PEI

Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm a busy man here on PEI. I find most of my time is allotted into 2 hour increments. 2 hours here, then move on to do something else for another 2 hours attempting to see everyone and to to everything PEI has to offer in a week. Getting everything done is tough as I'm still on BC time and I cant seem to get up before noon and I lie in bed rolling around until 4 am. Pain in the ass.

These short 5 days that I've been on PEI have made my summer. The weather has been unbelievably great and the people I've been hanging out with have lightened my mood from an horribly postured consistently grumpy road cyclist, into a happy sunburned islander once again.



The beauty about coming to PEI for a week is that you get all the feelings of being in the party for a week, minus the hangover that takes over once you realize there is nothing to do after you've been there for more than a week. Its great.

(Eric..my long lost SS buddy, drinking buddy, and general best guy I know)

(..and his wagon of death)


Riding has been great as well. I got out for the first single speed ride of the year, and it was pretty killer. Its crazy how my body has changed from years past. I cant power over everything as I once did, but now have to finesse and plan the climbs and trails as my body has shed 15lbs of bulk that came in handy during SS rides. I imagine that will change once I get back from Guadeloupe and there is a steady flow of beer in my veins.



The flights were decent coming back. I got a big surprise from the airline as they dinged me pretty hard coming back form BC. The past 3 flights to take a bike on a plane the price was $40..$40...free...then BAM this time it was $110! Holy Crap. You cant really do anything about it either...your not going to leave your stuff there. This hits hard when you live with only a couple hundred bucks in your bank account at a time. I didn't know if I could afford StarBucks by the end of it. Its like Gambleling



So yeah. Lots of fun has been happening. I had a pretty intense weekend of island riding and festivities. I wanted to see all the old loops I did as a youngin' on the roadie so packed in a pretty solid death march of a 5 hour 160km ride over the best roads PEI has to offer, then went home and had a nap. Once I woke I promptly went to the WINDOME EARLE show that night and danced until the wee hours of the morning. I haven't been able to see those guys since last year and they prove to consistently be the best dance show going. I got to see pretty much everyone of my old buds as well which was very refreshing.



The next day the legs were pretty cooked for another 4 hour ride. But I went out with a great group of guys and chatted in the sun and saw some more killer PEI Roads. Yee haw.

(Heat training for Guadeloupe. 30 degrees in winter arm warmers, base layers, and roadie caps. I could only do this for a couple rides before my kidneys started to hurt)


Now my mind has to shift as I fly out to Gualdeloupe in a day or so. My luggage is still strewn out all over the floor which means I have minimal packing. Hah.

In the Suitcase

(Black Helmet)
Its only 11am and I'm already an hour behind schedule. Today is packing day as I leave for the Isle of the Red Dirt tomorrow. Honestly I cant wait. SuperWeek went decent for my first one, but was some hard hard hard racing. Nothing I couldn't seem to handle, but it was definitely hard on both the mind and the body.

The worst part about stage racing is that you mind can never get a break. Your constantly thinking about the race. Over 10 days it wears on you. Stage racing also takes place at odd hours. For 3 days you'll race Crits at 8-9:30pm, then drive home...arrive at 10:30, eat a big meal for the race the next day. Then you go to sleep around 11pm, but have to get up at 5am for a race at 8am.

The thing about racing Crits so late is that I find it super hard to sleep afterword. I'm so jacked from the adrenaline that I just roll around in bed all night. Everything is quiet and your trying so hard to fall asleep because you have to recover and get up the next day at 5, but you can hear your heart pumping like a madman in your ears. Its pretty annoying.

The Tour de White Rock Crit went well. Its was a 60km Crit with a 400m climb in the middle of each lap. This means we basically climbed the hill 60 times at 50km/h. After awhile it wears on you. I was pretty impressed with my Crit riding. I was up at the front and held my own, and stayed out of trouble. No crashes and finished 33rd. About half the pack didn't finish.

That night we got home late again and I couldn't sleep. I went into the White Rock road race the next day knowing I didn't recover very well. I was told it was going to be one of the hardest races all year with 2 climbs per lap of different grades and world class field.



Right off the gun on the first lap the pack split in 2. I was far back and caught myself in the second group. I kind of panicked and went up front to help to pull it back. I burned way too many matches during that time, but the front group ended up re-grouping.

So the race went on. Lap after lap guys fell off the back and because I knew I want climbing strong my priorities shifted into just conserving and staying efficient. The heat picked up too and it became a race of attrition for the 140km.

