An amazing temperature of plus 3. Ya I know that's still cold but it wasn't snowing or minus freeze my body part cold. Of course I was the one to send out the mass email with that great line "Are you riding or hiding"

Of course there are always a few suckers that will cave. Because of the route planned and the crazy amount of sand on the roads it was a mountain bike/cross bike
ride. My agenda had 3 plus hours along with a gym work out so any company was more than welcome. Why play alone if you don't have to.

Dr. Bill was the first to show. Awwww the revenge. All the pain that he inflicts on me, it was pay back time.



Sherrie and Karl were the only other brave souls to roll into the start. Gotta love that husband and wife riding together.

I still think that Sherrie could drop Karl if she wanted to.

It was a great mix of road and gravel, wait I mean muddy roads. The competition for the best rooster tail up the back was won by Karl.


A few little history bits that some 24 hour guys might like. Dr. Bill was involved with the organization of some of the first 24 hour of adrenaline races.
I have a vhs of Dr. Bill on the cover of the 1995 24 hours of Adrenaline. I've yet to see it, I'm getting it converted to dvd as we speak. Who has vhs anymore. Apparently it has a great interview with Ed Hunt who was the first ever 24 hour solo racer. I'm lucky enough to know this guy as he is a local gym owner. For all of you that are addicted to suffering through these events if you ever want to meet some of the culprits I'm more than happy to introduce you.


Dr. Bill can still hammer pretty good considering he doesn't get as much time to train as he would like.

As for me 3.5 hours toaday followed by the gym. Feeling good now. Tomorrow well tomorrow is tomorrow.

Later

Options for the day. Sit on the boring ass trainer and do intervals or freeze some body parts and play on the road in the the hills.

The second choice was definitely the way to go. A couple degrees below freezing but at least it was sunny. MMMMM to see that glorious sun. Maybe sitting on the deck drinking beer should have been the third option?

With just over a month before the first race it was time to get some real hills in. You really can't reproduce climbing on a trainer. The seat position, the changes in road conditions, the fact that you can see how far you still have to go!! Or worst not being able to see how long the hill really is.

Hills never get any easier you just go up them a little faster!! Yep, just keep saying that to yourself.

An hour of nice endurance pace before the real vertical begins.


Running at the 30km/h pace on cross tires staying in mid zone 3 was definitely putting a smile on my face. All those long hours on the trainer were showing up now on the road.

Still going up.

Looking back. The bottom section of this hill is at 18 percent grade. No pictures taken because I was to busy trying to keep the legs turning. A little motivation from some snowboarders that were playing on the sides of the hill had me raising the pace. Yep it hurt.

I love seeing these signs when you are at the top of the hill. I think I froze my brain coming down. What is the wind chill factor of 70km/h and minus 3 degrees Celsius?

2.5 hours of outdoor play time definitely beats the trainer any day. My toes and fingers were just starting to get mad at me as I was rolling into the driveway.


Just to let everyone in the warm areas see what we have been dealing with this winter. Ya it can melt anytime now!!!

Toy for sale. Need to make some space in the gear room.

2007 Giant Trinity A1 Time Trial bike.
Size Medium. Less than 400 km it.
Carbon top tube, seat tube and seat stays, Aluminum downtube and chainstays.
Carbon areo post and forks.
Shimano Ultegra derailers, Dura Ace shifters
FSA crank 53-39
Easton bars.
Wheels are great for training. Ultegra hubs and Mavic rims. Not the wheels shown.
Michelin Pro Race tires.

The bike is fast.
New $2600 Canadian. No scratches or nicks.

$1800 Canadian.


Need sleep.
Later.

I'm trashed after this weekends activities. Training plans got adjusted by the weather. It's strange how indoor training can be affected by outdoor weather. Another storm came riping in this weekend.

This was a great weekend of people. I had the opportunity to train with Peter Oyler this weekend.
For those that don't know him, he has won multiple endurance races including the first 24 hour of Hot August Nights and most recently RAAM. Race Across America Marathon. Ya I know, pretty sick shit.

He has a great group of athletes to teach and runs one hell of a mean session. I finished up with 3.5 hours of high intensity. Its a small world when it comes to endurance racing. I first met Peter at 24 HAN. His class was awesome and it was great to pick at his brain. Of course being
a newbie at his training session I chatted to a few. Great energy in this group.

If you are ever up in Toronto if there is space you need to come to his class. No drinking beer in this garage. Peter is also running a short course adventure race this summer. I `ll have the link up shortly.

After having the crap kicked out of me it was of to the SEX SHOW. Opps sorry, I meant the Toronto bike show. This can be the place that you get the shakes at. We were really lucky that the crazy snowstorm that was happening scared many away. No lines anywhere!! u

I`ve seen many a beautiful bikes, but the Pinerrello Prince. UMMM Ya nuf said. Can we say sex on wheels. Sorry to everyone at Blue but if I had a spare $12 000 this is the bike I would buy. I would never ride it, just stroke it and pet it. WOOOOO Wake u


The legs are feeling a little sore but in a good way.

