Author: gfox (old content)

Action Riders

The day after the Tour de Victoria was the Bastion Square Grand Prix. Since the kids were still up in Nanaimo, Sue and I headed downtown to watch some of the action before we headed up to retrieve our kids.

When we arrived we caught the end of the pro women’s race. Amazing how fast they can go. When the roads are dry that is. On crash corner (Yates and Wharf) they lean their bikes over so much. After riding a road bike for a while now, I know that being able to lean a bike that much is a rush.


An interview with the womens winner.


The champagne toast!

Then the cat 1 men were up. Wow, I though the women were fast. The men were just that much faster. Right from the start they were amazing to watch. So tightly packed, yet no accidents.


This show could have been so amazing if there were a few more cyclists in the shot. The airplane, the harbour ferry, the water, the crowd. All that is missing is some riders.


Rolling Ride

Today was the Tour de Victoria. It is hard to believe that it is over already.

Getting up this morning was pretty surreal. The big day. I ate breakfast, and got my things together. I discovered that I forgot to charge my cell last night and the battery was completely dead. Crap! I would have like the stats and the map from the actual ride.

Sue and I finished getting ready and then we rode down to her office to meet a friend. When we made our way over to the start chute, I was amazed at the number of people. So cool! We chose a location in the 3.5-4.5 range category. I was hoping to get the ride done in the 3.5 hour range.

All too soon we were off. Rolling with a large group of people. For the first 10 km we were paced by a car, which was fine by me. I stuck with Sue and A for this section. Out by the hospital, when the pace car pulled off, I said goodbye to Sue and started off on my own. This was mostly fine, but I found there were a lot of people who would ride as far left as possible. Weird since when you are passing you are supposed to pass on the left. This meant a lot of passing in the oncoming lane.

Prospect lake road was nice. The hills stretched people out a bit, and the scenery was nice. At the end we hit out first gravel section. I liked the gravel, but there were many that seemed scared of it. I motored here and passed a few people.

On the next paved section, Wallace Dr, I held a good 30 KM/H pace while one guy hung on my wheel the entire way. I didn’t mind that much, but then he pulled up beside me, thanked me for setting a good pace, then dropped back behind me again! I dropped him on the next long hill.

We then hit West Saanich. Somewhere along there the rain hit. Yuck. It was wet out. Thankfully I still have my fenders on which helped keep me a little dry. A couple riders here caught my wheel and hung on for a bit. Again, not a big deal. Then one of them pulled in front to take a turn. Unfortunately he had no fenders, which meant the spray was just soaking me! Ah well.

It surprised me when all of a sudden we were on an overpass to the Pat Bay Highway. We were on our way back to town already. The ride was flying by so quickly. It rained all the way to Sidney when it finally stopped.

On the Lochside trail I got boxed in by a group of 3 others who were doing a decent pace, but I would have liked it to be another 1 or 2 KM/H faster. The only way I could have gotten around them was to drop back, then pull around. I waited for a good time to do that.

The hill on Martindale road was a killer. At the top I was grimacing and started to feel hungry. Uh oh, that wasn’t good. I pulled out a gel and washed it down with water, and some poweraid.

Cordova Bay road was fine, but when I hit the Mt Doug Parkway I took the time to eat some more. We then took Ash to Grandview and Ferndale.

As I was climbing a hill I saw a decked out Tour de Victoria Subaru pass me. I knew it wasn’t the Lantern Rouge, but I was a little confused. Then a motorcycle with a photographer on it passed me. Again I though it was weird. Then it dawned on me. The leaders from the 140KM ride! I looked left in time to see a huge peleton of riders pass me. I think I saw Ryder Hesjedal in the mix, and I’m pretty sure I saw Trevor Linden in there too. Very cool. I tried to hang with them for a few seconds, but they were gone in a matter of minutes.

We then got on Beach Drive to Crescent Rd, then took that all the way to Beacon Hill park. King George Terrace was nastier than ever. I passed someone on it too. 🙂 I think he was a sponsored rider 🙂

We did a few dipsy-doodle turns through Beacon Hill park which kicked us out on Southgate St. I knew we were close to the finish line, so I started picking up the pace. Southgate turned into Superior. By now I was trucking. We had a hard turn onto Menzies and I started sprinting. The guy in front of me kept looking back and I kept closing in on him. The final turn was onto Belleville, then a short dash to the finish line. My legs were screaming, but I kept going. After crossing the line I stopped and instantly had tunnel vision, my legs were wobbly, and I felt pretty ill. Riding slowly helped clear that.

