Different Consequence

Today’s rides was a lot different than last week. I decided to ride out to the dump even though it was pretty cold when I started. I warmed up pretty quickly, though my hands took the longest to unfreeze. I met up with a friend at the dump and we started to ride.

Pretty soon I realized there was a lot less standing water over last week, but it was still pretty mucky. The rocks were also stil pretty slick, a combo of still being wet, and lots of moss. My friend pointed out that even though it hasn’t rained, it really hasn’t been warm enough for everything to dry out properly.

The first route we talked about was a trip to Trillium, then down South Ridge. This changed into a trek to Green Ribbon/Hot Cherry. I then said no to those since I was starting to get a bit tired, and those trails do require some mental acuity (they are pretty technical with some high consequence). We ended up going down South Ridge, hit some trails lower down, then I made my way home.

My plan for getting home was to take the parks Southern exit over to Munns Rd, then take the Goose home. I wasn’t sure if that would be longer or shorted, but it would be different than going home along Interurban (flat and boring). The downhill on Munns was fun, but where I hit Munns meant a couple big uphill sections, which on my mountain bike, really weren’t all that fun.

Overall, great ride. Would recommend 🙂

Donation Uncoordinated

Since I am doing spin class on Thursdays, I thought it would be a good idea to move my blood donation to a Friday so that I could still do both. My first test of this happened this past Friday. I donated for the 77th time, and other than it taking a while to get through the process, the whole thing was pretty easy. 
Sunday however was a different story. Originally I had planned to ride to the dump, do a tour, then ride home. I evicted against that for some reason, and in retrospect I am very glad. On the trails I felt pretty bad. My heart rate would shoot up and I would easily get out of breath. It reminded me a lot of riding at altitude in Rossland actually. I felt slow and sluggish and uncoordinated. The ride was also very, very wet.

  
Still, I was glad to have gotten out for a ride and to get some fresh air and exercise.

Tour de Victoria 2013

What can I say about the Tour. It is a great course, but this year was incredibly hard. The weather was a big part of it, but my body was a bigger factor.

In the week leading up to the ride I got sick. It wasn’t a head cold, but rather I was lethargic, had a fever, bad headaches, couldn’t sleep well, and generally felt gross. By Friday I felt I was 100%, and on Saturday I felt ready for the ride.

Saturday I prepped everything for an early morning departure, including getting my fender installed on my bike again. However, when I woke up Sunday I wasn’t feeling 100% any more. I actually felt like I had another cold coming on. Before heading out the door for the ride I popped some cold meds and hoped for the best.

It was raining as I left, so I had dressed with tights, booties, and a vest with arm warmers. This is way more clothing that I had worn for any of my training rides, and I hoped it wasn’t overkill. I made my way to the start line, and immediately needed to use the can. Thankfully I made it back to my bike before everything started.

I was thirsty though, and I remember thinking that was odd since I had plenty to drink the day before. I kind of chalked it all up to nerves, though it was a different feeling than most cases of nerves I had felt.

We started off, and thankfully the rain had let up a little. The group motored out to Langford, and by the time we got to Ocean Boulevard, people had started to string out. By this time I had also downed half a bottle of water already too. As we ascended Ocean I could feel my legs weren’t as strong as most of the training rides I had done.

We continued on out into Metchosin, then hit Lombard, which was a nasty little climb, then Lindholm. Lindholm was an eye opener. My legs had nothing in them. The was less than 40KM into a 140KM ride and my legs were drained and tired. Not good.

I also realized at some point that I was behind on my nutrition already. Aargh. I was paying attention to how I was feeling and not watching the time. At the first aid station I filled up with water and quickly grabbed a few snacks. My goal of 5 hours was flying out the window, and I knew it. The weather was a factor in that, but so was I.

We remounted and continued on, passing the 100KM rider start. There was nobody there, so we zipped over to Atkins Rd. Last year I caught up to and passed a bunch of 100KM riders on Atkins. This year, it was eerily empty. My first 40KM I felt like we had a good speed, but somehow I must have been slower than last year.

