Cross 2011 Eastern Ontario Series Perth

I really like racing in Perth. The course is one I like a lot. Could be a bit more technical but quite twisty with no really long straights.  A very nice little hill that gets used very well with a steep run-up and two steep climbs and a twisty fast decent !
With the Fall Back time change I had an extra hour to get ready and made good use of it. Rolled into Perth with more than an hour to get warmed up. Was a beautiful day.
Set up the tire pressure just a tad about 35 psi and went off for a warm-up lap. Course had a couple slight changes but over-all was very similar to last Perth race with the sand pit included. It was very dry and hardly even any dew on the course.
Wore my one-piece kit with a t-shirt under and was plenty warm during the race with only a bit of a chill waiting for the start.
We started on the pavement and I initially had a good spot but we got moved and I ended up caught out for a good spot on the inside. For some reason there was a lot of room on the out-side so I decided to go there knowing I usually get a good jump. I had a good start even though Bob said "We go on 3" and I didn't realize he was going to count in his head ! Even with the bad jump I was onto the course probably in the top 20 for a large field of over 120 riders.
I have been having great starts and I have not even been on the front row. Too bad my power only lasts for 1/2 a lap. Once I hit the redline it's all backwards from here... Ended up 31st of 41 for cat and 90th of 134 overall.
I think I missed being on the lead lap by about a minute which was my goal for the season, to be on the lead lap. This was before all the insulin issues arrived. Two more races left  to at least finish one race on the lead lap.
Was a bit of a crazy start and one guy cut me off 3 times, the last into a tree which I had to brake hard for and then lost about 4 spots in 2 seconds. I also lightly bumped against a tree at speed as a rider somehow went down in front of me. I think throughout the race I had to dodge about 4 other riders that lost it in front of me. Didn't cost me much time and stayed up myself so no complaints.
After I settled in a bit I ended up having a good battle with one of the younger lads and a teammate, Dom, for most of the race. Dom slowly caught me and passed me in the first two laps. I fought back and forth with Jonathan(I believe) up until near the end of the second last lap. I had passed Dom about the middle of the second last lap when he missed the turn and went wide off course. I could see he was slowing down and probably toast trying to stay in front of me and thats why he missed the turn.
The 3rd lap was an awful lap for me and my  time showed it. At one point my HR was almost down to 150 when I normally keep it close to 170(max 185). After this I was slowly feeling a bit better and I was starting to attack a bit out of the corners and then ease power up and hold as much speed as I could. I could see my HR finally creeping back up into the 160's.
It's a bit of a blur what part of the end of the race that I decided to make my move and drop the young lad that I was battling with all race. The course zig-zagged over a couple of pavement sections and this is where I made my move. We all know we roll faster on pavement so I made extra hard sprint efforts as soon as I hit the pavement and tried to get up to speed quickly knowing that it would not require that much power to maintain it here. I quickly closed the gap and passed putting in a gap. I hit every exit harder than I did on previous laps and ended up with my fasted lap of the day. If I did this every lap I would have easily made the last lap. I am hoping to apply this strategy of fast exits up to speed the next 2 races and see what happens.
The finish of the race is at the top of the hill and you hit the hill a couple times right near the end of the lap. I hammered fairly hard on the hills as I could see that Jonathan was trying hard to reel me back in and I dared not let up. Turns out we both had our fastest laps at the end. Being the carrot and chasing the carrot sure helps push yourself.

Dragging to the Finish, sadly down a lap.
Photos by Bernard Durand

Was disappointed again about my time but the last lap felt good. Sugar was a bit high at the start of the race but dropped a bit during the race. Ate lunch right away and my sugar came way down so that was good.
Stayed and watched the second race and chatted with some people during and after. Also helped take down the course. Bike is amazingly clean so only oil the chain again. Think this is a first for 2 weeks in a row....
Headed home with a nice sunny drive on the cruise!

