I'm weak willed

I just couldn't help myself. I fought off the craving until the last minute then caved. Nope not on training or racing. On a stupid toy that I really didn't need. Dam salespeople.

So here is the story. My cell phone is pretty much attached to me like glue and I have been seen with this growth attached to my right ear (bluetooth). Ya I'm one of those people. I do have a good reason to though. I do own a service company that has the office phones off the hook and my cell almost as much. No I don't talk on my bluetooth while standing in lines or while at a checkout. That's just rude.

Anyways, my phone has been acting up for a while. I guess dropping it fairly often doesn't help. So I hit up rogers last night on a mission, I did my research online and new what I was going to get. "Sold out, your kidding me, what else you got??" These came out of my mouth about 15 minutes after I saw and friend buying something that I bugged him about. "It's a phone Dave not a video game"

So what did I end up with. Nope not a crackberry, came close. I have a new Iphone. I'm weak willed on a Friday night when I'm hungry. The bastards sensed it and jumped in for the kill. For those that don't know I own a major appliance service, I'm the Maytag Man, among other manufactures. So being in service I always tell customers to research things first and not fall pray to salesman. Ya, exactly!! I will say that the phone is pretty cool and is a better choice than what I was looking at.

On the training front, my sister is down for the weekend and were off xc skiing this afternoon at Mountainview. Some skate and classic miles to be put in. Fresh snow last night will mean some good groomed trails today. Photos to come, right now it's food. I'm feeling weak.

Later

TV doesn't always suck

The last few days have been pretty mellow, training, work etc. Legs are a little tired after the last workout but I'm seeing improvements in power. The wattage trainer has been a great training tool this year. I'll be doing a power test in just over a week to see where I am at.

There will be something good on tv this weekend. Ok more on the computer. World cyclocross championships are happening and we are all hoping to catch a glimpse of Kyle in the U23 sporting the Canadian colours. I know they are showing the race on Cycling TV. I'll be looking for a link on the web or will be hitting up Jeremy for a spot on the couch for the show.

Later.

little indoors a little outdoors

Had a great hour and a half snowshoe with the Monday Night Something crew last night. This week was an adventure in Midhurst forest. We headed out from the county of Simcoe building. Now one strange thing that happened on Monday had nothing really to do with snowshoeing. It was the parking lot. The Molly Monster was the first to find it.

Molly is a bit of a drama queen but she is still on of the best training partners around. I let her of the car as everyone got prepped for the snowshoe and she started to walk a little funny. It first I didn't think much of it. Andrew let Starbuck out and no more than 30 seconds she started to whimper and hold up feet.

The township building had so much salt down in there parking lot that it was burning the dogs feet. A quick prep and the dogs were up on the snowbanks till everyone was ready. Interesting that they had so much salt down when not really needed. A few conspiracy theories popped into my head.

Anyways, it was good to get out and get a bit of fresh air back in the lungs. I need it since it was back on the trainer tonight with a few intervals and a bit of technique work. the great thing with all this indoor riding is I have been playing with bar, brake, shifter and grip position on the Anthem and I am pretty much happy with where everything is now. I have yet to set up the second bike.

I received an email today that called me on the road trip idea. Looks like I better get my passport info mailed off. I forgot that I now need it to cross the U.S. boarder and after hearing some of the fun Jacob went through I want to make sure I have everything in check. I don't think I look like a shady person but just in case I happen to go on a bender the night before the trip.

making things a little easier

My buddy Neil just sent me a link to his latest creation. For anyone that has been to any race in Ontario you know who he his. Yep that guy with the video camera strapped on and a CadenceXC jersey.

Well Neil has taken things to the next level. We all know how boring sitting on the trainer can be. Yesterday's 3 hour session was a mix of Dennis Leary dvd's and a mtb bike movie. Well check out this site

Once you have signed in there are videos of different races from mountain biking to adventure racing to running. Now what makes this different that this is an interactive site and YOU!! can upload your videos onto the site for others to watch and train to. Another good perk would be getting a preview of a race before you sign up.

I've been a fan of the CadenceXC videos for a while, with 3 feet of snow out sign even seeing dirt on tv is a good thing.

Check out the site, post some videos, we still have 2 more months of indoor riding. This makes it just a little easier to deal with.

