Contented Discontentment (alternative title: Cyclocross is Fun)

I asked a buddy yesterday if he misses racing bikes. He told me no, essentially because he’s either all in or all out; he wouldn’t be content just racing for fun. (And life wouldn’t allow him to be all in).

In the men’s Koksijde CX world cup race yesterday, the current world champion had all types of mechanical issues, causing him to fall back from the leader and slip off the podium. He battled back to take third place. He didn’t have much fun (his words, not mine), but given the challenges, he must have been content with his finish (my words, not his).

Saturday morning I did a slow course pre-ride with Brent. Chatting about features of the Redcross course; what climbs to run vs. ride; recommended lines. Roksi felt ready to rock. But after a proper warm up, turns out Roksi is a liar. A few last minute tweaks to my shifting, I hoped for the best and headed to the start for my call up. Best start I’ve ever had in a race, I hit the barriers in stride in third place. I slipped back a few spots but was still very well positioned for a top-10. And then I wasn’t. On what seemed like every climb, my rear cassette and chain were playing out a lover’s quarrel Chain: sorry inner cog, let’s cuddle and make up. 28-tooth cog: GET OFF OF ME, I NEED SPACE! 25-tooth cog: HEY, DON’T COME CRYING TO ME. GET OUTTA HERE.  And so it went. I had to ease off the power and climb in a harder gear, overcooking the legs while getting passed. A whole lot. Final result: 17^th place. Rather than trust my own mechanical (ahem) skills, I stopped at the bike shop for a quick look-over by a professional on our way home. Thanks to the Giant mechanic who got Roksi dialed in at no cost. Also, I almost walked out the shop with a brand new cyclocross bike. Almost.

Finally getting used to these call-ups, I had another fast start at Sunday’s School of Cross race. Tackling virtually the same course, I felt confident of a top-10 result. And it started off that way. Sitting top-10 through 2.5 laps, I lead a group of four up a run up. Remounted and took one pedal stroke.  Didn’t move forward.  Dismount. Put my chain back on. Remount. Give chase to the six guys who just passed me. I caught a couple. Closed the gap to others. Saw the gap re-open. Held the gap steady to my chasers. Discontentment overpowered contentment. One final effort to the line. Another missed opportunity. Another fun opportunity. 12^th place.

Had you told me in early September I’d realistically be battling for a top-10 place almost every race, I would most likely have been content with that prospect. But as the season winds down, I’d say it’s closer to contented discontentment. I don’t know what that means, but I think it means I'll keep striving to get faster. But I'll have fun along the way. 

Cross is Here - The Sequel

I hear a lot of people talking about their favourite season being something other than Summer.  That's like saying cats are your favourite pet. Sure they can look pretty and some are even fun to play with, but at the end of day, dogs have so much more to offer.  So as Summer evenings start to cool, I get a little pang of sadness. But then I remember #crossiscoming.  

My cx season started a bit differently this year with the brand-new XCX marathon at Canmore Nordic Centre.  I opted for the shorter 35km (2-lap) course. Lap 1 was my typical pass people on the ups, get passed on the downs.  But after one lap I had no major mechanicals and the cantilever brakes weren't the issue I thought they may be. And then lap 2 hit me like a young pitbull with zoomies. Three flat tires and a dropped chain. Turns out I signed up for a duathlon. But the course was awesome and I'll definitely be back next year...with 40mm tires. 

Up next was an unseasonably early Beans 'N Barley.  It took me a while to find my legs, by which point the lead group was well gone.  By lap 3 a group of seven had formed, with me pulling the group around for the next lap and a half. The pace was fast enough that a draft was beneficial, but also technical enough that I was happy to be out front with a chance to pick my own line.  But halfway through lap 4, the six guys behind me went by and my overcooked legs couldn't respond.  I battled for a few minor placings and ended up 23rd of 46.  Something to work with for the season.  

Day 2 of the weekend brought Pumphouse Cross.  A course better suited to my skill set (if you can call anything I do in cx skillful).  Today's lesson: I really need to work on my starts. The heat itself rarely bothers me, but the dry, slick grass due to the heat was a different story. Especially on the off cambers. But a flowing PHCX course landed me another middle of the pack finish (19/41). It wasn't that long ago I was battling not to be DFL (dead fu...uh, flipping last) in Novice.  So at least these 40 year old legs are taking me in the right direction.  

