Good Friday Road Race 2011

So let’s look at the positives for the day:

1. I finished again with the main group without any major incidents

2. On the series of climbs, I held my own and felt stronger as the race went on

3. I positioned myself well in the group throughout the entire race

4. For the minor incidents that took place such as the bumping, I held my own and recovered from each without taking myself or others down

With that all said, the day for the most part was very difficult for me.  Thursday night, the night before the race, I could begin to feel illness setting in.  My wife and kids have been on and off sick for the last few weeks and I have to this point avoided it.  The morning of the race I sit down at 4:00am again for my pre race meal and check online the weather.  It’s 1 degree Celsius with a projected high of 7 degrees later in the day.  It’s going to be a cold race today!  I choose this time to dress for the elements and wear long thermal tights and gloves.

The one and a half hour drive was uneventful aside from the blowing snow encountered when driving north on Highway 6 towards Flamborough.  I arrive at the race with a splitting headache and in need of a toilet fast!  Hidden behind an 18 wheel trailer, I find relief.  The morning feels rushed as the registration is at 7:30AM and the race start at 8:30AM.  The registration is a little late to open and we wait in line shivering in the cold.  With the sign-on complete and numbers in hand I return to my car to prepare.  Dressed and bike assembled I mount my bike on the rollers and as I attempt to turn the pedals, the rollers sink into the soft ground.  Unable to ride, I leave to warm-up on the course.

With the warm-up complete, I make my way to the start line.  The commissaries decide to split the combined M3/S4 race.  With 68 M3s, not a bad decision as the inclusion of the S4s would have put us over 100 in the field.  I am not familiar with the course today other than it’s a shy over 18km and is a rectangle shaped travelling along Concession Road 5W, right onto Westover Road, right onto Safari Road and finally right onto Brock Road.  There are apparently a series of drumlins, small but steep climbs but I couldn’t imagine they were that difficult.  I am fortunate enough to get a spot at the front of the start line due to a break in the field to make way for a police cruiser.  Less effort I have to put out to make my way to the front now.

With the race on its way, the pace is moderate over the flat but slightly downhill course with a slight tailwind from the right.  I sit comfortably within the top 10 as we ride 2 to 3 abreast and adhering to the yellow line rule.  With the first right hand corner approaching, you can begin to sense some anxiety amongst some of the cyclist.  We all make the right hand turn without incident and the pace begins to steadily increase.  There is a slight cross-wind from the right and a small echelon begins to form pushing us closer and closer to the yellow line.  I fight to remain in the draft of the rider in front of me as I look up and see a cyclist accelerate off the front.  The pace increases again.  As we approach a small decent, I see the first climb; a stinging climb at that!  Down the decent we hit the bottom of the climb and I stand up to power myself and the bike over.  At the top, exhausted and with my heart racing, I quickly come to the conclusion I was way over geared for my current fitness level.  In the next 3 to 4 kilometres, there would be 4 more similar climbs and I would begin to feel better over each one of them.

Into the second lap I still sit comfortably within the middle of the field.  I am able to move almost effortlessly towards the front with the slight tailwind.  After the first right-hand turn and now into the cross-wind, a cyclist passes me on my left as I ride on the edge of the yellow line.  He is followed by the commissaries’ car honking and calling out his number.  He is disqualified.  The pace remains steady as we approach the series of climbs.  No significant accelerations this time but I find I am losing some ground to the other cyclist when climbing so I make an effort to ensure I am closer to the front for each climb.  This way as I drift back, I am still sitting comfortably within the group and no concern with being popping off the back.  With the series of climbs behind us and approaching the end of the second lap, I begin to experience stomach cramps.  What is this I begin to think to myself?  Couldn’t be anything I ate and I figured I was adequately hydrated, but could it be the electrolyte mixture?  I’ve used it before so it can’t be that.  I am at a bit of a loss but continue on and hope it will pass.  Unknown to me at the time, it is just another symptom of the illness that was bestowing me.