We tackled Munn’s and I was seriously hating that hill. It is always a good challenge, but this day, in the wet it was awful. I was in a way lower gear, way earlier than normal. I was exerting myself too much on this hill. When we got to the last pitch I stood to try and grunt it out over the top, but my wheel started slipping on the wet pavement forcing me to stay seated. After the ride I looked up my Munns climb timed section and I was two minutes slower this year over last.

Ross Durance was brutal too. At one point I couldn’t make it up one of the hills, so I dropped to my granny ring (my bike has a triple ring setup). I hadn’t used the granny in years. I was beginning to feel very defeated. My spirits were dropping quickly. My legs were still feeling dead.

As we neared the Brentwood bay school aid station I realized I hadn’t seen Sue. I was a little concerned, but I was more concerned about me. Do I drop out and turn home, or do I continue. My legs were fine on the flat sections, but the hills were very difficult. At the aid station I took on more water and food, and made the decision. I had trained months for this event. Hours in the saddle away from family. Summer vacation was planned around when Sue and I could ride. I had to keep going.

I left the aid station and a few minutes later realized I had forgotten to pee. The long climb along West Saanich road wasn’t too bad since it was gradual so I kept going. As we got to the backside of the airport, the wind started to pick up. If it was windy there, it was going to be brutal on the Sydney side. Thankfully I was riding with two others and we could draft off each other.

We got to Wane rd, crossed the highway, and started heading back toward town. That was a good feeling, but looking at my watch I knew that I was way off the pace I wanted. We stopped again at the aid station and I check my text message to see if Sue had sent me anything. I got so distracted that I forgot to pee yet again.

As we were passing through Sydney I told the two guys I was riding with that I needed to stop. I told them to go on without me, and I reassured them I would be fine. I felt much better after I peed, but then I got into the really windy part. I quickly realized how foolish I was sending them on without me.

Somewhere during al this I kept getting sweat in my eyes. There was so much rain coming down that my helmet pads were releasing all the built up sweat and gunk in them, and it was running into my eyes. It was very painful, but also dangerous as this was happening on descents and I couldn’t see very well.

I soldiered on through the wind, through Cordova bay, then through Mount Doug. Turning onto Ash I faced my nemesis hill. I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty, and I knew that I would have a bit of time to recover after this hill. Three quarters of the way up my legs gave up on me an I had to get off and walk. Talk about killing my spirits.

Remounting I tried to keep my speed up, but then I noticed my bike computer was on the fritz. My speed was reading 0, yet my cadence was at 160 RPM. And my distance was glued to 107KM. Sigh.

On Arbutus I was going around once corner when all of a sudden my rear wheel hit a pothole hard. It gave me a big jolt, but it was quite eye opening. I hadn’t seen a thing, and imagine if my front wheel had hit it?

It seemed like I was OK, so I kept going. Through Cadboro bay, and up the hill to Beach drive I went. As I got onto Beach drive my back end felt a little off. Sure enough my tire was low. Likely a snakebite from that pothole. I figured it was pretty slow so I pulled over (right before the timed section start) and decided against replacing it, and instead chose to top it up with CO2. Fairly quick, but still difficult with cold wet hands.

I started the timed section and tried to do my best on it, but by the time I got to the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, my tire was low again. I pulled over and knew I had to change it this time. I took off my soaking wet gloves and got out my tools. I struggled to get the tire off the rim, and it was because of the tube being stuck to the tire. My hands weren’t working all that well and I was starting to get down on myself.

Then a support vehicle pulled up. They asked if I needed some help, and I was all set to say no, but realized the folly in that. They were there to help, so I accepted. They jumped out with a floor pump, and in no time got the tire reseated, the tube inflated, checked the spin on the tire, put the wheel back on the bike, checked the brakes, and handed my bike back. Big thanks to those guys! I also realized that it wasn’t my glasses that were fogging up on me. There was something wrong with my right eye. Everything was foggy and hazy in that eye. A little disconcerting.