The ride was great. The organization was outstanding. The volunteers were everywhere and did a great job. Most importantly, there were a tone of spectators all along the course cheering, waving, ringing cowbells. Even in the rain.

The food at the finish line was excellent too. Fruit, water, energy bars, fresh BBQd salmon burgers, Galloping Goose sausage, chocolate milk. Yum.

I can’t wait for next year! I’l be signing up for the 140 KM event too.

My stats for the ride?
Time: 3:09
Distance: 89.12
Average Speed: 28.3 KM/H
Max Speed: 60 KM/H

Training Cold

Sunday was my last training ride for the Tour de Victoria. I was supposed to go Saturday, but since I got back from Vegas I had been battling some weird cold that had me feeling pretty drained. I didn’t especially feel like getting out on Sunday either, but I forced myself to go for two hours.

My main goal was to hit Prospect Lake Road again. I had only ridden it once and it seemed like I should do it again. I felt gross most of the time, but I did my two hours. My legs felt pretty dead, like there was nothing in them, much like when I rode in Vegas. I’m on the mend now though, and I know that the training I have done to date will sever me well for the ride.

Only a few more days until the big event.


View Tour de Victoria, May 22, 2011 in a larger map

Total Distance: 44.82 km (27.8 mi)
Total Time: 1:56:07
Moving Time: 1:50:18
Average Speed: 23.16 km/h (14.4 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 24.38 km/h (15.1 mi/h)
Max Speed: 55.02 km/h (34.2 mi/h)
Min Elevation: -6 m (-20 ft)
Max Elevation: 95 m (310 ft)
Elevation Gain: 628 m (2062 ft)
Max Grade: 20 %
Min Grade: -11 %

Vegas Buffets

Vegas was a blast. We spent four days there and got to do almost everything we wanted.

Our flight down was spectacular too. We got bumped to first class, and that was the first time I had even been in first class. Drinks in real glasses, real food on real plates. Friendly stewardesses. Perfect way to start the trip. Then when we hit Vegas we grabbed a limo to the hotel. Sweet!

While in Vegas we went out for a nice dinner, followed by the O Cirque de Soleil show. We had a pool day. We went riding. We went up and down the strip. We went to Freemont Street. I played poker. We played the slots. We bet on ponies. We bet on a Vancouver Canucks game. We hit buffets.

We would have liked to seen the Stratosphere up close, and I would have loved to gone up the Eiffel tower to get some pics from up there. Gotta save something for the next trip!

One of the highlights for me was the first breakfast that Sue and I had at Bon Ami Gabi. I chose the Lemon Pancakes with Strawberries. Yum! So good that the next time I went, I ordered the same thing.


The view from our room!

The rest of my pics are here.

Learning Wrong

Ulti tonight was a blast. Lots of running, lots of learning. The mens league certainly is a lot more uptempo than summer league. There are also a lot more hucks, which I am fine with. In summer league, constantly hucking the disc is almost frowned upon since it rarely lends itself to a learning experience for newer players.

Our team is starting to gel a little with people picking up certain positions. I’m handling again, but sometimes swap off for a position in the stack. I still learn lots as a handler, mostly about position. I quite often set up in the wrong position, and by the time I realize it, my check and I are clogging things up, or there is no way I could get the disc. It will come back to me though.

I threw fairly well tonight and didn’t make many bad throws. I was catching well too, which for me is a better thing to have happen. When I catch poorly I tense up, which then causes me to throw poorly.

We have what seems like a pretty strong team. We have some tall guys, some speedy guys, and some guys who can throw really well. We had a few outstanding points where we moved the disc really well keeping the other team on their heels. We marched right up the field like that until we got close to the end zone. We set up in the stack and ended up scoring. Sweet!

Looking forward to more fun weeks of ulti.

Killer Feeling

Today’s ride was killer. Great route, and despite the fact that my legs didn’t feel very strong, I think I did pretty well. I made the time I wanted, which was at least 3.5 hours, and my total distance was 90.6 kms too! Woohoo.

The weather was supposed to be rainy, but instead it was cloudy with sunny periods. I was on the verge of being over dressed, which is way better than being cold. I spent a fair amount of time at the front and tried setting a good pace up some of the hills on Kangaroo Rd. We hit some great downhill sections too.

