Third Time Trial: The Suitcase of Courage

Joy here...This afternoon the skies opened up, and we were treated to one heck of a thunderstorm - lighting, thunder, pouring rain - but then it all cleared up, and the skies turned blue just in time for this week's time trial.

Phil and Paul

Now let's back up to 2007 when The Man and I were first dating.  He was (and still is) a big cycling fan, and I figured, "okay, if I'm gonna date this guy, I might as well try to learn a thing or two about cycling" (a sport that I knew nothing about; I kinda thought that bike racing was just about pedalling faster or slower, and I sure didn't know that it was a team sport. I mean, there's only one guy on a bike at a time, right?).  So we sat down one weekend and went through his cycling DVDs...all 28 hours worth of 7 Tours de France in which Lance Armstrong was the overall victor.  And slowly but surely, in that weekend's crash course on cycling, I learned a thing or two, and I began to appreciate the sport.  I still didn't ride a bike (or even own one), but at least I understood the sport (in theory).

Getting the engine started (note:  I'm wearing pink in
honour of Ryder Hesjedal's monumental Giro win!)

And I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I wouldn't have been able to get into the sport, understand the sport, or even watch more than 5 minutes of it had it not been for the amazing commentary of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, or "Phil and Paul" as they're known affectionately in our house.

One of Paul's favourite phrases as he tries hard to express the kind of suffering that a rider is experiencing on the bike is that the rider is "digging deep into the suitcase of courage."

Let me tell you...this afternoon I finally learned what that phrase actually means.

Because of the thundershowers, the day was inordinately humid, and as the sun began to shine in the late afternoon, mist began to rise off the asphalt parking lot where I was warming up for the Time Trial.  I was sweating and feeling like I was back in Malaysia.  I've written before about my pet theory about how it's harder to breathe and be powerful on the bike when the air is thick and humid, and I definitely think that was the case today.

Waiting at the start line to go!

I lined up at the start line, and as the volunteers let go of my bike and I headed out for my last 10km TT (next week we are being bumped up to 15kms), I just couldn't get a good rhythm going.  I felt that I wasn't breathing well, and while I tried to keep my cadence high (turning my pedals faster), every pedal stroke seemed to be a suffer fest.

As this is our last week racing 10kms, and my first time was 17:51 and my second time was 17:13, all I wanted to do this week was break into the 16 minute mark.

As I turned around and started racing hell for leather back for the final 5kms, I told myself to forget about high cadence and breathing, and just pedal my little heart out, and that's what I did.  At the 8km mark, I just clicked my bike into a harder gear (you know how I like the "big ring," hence my nickname), put my head down, and pedalled as hard as I possibly could.  I was digging deep into that suitcase of courage.

I didn't see the finish line.

I didn't see my time.

I didn't even see The Man cheering me on.

I was dead tired, cross-eyed, and utterly spent.  So I noodled along the road until my eyes and legs worked again and I stopped huffing and puffing, and then I turned around and rode my bike back to the car to await the final times.

And guess what?  I placed 3rd overall in the Time Trial and had an average speed of 35.53km/hr, with a final time of 16:59!  Since I made it under 17 minutes...I guess all that digging into the suitcase of courage paid off.

Over and out,
Joy

A Momentous Cycling Day (Loops #8 & #9)

The view from Champlain Lookout under an early
morning, cloud-filled sky.

Joy here...This Sunday, we woke up to a bright blue sky, fluffy white clouds stretched across the blue like pulled cotton, and comfortable temperatures--not too hot, not too cold, very little wind--and we headed to the park for our weekly ride.  Now last Sunday I didn't ride with the normal group, because I was participating in the Gatineau Gran Fondo sportif event, and then on Tuesday I competed in this week's time trial (where I placed 1st in my age group!!! a fact that still thrills me to the bones); on Wednesday, I rode with the Women on Wheels group through the park, and on Thursday I had strength training, but then I took both Friday and Saturday off, which meant that I was up for a hard effort this Sunday...so I decided to try doing two full loops of the park with The Man and Power Penna's husband (who is still in need of a nickname on this blog...I tried to convince him to go with Pantani after the Italian cyclist, but he wasn't all that keen on that).

Champlain Lookout (and the guys) with a lighter sky
on our second round!

Last summer one of our big aims as part of the "sisterhood" was to ride two full loops of the park, a feat which we achieved in August and which the Sashinator and I repeated in early September.

But it's only May now.

What on earth am I doing thinking I'm ready for two loops of the park?

With the guys, no less???

But wouldn't you know, it wasn't so bad after all.  Power Penna's husband, The Man, and I all rolled outward and upward, with me showing them the hard gear drills up Fortune Climb, and being able to stick with them throughout two loops of the park, averaging 27km/hr through hilly terrain for a total of 91.6kms (my longest ride to date this season).