Next up was the joint RMCC-Bicisport weekend in Canmore.  I only raced Saturday and volunteered Sunday.  On Saturday I had my first ever call-up into the final slot (at the start of the race, up to 8 racers can be called to the starting grid based on ABA or UCI points...I'm not sure how I ended up there).  But confirming starting position matters, I had my best result of the young season.  I made a couple of technical mistakes and the uphill right after the barriers seemed to get steeper and longer each  lap. But Dezz kept me updated on my positioning and sitting 13th on the last lap gave me an extra kick. I just couldn't close in on the top 10.  Final result: 12/36. (Side note: great to have my friend Carol come out to watch and excited to try cyclocross herself despite watching us all suffer.  Yes!) 

Didn't I commit to doing more regular blog entries last time so as not to keep you so long? My apologies.  Good news is, this is the last race you have to read about before you can go back to petting all the puppies (or cats, if you're so inclined). Organizers had to move the Jim Horner CX last minute due to the wet weather and City of Edmonton regulations.  Turns out it wasn't such a bad move. Having no idea what to expect, I pre-rode the course and then promptly headed back to the car to put my mud tires on. Mud. Energy zapping uphills.  Soft gravel.  Two sets of barriers.  Temperatures going from cool to oh-my-god-why-did-I-choose-to-wear-knee-warmers-and-a-base-layer. And about 10 minutes longer of red-lining it than we're used to. Sounds fun, eh? I started this race literally at the back of the 35-man field. (Rick and Twyla surprised us by showing up at the race, so I was chatting with them pre-race.  So it's all Rick's fault.  I won't blame Twyla cuz she's badass and I'm scared of her. But really guys (like really real), awesome to see you out there). I made my way up to midpack after one lap and then fought back and forth with 3 or 4 of my biggest temporary enemies for the rest of the race.  I don't remember a cross race ever hurting as much as this one.  No cool down at the end, I just fell off my saddle into the grass after crossing the line. 16/35. And the post-race beer tasted especially good. 

On the next episode of Flying Scotsman & Friend, Friend does Deadgoat Supercross.  Stay tuned.  

Kicking Horse Cup

Following the Tour de Bowness in early August, I usually wind down the road season and start drinking more beer in preparation for #crossiscoming.  But this year Dezz and I decided that since we still wanted to make our annual pilgrimmage West, I may as well do the Kicking Horse Cup in Golden. Turns out that was a good decision.

We arrived at the townhouse up at Kicking Horse resort about 10pm Friday, had a beer and chocolate cake for Ari's birthday, and got a few hours sleep before lining up for the first of three stages, a 5.9km time trial.  With just enough elevation gain to make it hurt, my legs and lungs were both screaming at the 5.5km mark. 8 minutes and 22 seconds after I started, I was slowly making my way back to the parking lot at Reflection Lake, reflecting on the first of 3 stages.  I knew I hadn't left much on the course and was happy enough to learn I had taken second place in my category.

A recovery meal and some rest later, Ari and I were spinning down the mountain, only to turn around and ride back up.  As fast as we can. My plan going into the 13km hill climb was simple...ride my own pace at a high cadence without worrying about the competition. I'm ok at climbing.  The longer the climb, the better I get generally. So this longer, mass start climb was better suited to me than something like the Silvertip Hill Climb in Canmore.  The group started off together with a 2km flat section to warm up, across a wooden bridge, annnnnnd...GO.  A group of 6 jumped off the front. I sat in the second group and watched a couple more guys jump.  6km into the stage, I was sitting in about 12th place.  But as planned, I kept that cadence high and started reeling guys back in.   And on each section that the road started to flatten, or even (aww yeah!) tilt downwards, I quickly shifted into the large chainring and attacked.  With 3km to go, I had moved into 5th place in Sportive men, not sure who was in my under 45 group and who was 45+. But I just focused on keeping those lead weights attached to my hips going in circles as smoothly as possible.  With a kilometre to go, my heart sank when I realized there was one more gut punch at the end.  But then Dezz and Domino yelled encouragement to finish strong.  (Well Dezz did.  Domino just looked disappointed and a wee bit confused since I didn't stop to say hello.)  Once again I rolled across the finish line, this time in 3rd place.