Honestly that race was the only race I sincerely wanted to DNF all year. I was hurting so bad. It was like racing with the worst hang over. To make matters worse the feedzone was in the hardest part of the climb so it made getting water tricky because guys would always attack at that spot. If you missed the split you were off the back.

So I just grinned and tried to hang on. Its tough staying in a race where you feel like shit and you know your not riding like yourself and guys are constantly just pulling oer to the side and stopping. Its so easy. In 1 second you can go from being in extreme pain to having a nice cold bottle of water..sit in the grass..chill out. Its that easy. The problem with that is it becomes a cycle of dropping out.

Anyway, so with about 30km to go Chris Horner(15th at Tour de France 07), Matt Shriver from JJ and a Symmetrics guy attacked like crazy. I saw them go and I was about 15 back. I dug as deep as I could go....but I just didn't have the juice. Simple as that. It was that state that most cyclists know where you are pedalling hard as you can go...100% with more pain you can handle...and you just cant give anymore.

From then I was in the second group and we basically did a chase but didn't make up any ground. We rode the last 20km pretty conservatively and that was that.

In the final finishing loops(4km, we had about 6 of them) Chris Horner went on a break and lapped us(Only a 4km loop). I was giving it everything I had in my 39x21 up the final 600m climb and he passed me in the big ring. It was pretty crazy.

So anyway, I rolled in 22nd. Only 35 guys finished of 120 or so, so I'm glad I hung in there. Its funny how after the race you always think about going harder when the breaking moment goes. Next Time.

Have a Drink on Me

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sillygwailo/2679348818/

I'm not having as great a Superweek as I had hoped. 34th overall in Delta is ok(of 100?), but nothing spectacular. A couple days ago was the Giro di Burnaby, which went fine. The wide swooping corners prevented any crashes all night and left the pack with an average speed of 47km/h. The Symmetrics team are having great races. I don't think they have lost a race all week.

Chris Horner is racing Superweek as well. Its pretty crazy racing against a guy who got 15th in the Tour de France Last year. Its a super Pro atmosphere here. There are thousands of spectators each race and they are all super stoked on this bike racing thing. its pretty crazy with people asking for autographs and stuff like that.

I had the White Rock hill climb last night, which was 750m of 16%-ish. I knew I could do well in the race as I'm climbing strong this year. You wouldn't think you would have to pace yourself for 2 minutes of climbing, but you have to. Being my first time racing it and not getting a chance to pre-ride the slope I charged hard out of the gate and promptly blew up half-way in. It was a pretty solid explosion as well. Needless to say I didn't finish very high up. The White Rock area is super nice though. We have another friggin' crit there tonight.

I'm kind of learning how I am as a rider. What I'm good at and what I am not so good at. I find I'm pretty strong in the TT's and longer road races with lots of climbing. With all these Crits(and all the super crazy Yankee crit riders), and no decent TT's, I'm finding it hard on the head. Its all part of getting in the groove I guess. Hopefully I can redeem myself in the White Rock road race. Its like 140km with crazy amounts of climbing of all sorts.

I booked the tickets to the Tour de Guadeloupe this morning. 26 hour flights are going to be a nightmare, but hopefully the team will come out of it still able to ride bikes. I heard Cam Evans is on the team as well(Former National Champ). I imagine I'll be his bitch throughout the race..

Time on the Train

I am a victim of the cycling posture. I catch myself being constantly hunched and in a troll like state. My arms seem to dangle off my body as opposed to being structural. This is how it is.

Along with horribly weak back and chest muscles(you will beat me in an arm wrestle) My hips are constantly tight. Probably from a combination of bike time, racing injuries, computer time, and not a lot of walking. Either way, I have horrible posture.

I'm been seeing a chiropractor the past few weeks to try to get all the knots and kinks out of me. I find it helps, but holy shit it hurts. Last night while Wilbur was ripping the knots and tightness out of my hips, legs and back I grinned and tried to take it but I found myself instantly reflexing back and grabbing his arm. Holy Crap it hurts.

It was during this that I got to thinking how a cyclists life revolves around when your in the pain cave and when your not in the pain cave. While racing your in the pain cave. While getting a massage your in the pain cave. While crashing your in the pain cave. While training your in the pain cave.

I think the trick is being able to balance a life of relaxing and suffering. Maybe cyclists can appreciate a good relaxing coffee shop run more than most people. Its times like that to take it easy, knowing that later that day you will have to suffer.

You see former Cancer patients who have a new lease on life. They relax, they enjoy the small things. They savor life. This, I would imagine would be the ultimate pain/suffering experience. Not where its willing, but where you have to endure, simply to survive.