I was in the home stretch, but now I was really cold, and still soaking wet. I got past the golf course, and could see King George Terrace. The last big hill. Some friends had planned to watch from there, but with the weather the way it was, and with me being so much later than I had planned, I was sure they weren’t going to be there. When I got to the second ascent, I put my head down and powered up the hill. A wave of emotion hit me. I had gotten through all the hard bits and could now coast home. Head down still I glanced over and could see one of my friends cheering me on. It turned out that 5 people I knew were cheering from that spot. Those are my SuperFriends! Thanks guys.

Down the backside of King George I gathered the will to keep going. Ross Bay, Clover Point, Beacon Hill then downtown. Nothing could stop me from finishing. The sun had even come out at this point. Then I needed to pee again. Aaargh. I stopped at Beacon Hill Park, then made my way to the finish.

After I crossed the finish line I heard Sue call me. I was relieved she was OK. I was happy I finished, and had endured that, but was so bitterly disappointed in the day. Even now, a week later I am disappointed in how I fared. I grabbed my bag from the bag check and we got a little warmer. We went to go get in line for food and a beer, but we couldn’t do it. The line was huge and we were cold and wet. We gave someone our food and beer tickets and just headed for home. I wasn’t in a mood for celebrating anyway.

My official time was 6 hours eleven minutes, and my goal was to break 5 hours. My 2012 time was 5 hours 8 minutes.


View The Tour de Victoria 2013 in a larger map


View The Tour de Victoria 2013 in a larger map

Total distance: 141.60 km (88.0 mi)
Total time: 6:17:41
Moving time: 5:40:43
Average speed: 22.49 km/h (14.0 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 24.94 km/h (15.5 mi/h)
Max speed: 60.91 km/h (37.8 mi/h)
Average pace: 2:40 min/km (4:18 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2:24 min/km (3:52 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0:59 min/km (1:35 min/mi)
Max elevation: 250 m (820 ft)
Min elevation: -16 m (-53 ft)
Elevation gain: 1524 m (4998 ft)
Max grade: 19 %
Min grade: -17 %

Tour Wait

Well, my last big ride before the Tour de Victoria is done. Bill and I hit up the three big climbs of the Tour course. He turned off while I continued. I had planned to try and make 4.5 hours, but I fell a bit short. Kangaroo road was pretty torn up. Looks like they are planning on widening the road and lots of heavy machinery has been on the road. This has made the road more bumpy than normal.

Munns was as fun as usual. After that I headed out along Wallace, turned on to West Saanich, then turned right on Stellys X Road to take me over to Island View Rd, and Mitchell Farm. From there I started to follow the Tour route home, but realized I would go way over on my time, so I mentally figured out the quickest route home.

All in all a decent ride, but I was pretty knackered by the end. I don’t think I could have done another 40 km. Ride day could be interesting. I’ll rely on drafting and adrenaline to get me through.

Next week I plan on a short (ish) three hour ride on flat (ish) terrain just to keep myself limber.

Then the Tour. Can’t wait.


View Three Big Hills Sept 7, 2013 in a larger map


View Three Big Hills Sept 7, 2013 in a larger map
Total distance: 103.88 km (64.5 mi)
Total time: 4:19:56
Moving time: 4:05:01
Average speed: 23.98 km/h (14.9 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 25.44 km/h (15.8 mi/h)
Max speed: 64.07 km/h (39.8 mi/h)
Average pace: 2:30 min/km (4:02 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2:22 min/km (3:48 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0:56 min/km (1:30 min/mi)
Max elevation: 256 m (839 ft)
Min elevation: -11 m (-37 ft)
Elevation gain: 1139 m (3738 ft)
Max grade: 13 %
Min grade: -12 %

Behind Ride

Apparently I am a little behind on posting about my rides.

This ride I did in Nanaimo. I think it was supposed to be 4 hours, but was just barely 3. I remember being unhappy with this ride.