After being awarded a couple of Whitetooth Brewing beers for my two podium spots, we headed down to meet the Bici crew for some well earned dinner. A burger and two beers later, we headed back up the hill for a hot tub and another night of not enough sleep.

Starting the 62km road race on a chilly morning, I held an 11 second lead on general classification (in stage races, cumulative time from all events is added together to give a total time. The fastest overall time wins GC). This was something brand new to me.  We started with the 45+ field as both groups were quite small.  (And within the 45+ group, a similar sub-race was occurring. With Ari down 7 seconds on GC.).  I knew who was 11 seconds behind, and my game plan was to minimize the work I did while marking any significant attacks. But just keeping second  place within 10 seconds wouldn't be enough as the top three get bonus seconds (i.e. First place would have 10 seconds subtracted from their race time).  Most of the course was either up or downhill, with very few flat sections.  Asides from an early mock attack to test the group, I sat about 7th wheel and watched and waited. And finally I had to put in some work at the 52km mark...when I got spit out the back on the longest hill.  Although I could see my GC aspirations riding away up the road, I just kept a high cadence on an easier gear and stayed relaxed.  And then another rider jumped off my rear wheel and  started to lead me back to the first group. Phew.  And no later had I caught back on than there was another attack. Another gap opened.  But 398 watts and 8 seconds later, I was back with the pack.  But obviously the back of the group was about as safe as (insert dangerous situation here).  So I jumped to the front with 2km to go.  And with about 200 metres to go, I watched the sprint develop in front of me.  Thinking my legs may not  have the power left for the sprint, I complacently allowed myself to get boxed in. But then a huge gap opened (and by "huge", I mean big enough for me and my bike to hammer through) with 50m to go.  And with 20m to go I had the road race and GC wrapped up.

Shout out to Nate & Jana for a great event in their first year as race directors.  Come do it next year!!! And of course, thanks to Dezz and our pup for being the best race support crew.   Congrats to my Bicisport teammates for another solid weekend full of podiums.

Tour de Bowness

This season I've taken the mindset that if I finish on the podium or I finish 18th in a race, it isn't really going to impact my life. So don't sweat it so much. That isn't to say I won't give 110% every race. It just means I fit bike racing into my summer, rather than trying to fit summer into bike racing. And with that, here's a look back at my long weekend and the Tour de Bowness.

I had a Lauryn Hill poster on my wall in 1997. I still have that poster. Needless to say, I wasn't going to miss a chance to see Miss Hill live at the One Love Festival on Friday night. So after standing for 5 hours and eating random unhealthy foods from food trucks, I headed home for 5 hours of sleep before the Tour de Bowness Road Race. Perfect race prep.

The 88km race in Cochrane started out the way I thought it would - the largely intact peloton rolling to the 22km turnaround as a single unit. A couple kilometers later we started "the climb", the one feature of the course that punts riders out the back, regardless of  race category. I was almost up and over with the pack but a few of us couldn't hold the wheel of the climbers. So it  a full gas effort to tag back onto the peloton with a little help. I had no problem holding on through the next 43km. And recognizing the best Bicisport chance at a good finish was sitting out in the wind near the front, I moved up the left side to give Simon a quick draft then continued to the front of the group for a solid pull. That may have cooked the legs a little bit for the next time we hit "the climb". Starting the climb in about 5th spot, I saw most of the group go past me about halfway up. And suddenly I felt like I was riding a 40lb Canadian Tire special.  Reaching the top as a group of three, we pacelined our way back to a group of four in front of us. And with the lead group not gaining much time and a determined group of seven, we were in with a shot of catching the lead group. And getting 3 Bici guys back up to help Simon could have been a great help. Unfortunately we couldn't get the group coordinated and the paceline kept falling apart. A kilometer or so from the finish we made the final turn down three guys. The lead pack was approaching the finish line now, so we created our own mini race for minor placings. I bounced around to control the pace and lead out Suchaet for the sprint win.You never know when that experience will come in handy. Final result, 2 minutes behind the lead group. And first cat 4 race in the books. I'll take it.