Ryder Hesjedal wins the Giro!

And while that distance (91.6kms, even longer than last Friday's long ride), the speed (27km/hr, only 0.8km/hr slower than Wednesday's one-loop ride with the Women on Wheels folks), and the fact that I achieved a full two loop ride of the park before it's even summer all excite me...what excites me even more was what was happening while I was out there having my good ride.

Across the world in the middle of Europe around Milan, Italy a Canadian cyclist was riding his little heart out.  That's right; I'm talking about Victoria BC's Ryder Hesjedal who just secured his win in the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy)...the first time EVER that a Canadian has won a grand tour.  By a margin of 16 seconds, Ryder has just ridden his way into cycling history.

So on behalf of Ryder's momentous ride, and my own momentous ride, I'm going to sit down and have a celebratory beer.

Or two.

Over and out,
Joy

Women on Wheels (Loop #7)

Joy here...Since deciding that I'm not going to train for a full marathon this summer and, instead, spend a lot of time building on the cycling fitness that I started last summer with my many rides with my "sisterhood" of awesome cycling friends, I've never felt better.

I competed in my first-ever bike race just last week; then rode in my first-ever bunch "sportif" event on Sunday, followed by this week's successful time trial, where I found myself 1st in my age group.  On the heels of these events that have helped me build both competence and confidence on the bike, I decided to join a local group of women's cyclists who ride in Gatineau Park on Wednesday nights.

Women on Wheels at Champlain Lookout!

The sun low in the sky above the view
from Champlain Lookout!

There has been a lot of attention on women's cycling around here lately--as highlighted in this article here--and even though the UCI (the organizing body for professional cycling) hasn't quite caught on to the fact that women ride, women like riding, women are inspired by other women riders, young girls like looking up to women riders, and men like hot cycling chicks, both professional and amateur women riders are getting out there and having fun.  And it is in that spirit of fun that my cycling "sisters" and I get out there and ride, and in that same spirit that I joined up with the "Women on Wheels" group of female cyclists on Wednesday eve for a ride in the park.

Top speed on the ride (only 13km/hr over
the speed limit...don't tell the cops!)

It was good for me to learn how to ride in a bunch, and as we approached the Fortune Climb (which is the second big climb in the park after the Pink Lake climb, and I've written about my experiences up it a few times before, like this post here which was the first time up Fortune this spring) the woman who organizes the group said, "okay we're going to do drills!"  The first "drill" was for us all to put our bikes into their hardest gear (i.e. big ring on the front...as per my nickname, and small ring on the back) and ride our bikes standing up the climb.  This builds leg strength and is really hard to do.  Then we were supposed to put our bikes into our easiest gear and just spin, and trust me, while I usually climb up the hill in this easiest gear combination, it has never felt so easy as it did on that sunny Wednesday after grinding 2/3 of the way up the climb in the toughest combination!  After those drills, she had us pull up only using our hamstrings (not our more powerful thighs), and then, finally, we were able to finish the climb just riding regularly.

With all those drills to concentrate on, that climb went by faster than it ever has on any of my rides up it!

Then we reached the top, ate, took some pics, and started our rip-roaring descent down, with me topping speeds of 73km/hr!

Overall our average speed through the park was 27.8km/hr, and I, for one, enjoyed the ride, learned a lot, and look forward to joining those ladies again.

I only hope that they'll allow me to come!

Over and out,
Joy

Second Time Trial: The Pros Came out to Race!

Me warming up on my trainer before
the time trial. (Don't worry, mom, I put
on a helmet when I was actually on the road!)

Joy here...Under a grey sky and a light shower sprinkling rain drops on my sunglasses, I headed out for my second-ever time trial.  But this time, a couple of heavy-hitters showed up to ride as well.  Pro bike racers Tricia Spooner (last year's Ontario Women's Time Trial bronze medallist) and Sophie Matte (featured in a news media write-up as last summer's winner of this series) from the Stevens Cyclery women's team arrived looking weathered, strong, scary, and confident.  Perhaps it's no surprise that they took spots #1 and #2 of this little weekly, Tuesday night women's time trial series!

What is a bit of a surprise is that yours truly jumped from 3rd place in her age category last week to 1st place this week!

20 women showed up in the light rain showers to ride, and I came in 6th overall...and, I mean, if you don't count those pros taking the top two spots, really I came in 4th overall...but that's getting a little bit crazy on technicalities, so I'll enjoy my 6th place.

The funny thing is:  I don't have a time trial bike; I don't have fancy time trialling equipment like an aero helmet or skin suit; I don't actually know exactly how and when I should be changing gears on my bike; and I still don't really know how to stand and pedal.  So I figure that once I get some of the picky details of just how to ride a bike under my belt, I'll just get better and better, which goes a long way to making this little weekly endeavour really fun.  It sort of feels like the sky's the limit, if you know what I mean.

