Cyclists Behaving Badly

I've seen cyclists riding while talking on cellphones, or with the dog's leash attached to the handlebars, or riding the wrong way down the shoulder of the highway. The umbrella thing is completely new. Splashdown!

Here are some dumbass things I have seen cyclists doing very recently:

• Riding the wrong way on the westbound shoulder of Highway 22X. This is not only illegal, it is very stupid. Bicycles are bound by the same laws as motor vehicles. You wouldn't drive your Land Rover down the opposite shoulder to traffic, would you?


• Riding with no hands, while talking on a cellphone, coming around a blind corner at the Douglasdale driving range.
  
  
• Riding on the shoulder white line, with at least two feet of shoulder to your right, oblivious to all around you because of your Ipod. If you hear someone scream "Left!" at the top of their lungs, that's me passing you after yelling it four times while I approached you from behind.



• Stopping on the bike path, sideways, at a blind corner.



• Riding on the bike path with a dog in one hand, or with a dog on a leash.



• Getting on my wheel without telling me. (The proper etiquette is to say, "On your wheel".) The guy who was wheelsucking me a couple of weeks ago when I took a hard left is probably still picking the scabs off his abrasions.



• The doofus who was riding in his aerobars at high speed thru the walkway intersection by the bridge to Princes Island Park, at morning rush hour.



• On race day, cheating wheelsucks (drafters). You will get caught. Just like the guys on my wheel at Ironman Arizona 2006, Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2006, and the Desert Half a couple of weeks ago. I'm flattered, and I hope you enjoyed your four minutes of rest.

OK, so I ripped pet owners a bit the last couple of weeks. I have the scars and nightmares to show for it. We as cyclists are guilty as well, and I apologize for my fraternity. And I promise not to commit any of the above sins!

To the apex at Apex

Above, the Tour de France podium of Cadel Evans, (2nd) Alberto Contador (1st) and Levi Leipheimer (3rd). Only 31 seconds separated them at the end of three weeks of racing! (Casey Gibson photo)



I am over two weeks behind in posting, but there was this bike race in France you might have heard of, that kept me preoccupied. The Tour was rocked by doping scandals, but when the dust settled, there was some good racing, and one of the most exciting time trials ever. Let's hope all the tests come back negative.


Training Camp - Friday July 13th


Back to the Ironspirit training camp. On Friday morning we swam the 3800m Ironman course, complete with race-day marker buoys and support. That was followed by the usual breakfast buffet feast at the Lakeside resort, and more discussion about race day strategy.

Typically in these training camps, athletes are divided into three or four different groups, depending on current fitness level and race goals. Then, athletes can choose the appropriate length and difficulty of training rides or runs being offered that day. If your fitness level is high, there is plenty of opportunity to test yourself in the Penticton area, with so many roads leading upwards.

One of those roads is Green Mountain Road. At the top of a gradual 15km climb, there is an intersection with one road going down the backside of Green Mountain, and the other pointing upward to Apex Mountain Ski Resort. The latter is a 10km thigh-burning series of switchbacks that snakes up to Apex village. The ride to the top of Apex is about 33km from Penticton, with an eleveation gain of 3500 ft. Five of us set out in the muggy Friday afternoon heat, for our last tough ride of training camp.

As we were cresting the top of Green Mountain Road at the intersection, a summer squall was rolling down the mountain toward us. We took on refreshments from our support car, and drained some, before turning up the imposing stretch of asphalt that pointed directly into the angry grey clouds. A gusting wind hit us hard in the face, and I wondered what more could happen to make the climb any harder. Some rain answered the question shortly after. At about 3km, I turned to my climbing partner, Penticton local/Ironman hardguy Dave Matheson, and said, "At least it's not hot!" We got bucked occassionally by the headwinds, but by the 6km mark the worst of the squall had passed over us, and the main opponent was gravity.

Coach Kev said that without the wind, it typically takes fifty minutes to climb the 10k to Apex. Today, it took 1:15. By the time we crossed the cattleguard that marks the summit of the climb, it was sunny and calm. After high-fives all around, we set off for the reward: A delirious descent back down the Apex climb, then down the back side of Green Mountain Road.

On the way up to Apex, the 180 degree corners of the switchbacks are marked by "sharp corner" signs, complete with a suggested speed limit of 20km/h. As a cyclist climbing the road, you laugh to yourself and wish you could climb at that speed. On the way down, at 80km/h+, you better obey those signs, and well in advance. I had a couple of sphincter puckers on the way down that made me think long-term, like about living to see Penticton again.