Cheers,
Paul

Cross 2011 Eastern Ontario Series Cornwall

This season is not going well. On the way to the race I hit a pothole and damaged one of my MOMO rims on my SVX. Bent bead and caused a crack and would not hold air. Luckily I was close enough to home to limp back and swap the bike and gear into the Jimmy. By now ETA for Cornwall was 9:10 and race started at 9:00.
I decided to not try make  the first race and do the second race.
I ended up in Cornwall at 9:18 and unbeknownst too me the race hadn't started and would not start til almost 9:40. I could have raced the B race after all!
So starting the A race in my current condition I knew I would be fighting for that DFL spot. I wasn't sure if I should start at the back or try for a good start near the front. In the end I decided to try get up close to the front and have a good start as I figured this would be the highlight of my race.
3,2,1, Go! ! ! I was off and jumped into a pretty good spot. I managed to hold my position on the freight train for a few minutes and then my heart rate near maxed out and I started going backward.
I had a couple of team mates that are close to my level so I figured we would have a good fight for the race. I wasn't disappointed and did have a good battle all race long.
I was racing against Pat and Adam and because of my start I was ahead of them. I took a few glances back and saw them coming and by now I had recovered enough from my shotgun start that I was hoping that I could hold them off for a lap or two.
Near the end of the first lap I had my chain come off on the inside of the front ring and jam there. Normally I can switch to the big ring and pedal and keep going without stopping but it was not the case this time. Pat and Adam both went by me while I was calmly trying to un-jam my chain. The chase was on !
In about half a lap I caught back up to Adam but Pat had pulled a gap. Adam and I traded places a couple times a lap for the next 3 laps, once when I didn't turn in time and went off course about 75 feet.
I would see Pat about the exact same spot every lap. It was a bit frustrating to not to gain any ground but it was fun to yell at Pat every lap to slow down :)
In the mean time Adam would pass me on the two run ups and one set of barriers and I would jump past him on an inside line on a technical spot. I teased him that if would could gel as one we would be able to catch Pat.
Near the end of the second last lap I decide to make my move to get away from Adam and I jumped the rear wheel of a couple guys who passed me and held on as long as I could. I also did extra hard efforts on the 2 run ups and 1 barrier where Adam was normally eating back a chunk of time on me. I think I broke him a bit on the first run up when I think I got up and over faster than him, and there was a bit of technical sections leading up to the barriers that I think I went through fasted of the race so far.
At this point shortly after starting the last lap and giving a big dig only to see that Pat was probably outta reach and I had a good lead on Adam I decided to ease up ever so slightly.
Its too bad I dropped my chain as it would have been interesting to have been closer to Pat. It was a windy day and there were a few spots that drafting was definitely helpful and being small I get a  better draft than I give :)
In a nutshell I had o be happy with the race. It was fun battling it out and pushing hard. My sugar control turned out god and I had fun talking to a lot of people. It was such a nice day that I didn't have to wash my bike. All it needed was a chain lube.
There were a few locals out wondering about the race and I think I explained the whole cross thing to about 5 groups of people.
Another race in the books,
Cheers,
Paul

Cross 2011 Eastern Ontario Series Renfrew

Another race in the books. First race on the newest insulin regime. Looking like I am finally getting my sugar under control. Hoping that I will now be able to start training properly cause I am not happy with my performance level.
I guess I should be happy that I am able to race so trying to keep a positive attitude. My racing results are about on the level as my beginning races on the MTB a couple years ago.
It was our team Eurosports day to set up so I was up at 4:30 a.m to get to the course to help set up. I was at the course around 6:45 and it was still dark. We started set-up at 7 by looking at the map and seeing how the course was laid out. Having not done the race before makes visualizing the layout a bit difficult but it becomes more clear as you go.
We ended up farting around with one final technical section and I only ended up back at the car for 8:40. Our race was 9:00 and I like to have 45 minutes to get ready for the race. I ended up rushing around and my sugar was starting to be close to low, but still in a good range. I downed 3/4 of a Gatorade rushed with my suit and numbers. I was just topping up the tires and putting pump away when they called up for the start. I guess no pre-laps or warm up for me.
The course was fairly dry and was a cool sunny fall day. There was a lot of dew on the grass and some spots were still wet for the race making some of the off-camber sections and some corners a bit slippy. A couple of run ups had a bit of sticky mud and caused some people some grief trying to climb and clogging up their cleats in the shoe. My MTB shoes have deep tread as well as fairly large toe spikes so I had no problems. I am also used to running on my toes for sections like this which helps the toe spikes dig in as well as keeping the cleats free of mud.
There was a couple of good climbs on this course and I was wanting for more gears after the first lap. The corners and off-camber sections were a bit slippery so all in all I really enjoyed the course more than what I thought I would from looking at the set-up map. Weather was warm and sunny.
My sugar control was good for the race so I am happy about that. No crashes other than once sliding out the front wheel on one corner but got my foot down in time to make it just look awkward  :)
Stayed and watched the second race and helped take course down after.
Was a good day all in all.
Cheers,
Paul