And now, time to recover. Jump in the car, drive up to Edmonton for a 40th birthday party (because I've been friends with Chad for almost twice as long as I've been crushing on Lauryn Hill), eat some more unhealthy food, drink some beer, get a few hours of sleep and drive back to Calgary.

Monday morning I rode over to Bowness as part of my warmup and got in a couple laps on the criterium course. This cat 4 crit felt faster than last year's cat 5 race from the jump, so my goal was to keep it rubber side down and finish on the same time "as the winner (in bike racing, there has to be a significant (i.e. 2 or 3 second) gap between racers to determine a different time. So a group can be strung out in a single line, but if there is no real split in that line everyone will finish on the "same time"). About 8 laps into our 30 lap race, I started to slip off the back, with the gap extending to about 10 meters. Enough to spell disaster for a solo rider. Engage time trial mode. Head down, pushing bigger power numbers than I should have been exerting at that point in the race, I managed to catch back on in 1.5 laps. Burnt a few matches, but that's the beauty of the peloton; active recovery while cruising along at 40km/h. And then came the first of two serious crashes. After the fast straight away, a rider went hard into the railings. People swerved, another rider went down in front of me, and my bike handling was put to the test as my brakes locked up and my back tire fish tailed while I avoided either of what looked like the only two options - bump into the barrier myself or run over a downed bike. Instead, I clipped back in and started the chase back up. The dangers of being at the back and caught behind a crash. Two of us were closing the peloton down a couple laps later when the race was neutralized until the crashed racer could be safely taken off the course (on a stretcher). With lactic acid building, we waited until our race restarted. Then go! The next 8 laps buzzed by, another racer unfortunately went down hard on the same corner, and before I knew it we were on 2 laps to go. I paid for my earlier efforts to catch back on and thus didn't have much to move up and contest the sprint. Final result was 14th. On the same time as the winner!

Post race recovery: margaritas, free mexican food, and watching the really fast guys and girls race. (And I have to shout out Dezz here for being the most supportive wife. She worked a night shift, got off at 7am, went to boxing class, came to watch my race, and hung out all day until 3pm before finally heading home to sleep). Probably my favourite day of racing on the race calendar. Come watch next year!

The Ups and Downs and Ups of Racing Bikes

Remember when you were a kid and you got home from school on a Friday and you could either do your homework right away, or you could do fun stuff and forget about the homework until Sunday night? I always did mine on Friday so I could enjoy the rest of the weekend. Some things never change. But not this. This one has definitely changed. So without further adieu, here's a quick recap of the last 7 races over the last 4 weekends aboard 3 bikes.

Ghost of the Gravel (118 km gravel race; 2085m/6842ft of climbing)
This race feels no less grueling than it sounds. Approaching this as a long training day, I lined up near the back of the group with Rocksi (cyclocross bike), not worried about speed or placing. And then we started. It was at that point my body divorced my brain. I surfed up through a few groups until I found one that was the pace I wanted; a quick group that would make me work to stick with them but not too fast that I was out of my element. Perfect weather, bike floating over the gravel, legs feeling good. And then my foot started to float around. Thinking I had a loose cleat, I decided I'd slow at the top of the hill I was climbing to adjust it. Only to be maintaining my balance a few pedal strokes later, with my right pedal still attached to my shoe, but not to Rocksi. Stripped thread on my right crank meant my day on the bike was done 50km in. Time for a burger and a beer.

Rundle Mountain Stage Race
Crit
Canmore is a beautiful setting for anything. But to race bikes there is truly a treat. Saturday started with a 4:45am wake up call, giving Rick and I plenty of time for our 8am criterium. With 30 guys lined up at the start line, I wanted to make sure I had a good start. I had good position going into turn one and tried to make sure I didn't slip off the back at any point in the race. I almost failed at that on laps 5 and 6, with a couple of required surges to hold on. But after that my legs settled in. By lap 15, the second last lap, the pace of the lead group picked up. A few more risks, the pierce of a few thousand dollars worth of carbon skidding across the road somewhere behind me, a few twitchy lines...it still amazes me how attuned my senses have become without seeing any of these things directly. Halfway through the last lap I was too far back, jumped out into the wind and onto the pedals to avoid being boxed in, and turned onto the finishing straight in 10th spot. Too far back to sprint for a podium, I had to be content with 8th place. Another couple of upgrade points. Another couple of confidence points.