Final lap and other than the stomach ache, I am feeling okay.  The pace continues to be moderate but I notice the aggression mounts a little more on this lap as cyclist attempt to make their way to the front.  More elbows and few bumps but nothing in my opinion serious.  On this third lap I find the climbing very difficult.  I am gasping for air and although I do not feel my legs burning, they are very tired.  I find myself drifting further and further behind and on the final climb I do pop off the back but with one final acceleration and I quickly regain contact.  As I regain contact, I begin to move back through the field towards the front and begin to think of the final as it’s coming down to a sprint.  The nerves begin to mount more now as the brakes are applied more frequently and you see other cyclist veering from the right and left to avoid someone in front of them.  I simply concentrate on my own line.  5 kilometres from the finish my calves begin to cramp.  So much that I have no choice but to coast and attempt to stretch by extending my legs and pointing my toes up.  As I do so, I begin to drift further down the pack.  If I can’t get the cramp out, there is no sprint for me today.  Best I could hope for was a fast finish and attempt to retain my position within the group.  With more and more bumping, we approach the final right hand corner and at that point I sit up.  I anticipate a crash in the corner and decide I want no part of it.  We enter the corner and pass through without incident, the pace increases as those at the front start their sprint and just ahead of me, two or three cyclist go down.  Race for me at that point is over and I sit up and casually ride towards the line.

As the day went on, the illness slowly amounted and by Saturday morning, it was confirmed.  So as I look back, I have to be pleased with the progression to date and look forward to overcoming this illness and getting to 100%.  Some great racing and weather coming ahead!

Calabogie Classic 2011 - Ontario Cup #1

The gusts of wind at home on Saturday were just a precursor to the weather to be experienced the next day in Calabogie, Ontario.  A four hour drive from the east end of Toronto to Calabogie had me going from rain to snow the further north I drove.  North of Perth, I was not expecting the roads to be as twisting as they were.  With my speed hovering at or below the speed limit as I had to brake for almost every turn, I began to see the roads going from slick wet to… what’s that… snow?  Argh… the car starts to slide about.  I drive a Ford Focus wagon; with all season tires and little weight in the rear, the car slides effortlessly to the right and then the left.  I approach a turn with a sign to the right warning to use a low gear on the twisting 12% grade.  The nerves in my stomach begin to rise.  I look in my rear view mirror and I see a car approaching.  I pull off to the shoulder allowing him to speed past as I wasn’t about to take this hill lightly.  I drive back on the road and approach the hill at no more than 20 or 30km/h.  I begin the descent just as soon as I see the car in front braking hard and sliding when approaching the first bend.  He’s going to go off the side I think to myself, but he manages to keep it together.  I reach the bottom safely but with more than 30km still to go before arriving at my hotel.  The stress of my weekend has just begun!

I arrived in Calabogie to take part in the Calabogie Classic, an annual cycling race that kick-starts the 2011 Ontario Cup.  It is held on the Calabogie Motorsports Park, a 5.05km asphalt track with 20 turns, 20 meter changes in elevation and up to 6% cambers in turns.  Definitely a race I was going to enjoy!  I awaken at 5:00am as registration is at 7:30am and my race start is 9:03am.  With my post race meal down, I check the weather first on-line then outside.  Says it will be a high of 5 degrees with a 15km/h northwest wind and a 60% chance of rain with no more than 1mm of accumulation.  Seems okay to me!  I then open the door to pouring rain, howling wind and a cold that you feel in your bones!  I smile!  Most will dread the day but there’s nothing you can do about it so you might as well make the most of it.

I arrived to the race shortly after 7:30am.  Good timing as I got into the registration line well ahead of everyone else.  Registration was held indoors which was nice and warm and the line soon grew and spanned down two flights of stairs.  I was able to complete my pre-race routine in peace and completed a good warm-up on the rollers.  I again choose to race in shorts and fingerless gloves despite the 3 degree temperature.  Mentally I just cannot get in the mode to race if I am bundled up in so much clothing and leggings or tights.  Soon after the start I began to regret that decision, at least for the gloves.  With the rain falling, my fingers quickly freeze and I slowly loose sensation.