Cross 2011 Eastern ONtario Series

Another summer has come and gone and fall is here. This means its Cyclocross season !!!
I have been looking forward to Cross season. I was hoping to be in top shape this year but as always things come up. I haven't ridden for about a month after coming off of the HAN 24 hr Solo race.
I took a week off to recover and for all the good that did I ended up with cold that lasted 2 weeks. Having just started on insulin the end of June this was the first time I was sick while on insulin. My sugar was pretty high for the two weeks and I found out this is normal in Diabetics and that you need to adjust insulin to compensate.
I was finally feeling ok a week ago but kept procrastinating and never did any riding.
I have been actually having some problems with sugar lows before I got sick and just switched to a new insulin on Friday. My sugar was pretty high again over the weekend and I am not sure how this effects my performance.
Needless to say I was a bit bummed out about going to the first race knowing that I would probably not preform that great from being sick, not riding , and switching to a new insulin, which I was told could take a week to stabilize.
My alarm was set for 5:50 and I was hoping to be on the road for 6:30 the latest. I had basically 1.5 hr drive to Calabogie for the first race and would just eat in the car. I had pretty much everything laid out the night before so I would not have to look for anything in the morning. I kept hitting the snooze and before I knew it it was 6:45. I was going to turn off the alarm and go back to bed but knowing that I would not do well meant I had no pressure and decided to just go and have fun and hopefully the race would pick my motivation back up to get back into training.
I arrived at the race about 35 minutes before the start and I knew I would probably not get to pre-ride the course. Turns out the start was a bit late and I managed to do most of the course for a warm up.
My old shoes are starting to come apart and I recently bought new shoes with new cleats. I can tell you one thing, Cross is not the place to be breaking in new cleats. On top of this after lap one my right cleat was loose and it was almost impossible to clip in. If I had any platform to stand on it would have not been that big of an issue but with only a slippery small metal pedal to support your foot made it impossible to be aggressive.
I like cross because my weakness of power gets helped out by my good technical skills along with my ability to clip back into the pedals really fast, normally ... so having the pedal problem made me ride slow in technical sections and I lost tons of time after every remount trying desperately to clip back in.
The good news is I did have fun and I have no where to go but up. Hoping to do a good week of training and be back in decent form for me.
Next week is the Madison race which is a fun two person team race alternating laps. Hoping to have Megan out for that but we will see how that goes :)
Cheers,
Paul

Sunset Series Race 6, 2011

Another year of the Sunset series is just about done. With only two races left, only two races finished and needing 4 placements to score I could not afford a DNF for this race.
Been DNF'n due to flats these days. Switched out Karma on the back to the fatter 2.1 Nev and put in a tube filled with Stans. Running the Nev 1.95 on the front.
Lined up for the race with about half the normal crowd, I guess due to holidays.
Had a decent start and felt not too bad during the climbs. Was probably the coolest day we had yet at around 25c but still humid.
Been dry around her for the pas couple weeks and I think this is the driest it's every been on the race course. I definitely prefer the wet and mud. Traction was great on the rocky sections and most of the trail but there where some very sketchy sections due to being so dry. Was like cornering on ball bearings in a couple spots.
On lap two and 3 I had to granny it on the first climb out of the start area up the mountain so I wasn't feeling quite as strong as the last two races which I was in 3rd or 4th gear on lap two, flatted before lap 3.
Otherwise I was feeling ok.
On lap 3 near the beginning I was passed by a guy I think was in my class, on a HT. I figured if I could keep him close on the climbs I might reel him back in for the decent and make a pass near the technical finish and get the win. Sadly my carrot got a flat and was not the way I wanted to beat him to the line.
So finished with no flats, mechs, or crashes and an ok time in 6th.
One race left and I need it to count for my 4 races for my totals.
Front tire was flat a couple days after the race but I had a slow leak I believe from an old patch. Will have that fixed for next race maybe with some Stans in there for insurance :)