View Nanaimo Tour in a larger map
Total distance: 75.43 km (46.9 mi)
Total time: 3:05:40
Moving time: 3:02:19
Average speed: 24.38 km/h (15.1 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 24.82 km/h (15.4 mi/h)
Max speed: 59.63 km/h (37.1 mi/h)
Average pace: 2:28 min/km (3:58 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2:25 min/km (3:53 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1:00 min/km (1:37 min/mi)
Max elevation: 173 m (566 ft)
Min elevation: -3 m (-9 ft)
Elevation gain: 835 m (2741 ft)
Max grade: 12 %
Min grade: -11 %
Recorded: 8/18/2013 9:15AM

The next ride was a weeknight ride where I met a couple friends near the Johnson St Bridge and headed out to the observatory for hill repeats. I did three ascents of the hill, and could have done more I think, but we were running out of light. I almost got taken out by a dragonfly on the return trip. It hit me in the right shoulder, which caused me to twist a bit, then a blackberry cane hit me and snagged my jersey.


View Observatory Hill Repeats in a larger map
Total distance: 48.14 km (29.9 mi)
Total time: 2:20:42
Moving time: 1:55:12
Average speed: 20.53 km/h (12.8 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 25.07 km/h (15.6 mi/h)
Max speed: 55.25 km/h (34.3 mi/h)
Average pace: 2:55 min/km (4:42 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2:24 min/km (3:51 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1:05 min/km (1:45 min/mi)
Max elevation: 225 m (737 ft)
Min elevation: -15 m (-48 ft)
Elevation gain: 630 m (2067 ft)
Max grade: 20 %
Min grade: -16 %
Recorded: 8/22/2013 6:04PM

The next ride is broken into two parts. I managed to hit four hours, but I had to extend my ride through parts of Esquimalt. One really nice thing about this ride was coming across a friend of mine as he as reaching his turnaround point on Martindale. He joined me for the ride back to downtown, which was nice to have some company on.


View 8/25/2013 7:17AM in a larger map

View 8/25/2013 7:17AM in a larger map
Total distance: 104.68 km (65.0 mi)
Total time: 4:02:02
Moving time: 3:57:04
Average speed: 25.95 km/h (16.1 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 26.49 km/h (16.5 mi/h)
Max speed: 59.93 km/h (37.2 mi/h)
Average pace: 2:19 min/km (3:43 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2:16 min/km (3:39 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1:00 min/km (1:37 min/mi)
Max elevation: 246 m (806 ft)
Min elevation: -15 m (-50 ft)
Elevation gain: 1186 m (3892 ft)
Max grade: 17 %
Min grade: -38 %
Recorded: 8/25/2013 7:17AM

Lastly we get to my ride this past weekend (again in two parts). I had wanted to hit somewhere between 4.25 and 4.5 hours, and I did it on this ride. I managed 116 km, but more importantly to me, I maintained an average speed of just under 27KM/H. I consider this excellent given that this ride was 100% solo. On ride day I need to maintain about 28 KM/H to hit my 5 hour goal. Again, for this ride I had to extend it a little through Esquimalt to get in the time.


View 8/31/2013 7:55AM in a larger map

View 8/31/2013 7:55AM in a larger map
Total distance: 116.11 km (72.1 mi)
Total time: 4:25:09
Moving time: 4:19:08
Average speed: 26.27 km/h (16.3 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 26.88 km/h (16.7 mi/h)
Max speed: 60.46 km/h (37.6 mi/h)
Average pace: 2:17 min/km (3:41 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2:14 min/km (3:36 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0:60 min/km (1:36 min/mi)
Max elevation: 250 m (819 ft)
Min elevation: -9 m (-30 ft)
Elevation gain: 1178 m (3866 ft)
Max grade: 14 %
Min grade: -12 %
Recorded: 8/31/2013 7:55AM

Average Blood

Last weekend we were camping, yet I still got out for my ride. From Rathtrevor I rode South to Nanoose and did the Fairwinds loop. A friend of mine joined me on my assurance that it wasn’t hilly. Note to self: the Fairwinds loop is hilly! My friend dropped off after one lap, but stuck out three laps before riding North again. My goal was to hit four hours, but I only managed a little over three. The upside was that my average speed was higher than normal.