Later

little this little that

I've now been trapped indoor riding for the last 2 weeks and haven't been on my skis almost as long. Am I getting cabin fever? Am I going to start chopping through doors with an axe?

I can now see why he snapped. Last weeks snowshoe is probably what is keeping me from going over the edge. Right now I'm trying to get myself jacked up on coffee for motivation to do my 3 hour INDOOR ride today. I'm supposed to make the workout simulate hills. Ya this is going to be boring because there is no coasting on the other side of a trainer hill.

I did attempt to break my house isolation with a trip to Chapters yesterday and came across this.

I'm always looking for more ways to keep my body from becoming a pretzel. There are lots of pictures, I like picture books, and descriptions of the poses along with some basic routines. The bonus is the dvd in the back which I am yet to watch.

On other news front the Mountainview Cycling Club elections were held. With the thoughts of world domination we now have two family's running the show. Hmmmm I think we might have a little mafia action starting in Midland cycling community. Thomas Wood will continue with what he started by leading the MCC again this year but we also have the Brewer camp joined into the mix.

Thomas Wood President

Greg Brewer Vice President

Erin Wood Secretary

Angela Brewer Treasurer

This group will either lead us to great things with their leadership skills or by killing off the fastest racers from other teams and burying them somewhere in the back 40 of Mountainview. If you have ever met Greg you should be afraid, very afraid. He has broken two crank arms on spin bikes. Ya, I know, how did he do it? I think breaking bones of skinny cyclists will be easy for him.

Time to stare out the window and daydream about climbing hills, mountains, rainbows, stacks of french fries. Get up and ride.

Later

projectile vomiting, almost

After a nice sweet enjoyable workout last night with the MCC it was back to inflicting pain on myself. I really wonder if there is a local group that might help me with this. Last nights workout was hard but compared to tonight's it really was a cruise.

Tonight was hill intervals with 10 x 2 minutes at 400 watts with 3 minutes rest between sets. Now while my buddy Andrew dreams about pancakes during his workouts (food fetish??) I was focused on keeping everything that was in my stomach where it should be. The legs felt good but the last 2 reps were brutal. Recovery was at 180 watts and I basically had my upper keeled over the handle bars during the rest sections.At least I didn't fall to the ground when I got off the bike.

I've been using one of the Anthem X's on the trainer. Trying to get used to the new positioning. Things are a little more upright on this bike over the Blue from last year and my NRS. Of course the Molly Monster is staring at me wanting to play. She knows the bikes all to well and thinks we are going for a trail ride every time one of the mountain bikes are even touched. I am in some serious need of dirt and singletrack. Road trip????? Any suggestions????

Bring the Pain

I thought about it. Last night was the first indoor training session for the Mountainview Cycling Club. After the thrills and excitement of Sunday's snowshoe they still wanted me to plan it out. Of course I had to promise that there were NO lake crossings. Even though everyone was on their trainers I think they still kept looking around and waited for me to say "we have to go this way, trust me it's safe"

The first workout was pretty sane and was more to see where everyone was at. We did get a chance to watch Lee ride the rollers the same way he does on the trails. Full speed, balls to the wall with no brakes. Ya, Lee crashes a lot and he is the first to admit it. He also happens to be the fastest rider in the club being the current senior expert provincial champion. One more reason that MCC is building for world domination. Watch out Lance we may start racing road!!!

I'm going through outdoor riding with drawl right now and looking at the long term weather I don't see any coasting in the near future. Lots of snow then when the wonderful sun comes back 9haven't seen it much lately) minus 22 temperatures are going to keep me on the trainer.

One thing that is taken care off is Summer Solstice registration. The focus! Anyone interested in racing may want to get off your butt and sign up since I've heard that space is selling out quickly. Largest 24 hour race in North America and it's usually sold out 3 months before the event.

With Solstice on my mind it will help me get through tonight's workout. More on that later.

Blah, Blah, Blah

Slothing for the evening. Even my brain is dead weight. New and exciting things tomorrow. The MCC crew is back for more abuse and this time it includes bikes.

Later

MCC Death March

The Mountainview Cycling Club is up and at it again. After the close to world domination last year. Ok, we were 6th overall but our team is half the size of the other. Well it was time to move us up a few spots and start training.

For the first outing we had great numbers, as long as no one else on the team reads this there will be more next time. We met at McCrae Lake parking lot. The plan was around a 3 hour snowshoe. Good plan.