Cheers,
Paul

2011 Sunset Series Race 4

Been looking forward to racing for a few days now. Thunder showers and up to 10 mm of rain expected for the day clearing in time for the race. Perfect conditions for me as I like it sloppy as my technical makes up more ground than the climbing motor on days like this.
Got to the hill around 1 hr and a bit before race start. Had the van today as the expected muddy bike was not something I wanted to stuff back into the sports car. Setup was pretty fast, pop on the plate and throw on the kit, top off water bottle. Took about 5 minutes. Was tossing the idea of water in the bottle so I could spray myself as I only seem to drink half the sport drink. It seemed cool enough but the sun came out and the rain went away and it started to get hot and muggy. Next race for sure, sport drink before I pull up to the start line but water and ice in the bottle on the bike.
Warmed up with a couple laps of the last part of the course. Legs felt like lead and was loosing my interest to race.
Chatted with a few guys at the start line and ended up on the second row. I got a good start as I consistently clip in fast. Was a bit tight on the first two turns with everyone bunched up. The road was freshly graveled and very smooth, for gravel. I was in the middle ring as we started to climb and had some trouble shifting down and lost a ton of places. As we turned 90 degrees up the steep climb I grabbed 5-6 places back and was onto the wheel of a few guys. Took it easy here for the next minute as we will hit a bottleneck shortly and always slow through there til the next climb which really spreads out the groups. At the first bottleneck was a few guys crashing as it was a bit slippy. Had to dismount and re-mount but actually passed two more guys.
Next up was the long set of semi steep and loose access road climbs to the final really steep technical sections to the top. I was started to stretch it out over the few guys behind me. I had a couple teammates just in site before the turn in to the technical sections but was now behind a couple of struggling guys and I lost site of them for the rest of the race.
I was now behind a couple guys on hard tails slowing me down on a faster technical section. There is a split just past a bridge and they both took the left lane and I bombed downed the right passing one and almost had the other but elected to ease up. I called for a pass and the young lad stepped on the gas only to crash in front of me. I rolled onto his bike, dismounted and jumped past him and started to pull a good gap from the kayos behind me.
For the most part I was on my own for a while, during lap 2. I had a battle with two of the ladies. One was slow technically and let me pass. Put on a good gap in the technical but I knew she was slower technically and fast on the climbs. We traded places a few more times. Another girl closed up on me just before the top and we started the technical and I looked back to let her by and I had dropped her and didn't see here any more.
On the final lap I was all alone with no guys in site ahead or behind on the first climb. At the top of the first climb there is a long switch-back and just at the last possible moment I saw thru the trees the guy that I beat by 1 sec on the last race. He was about 45 seconds behind at that point. So much for having an easy 3rd lap. I knew that he saw me and would probably be motivated to catch me so out of easy mode and hammer time. I figured I would put the hammer down for a bit so to keep him out of site, out of mind. Things were working out great and every time I looked back I didn't see anyone.
Unfortunately, thus the name Came Fortune, I managed to flat right over the top of the mountain! I was pissed. I think I rode for 5-6 minutes on the rim. I will have some filing and sanding to do. I finally conceded the fact I would not be able to stay out front riding the bike on the rear flat.
I tried to put in my spare tube but alas it was leaking around the valve stem and the tube.
On a final note about the tire combo, Nev 1.95F/2.0 Karma R. I find this a pretty good combo for racing. I forgot my good tire gauge at home so used one on pump. As I knew Fortune is quite rough compared to Albion I added a bit of pressure for the race, up to about 30/30psi.
We had rain off and on all day with semi heavy rain from the storms but it had stopped and the roads were dry on the way up to the race. The course was basically perfect. No dust and not much water or mud except where it had puddled.
I found the front really felt good with very controlled sliding on the odd times it occurred. The rear spun a bit in the odd spot but was otherwise very good and I was still able to clear all sections.
On lap 2 I almost stalled, spinning, on a bit of a steep rocky section as they were starting to be covered with a thin layer of mud/sand/soil. On the 3rd lap on the sections I had problems with I paid more attention and cleared most sections really well. So I'd have to say I am very happy with the race setup. With a front tire of about 550g and a sub 400g rear I had overall great traction and what felt like a fast rolling tire setup. And also I think you can't always blame the tire for poor traction, there for sure is rider error in there :)
3 races to go and need 2 more finishes. Lets hope for no more flats. Getto tubless is looking like an option :)

Cheers,
Paul

Clarence−Rockland Classic 2011

First race for 2011 under the belt.
The course was pretty wet til the week before the race when we finally got some nice weather, which continued right up until 1 hr after the race was over. Perfect.