Hill Climb
Here's all I'll say about this one. The beer was worth it. 1.94km as fast as you can up a hill that maxes out at 21%? Not my strong suit. Post-crit, post summit-cafe lunch, Rick and I went for a beer. Yeah, you read that right. Not ideal prep, but I don't think any type of prep would have helped at that point. Line up in fours. Go. Go too hard in the first 300m. Heavy breathing. Wait, is this thing working; I can't be feeling this gassed after 70 seconds. Lungs burning. Legs burning. Mentally hold on until the road flattens a wee bit. 1.4km mark. Almost there. Big ring. Accelerate. Ignore the burn. Few more meters. Phew more meters. Phew. How does 7 minutes 25 seconds hurt that much? My name was much further down the results list this time. But yeah, the beer was still worth it.

Road Race
After a soak in the hot tub, the steam room, and a solid sleep, I was feeling fresh(ish) Sunday morning. Last year I was spit out the back halfway through the hilly 63km race. Today's goal, don't get spit out the back until the last 400m. With 36 guys starting the race, there was no chance of a solo breakaway, but there wasn't too much struggle to hang with the lead group either. Held the surges, closed the gaps. And as we approached the final punchy hill of the day, I moved myself up to about 8th wheel. Not because I thought I had a chance of competing against these kids with legs 20 years younger and bodies 40lbs lighter. I just wanted to make sure I held on until the final 400m. Halfway up, someone jumped, and then another and another. I fought to the finish line, but that fight was with gravity. Good day in the saddle; 15th across the line.

Canada Day Criterium
This was a points race, meaning points were awarded to the first 4 riders across the line every 4th lap (20 laps total). With 38 of us lining up at the start line on the smooth, residential roads, the first lap was always going to be a bit twitchy. By lap 2 I wasn't happy with the "feel" of the race so I jumped to the front and picked up the pace despite having no teammates.  We shed a handful of riders, giving me a better shot at a top 4 finish on at least one points lap as the race went on. But 12 laps later, I was the one off the back, watching the group get smaller as they rode into the distance. I put the hammer down for the rest of the race, surfing my way from solo wheel to solo wheel for a quick draft  before continuing on. There was no hope of me ever rejoining the lead group, but the course allowed me to keep an eye on the peloton at various points, fighting off the dreaded "1 lap down" as I maintained 38km/h.  I crossed the line ready for my beer and burger.

Suffer Like a Dog ITT
Our annual Bicisport club race on a hilly 16.3km course. I've always faired better at time trials than other disciplines in general due to my triathlon background. But I underperformed on this course the last couple of years. (20th in 2015, 8th in 2016). Going in 6 points shy of an upgrade to Cat 4 this year, I was confident in my ability to put up a good time. And by the time I made the first turn at 8km into the race, I knew that long overdue result was going to materialize. The wind was favourable and the speedometer was showing I was well ahead of my target pace. As I crested the final hill, I dropped back into the hardest gear and The Flying Scotsman hurled me towards the finish line at 71km/h. Just over 2 minutes faster than last year! Final result - beat by a couple hundredths of a second to finish second overall. First podium of my cycling career, and enough points to move up to Cat 4! (Also, congrats to Ari for taking the top step on his first ever ABA race. Jammy wee bugger).

                                                                     Higuchi Photos

Stampede Road Race 
I finally decided to sign up for this hilly 99km race two days beforehand. Being Master's Provincials, my goal was to hang on as long as possible. We started at a fast pace, averaging 39km/h over the first 20km. Climbing one of the hills that I fought with last year, I was firmly seated mid-pack and feeling good. And then I didn't. My legs, for lack of a better description, decided to take a unionized coffee break on the downhill. I watched one, two, three bike lengths open up. By the time I made the right hand turn into the headwind, the peloton was about 10 seconds ahead. The legs decided at that point to return to work. Had there been a tailwind, perhaps a big effort would have gotten me back on. But the efficiency and speed of a 30-man peloton riding into a headwind far exceeds a solo rider. As I watched the group pull further away, I settled in for a long, hard effort. Over the next 78km I reeled in a few guys off the back and worked with them for a few minutes, only to see them fade off the back as the road pitched up. The "enjoyable" thing would have been to sit up, share the work, and ride it in with a bit of a chat. But where's the fun in that? And yeah, I sprinted to the line. In slow motion.