With so many people around me from the old school and the new school who live this cycling life, I hear a lot of conflicting reports. I know guys who were both in the action, and who weren't. Guys who know their shit and those who may not. Its seems I cant get a consistent reports on what its like over there in the Euro world. Some say its life, but OLN says its the minority. I guess I might have to take a look for myself.

Keep Yourself Warm

Its funny how the closer I get to coming home to more I start to miss it. BC has been good to me but, I'm looking foreward to a change of scenery and seeing all the boys and gals. I really miss riding the 1x1 as well. Because I only have a handful of MTB rides in this year, I hope hopping on that bike and riding the trails I grew up on will give me some mental peace before 10 days of intense racing.

I was looking through an old riding buddy's newly added facebook page and I saw some photos from this January's annual New Years day ride. It brought back some old and great memories. I've been doing that ride(and potluck) for about 6 years, and I cant think of a better way to bring in the New Year. Great Bro's, great food, and a little drunken swagger to keep everyone happy in the cold.




Its a little bit out of season posting it in July, but whatever.


(Brian keeping it real..10 am style)

Le Delta de Superweek

I missed the stage of the Tour this morning on account of some pesky bike racing that had to be done. Its on at 9 again so I'm trying to stay off the web in case I get an accidental sneak peek at the results.

I just finished up the final stage of the Tour De Delta a couple hours ago. It honestly wasn't very eventful. Its funny how a 3km Prologue can effect the standings of a major race so much.

Its also a big pain in the ass to warm up for over an hour for 4 minutes of racing. I didn't have my TT bike or anything aero really as it went back with momma from Quebec. It saved me about $100 so being a little bit slower is no big deal. For the 3km I placed 55th of 95 doing it old school. About 23 seconds away from Mr. Tuft, current Canadian National Champ. It gets you thinking of how little things add seconds. I'm a big fan of just pedalling harder and not worrying about the things of that sort, but if something like water bottle cages costs you a couple seconds in a TT...its gets you thinking.

Anyway. So the next day was the the crit. Man, I hate crits. I know with bike racing as in life, if you think you suck at something than you are most likely to hate it. But man I both suck and hate crits. So the Tour de Delta's Crit was a crash fest. It was pretty crazy. It wasn't that there was a ton of crashes, which there wasn't. The crashes were all of substance though, causing much pain and taking many guys down. Its hard on the nerves.

1 hour of sprinting essentially. A lot of the Pro Yankee teams are here so it makes the racing much faster as well. The craziest part of the race for me was when about 10 guys slid out in a corner. One Kona-Adobi guy leaned on me and I gripped my bars as hard as I could not to go down. In front of me there were wheels all over the place and some how....for some reason I kept it upright and the wheels miraculously cleared out in front of me the split second I rode in that spot.

'Holy Shit' I thought to myself wondering what the hell just happened. It was then I looked behind me for a split second and saw another Kona-Adobi guy jump up on the sidewalk/curb trying to avoid the crash and plowed into some old lady going about 45km/h. It was insane.

Its funny because you are kinda in shock when stuff like that happens, but you cant really stop to think about it because if you stop sprinting for a couple seconds your off the back of the pack. So as soon it it happened...Bam sprint sprint sprint.

The road race was also un-eventful. 140km around Delta, then heading to another town. Basically the pack just stayed together. Symmetrics and Jittery Joes controlled everything. there was a lot of climbing toward the end of the race so I tried to stay up front to get into a break which I thought would form, but nothing did.

The last lap was insane insane fast. We had a crazy downhill going back into town and coming into the second-last turn I braked before the turn then tried to shift down to sprint out of it when I realized I was already in my 53-12.(hardest gear). Spinning a gear like that points to about 60-70km/h.

So the race came down to a pack sprint which I stayed the hell away from, and just finished with the pack. So yeah, two pack finishes...two pack times... 3km TT defines the race.

I feel very in between at the moment. Super week starts tonight with a 3km Prologue. A 3km Prologue at 7pm kind of ruins your day as you kind of have it hovering over your head for the day. You don't really eat for a bike race(a lot) because its so short, but you don't want to eat little in case it might effect you. You don't really want to go out for a ride, be on the feet doing errands or be in the sun because its still a bike race you have to prepare for(especially with Super week in the next few days).

Ahhhhhh the Tour is on.

This is the first time in 3 years that I've been able to watch the Tour. The past while I've never had a TV during this time and I've resorted to trying to watch it in Motorcycle pubs nursing a single beer for about 2 hours. Its not the best place to watch it.