I broke my rear derailleur the week before on a similar race pre-ride. I used an old XT MTB derailleur with a new chain. I didn't want to break the chain because I was thinking of using this newer one on my MTB and swapping over a slightly used one onto my cross bike. Here is a pick with the worst chain slack gearing. I figured I would never be totally crossed in this gear anyhow so was not worried. Shifting worked close to flawlessly. Had no MechanicalsPunctures so this is always a plus.


While I had been training over the winter I never seem to get as much time on the bike as planned, but I did do more than I have ever done. Been starting to wind it up over the last 2 weeks. Hopefully I will peak for Summer Solstice Tag and Hot August Nights Solo. On the plus side I am definitely improving altho a bit slower than I hoped:)

My mood was good before the race, chatting it up with some of the guys. I knew I would not be in the front group and that I should not have any problems beating my time last year which was my only real goal for this race.

As per usual the race started off pretty fast with a big climb in the first km splitting the peloton into several smaller groups. I was feeling pretty good and was in a chase group that seemed to be closing in on a larger group. I was with a couple of team mates, but a couple other team mates I was hoping to ride with were fading a bit from the group I was in.
I had a hat on under my helmet which was fine in the warm up when the sun disappeared for a short while but 10 minutes into the race I had to take it off. So while trying to take my hat off I managed to drop my sunglasses so had to stop and lost the chase group I was with. My guys I had intended to ride with where not far behind so I elected to sit up and ride with them.
I was with David Wright now and we had a couple others with us but soon we were on our own. Not sure when but guessing 1 hr in we picked up a couple Kingston boys and Ian. We started working really well together. We had hammerfests on the pavement with each doing hard pulls and a very good rotation going. It was about this time that my knee was starting to bother me.
I think around the second hour we lost Ian when he stopped to help someone. So our group was down to 4. We were going along well and we picked up a few stragglers but none could hang on with us long and we spit them out the back. My knee was in a world of hurt and both legs felt like they were about to cramp up. The worse was easing up after a pull on the front when I could start to feel the muscle ball up a bit.
There was a climb near the end of the race I was thinking of attacking this small group I was in, just for fun :) My knee was hurting very badly at this point and if I got out of the saddle I felt knots starting in both legs. Otherwise I felt like I had a bit left to go. David was getting stronger as the race went so I was not sure I could hold him off if I went so I elected to stay with the group.
With the last 6 kms to go David spotted a few people ahead he wanted to catch. I was on his wheel when we made a 90 degree turn and David started to put the hammer down. We traded off pulls but I think Davids were longer than mine. We started to gap the Kingston boys and we reeled a few more people in and we caught Brian McPherson 100 meters from the line, who was David's target :).
I had fully intended to cross the line side by side with David as I had a great ride with him. Brian had other plans and rode by us right between us. I looked over at David and he didn't react. He had said he wasn't going to sprint for 100th place earlier haha. With the line coming up fast I decided to try take the line over Brian as I still felt good. With not much real-estate left I put the hammer down and made the pass. Beat Brian by .6 of a second with David 1.74 seconds behind him.
In retrospect maybe I should have kept the hammer down and hopefully would have towed my teammate in in front of Brian. Well it was fun and thats what its all about.
After the race my knee was quite sore and I hobbled around for the rest of the day and it was pretty stiff the next day. This happened the previous two Sundays but each time I seem to be less sore and recover sooner.
In summery it was a great race. I improved close to 30 minutes over last year. Next year I should make the sub 3hr mark and for now that will be my goal for next year.