The road bottoms out at the start of the climb to Yellow Lake, the last climb of the Ironman Canada bike course. This climb feels completely different without 150km in your legs, such as on race day. We regrouped and had a good yak on the way up, then enjoyed yet another delirious descent back into Penticton.

Back in town, you would never know what weather had passed thru just to the west. It was 35 deg C under cloudy skies, but it cleared up in time for a fun night out a the KVR Pub. Nobody that I know of drank more than a couple of beers, but the food disappeared at an alarming rate! After all, there was more training tomorrow, then the Peach Classic on Sunday! More to come...

BTW, pictures and video of the Desert Half, training camp, and the Peach Classic are available here. Many thanks to Van Pratt, who was everywhere:

http://www.bikebarn.ca/desert/desert028.html

http://www.bikebarn.ca/desert/desert070.html

http://www.bikebarn.ca/desert/desert119.html

http://www.bikebarn.ca/alumniswim/swim.html
http://www.bikebarn.ca/alumnibike/bike.html
http://www.bikebarn.ca/alumnirun/run.html

http://www.bikebarn.ca/impact/peach024.html

http://www.bikebarn.ca/impact/peach082.html

Pet Owners Behaving Badly, Part Deux

Above, one of Francaise des Jeux rider Sandy Casar's souvenirs from a collision with yet another unleashed dog at the Tour de France. Unlike the Marcus Burghardt incident of a couple of weeks ago, where Burghardt had a chance to slow down, Casar was cruising as the dog bolted out of the crowd, right into his front wheel. If you saw the video of this crash, it was horrifying to watch, not just for cyclists but for pet lovers.

Remarkably, Casar shook off the collision, and rebounded to win the stage in a sprint finish, below. (AFP Photos)

Pet Owners Behaving Badly

Above, T-Mobile rider Marcus Burghardt collides with a loose dog during yesterday's 9th stage of the Tour de France. I caught the video replay during the TV coverage on OLN, and it brought back memories of 11 weeks ago, when I met a similar fate. The big difference is, I was commuting home from work, while Burghardt was trying to make a living, riding in the toughest bike race on earth. I was quite disgusted to see that the dog had no collar, and the owner showed little remorse for his irresponsible actions. If Burghardt's carbon-fibre wheel hadn't absorbed most of the shock by folding like a taco on impact, he might well have been seriously injured. Fortunately, Marcus was only slightly injured, and came back as one of the animators on today's stage. (AFP Photo)

Training Camp
Friday, July 13th
Sunny, 35 deg C, breezy

Above, slipping into my wetsuit before the 3800m swim. Note the protruding left clavicle, my battle scar from a similar crash to the top photo. (Photo by Van)

Friday was the last big training day of Ironspirit camp. We swam the 3800m Ironman course, with buoys located exactly as on race day, complete with kayak and motorboat support. I had a great set of feet to draft from to the first buoy at around 1600m, then took the lead of a group of six or seven at the turn and set the pace for the rest of the way.

Sighting back to the beach was made easy by the new highrise condo development directly in line with the swim exit. My roomie Brendan drafted perfectly off me the whole swim, just tickling my feet, and stayed with me even when I surged a few times. Once on shore, I found out he was swimming nearly blind due to nearsightedness, and stayed on my feet out of desperation. Not at all a bad strategy on race day!

It wasn't a great swim split (1:16) but we were all fatigued from the volume of cycling and running of the previous four days, and swimming is where fatigue first manifests itself. This wasn't about a fast swim split anyway, more an exercise in drafting and sighting. When we are six weeks more fit and tapered on August 26th, the times of the group I swam with should be closer to the 1:10-or-under mark.

I'm nearly a week behind on posts, but during training camp, I was either too tired to post, or busy watching le Tour. We had our own little tour going most days, but without drug scandals or errant dogs. Next I'll post about an epic final ride, up Apex Mountain, on Friday afternoon.

Above, into the drink, the warm waters of Okanagan Lake. (Photo by Van)

Training Camp: More Heat, More Hills, More Wind

Above, running back to Penticton along Eastside Road, with Skaha Lake in the background. I'm using the Timex Bodylink system: The chest strap is for monitoring heart rate, the strap on my left arm holds the GPS receiver. Both send data to my wrist computer, which calculates useful pace and exertion information . (Photo by Van)



Thursday: 35 deg C, breezy

Thursday was another 90-minute open-water swim with drills and intervals. The wind picked up in the last half hour, resulting in some chop, even close to the shore. Got a few extra mouthfuls of Okanagan Lake.