This year is different. Its on at 5am, 5pm, and 9pm here. On top of that Scott tapes the showing in the morning so there is much Tour vibes running through the house. Yee haw.

Big thanks to Eli for feeding me throughout Nationals. That guy hung out in the sun burning his ass off holding bottles to feed. Thanks Buddy.

Road Nationals

Well here it is folks, the Nationals write up. Mom, Shawna and Izaiah came up from the Red Dirt to keep me company and we stayed in a couple cabins outside of Quebec City. The change of scenery did my mind a lot of good I think. Hanging out at the lake combined with a couple campfires, some canoeing, with no Internet or TV has left me feeling pretty good.



The time trail was horrible. I went into it knowing I could get a really good result if I went into the pain cave. I had a great warm up, rode strong, and was headed for a great placing when I took a wrong turn on the course. I didn't know the loop very well, and there were arrows still painted on the road from the JR's TT the week before. The policeman who was marshaling that part of the course made some gestures to a car that was coming, and I thought he was motioning to me to go that way. Being in a TT your brain isn't working well and I took the turn. That's it. I should have known the course better, and all I can do is chalk it up to bad luck. It was the first time in years that I really wanted to cry. That's life I guess.





Needless to say I was pretty shaken up. I took the day between the TT and the road race to stay out of the sun and to stay off the feet. It was crazy hot all week hovering around 30degrees, which is good weather to eat Quebec Bagels.


The road race went better. It was going to be a killer day with the race being 180km long, and in the 30degree+ temps. The pack was one of the biggest I've ever ridden in with around 140 riders. The main kicker would be the 1.5 km climb on the loop which we did 18times for about 3000+ meters of climbing.


I asked Luc what the game plan was before the race, and if he had any tips with the course. His only response way....."Survive if you can"


Its hard for me to say how everything played out. Thoughout the race there were probably 3-4 different groups happening all at the same time. Right off the line a group of 20 guys got up the road and eventually got about an 8 minute gap. The group got bigger and smaller as riders popped on and off, and some bridged up but becuace the pack was so big I couldn't tell what was going on really.


Eventually guys just started to drop off. I noticed a couple groups up the road and bridged up on a couple occasions each time thinking I was at the front. Then I would would find after about 130km that I was actually in the chase group that was quickly dwindling down. At one point I looked back and saw a huge string of riders behind me in a turn. Then a couple laps later I took a look back and realized there was only about 30 guys left in the 'bigger' pack I was in.


Honestly I cant really say there was a defining moment of the race. I just stayed near the front of the pack I was in hoping the main group would come back. If an attack went I went with it but nothing got any good time up to the lead pack.


The key to the race I found was to stay near the front on the climb. I think that is where most guys pulled the plug. Because of the heat I was eating and drinking an insane amount. Most of the races in BC are 130km, so 180 in the heat was a bit of a jump. After the race I thought about all the food I ate during the race and ended up having 7 gels, 4 bars, 3 cans of Coke, and about 10 bottles of water. It was crazy.


So anyway. The race went on. I found myself with a bunch of French guys including Dom Rollin, a few Team RACE guys and a couple other odds and ends. I felt strong toward the end and I could feel the tension in the pack as we started the last 10km loop before the 1.5km climb to the finish line. Myself and the other guys were still gunning for a high Espoir placing so as we started the climb I made sure I was in the top 5. The team RACE guys gunned it leading out for Mark Batty and I stayed close behind. In the last 200m I attacked and got a good gap. Another French guy who rides for the EVA-Devinci team bridged up to me and we grinded to the line. He ended up taking me by a second, but that was it for the 'field sprint'.


The race took it toll on the riders. Of 140 starters only 35 finished coming in just under 5 hours. I managed to get 8th in Espoir, and 22nd overall. The rest of those pesky Espoirs were in the front pack.



So it was ok. I was hoping for a top 5 in U23, but I just couldn't manage to get up to the main break. I learned a lot about Quebec racing though. It so much more aggressive than BC racing and much faster. Thinking about the weekend it was good. I felt strong even up to the 170km mark and 22nd in Canada ain't bad for first real Road Nationals experience.



After the race it was super refreshing not to think about bike racing for awile. I now feel that the season is on the downside with only a a couple major races to go.









(time for somma this.....)

(and somma this....)

Right now I have 5 hours to kill in the Quebec airport before flying to BC for Superweek, then heading back to PEI on the 22nd for some singlespeed riding and dancing....Hell Yeah.