View Camping Ride Aug 4, 2013 in a larger map

Total distance: 82.25 km (51.1 mi)
Total time: 3:05:48
Moving time: 3:03:16
Average speed: 26.56 km/h (16.5 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 26.93 km/h (16.7 mi/h)
Max speed: 93.45 km/h (58.1 mi/h)
Average pace: 2:16 min/km (3:38 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2:14 min/km (3:35 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0:39 min/km (1:02 min/mi)
Max elevation: 105 m (345 ft)
Min elevation: -8 m (-27 ft)
Elevation gain: 1262 m (4140 ft)
Max grade: 28 %
Min grade: -38 %

This past Wednesday I gave blood, so I wasn’t sure how I would do for my Saturday long ride. The plan was for Sue and I to head out and for me to show her the Metchosin section of the route. We did that, then before turning towards Munn’s Sue headed home, while I continued. After Munn’s I headed toward home since we had family visiting, but I managed to extend it a little to reach 95KM. Not bad for three days after donating blood. My average speed was a little lower than normal, but that was in part due to riding with Sue. I pushed a harder gear while going slow, and the burn felt pretty strong for a long time.


View 3 Hills Aug 8, 2013 in a larger map


View 3 Hills Aug 8, 2013 in a larger map

Total distance: 94.54 km (58.7 mi)
Total time: 4:02:24
Moving time: 3:56:58
Average speed: 23.40 km/h (14.5 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 23.94 km/h (14.9 mi/h)
Max speed: 62.66 km/h (38.9 mi/h)
Average pace: 2:34 min/km (4:08 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2:30 min/km (4:02 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0:57 min/km (1:32 min/mi)
Max elevation: 249 m (817 ft)
Min elevation: -13 m (-43 ft)
Elevation gain: 1090 m (3578 ft)
Max grade: 18 %
Min grade: -10 %

Comparison Great

What a ride today. The weather was perfect, sunny, but not too hot, a slight breeze, but not a strong head wind. The only thing I should have changed was selecting my route ahead of time. Well, I had a general idea of where I wanted to go, but I should have planned it better to ensure that the distance I wanted to hit was doable with my route.

My main goal was to hit Munn’s Road for the first time this year. I went straight from my place out the Goose to the turn off to Munn’s. I made it up to the top without too much trouble which pleased me a lot. Sure the last pitch before the summit hurt and was slow, but I did it without stopping. Ross Durance Lake Road was easy in comparison. From there I went out Wallace until I hit West Saanich. Here is where better planning would have helped. I went left, changed my mind, and back tracked to Wallace until I crossed the highway. I knew that if I headed to town, my ride would be too short, so I went left towards Sidney for a quick out and back. It worked, but wasn’t the best option.

I passed MItchels Farm when I noticed that there was a large bird on top of a telephone pole. At first I thought it was a turkey vulture, but as I got close I realized it was a Bald Eagle. When it moved I saw that it had a rabbit in it’s talons. I stopped to try and take a picture, but before I could get my phone out and unwrapped, the bird flew away.

I continued on feeling pretty strong through Mount Doug, and up Ash. In fact I was feeling pretty strong the entire day so far. Past Willows, through Oak Bay, then up and over King George Terrace I went. I zipped through downtown, then over the bridge. As I was heading along Esquimalt Ave I noticed that I was pretty close to breaking 100K, so I took a slightly longer route than normal to eke out as much distance as possible.


View July 7, 2013 TdV in a larger map


View July 7, 2013 TdV in a larger map

Total distance: 102.97 km (64.0 mi)
Total time: 3:59:19
Moving time: 3:55:02
Average speed: 25.82 km/h (16.0 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 26.29 km/h (16.3 mi/h)
Max speed: 84.22 km/h (52.3 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.32 min/km (3.7 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.28 min/km (3.7 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0.71 min/km (1.1 min/mi)
Max elevation: 300 m (984 ft)
Min elevation: -29 m (-94 ft)
Elevation gain: 2384 m (7820 ft)
Max grade: 41 %
Min grade: -52 %
Recorded: 7/7/2013 8:37AM

My bike computer recorded 99.3 KM, but my phone recorded more. Also, my phone says my max speed was 84 KM/H, but the bike computer recorded 62.8 KM/H. No idea where the difference came from.

At home I ate some lunch, had a coffee, and recovered a bit. Good challenge today, and this has left me feeling pretty good about the Tour de Victoria.

Next weekend I will be riding in Nanaimo, so we will see what kind of a ride I can string together.