Following the swim, we had another breakfast and lecture at the Lakeside Resort. We inhaled more food while reviewing our nutrition strategies from yesterday's long ride. Cal had taken blood glucose samples at five locations along the route, to ensure we were topped up properly with fuel. A reading of 5 mg/Dl or higher is desirable. If you have seen a diabetic do a blood glucose test, this is exactly how ours was done: poke the finger, squeeze some blood, and check with a portable blood glucose tester. Between the lactate threshold test on Tuesday and the blood glucose tests yesterday, I've bled for sports science 10 times this week.

Following breakfast, just before noon, we got organized for our long run. The options were anywhere from 7 to 19 miles on the Ironman Canada marathon route, depending on current fitness, injuries etc. I chose to run 19 miles, since I had already built to that distance ten days ago. The two Daves, Tony and I were dropped off at mile 7 of the run course, and we ran to Okanagan Falls and back to the Slumberlodge, including the out-and-back final mile along Lakeshore. We agreed on a goal pace of 8:30/mile, so I wore my GPS to keep us on target. The temperature was climbing to the mid-30s, but we had a breeze in our faces for the return trip, which made the heat bearable. We also had support every four miles, to top up on fuel and fill our caps with ice. We finished the run in just under 2:40, at a pace of 8:28/mile, close enough!

Following the long run, we cooled our legs down in the lake, then limped over to the Endurance Centre for massages. A half-hour leg flush finds all the sore spots, but promotes recovery, so a little pain is worth feeling better for tomorrow. Especially with a full Ironman swim in the morning, followed by a tough bike ride up Apex Mountain later in the day.

Training Camp: Heat, Wind, Hills: It's All Here

Penticton Weather

Monday: 32 deg C, windy
Tuesday: 33 deg C, windy
Wednesday: 34 deg C, windy
Thursday forecast: 38 deg C, probably windy
Friday forecast: 39 deg C, probably windy

Monday was a recovery day for me, after racing the Desert Half Ironman. I did an easy spin around town, laid on the beach for two hours, then did a 15 minute swim in Okanagan Lake to cool off.

Tuesday morning, we did a 90-minute open-water swim session in Okanagan Lake, practicing turns, sighting and drafting. Fatigue always manifests itself first in swim workouts, and my arms felt dead for the last 1000m interval session. We followed the swim session with a buffet breakfast and fuelling strategy session, where 20 hungry triathletes hoovered up every crumb of food on the table.

Immediately following the breakfast and seminar, we changed to running gear and went to the track at Penticton High School for video run analysis, followed by an interval session on the Kettle Valley Railway path above town.

The rest of the group had a two-hour break, but I rode over to the Impact Performance Centre for my lactate threshold test. My test was a day later than the rest of the group, giving me more time to recover from Sunday's race. The test is done on a Computrainer, an indoor bike training system that can be used to simulate load. Heart rate and blood lactate information are collected while increasing the resistance to the rear wheel, which is equivalent to the rider increasing effort and therefore power output. The test requires increasing to maximum effort, to determine the point at which the body stops processing lactic acid effectively, which leads to "the bonk".

Three important numbers result from a lactate threshold test: maximum power output, maximum heart rate, and of course lactate or anaerobic threshold. If you know your lactate threshold, you can pace yourself properly to avoid exceeding it (by monitoring your heart rate and/or power) during an Ironman.

The last time I had a lactate threshold test done, was when I started the sport five years ago, so I knew my numbers would have changed dramatically. Coincidentally, my tester was Critical Speed's Cal Zaryski, who was my coach at the time. He still had my numbers from that test, so we could do a side-by-side comparison. I will post the numbers later, but to sum the test up, my power output has increased 28%, my lactate threshold has increased by 11 beats/minute, (meaning I can race harder without risk of detonating) and my power output for a given heart rate has improved dramatically. Mine is an extreme case of improvement due to the amount of training and racing during the past five years, but it proves the point I've made here before: Fitness can be improved, despite the aging process.

Following the test, I rejoined the rest of the group for a 90-minute ride up Green Mountain Road and back.