Results
http://www.ridewithrendall.com/race-results-2011-crc/

Cheers,
Paul

Week 16 of 16 Coaching

It's a wrap. My first time with a coach and just finished my first coaching session. It was a 16 week program that started shortly after Cx season finished so was perfect timing.

How did it go?

Well it went pretty good. I improved about 10%.

While this doesn't seem like much the first half of the training I did only 1 other training session a week because I was busy getting ready for Christmas. Then over the holidays I got a nasty bug that kept me in bed and out of work for a week. Lost 5 pounds and was feeling pretty crappy for about 3 weeks after this. I ended up missing a couple of weeks of the program right after the Christmas brake.

I figure I lost the first half of the training program due to this nasty bug. I figure most of my improvement was done in the last 6 weeks so the 10% for 6 weeks seems good.

There are about 8 weeks til the season starts and I am optimistic I can add close to 10% more power in this time. I have finally dedicated 10 hrs a week to training, will have a coach set program and a power meter to train by.

If I can get that next 10% I will be pretty happy with my LT numbers.

Cheers,

Paul

PowerTap

I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a power meter. Its a PowerTap PRO+. Wireless and with HR. I am hoping that it will give me the motivation to train more and harder and more precisely.

I am hoping to get it for the weekend of the 19th-20th Mar. The hub is actually already in at the shop. It took me 2 weeks to decide on rim/wheel combination and the extra $ along with it otherwise I would probably have it right now.

So the wheels have been ordered, RHUS Elements I believe. Not too sure on all the details except they should be 500g lighter than my current wheels and I will be able to use them for cross and road. I trusted Mike on picking the wheels :) Looking forward to the surprise.

Because the rims come in a set I will be getting a matching front wheel. A little more than I wanted to spend but still a steal of a deal for the wheel set.

The timing is working out perfect as next week is week 16 of 16 of my coaching session at the shop. I have already planned on starting a training program with my coach , Jim Glover. http://www.peakperformancecoaching.ca/html/jim_glover.html

The great thing about using a power meter such as a PowerTap is that it is easy to make a training plan that is easy to follow with power and it is also easy to e-mail training sessions to the coach for analysis.

I won't babble to much about it today, but rather keep an up to date log of how it all works out.

Till next time,

Cheers,

Paul

Week 15 of 16 Coaching Session.

Another great, but extremely tough, coaching session has come and gone. I'd have to say this is the toughest sessions thus far. We did sort of a race type simulation for 1:45 plus the usual 15/15 warm up and cool down.

The session consisted of some LT and VO2 for some climbing with some 10 and 20 second max efforts at the top for the first bit. Then we did some sorter LT sections followed immediately by some short anaerobic to max downhill efforts which required some leg speed to keep the power on.

Things get a bit blurry after this as I went from felling great to feeling really faint after these efforts. We had some more sessions with LT then 20 sec Max effort.

After this I was thinking it was over but then we had some rolling hills and back to LT and VO2 max if I remember correctly.

The last minute or so was like a hill top finish that got steeper and steeper. I managed to recover enough to give the last 7 or 8 minutes a decent effort and finish the climb of 20-30 seconds in the 300-400 watt range :)

I can see that the training is definitely improving my performance. My average wattage was above my 1 hr LT by 4 watts and this was over 1:45 minutes.

Next week is the last week in our 16 week session.

The gang is looking for an extension month by month and I told them I was in for that.

All in all was a very tough session.

Winter Blues

Once again been neglecting the Blog. Been a tough few months health wise. This cold crappy weather had my motivation in a deep freeze but I am finally thawing out :)

At any rate been training more than I have ever before. Currently have been doing a 16 week coaching session. Getting near the end but the whole gang is hoping to add 4 weeks as I think we only have 3 weeks left.

I pulled the trigger on a power meter and it should be in this week. Have to decide which wheel to build it in. I am hoping the meter will allow me to optimism my training as I think it will be a struggle this year to get more than 8-12 hours of training/racing a week.

I did a tough week last week so this week I took it a bit easy after Tuesdays training session to recover. Planning a two hr roller session shortly.

Also picked up a special usb cable to charge my MP3 player so will be working on some playlists for training and up coming 24 hour events.

Hoping to pic up a portable camera tomorrow so I will be able to take more pics:)

Cheers

Paul