Shut up and ride
Are you riding or are you hiding?
You might be training but your competition is.

Aww motivation. I normally don't need much but after last nights blow up trying to get myself to get on the bike this afternoon was a little tough. More so it was the snow coming down which meant cold and wet ride!!

Last night my friend asked me what happened with the ride. I had no excuse. Maybe if I had someone else there I might have grunted through it.

Today's ride was a mental ride. Strictly zone 3 on the edge of the dead zone. Now of course the wind was trying to change that but I stayed steady.

8 beats bellow and feeling good.

The temperature was just at the freezing point which kept the roads just clear enough for slicks. This ended up being a downfall later in the ride.

Great rolling hills to help keep a smile on my face.

Right after this climb is when the smile came off my face.

An hour and a half into the ride I coming down a smooth section of road hovering around the 40km mark. Right hand turn coming and I have the right of way. No oncoming traffic. SWEET!! Ya that lasted for about 3 seconds.

A urine coloured Honda minivan comes up to the stop sign. No problem. I start to make my left turn. I'm at about 26 km/h. No worries huge clear line onto the next road. Well there was. The idiot starts to edge out on me. Not just a few inches but feet. Of course I'm already committed to the turn so all I can do is change the apex.

You know where the new apex is and of course I have to try and tighten up so that I don't run into the 6 foot snowbank that is coming up quick. There is no sound that can describe what happens yet but the sounds coming out of my mouth defiantly describe the end result.

Those slicks that I was loving so much had no traction in the sand and the bike came out from under me. I average close around 10 000 km on the road every year and have never gone down. Maybe I was do.

Now the worst part was the bonehead looked back at me for a few seconds as I'm on the ground then drove away. Another car that was coming up say it all and made sure I was fine etc and made the same comments that I did about the Honda dick.


Unlike my buddy Rig Ring I will not show the damage to other body parts. My ass, upper leg and left elbow took the grunt of it. Well all told I squeezed in 50km averaging 28km/h with the hills and crash added into the time. Averaged 155bpm. Now before any swelling kicked in I managed to get to the gym. Let see how I feel tomorrow. Rest day. Think I will need it.

Crash and burn. Tried and tried and tried to stay on the bike. It wasn't happening. I got half way into my set the legs screamed "Get me the hell off the bike!!!" I swear that this is always the hardest day of the week to train.

The ramp up in weights yesterday is defiantly the cause. Now the gym time did feel good yesterday but everything feels good the day of. I think my legs have a hangover!!! To add to the dose I managed to squeeze an 1.5 hour ride in before that dam storm hit last night. That 6 foot tall snowbank in my front yard is starting to make me cringe. Melt dammit!!!

The roads were awesome yesterday. I was looking into my outdoor miles to date. I'm at 800km since mid December. Not bad considering the winter we have had. That and the fact that I'm in the snow belt in Canada where I should be on a snowmobile not a bicycle in January. Indoor hours to date, LOTS. The hamster wheel has seen alot of action

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1569125216323959688

Tomorrow is another day.

Can you feel the pain. That was Sunday. I put the tri club through there paces. It was interesting that not many showed up this week. I think there was a rumour floating around that this week things were going to hurt.

I'm back to build time, 4 hours this past Sunday. It's time to start getting those body parts used to lots of seat time. This is also the last build session that includes the gym. 3 weeks and I'm free of the ball and chain, opps I mean weights. That also means this will be the hardest session yet.

Dr. Bill liked the weight setup and once this session is done will build me that one day a week matainence program to be done at home. I just want to ride my bike.

It's March, which should be the start of warm weather. Well it's not happening here. There is another severe storm coming in this afteroon. Yep, that little rodent that said there would be an early spring lied. It will be rollers instead of roads tonight. BLAH!!!

Later

Pedal, pedal, coasts!!!!! Flash backs of being a kid. Then you get older and you stop doing the coasting part. 2.5 hours on the rollers yesterday had me craving some coasting. I've done longer sessions but anything over 2 hours no mater what you're watching starts to get a bit boring.

6 weeks out from the first race of 2008. Wow. The the first couple races are on the cross bike. Looks like it will be a trip to Georgian Cycle in the very very near future to get the CX stripped and bearing/freehub replaced.

Now I have to give some props to the crew doing the Mountainview 24 hour ski race this weekend. Stopped in in last night to cheer on the racers. That and to have a beer. Whats better than a beer at a ski race.

Conditions were rated as the best ever for this event. I raced last year and I swear we had every type of snow condition possible from super glue snow to hero snow that every ones times looked like they were going to the Olympics. When you come off a decent and up the other side of the hill and catch air. HMMM Ya that's fast. And scary!!!

There was one solo. Yep just think of skiing for 24 hours. Atleast on the bike I can sit my ass down and coast. Always standing. HMMMM NO THANKS!!!!

It's back to building this week. Time to work hard today. Lets see how many moan during today's workout. 4 hours for this guy. YAAAHHH I won't be alone at least.

Later