Today was a high-volume cycling day: We road the 180km Ironman bike course, then followed it with a 20-minute transition run. The transition run is a short (no longer than 1 hour) run done following a long ride, the goal being to get the body used to the transition from cycling to running. The legs have to go from spinning for several hours to supporting the body upright and turning over for a few more hours, so the athlete needs to get used to the feeling of the running muscles engaging. The first couple of miles can feel quite brutal, and this is the time that you question your sanity, and maybe even consider running in front of a truck. So it's good to torture yourself in this manner after a long ride to realize that the world will not end, and eventually you settle into a state just south of misery.

Sounds like fun, yes? In reality, it does get easier. Otherwise, nobody would ever sign up for a second Ironman!

Desert Half Ironman Race Report

2000m Swim, 90km Bike, 21km Run

Above, my Cervelo P2C after a hard days' work at the Desert Half. Note the Cervelo commercial on TV; the Canadian bike company has a big presence under Team CSC at the Tour de France, and plenty of air time during the Tour coverage on OLN.

The Desert Half Ironman promises one of the toughest bike courses around, mid-summer heat, and yesterday added brisk winds to the mix, to make for a tough but gratifying day. I finished 7th in a very competitive 45-49 age group, and 38th overall out of just under 400 finishers, in a time of 5:06:36. Considering that only seven weeks ago, I was taking my first tentative strokes in the pool after separating my shoulder in the bike crash, I'm very satisfied with the result, and particularly encouraged by a decent swim.

The Swim - Osoyoos Lake

Osoyoos Lake is the warmest lake in Canada, but thankfully wetsuits were allowed, and I'll wear my buoyant cocoon anytime I can. There was a two-wave start with the 49-and-under men hitting the water at 7:00 AM sharp, and the women and over-59 men three minutes later. I got a great draft for most of the first lap, but the pack had spread out for the second lap and fast feet were harder to get onto. As a couple of the women, marked by their yellow caps, went by, I tried to get into their draft, but they were too fast. I exited the water at 38:29 and 156th, not far off my usual half-Iron swim time and placement, so the shoulder seems to have passed the test. Now if I could just do something about my inflexible feet...

The Bike - Richter Pass to Cawston to Richter Pass to Osoyoos

Immediately after exiting transition, the road points upwards for about 15km to the crest of Richter Pass. Then an exhilirating descent down the backside, followed by a long set of rollers, and a brief flat section through the Cawston area. The course turned homeward to revisit the rollers, then the tough climb up the backside of Richter Pass, and the rewarding descent back into Osoyoos.

The wind was from the northeast, so we were faced with headwinds on the first pitch up Richter, outbound through the rollers, then again on the first return pitch up Richter. The whole ride alternated between 15-25km/h grinds up the hills, to 45-50km/h tailwind-aided flats and rollers, to 70km/h+ descents.

My ride strategy was to settle in to a steady pace on the tough sections and just grind it out, then take back time by going hard on the tailwind-aided sections and descents. This kept my heart rate pretty consistently in zone 3 (Tempo pace, 70-80% of max). I knew that with the long, wind-aided descent back into Osoyoos, I would have a chance to recover for the half-marathon to follow, so I took the risk of going hard on the final climb. My bike split was 2:49:39, good enough for 4th in my age group and 34th overall. It was a tough ride, but a lot of fun, especially with the high-speed descents.

The Run - Osoyoos Main Street and Lakefront

The two-loop run course was fairly flat, except for a short out-and-back rolling residential section at the end of each loop, that hurt as much as I anticipated it would. The route followed Main Street and along the lakefront, and there were occasional cooling breezes and timely clouds to ease the mid-day heat. I followed the fourth-place female for most of the run, which helped me hold pace, but annoyed her when my breathing went into Darth Vader mode in the last couple of km. I had a brief rough patch just before the midpoint, and negative thoughts made my resolve crumble a bit. I thought about all the people who helped me during my injury recovery, then got my legs back and my head straight. I silently thanked them all as I crossed the finish line. My run split was 1:38:29, good for 7th in the age group and 36th overall.

After doing four Ironmans in a row, it struck me after the finish how short and manageable (you'll notice I didn't say easy) the half-Iron distance is. Start at seven, finish around lunchtime. Next Sunday is the Peach Classic triathlon here in Penticton, an Olympic-distance (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run) event that seems easy due to the length, but must be raced at a higher intensity. Short, but sharp. I'll preview that race later in the week.