McCrae is in my backyard so I became the tour guide. I think they may think about this more the next time. We headed out to the Crow's nest looking like the chain gang.

This is a pretty mellow trail section and very popular. At times there are almost stop lights needed. Kept a good pace going for an hour and a half before a quick refueling. Tip to Lee, dogs will swarm the person closest to the ground.

This is when the fun began. We left the main trail to hit the back country on route to the rapids. Directions were kept by "yep the lake is still on our left" We smashed through 2 plus feet of powder till we came to an important crossing. Aww let me be more specific.

Lake crossing!!!! There were two reasons for this spot. The first was to continue on this side of the shoreline there were two large bay's that we would have to go around and the second was that I knew there was a huge rock shelf were the water was only about a foot deep. There were also a few people ice fishing at the mid point.

This is a picture of the speed death march pace after I put my foot through the ice. Now to settle the nerves of everyone. I touched bottom, about 6 inches down. I was far from panicked but of course a few people got a little nervous. This was were the ice fishing people were great to say the ice is safe and showed everyone the big chunk that they pulled out that was 2 feet thick. I knew exactly where i was, now of course that makes me look a little bad the fact that I walked right where I knew the ice might be a little thin. Let's just say that I was happy to have my gor-tex shoes on.

We continued to push along back on the mainland to our final destination.

20 minutes far here we were back at the cars. The high light of the day was the two large pots of chili that Cindy made and were warming back at my place. Thanks to Cindy and Dale for the idea of the snowshoe and food day.

Stories were told by the fire and nerves were calmed with a beer and wine. Aww what a way to finish a workout.

It's round two tonight with the Monday Night Something crew. More on that tomorrow. Now it's back to the real world for 8 hours or so.

Inspiring movies.

Last night I went to the Banff Film Festival Tour. Talk about amazing. No, I didn't fly to Banff on the Ford company jet. It was on loan. This is a tour that shows clips of the best films from the 2 week long festival held in the fall. Yep, amazing.

This was my first time seeing this and I'll be back for sure next year. I'm even thinking about going to see the big event. Like anyone needs a reason to go to Banff. Anyone who has not heard of this event but rides bike has heard of 24 Solo. This came from the Festival a couple years back.

This year the feature film was Red Gold, an environmental documentary on a copper mining company trying to move into a spot in Alaska. The problem with this was this particular spot is the starting point for the largest Salmon fisheries. Really makes you think about needs and wants.

There were a couple climbing movies, one called The Sharp End caught my attention. Great story line and amazing climbing. It does bring out the lighter side of the climbers.

The final film comes from the Canada's own west coast and one of the most amazing people to watch. Ryan Leech takes things to another level again. Every film played was awesome and how often do you hear every person in the theatre cheer or gasp in sequence. If you have a chance to go, go. Tip, buy tickets early as this normally sells out fast.

Back to the real world.

Trapped indoors

Southern Ontario just got hit with a deep freeze. Went from minus 3 this morning to minus 18 here and dropping like a rock every hour. They are calling for temperatures close to minus 30 not including the windchill. That means no outdoor play for me. I'm brave not stupid. The skis are hanging up for a few days but the timing was right because Heather has me doing some very specific workouts over the next 5 days.

So since I'm trapped indoors I figured that it was a great time to put my 2009 race schedule together. A few changes from the last couple years.

First race which has always been the Uxbridge Icebreaker may not happen. I think this will be a last minute go. With the snow we have right now if the course is anything close to what it was last year I'll be skipping the race. It was more of a cross race but the decision is based more around knee strain. Oh ya running is stupid. Looks like the date has been moved to April 5th.

Next up Paris to Ancaster. Gotta do it. Looks fun. Then comes the first O-Cup at Mansfield. I'll be lining up in the Expert 19-29. Yep having my mid life crisis early. It's also the only way to move to elite. Yep it's going to hurt. Albion O-Cup is next.

First endurance race is the Spring 8 hour. For a change I'm racing Tag with Dr. Bill. Will be a fun change. Canada Cup is the next weekend then Boler O-cup the weekend after that. All this are warm ups for the big event of the year at this point. Summer Solstice will be done solo again. I've started working on my anti rain dance already.