D and T wanted to head off an do Munn’s Rd, but I chose Prospect Lake Rd instead. I had never ridden it, and it is part of my course. Nice road. Rolling hills, pretty scenery, but the road is in pretty rough shape. Now on my own, when I got to the end of Prospect Lake Rd, I had some decisions to make. I was at around 2.75 hours, and if I headed straight home I would be done too early.

I thought I would head over to the Lochside Trail and take that home. As I got close to that, I again realized that would cut my ride too short. I opted to head along the Mr Doug Parkway, then meandered over to UVic, down Foul Bay Rd to Oak Bay Ave, then took that to Yates St.

From Yates it was straight across the bridge and straight home from there. Great ride, but now I am poooooooped and my legs are pretty fried.


View Tour de Victoria, May 6, 2011 in a larger map


View Tour de Victoria, May 6, 2011 in a larger map

Total Distance: 90.62 km (56.3 mi)
Total Time: 4:05:55
Moving Time: 3:50:09
Average Speed: 22.11 km/h (13.7 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 23.62 km/h (14.7 mi/h)
Max Speed: 59.40 km/h (36.9 mi/h)
Min Elevation: -14 m (-47 ft)
Max Elevation: 142 m (465 ft)
Elevation Gain: 1307 m (4288 ft)
Max Grade: 26 %
Min Grade: -19 %
Recorded: Sat May 07 08:34:32 PDT 2011

I love how good my riding is feeling though. Since I started training, I have certainly noticed how much I have improved my leg strength, and my endurance. This training has got me jonesing to get out on the trails too. Once the Tour de Victoria is over, I think I will switch over to my mountain bikes again.

League Break

Tonight was the first night of Ulti playing in the men’s leage. I was pretty pumped for the game. I decided to ride out to the field which, unfortunately, was at Gorden Head Middle School. A long ride from Esquimalt. The ride itself was fine and I got to the field with a few minutes to spare.

The game started off and we only had 7 guys. Great. The first thing the captain told us about men’s league was that the pace was faster than co-ed Wednesday night league. Great.

Sure enough, the first point we ran our asses off. I did one great cut, got away from my check and missed the catch. The wind caught it and it rose up a little. I dove trying to snag it and came up a bit short. Instead I banged up my knee, my elbow, and my chest. Great start to the game.

It got worse before it got better. I had one bad point where I could not catch my breath and developed a bad stitch. I couldn’t keep up to my check. I sat off a couple points before I came back on.

When I came back I managed to feel better. My cuts were getting better and my legs felt a bit better. I even managed to catch a point on a great break to the end zone.

First game is done, many more to go. And no more diving until after the Tour de Victoria is done!

Curve Pieces

And so it begins. Yoshi was destructive when he was bored. Heart is too. We keep lots of toys out for her and do our best to clean up before we go out. But sometimes she throws us a curve ball. So far Heart has only destroyed a few plastic toys of Amy’s and Elliot’s. Today she took it up a notch.

She found Sue’s brand new pair of riding glasses and spare lenses, and chewed them to smithereens. Some pieces are still missing.

Quietly Habit

Heart is such a unique dog. She is sweet and lovely, but has a few funny qualities.

Sometimes she gets super excited when we get home. I mean, SUPER excited. As in crazy barking, running around, doing lags around the outside of the house excited. The kids generally get out of her way, but someday someone is going to get hurt.

The other thing is that in the morning when Heart come upstairs, she comes up ever so quietly, walks into out room and curls up on her bed up there. One of the reasons we locked Yoshi in the kitchen at night was because in the summer he would wake up at 5 am and come racing up the stairs. He was so loud he woke everyone up. Yoshi was a morning dog and never slept in. Heart will stay one her bed sleeping as long as there is no movement in the room.

Another peculiar habit is that she is a garbage can surfing dog. If we forget to close the cupboard, she will dip in there and find something to grab. She doesn’t always eat it though. Sue told me a story about this once, and I just experienced it today. The kids were on the couch watching TV. I had just sat down to read some blogs on my computer. Heart would not settle down. She was waling around the dinner table where I was sitting, then would walk around the couches. She did lay down at one point, then promptly got up. It was starting to get a little annoying. Then she walked toward me and she was holding her jaw funny.

I suddenly remembered Sue telling me a similar story and how Heart had gone into the garbage can and carried around something in her mouth for awhile. I grabbed her and opened her mouth. Sure enough there was a piece of celery stalk that I had likely dropped on the ground. It’s almost like she wants to eat the food/garbage, but knows it is wrong. Instead she skulks around the house with it in her mouth thinking “I am in so much trouble”, but unable to put the food down. Silly girl.