In the meantime, today is a recovery day for me, but Ironspirit training camp starts for about twenty other people who will be doing lactate threshhold testing at the Impact Endurance Training Center. Athletes need to be rested to get meaningful results, because the testing requires a maximal effort. My maximal effort today will be an easy spin on the bike, maybe a refreshing dip in the lake, and a lot of stretching. The serious training resumes tomorrow with a long swim, interval run session, then a moderate-pace bike ride. More to follow...

Tour de France observations

I've been following the Tour closely, and watched with horror today as a massive pileup occurred in the last couple of km. The worst thing was seeing so many riders in the aftermath, riding into the finish line holding one arm immobile in close to the body (Including yellow jersey Fabian Cancellera); a common sign of a broken collarbone or separated shoulder. Guys, I feel your pain.

Desert Half Iron Preview

For a tough bike ride, start at around the 60km mark in the map above, ride up and over Richter Pass and beyond the 100km mark, then turn around and ride back the other way. Throw in 30+ degree heat, for good measure. That's the Desert Half Iron bike course.

The Desert Half Iron takes place tomorrow in Osoyoos, B.C. I could have picked an easier race, but I'm just up the road in Penticton for training camp anyway, so what the heck. At the very least, the tough course should be a good test of fitness.

The swim takes place in Osoyoos Lake, a two-lap affair of 2000m. The swim course is uh, flat.

The bike course is the meat in the middle, covering one of the most infamous climbs in the Ironman world: Richter Pass. At Ironman Canada, once you top Richter Pass, it's behind you for good. Tomorrow, it's up and over, then back again. Pacing the first ascent properly will be key to a good bike split. The only upside is a screaming downhill final descent into Osoyoos, which gives the legs a rest and sets up well for the half-marathon.

The run course consists of two loops along parts of Main Street and also Lakeshore Drive, mainly flat, but with a couple of hills that will be murder after the hard ride. The temperature will really be a factor, too.

This race is only a few years old, but is already up to nearly 500 entrants. It also serves as the Canadian Long Course Championships, and awards 25 Ironman Canada spots.

Above, a couple of big weeks of training, just completed.

"The will to win means nothing, if you haven't the will to prepare."
Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

It will be nine weeks tomorrow since the bike crash, but my recovery has been going well, so it’s time to do some racing, starting this weekend with the Desert Half in Osoyoos. With that in mind, Coach Kev put together a schedule with two hard build weeks, followed by a very easy taper week. I like to think of it as a “fitness cram”.

The first week had a run focus, with 5.5 hours’ worth. Because of the impact associated with running, it’s appropriate to ease off the run volume a minimum of three weeks from a focus race, to allow the joints time to recover. There was no shortage of cycling in week 1 either, with nearly 300km, and just under 9000m in the pool.

The second week, just completed, featured my longest ride so far this year, 100 miles*, and longest run of the year, 19 miles. All told 450km of riding, four hours of running and 8500m of swimming. You’ll notice no weight training; I was advised by the respiratory doctor to avoid weights until eight weeks after the crash. It doesn’t make sense to resume now, within a week of a race.

This week has only six hours of training, with a little intensity work thrown in to stay sharp.

The key workouts the last two weeks were Tuesdays and Thursdays, which featured around 80km per day of cycling, and almost 3000m per day of swimming. So how to pull that off on a work day? Thanks to bike commuting, and the extended daylight of the summer solstice period:

4:30 AM: Get up, eat, get on the bike at 5:00 AM. Ride 11 km to the pool.

5:30-6:30 AM: Swim 2800-3000m.

6:40 AM: Ride 15 km to work.

5:00 PM: Ride 22 km home.

5:50 PM: Immediately (before the beer urge) get on the Computrainer for a one-hour power or tempo interval session, 33-35 virtual km.

7:00 PM: Shower, eat, satisfy beer urge.

Saturday’s 100-mile ride was an important test of fitness, coming at the end of the tough two-week training block, with a lot of fatigue in the legs. I rode east on Highway 22X to the Trans-Canada highway, and aided by the net downhill and tailwind, blazed the 75km in two hours. Then I turned back west and ate headwind all the way home, taking 2:40, ouch what fun. Then four loops around McKenzie Lake Way, and another Century in the books.

*A 100-mile ride is also known to road cyclists as a Century, or to triathletes, as a Saturday Training Ride.

BTW, congrats to my running mate from last weekend at Coeur d'Alene, Kyle Marcotte. He won the Great White North triathlon in Stony Plain for the second consecutive year. Also congrats to Don, Cal, Jared, Simon, Bernie, Darryl, Cat, and Jill, who also had great races.