It's a little crazy for that month in a half. but I'll have a couple weeks of sanity till Buckwallow O-Cup and Mountainview O-Cup. The only event not setup yet is the Mountainview 9 hour. Thomas when???? I need to regain my title. Mr. Summers are you there?? This is the big factor into what happens for Hot August Nights. Tag team or 10 person. Ya, big difference.

That also factors in on whether or not I do Provincial Championships. The only other event on my interest list is Paul's Dirty Enduro. There are a few races in the northern states in September that are options but I'll get to that once the time comes. It is 9 months away.

Should be another great year of playng in the dirt. If it warms up and melts all this snow. Till then.

Energy to burn

Since the little fur ball evaded me again I needed to find something productive to do with all my energy. Temperature finally got above the "Holly $#%+ is't cold" to bare able minus 10 in the afternoon so I loaded up a dog and skis and headed here.

I'm pretty lucky to have 4 great places to ski all within 20 minutes of my house. The Wye Marsh have really done a great job this year with their grooming and trails.

They have one track set and then flat pack the rest of the trail. There are many sections that narrow up including here. I think this is what you might call the single track of XC skiing.

I haven't been on my classic skis since Christmas and my brother-in-law's team obligation but the legs felt great and I kept the heart rate in the happy place. I swear at every turn I was still expected to see Rick standing there. Those images just won't leave.

One of the perks of the Wye is the scenery. It is a outdoor wildlife center

By the time I got back to the car I totaled 22km and 2 hours of movement. I also had a sane tired dog. Both make me happy.

Today is movies and the rollers. What to watch, what to watch. Rad? Maybe so.

random thoughts with not enough coffee

It's 8:30 am and I'm stuck inside. Why? Because of this.

Yep that's minus 25c. I love winter, I have gear like you wouldn't believe to be out playing in it and used to teach skiing in it. Screw that I have a choice. So since I'm going to wait for things to warm up I started to clean the house.

I love animals, hell the Molly Monster is my favorite training partner. I even bought her a car that had heated rear seats. That's what I tell myself. Well this morning I had the temptations starting already. It's only January and the college prank ideas are already starting. Meet Oakley.

This white blob that can out shed any animal. Snakes shed their skin twice a year, she drops a new cat every night. This came out of her after only a few brushes with a comb.

At least in the summer she is out killing her next meal and saving me money on cat food but right now these are the thoughts I'm having.

He looks happy doesn't he. No hairballs to worry about. It's not like she needs her fur right now, the house is warm and she loves to sleep by the fireplace. Maybe another cup of coffee will control my urges to grab the clippers.

Over the last few years I've attempted to do it but her ninja like stealth skills have kept her safe. Time for more coffee

Here kitty, kitty, kitty.

Not much exciting happening in my world right now. Training is pretty mellow this week which worked out well with the first few days back at work. Of course things are nuts in my day to day world. For anyone who still hasn't decided on what they want to be when they grow up, look into a trade. All parts of the industry are in major trouble with the lack of new people coming in versus the amount retiring.

ON the topic of labour, reno's in the house are coming along. Master bedroom is in the attic now and is coming along quickly. Obviously there is time criterium on getting this done. Once Heather cracks the whip with the longer workouts I need to be ready.

Legs are feeling pretty good and the rest of the body doesn't feel like a pretzel for the time being.

That's it, it's January what do you expect???

bend me, stretch me.

Work and play have collided at full speed. After 2 weeks of holidays it was time to turn the work brain back on. Yes there were vast amounts of coffee used. Awww sweet coffee.

Added into the regular routine in treatment from Dr. Bill. Why is it that the people you ask to help you seem to hurt you. Is it love?? Or is it that they know you will shut up and take what ever they give.

Dr. Bill strapped me into this and left me for dead.


Opps wrong one. That's my fun machine.


This is to help take some strain of my back. Spinal decompression. I did this all winter last year and it really helped counter all the abuse I put on it once in the trails. I used to be 6 foot 2 but with the pounding from the hard tail has me some where around this height of these guys.

Time for another day of play. Have to pay for all the time off.

shut up and pedal

It's that time again. Pedal for miles and miles and not get anywhere. Today was a base day and I pulled out the rollers. The rollers are love/hate. Actually I love the rollers until I fall off. Doesn't happen to often but I have sprained a wrist once when I slammed into the couch. A good tip that I learned from that. Watching an Mount Everest documentary on a five foot screen when they are panning across the mountain is a bad thing. Yep my head followed and so did the bike.