Me at the start line in the rain!

Overall it took me 17:13 to finish 10km (vs 17:51 last week), and my average speed was 34.85km/hr (vs 33.61km/hr last week).  I'm not sure if I'll be able to improve by 40 seconds each week, as that's a pretty big improvement, but I'm just happy that I seem to be moving in the right direction.

Next Tuesday is the final 10km time trial...and then it'll be 15km ones...and who knows how I'll do at that?

Over and out,
Joy

Gatineau Medio Fondo: First Bunch Ride Sportif

Joy here...This morning we got up bright and early under a blue sky with a blazing sun, temperatures already nearing 20C by 7am, but instead of riding out to Gatineau Park as usual to ride with my friends (like last week, or the week before, or the week before that, and so on...), I headed over to the starting point of a local Gran Fondo event.

You see, this weekend there are a number of professional bike races taking place in Gatineau, including some of the Olympic qualifying races for the female cyclists.  And in keeping with holding events for amateur cyclists for fun in conjunction with these professional races, the race organizers set up two Gran Fondo events--a 102km gran fondo double loop of the park and a 51km medio fondo single loop of the park--for regular folks to take part in.

click on this picture to see a bigger size and a sense for the elevation etc.

My plan was to just ride this route at my own pace, not getting caught up in the race atmosphere or anything like that, but just doing it for fun.  The organizers have this to say about the two events (gran and medio fondos): "Although not a competition, these events are timed to allow those interested to measure their personal results."  I figured I'd do just that:  measure my results, but take it easy.  Power Penna's husband countered that approach by emailing me this:  "it's a timed event, you should go full out."  Right after I read that, I got an email from the Spinning Instructor who wrote:  "Think about givin' it ... no point in going and not trying to go all out."  And Superdave had this to say:  "When the music starts, you gotta dance!"

  

All ready to go!

So with my friends all squarely in my corner urging me to see what I could do by trying a little, I figured that I would ride by feel, not trying to keep up with anyone and everyone out there, but making a point of pushing myself to my limits.  Who knows what my "all out" even is?  

I got my race number and chip, rolled my bike over to the start line, gathered around all the other starters for the shorter, medio fondo, and hoped that I wouldn't wobble over and take anyone out before the event even got underway!

Then we started out in a big pack of riders, riding along in almost two single file rows.  I got close up behind a guy who looked sturdy and steady on his bike, and just timed myself to his pedal stroke and let myself be carried along in the bunch, not really pushing myself yet, and when I turned around, I was surprised to see a line of people behind my wheel!  

We were averaging around 35km/hr, and I was feeling good, like I was flying over the asphalt beneath a crystalline sky above.

But then we hit the first incline.

The blue skies at the start line.

And I could no longer stay close to that guy's wheel.  In fact, the whole group of us that started out together began to splinter pretty radically at that point, and that was probably only about 12kms into the whole 52km route!  From that point on, it was pretty much every man/woman for him/herself!

So I just got myself comfortable on my bike and settled in for a long, hot, sweaty ride.  The sun was getting hotter and hotter as temperatures reached 30C, and my lower back began to scream with pain as I began the long, slow climb up to Champlain Lookout.  On the first Sunday in April, my friends and I took this route up to the lookout, but today as I rode, it seemed never ending.  With the pain in my lower back, I was afraid that I wasn't getting full power in my legs, and with every other person with a number on their bike passing me, I began to feel deflated.  And just as I was feeling really low, like I was the worst cyclist out there, probably coming in last place, and a total waste of space, I saw Superdave and The Man on their ride coming towards me.  That was just the lift I needed!  I got a big smile and wave from The Man, and that was all I needed to get me up to the Champlain Lookout where I stopped for a moment, ate a banana and a GU and drank some of my water before beginning the rip-roaring descent downwards and over the rolling terrain to the finish line...around 20kms away.

My bike computer at the end...average pace = 29.2km/hr.

On the downhill, my back hurt a little less (I thank the banana), and I was able to chase down a number of other riders in the event, with a few of us riding together for a while.  I even passed Cili Padi and The Professor (in their awesome summer Rapha jerseys) out for their Sunday ride.

Finally as I turned onto the finishing straight, I just put myself down on my handlebars like I did during my time trial on Tuesday, put myself in the big ring (as per my oh-so-apt nick name), and started riding at around 45km/hr towards the finish.  As I passed a guy along the way, I shouted:  "C'mon, we're almost done!"  And he sped up and followed me.  As we crossed the finish line to the sounds of cheers and clapping, he rode over to me and said, "thanks, that exactly what I needed right there at the end."