If you made it to this point, congrats and thanks. That would have been a harder slog than any of my races. I'll commit to getting back to timely post-race roundups and save you the pain.

Allez, allez!
David

Leg Day

Race season is back. And with it comes a long overdue post. Before I get into my race recap, let's quickly touch on the last 5 months. January through March I was training with Coach JvD; Two hours/week group session on the bike, and the other 4 or 5 nights a week logged in Training Peaks . By the time April 1 rolled around, I was feeling stronger on the bike than I can ever remember feeling at the beginning of April. Four days later, we were on a plane to Europe for a 3.5 week vacation. Yes, a bit of cycling time ensued. But mostly it was beaches with our nephews and riding city bikes to the bakery (morning) or pub (afternoon & evening) with Dezz. In other words, a lot of that cycling fitness was replaced by Trappists and pastries.

We returned to the humdrum with 4 weeks to get back into race shape. Was 4 weeks enough? Well, kinda.

The Alex Stieda Classic Road Race was on Saturday on some rolling roads just outside of Leduc. With 35 guys starting the Cat 5 race and big representation from two Edmonton teams, it was always going to be a tough day with limited post-vacation miles and no Bici team mates. We shed a few guys on the first climb of the day and I embedded myself in the middle of the peloton as we headed into the headwind. Through the first 18km the race was uneventful and I got the legs into it and took a turn at the front. Then we turned right, hit the start of the 7km gravel section, and things got interesting. Settling into one of two smooth lines, the group quickly strung out. I was sat on 3 wheels only to realize a few bike lengths had opened up ahead. I'm quite comfortable on gravel, even hitting a top speed of 50km/h. But if you've ever drafted before, you know how much faster a big group usally is. In other words, there was no closing the gap. By the time I hit the pavement 7km later, I had dropped a few guys and been dropped by a few guys, leaving me solo on lap 1. Fortunately I was joined by another guy from Velocity and we paced each other to eventually form a group of 6 by the start of lap 2. We formed an echelon in the crosswind, hammered the gravel, and pace-lined our way down the final 10km almost intact. With 500m to go, as I moved up for my final pull on the front I just kept accelerating and opened up enough of a gap to take the sprint for minor placing. Overall, 16/35. Not my best day on the bike, but happy enough with the effort and it felt good to get those legs racing again.

After a healthy turkey dinner and water with the family on Saturday night, I felt ready for Sunday's criterium. Again, being the only Cat 5 Bici racer, my game plan was to embed myself within the group without burning to many matches early on. I  was a bit too close to the back early on, but matched any accelerations and didn't lose contact with the group at any time in the race. But those accelerations were few and far between. Despite big squads from the Edmonton teams again, no one was really willing to put in an effort and challenge the group. Small attacks were marked and then the group just settled back. On the bell (last) lap, I expected a few individuals to jump, but again the group just sat in. Finally on the back half of the last lap, 3 guys jumped off the front. My positioning wasn't great, but I worked up through the group and, tired of waiting for something to happen, decided to try bridge the gap. I came onto the home stretch in 4th place, but unable to close down the gap. My legs felt the metres tick by and with about 50m to go it was clear to me that Saturday's race, combined with the previous 250m surge, meant these 40 year old legs weren't going anywhere. I saw two guys go by me and tried to give one last push. But there was no push to be had. My 4th place position quickly dropped to 8th or 9th...or maybe 10th. As I crossed the line I may have let out an expletive. Caught up in the adrenaline, I was disappointed in myself. I'm still not sure if that initial disappointment was in my effort or my tactic. Neither was great. But on the day, that's all the legs could muster. And at the time, I thought the tactic not necessarily the best one, but the best at a chance for points. With everyone having sat in for the last 45 minutes and many of the guys not having Saturday's race effort in their legs, I thought there would be some faster sprints than mine. Guess I was right. Chatting with two experienced crit racers afterwards, it gave me a bit of reassurance that I'm starting to wrap my head around this whole criterium thing. Thanks Masa & Brent.

The goal hasn't changed; Cat 4 or bust. There's work to be done. But I'm about to get doing. And as my 5 year old nephew just reminded me..."the important thing is to participate, not always win".