The first lap of eleven began noticeably slower than last week at the Tour of Bronte.  Today was a mixed race of Senior 4 and Master 3.  Weather was likely the main factor but also the knowledge that break away attempts rarely succeed on the track due to the sheer wind.  Coming into the last kilometre of lap 1 there’s a decent with a gradual right camber turn.  Two cyclists ride into each other and crash directly in front of me.  I think to myself I’m either going down with them or I’ll bunny jump over one of them and then suddenly, I find myself able to manoeuvre to the right of them and avoid what I thought was an inevitable finish before we really had started!  Years of track riding seems to stay with you even after a significant layoff from the sport.

The remaining 10 laps were all but the same… lots of nervous cyclist in the bunch, a few who had trouble riding a straight line.  I felt relatively comfortable within the group, bumping off those who veered off their line but oddly enough I felt awkward riding on the drops.  After so many years I guess, it became an unnatural position.  With the cold setting in I found I was looking at the lap board every lap from 6 to go.  Through rain, hail and then a bit of snow, as much as I enjoyed the course, I was looking for this race to be over.  With two laps to go I began to think of the finish and a possible go in the final.  I began to position myself towards the front but with the ever changing course direction and wind, I found myself fighting to stay at the front.  Last lap I was boxed in and waiting for the guys on my left to pull through.  I finally found a hole and made my way up the outside and to the front.  In the final kilometre, I was sitting top 5 and up the last rise and around the final corner I jumped with about 300 meters to go.  Much too soon!  I was committed and I found myself leading for what seemed like a long time, but the strength of the head wind in the finishing stretch was just too much.  Slowly I began to see one… two… three cyclist ever so slowly begin passing me as we approached the line.  I kept as much pressure on the pedals as I could and finished somewhere up near the front.

Overall I was satisfied with the race given the conditions.  The course is definitely suited to my style and I look forward to returning another day.

Too Fat To Be Fit

December 28 would become my Carpe Diem for it was the day in 2009 that I made the conscience decision to do something about the physical aspect of the person I had become. I tipped the scales at 215lbs, my all time heaviest. To put that into perspective, at the peak of my athletic period at 20 years of age, I was 145lbs. I was on a downhill spiral at the age of 37.  At a little over 5' 8", it placed my BMI in the obesity range.  I was officially “Too Fat To Be Fit”!

The excessive weight was having an impact on daily life. Becoming increasingly difficult to tie shoes and becoming next to impossible to play with my children on the floor or at the park. Although never officially determined, I'm sure my health was suffering as well. Two months earlier a friend and co-worker had congestive heart failure. Within a month, another co-worker also had congestive heart failure. Was I on that same road?

December 24^th of that same year, as typical of many men, I was out Christmas shopping for the kids and my wife.  I wanted to get a gift the entire family would enjoy and we could play with together.  I have never been a fan of board games but I did like the odd video game.  I had only heard of Nintendo WII weeks earlier.  Five stores later and becoming increasingly frustrated by the non availability of the WII, my last stop was Toys ‘R Us.  Almost sure they wouldn’t have a unit, I asked the cashier in the electronics section.  I could sense her reluctance, but after a few moments she asked me to wait one moment.  “It’s the last one”, she said.  “Great, thank you!” I said excitedly.  “Do you have WII Fit as well?“ I asked.

So my initial attempt to get back into shape started with WII Fit.  Between that and a revised diet that did not contain refined carbohydrates and an increase in water intake, I slowly began to shed the pounds.  At that same time, I dusted off the elliptical trainer in the basement and did my first 20 minute workout.  It almost killed me!  It became quite apparent that the level of intensity had to be reduced significantly.  I had read an article on training with a heart rate monitor by Mark Allen.  Mark was an accomplished triathlete in the 1980s.  The concept was that you work out at intensity no higher than your maximum aerobic heart rate to utilize more fat storage for fuel.  The net effect, I was going no faster than a walking pace!  In time however and as your aerobic fitness increased, the speed at which you worked out would increase.  For the next three months I watched movies on the elliptical trainer from anywhere from 1 hour to 2 and a half hours a day while maintaining my HR between 130bpm and 140bpm.  Starting out no faster than a walk and over time I became faster and faster.  I was developing my base aerobic conditioning while limiting the fatigue allowing me to exercise longer.  In that same time, I shed almost 30lbs.