Waterfront Night

Last night Sue and I each got out for a ride. The plan for me was to ride after Sue, and I wanted to do about 1.5 hours. I went along the waterfront since it was such a nice day out.

On the out leg I could see that my average speed was pretty high. And I wasn’t pushing hard enough to warrant such a speed. Immediately I knew that the return leg would mean a huge head wind. I remember my speed was over 30 KM/H was I was heading towards Clover Point along a flat section.

I made it to Arbutus and Finnerty road in 49.45 minutes. Turning around I braced for the worst, and once I got to Cadboro Bay Village I could feel the wind starting to pick up. Sure enough, by the time I got to Willows Beach, the head wind was pretty fierce. It got steadily more and more worse as I got to Ross Bay, and the hill from there to Clover Point was pretty slow. As I passed Clover Point I looked fown to see myself doing 20 KM/H in the same spot where previously I was doing 30 KM/H.

It was sure a good work out on a beautiful night.


View July 3, 2013 TdV in a larger map

Return Gross

I’ve had a couple really great rides lately. Last weekend I rode with someone I had never ridden with before. Sue works with this persons girlfriend, and although we chatted over email a few times, we really didn’t know each others riding ability. He mentioned that perhaps his girlfriend had built him up a bit.

I was concerned about not slowing him down too much, so I did my best to keep up, and set a good pace when I was in the lead. We headed out the goose, out past Fort Rodd Hill, up Ocean Blvd, then out toward Metchosen. It was nice to ride with someone, and the pace was pretty good. We turned onto Happy Valley Rd, and when we got to Glenn Lake, headed out the highway toward Sooke. At some point we called it and turned around. It was pretty non-chalant when we decided to turn around and I thought that maybe he wanted to go further.

We ended up back on the Goose for the return trip to town. We parted ways where the Lochside trail meets the Goose. The last stretch home I pushed as hard as I could to get home so I could start helping out with some yard work. It was a good ride, in the 2.5 hour range, and over 70KM.

Once I got home though, I started feeling pretty awful. My legs were toast, I ended up with a horrible headache, and pretty much felt miserable. I think that I came down with a bit of heat exhaustion. I drank a bunch of water, but that didn’t help. It was horrible.

This past Saturday I had another great ride, but this one was a solo ride. It ended up clocking in at just a hair under 3.5 hours. I hit Ocean Boulevard, then headed out to Lombard and Londholm. I knew my legs didn’t have enough in them to hit up Munns, so I zipped across Prospect Lake Rd, turned onto West Saanich Rd, then headed for Mount Doug Park to ride along the water for a bit. I had intended to follow the water route all the way to Cook St, but I was running out of time, and my legs were thrashed.

Oh, did I mention that I did my ride in 26 degree weather? Yeah, it was hot, stinkin hot. As long as I was moving, I was fine, but any hills I could feel the heat radiating from the pavement. During my ride I went through 4 bottles of fluid. I would guess that one whole bottle was used on my head an back in a effort to keep cool.

The upside to this was I got some exposure to riding in heat, I got some miles in, I hit some hills, and I didn’t feel gross afterward.


View July 1, 2013 TdV in a larger map

Portland Scenic

My Portland Ride was a lot of fun. I pinged some friends to see if they could recommend a trial to me. One guy I know in Vancouver who does a lot of road trips, had never ridden in Portland, but strangely enough was there the same weekend I was, so I ended up riding with them for the day.

The drive from Portland was a little over an hour long, but it was more than worth it. The trails were a lot of fun, and completely different from what I am used to. Very open, very skinny, very smooth. Oh, and lots of fun.

We started off with a climb through a field. It zigged and zagged a long way up from the river. By the time we topped out, the cars below looked very tiny.

It was a perfect blue sky as well.

Just before the main descent we stopped for a break. We had a little visitor.

It was quite the scenic place.

There were even some technical bits to keep everyone on their toes.

The trail took us right next to the cliff edge.

In all it was a great ride, with some very fun people. Back at the car I quickly changed, stowed my bike and gear in the car and booted back to Portland. Great ride!


View Syncline in a larger map