Today was smooth with no burnt rubber smell of a fast stopping tire. I've found that the rollers are the best way to check the body alignment also. Ride no hands and see what the bike does. If it tips a bit you are outta whack. Cyro or massage time. I didn't want to let go to much this ride with nearly two weeks since my last visit with Dr. Bill. I swear I would be walking in a circle if it wasn't for him.

Anyways, back to the ride. To keep me motivated and not looking at the clock I through on old faithful.

Seems to get me moving every time. Followed that up with dvd from this guy.


cadencexc.com


Neil has been making videos of all the Ontario races now for a couple years. He includes a lap of the course from his view. It's cool to watch. Of course Neil has been told by many that he huff and puffs a lot. I guess having a 2 pound camera on your head is a lot of extra work. Check out his collection. If we can't ride single track for at least a couple more months seeing what it looks like helps

Well the ramp test showed what a couple weeks off can do. Well it's time to have that result go the other way.

My training program has been altered a little bit.Because you're only as strong as your weakest link and mine being my knees the original wattage works out will pretty much destroy me. My fantastic coach has made some adjustments and I'm feeling a relieved and like the new schedule. I think there will be some big improvements made with it.

I had a bit of a free day today so my OCD dog hinted me. Ya that means she paced around in front of me every 15 minutes until I stopped what I was doing and grabbed my skis. Walking with a Weimeriner is pretty much a waste of time if you are planning on tiring them out. Remember that the Molly Monster has done 3.5 hour trail rides with me in the summer and still wanted more.

Got to Mountainview around 1 and did a nice 13km loop. Unfortunately the glide on my skate skis was pretty much non existent. It was still a good workout for where my legs were at. Molly is still looking at me and you can see it in her eyes. Can we go again???? Please Please Please. Did I mention her OCD. She is cute though and still tops the scale as my best training partner.

finished to start another

Another fun year. This was definitely a mixed year for me with a lot of highs and lows Overall I had fun and still pulled out a couple good results. Had a few things about my body that I learned this season.

First off have to thank all my sponsors that put up with me this season. It was a change racing on a hard tail again and it became a love hate relationship with my bike. Some days it loved me other days it raped me like a $*^@$#.

I also found out some wonderful things with my stomach and it took a few months for it to show me the root cause. No cheese for me. A had a couple real problems with sever cramping that took me out of races. Well considering some of the food I would eat which has always worked in the past are no longer tolerable for my lactose intolerant stomach. I miss Ice Cream!!!

On the good side of things. I finished on the podium 5 times. It was also my first year racing the Ontario Cup series along with my first Cyclecross race. I'm back at the O-cup for 09. I also dnf'd as 4 as a gentleman from Misfit keeps reminding me. I'm trying to be nice Peter. I also lost my title at the Mountainview 9 Hour to one of Peter's riders.

Made a few mistakes this year the biggest was doing way to many races. That is changing for the 2009 season. I still have a busy race season planned but I'm being a little saner on all the endurance races.

Favorite course for the year was the 24 hours of Hot August Night's

Least favorite was the Uxbridge Icebreaker. It was a running race this year. Record snow during the winter left huge sections unridable.

Favorite moment during a 24 hour event, hammering out the first lap at Hot August Nights.

Worst. 2:30 in the morning on the other side of Sugar Shack, with help got moving again just be told to stop to save my knees. Was in 4th place at that point. That carried on my shoulders for a long time.

Best change for the season. The new house

Best addition to my training. Andrew Parry, new training partner. Keep your friends close and your competition closer.


The big plans for 2009.

Summer Solstice solo, Hot August Nights will either see me on a tag team and try to take a place or two higher than my 2 third place finishes or there are talks on a fast 10 person team. That is still to be decided.

Ontario Cup has me racing with the Senior Experts this year. Yep, going to be racing with guys 10-15 years younger than me. I'll also be hitting more O-cups this year and also the Canada Cup at Hardwood Hills.

As for 8 hour races. Mansfield will be a Tag Team with my Physio. Dr Bill is ramping up for his first 8 hour solo and I'll be working for Solstice. There will be a different approach to this race. The other main race will be Mountainview with hopes to regain my title. Mr. Summers if you're reading this. It was a great battle this year till my stomach went nuts.

I'm also going to try and update more often, daily is the plan.

It's test day and the start to the 2009 race season. Time to play