With a new lease on life, I joined a local gym.  I wanted to develop both upper and lower body strength.  One to always shy away from the gym scene, I thought it was best to get some personal one on one instruction on the use of the equipment, free weights and most importantly, proper form.  Craig would become my Personal Trainer for the next 2 months.  During that time, I completed two phases; Hypertrophy and Strength.  During the Hypertrophy Phase, 3 days a week for 4 weeks, Craig had me work with a mix of machine and free weights.  The idea through this phase was to train both the muscle and mind, keeping the weight low to moderate and lifting slowly.  Each week the weight and/or reps were increased to encourage adaptation.  The second month included only free weights for the upper body and a mix of free weights and machines for the legs.  During this Strength Phase the weight was increased, the times between reps were decreased but the rest between sets was increased.  This phase focussed more on strength and muscle development.  Throughout this time, the weight loss stopped however my body fat percentage continued to decline and the waist line continued to shrink.  The result of loosing both body fat and gaining lean muscle mass.

One aspect I had to contend with was not relying on what the scale was saying and maintaining my patience.  I wanted the weight loss, but I wanted to do it right.  7 years ago I had followed the Dr. Atkins Low Carb approach and although I lost a significant amount of weight, it all crept back on when I returned to my regular eating habit.  I’m now being mindful of maintaining a balanced yet a caloric reduced diet consisting of whole grains, vegetables, fruit, nuts, meat, fish and healthy fats.

6 months into my new life lease I was ready to get back on the saddle, the bike saddle that is.  As I worked downtown in the city, had an hour and a half commute both ways, raising a family of three kids, there was obviously little time left for exercise.  My solution was to waken at 4:00am each morning and be on the bike at 5:00am.  During the work week I would ride Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and a half or ~40km.  On Saturday and Sunday I would ride anywhere from 2hrs (~55km) and by the end of the summer, up to 4hrs (~ 110km).  Wednesday and Friday was reserved for upper body strength workouts in the gym.  Monday was always a rest day.  I had stopped lower body workouts as they were too fatiguing and affecting my ability to ride.  By the end of the summer I felt really good about myself.  I developed both upper and lower body strength and my aerobic conditioning had vastly improved.

By the end of 9 months, my weight loss had all but plateaued which I contributed to both the increase in lean muscle mass and the additional demands the cycling was taking on me.  I was either eating enough to satisfy my daily caloric requirements or I wasn’t eating enough and my body was in starvation mode thereby retaining body fat.  Either way, I was satisfied where I was at.  At my lowest I reached 172lbs for a total loss of 43lbs.

As the days became shorter, my ability to ride in the mornings all but disappeared.  My motivation to ride in doors was not there yet so I returned to the gym more frequently and started to reintroduce lower body exercises.  Perhaps the new found strength I had made me overzealous, but I soon found myself crippled in pain and had a considerably difficult time walking for almost two weeks.  Although I did not feel the weight I was lifting was overly excessive, the shear number of lower body exercises and reps obviously had a compound effect.  I had still a lot to learn about weight training.  It would take me time to slowly reintroduce each leg exercise again.  By the time my legs started to feel better, I then damaged my right rotary cuff when using the pec deck machine as I overextended my shoulder when returning the weight.  That injury had thrown my weight training and motivation off for the remainder of the year.  I tried to exercise through the pain but just could not lift the same weight or at the same intensity.

I spend a considerable amount of time reading and researching exercise and nutrition and had come across an interesting advertisement for a book of Chris Carmichael’s called “The Time Crunched Cyclist”.  Chris is famously known for coaching Lance Armstrong but was also an accomplished professional cyclist himself having competed in Europe with Team 7-Eleven.  The TCTP program is designed to work around busy schedules by applying greater intensities to achieve bigger gains with fewer and shorter rides.  In short, it is quite possible by following the TCTP approach; I could once again consider becoming a competitive cyclist, targeting a specific goal or event.  After reading through the book I was stoked for the New Year!  I really never thought it would be possible to be competitive again as I just did not have the hours in the day or week to follow a traditionally high volume/high mileage cycling program.

My year ended quietly having for the most part maintaining my weight with no major relapses.  I did gain 5lbs between October and Christmas but during this time I would expect that.  My exercise volume had decreased quite significantly without any major changes to my diet.  I vowed to begin the process yet again on December 28^th, 2010 to elevate my fitness to that next level.

Tour of Bronte 2011

The 2nd annual edition of the Tour of Bronte in Oakville, Ontario marks my return to competitive cycling after a 19 year hiatus from the sport. After the race all I could think of was what a hell of a race to resume in!

Being away from the sport so long I felt once again like a novice. Arriving two hours before the race start, walking up to registration only to be told I was too early, no less than 4 stops to the washroom to relive myself, nerves running rampant throughout my stomach. With the registration and sign-on complete and race numbers in hand, I return to my car to begin the pre-race ritual.

Numbers securely attached to my long sleeve jersey, legs tingling from the Tiger Balm ointment; do I wear the jacket, tights and gloves now, its 5 degrees Celsius? I still have 30 minutes before the start but I want a decent warm-up and don’t want to be bothered or hurried into discarding the unwanted clothing. I choose to forgo the extra clothing and brave the temperature in shorts.

A good warm-up up and down the main paved road, it would be the only pavement we would see on the 8 laps of the 8km circuit. 4km are on packed dirt and gravel roads which I didn’t have the opportunity to see first hand.

Sitting there on the start/finish line for the Elite 3/Master 3 combined race I think to myself, what the hell am I doing? It has been 19 years since I road in a group with cyclist let alone race! Would I become one of those feared cyclist that everyone wants to avoid. Hey number 366, watch your line! Inside on your right, your left, jitbag! Jitbag, do they still use that term coined back in the late 80s to describe one that can’t ride in a group, opens gaps in the peloton, causes crashes and has poor bike handling skills? Was that going to be me? Well, time would soon tell.

Surprisingly I felt at ease on the start line. The nerves had gone; there was no immediate anticipation, just calm. Perhaps inside I was just happy to be back and to test the progress I had made over the last year and a half. The race announcer then begins to describe the course and give us fair warning of the hazards ahead. “Neutral start for the first 500 meters” he says; good ‘cause I always slip clipping into my pedals, “caution on the first right hand corner as we go from pavement onto gravel” he adds; okay here is where the race will start, “4km of twisting gravel roads and significant number of potholes; after all, this is what the race is known for” he says with a smile. Okay, so now the nerves begin… I’m going to puke!

3… 2… 1… and we’re off! The pace is moderate for the first neutral 500 meters and picks up significantly on the downhill stretch towards the first right turn. “Right hand turn” someone at the front calls out. I’m sitting in the first 3rd of the field, not the optimum position but better than at the back. So my initial thought is “Hey, this isn’t bad!” I’m sitting comfortably within the middle of the pack and not at all nervous and keeping a straight line. I can do this I say to myself. Right hand turn is taken quickly onto a narrow packed dirt road… brakes squeal, riders are up out of their saddles, pushing on the pedals and accelerating. I match the accelerations; this is good I keep thinking. Approaching a tricky S bend, two cyclists overshoot the corner in front of me and crash but I pass by without trouble. About 500 meters on, another cyclist beside me hits a deep section of loose gravel, his wheel turning perpendicular and he gets some good air when launched off his bike. He lands with a thud! That one, I think to myself, had to hurt. I feel like Mario in WII Mario Cart that I play along with my seven year old son. Except here, road rash, embedded gravel and broken collarbones are real! We pass by the registration area where I see my folks cheering me on, I still feel good! More than half way through lap one, so much has happened already. We cross the bridge and yet another crash. Man, I think to myself, at this rate, there won’t be many of us left at the end of this race.

Leaving the gravel road behind, we are now riding up towards the turn around 500 meters before the start/finish line. Over the next 4 laps it would seem apparent we use this time to recuperate as the pace although still fast is less explosive. At this point my lungs are burning from the cold and I feel as if my heart is bursting out of my chest. I want to drink but as I pour, it just runs out the side of my mouth, I am panting so fast. I try taking deep breaths to slow my breathing rate but we come to the turn around, a 180 degree corner. Back out of the saddle we begin accelerating. I want to be closer to the front before hitting the gravel roads so I begin making my way up the outside of the peloton. Sitting about 5 riders back, we make the right hand corner onto the gravel and begin the onslaught again!

Lap 2 behind us and into lap 3 I failed to position myself as close to the front as I needed to be. Approaching the S bend a 100 or so meters into the gravel section, two more riders come crashing down right in front of me and to my right. No where to go except straight into the trees or to a stop and manoeuvre around them, I lock up my wheels and come to a standstill. While still upright, I turn to my right and manoeuvre around them and push hard on the pedals to begin accelerating as a significant gap has now been established. To my surprise, I catch back on relatively quickly but at what cost? Its becoming apparent to me I’ve got the strength, but do I have the stamina to follow and maintain every acceleration this race has to offer? It feels more like a criterium than a road race!

Coming out of lap 4 off the gravel roads and back onto pavement, the pace this time remains high. I look ahead and can see 3 to 5 riders attacking off the front. The pace does not ease one bit. I’m not drinking enough I think to myself while at the same time my tongue is hanging out of my mouth as I try to hold the wheel in front of me. A gap begins to open, I accelerate then, it opens again and I accelerate, and again it opens, this is it I think! We approach the turn-around and begin our journey into the 5th lap except this time, without knowing at the time, I sit towards the back of a 23 man group, the remnants of the 61 man field we started with. Back onto the gravel and approaching the S bend, I am on the inside and lined up to head straight into the tree branches. I duck my head and feel the slap of the branches against my helmet; thank god they weren’t any thicker! The attacks and accelerations continue and I sink into a stretch of loose deep gravel. It feels like riding into sand while at the same time your bike slides to the right and then to the left. My speed slows to a crawl and I have to yet again, sprint to bridge the gap that has now opened. This time however I can’t close it. One, two, three riders pass by me, ah shit! I hear the engine of the following service car and my first thought is geez, isn’t he a little too close. I swing to the right and let him pass. He’s followed by the commissaries' car and I too let them by. I tuck into their draft. As we turn towards the race registration area, my speed picks up and I pass the commissaries' car now sitting comfortably behind the service vehicle. Rounding the bend and that’s it, my left calf begins to cramp. My speed begins to fade and I have no choice but to lower my gearing, coast at times to stretch my calf and peddle at a higher cadence. Race is over… at least with the front of the group.

I continue on, but pointed in the wrong direction by a race marshal. Dam kids I think to myself. I turn around and make my way back onto the course. I leave the gravel roads behind and back onto the pavement approaching the start of lap 6. As I approach the turn around, a trailing group of about 10 riders ride up to me. I accelerate and sit in on the back end. I ride with them through to the middle of lap 6 and as we pass by the registration area, I hear a ringing bell. “Is this the last lap” I ask someone, “No, just a lady with a cow bell” someone says. I feel disoriented. Again I can’t match the acceleration and drop off the trailing end of the group.

Back on the pavement, two other riders join me from behind. “Jump on” one says, “you can survive to the end with us.” he adds. “Thanks” I say chuckling. And off we go. For the final two laps we maintain a steady pace line, each taking turns on the front to shelter each other from the wind. Last lap and passing the registration area for the last time, now my right calf and quad begin to cramp. Argh! I pedal, then coast to stretch my leg, peddle again, then coast and stretch. It finally subsides. Good ridden to the gravel and back on the pavement, one of our compatriots does a little attack. Oh, you’re not going to fight to the finish are you? Yup sure enough the two of them get up and dance on the pedals and easily sprint away from me. I maintain my pace look up ahead and can see the finish. Passing through the finish line I see my parents. Many years ago they’ve watched me succeed in a lot of races. For me however, this was a bigger accomplishment as I have overcome something that has taken hold of me for many years, was become detrimental to my health and my family. I finished with a smile on my face from ear to ear. Now that was fun!

Thanks Chris and Tim for a great race!