It would seem that my "all out" on a hot, sunny Sunday morning had me finishing 52kms over hilly terrain in 1:52 with an average speed of 29km/hr and a maximum speed of 67km/hr.  I ended up finishing 47th out of 104 competitors--7th out of 26 women and 4th out of 11 women my age.  So it turns out that my "all out" isn't too shabby after all!

Over and out,
Joy

Friday Ride & Musing about Effort (Running AND Cycling)

All kitted out in our Rapha gear and ready to go!

Joy here...On Friday I was set to meet up with Superdave, Cili Padi, The Professor, and the Spinning Instructor so that we could do a long, flat ride (not unlike last summer's post of that same name).  With last Friday's 77km ride in mind, we figured that if we took it nice and easy, we could ride farther than that.

Superdave was to lead us out along the bike paths and then into some country roads...the lone male at the front of his cycling harem!

So we all met up at the meeting spot, and the ride went as planned:  an easy 25km/hr spin out into country roads, reaching a total of 90.6kms before I got home.  Superdave led us, and I brought up the rear, making sure to keep myself going slower than I would usually ride, seeing as how I had the effort of my first bike race ever still sitting in my legs and had in mind the 52km "sportif" event on Sunday coming up, and didn't want to tire myself out for that.

Which leads me to a bit of a musing about training effort.  What follows applies to both cycling and running.  Heck, it might even apply to other sports, but running and cycling are the only ones I know anything about!

The grey water and grey sky at the meeting point on
a chillier-than-expected Friday morning.

There are different kinds of training efforts:
1.)  Hills (Hard) - hill repeats come in two kinds of types.  There's the type where you run/cycle up the hill at a set speed/effort which is almost as fast as you can go, keeping the effort consistent for around 4 reps or so.  Then there's the type where you run/cycle up the hill at a slower pace, but build muscles, thus using the hill repeat as a strength exercise.  For this one, as a runner, for instance, you might put weights around your ankles or carry weights while you do the hill repeats.  As a cyclist, for instance, you would likely put your bike in a harder gear, spinning your wheels more slowly as you do each repeat.

2.)  Tempo (Hard) - tempo runs/rides are where you maintain a high level of effort at near-race pace for a set period of time.  For instance, you might run/ride for 20 minutes at "tempo" pace, and then back it off a bit for a break, and then resume for another 20 minutes and so on.  Ultimately, you want to be able to string together all your tempo sets into one, unbroken tempo session, which builds both speed and muscular endurance.

Cili Padi and The Professor enjoying snack time out on the
country roads!

3.)  Sprint (Hard) - essentially sprinting is kind of like what a time trial is, albeit a bit longer than your average sprint.  Back in high school, I was a 400m sprinter.  Sure I also did 200m and 100m relay, but the one that I was better at was the 400m distance.  In my mind, the 10km time trial on the bike is like a 400m sprint.  You want to go "hell for leather" for the whole time, but you know that it's just a bit too far to go all-out for the entire time, so you have to gauge your effort and go really hard, but save enough so that you can last the entire race.

4.)  Endurance (Easy) - for endurance runs/rides the point is to just get kilometres in your legs, so speed isn't much of a factor.  In fact, for an endurance work out, you should almost feel a bit guilty about how easy you're taking it.  Building up distances for longer durance events should include endurance runs/rides, because from week to week, you can just tag on a little bit of extra time/distance to your endurance workout without over straining yourself.

5.)  Recovery (Easy) - a recovery run/ride shouldn't be too long, and it certainly should be dead easy.  This kind of a work out is merely to move your body a bit after you've done some heavier workouts during the rest of the week.  For instance, the day after a race you might choose a recovery run/ride, or at the end of a long, hard week of training, you might choose a recovery run/ride.

Superdave our mighty cycle tour guide!

Now our long, flat ride out into the countryside was a kind of weird hybrid ride.  It was kind of like a recovery ride, but it was a bit too long to really be a recovery ride.  I guess it was more like an endurance ride...and I suppose what I've realized is that while I'm a-okay with endurance runs where the pace is slow-ish and I'm just trying to run longer and longer, I kind of got a bit bored with this endurance ride.

And I think the difference is in my mindset:  Since I never thought I'd be able to run for any more than 1 or 2 kms, slowly doing endurance runs and building up the distance I was able to run, up to and including that 30km running race I did in March 2011, made me really happy in and of itself.  But now that I've ridden my bike 100kms already, the thrill of hitting that kind of distance again has waned a bit.  Now I'd rather push myself for more specific efforts rather than just kilometres clicked off the bike's odometer.

Which is why...I think...I've signed up for tomorrow's "sportif" event.  It's a timed bike ride, not really a race (so say the organizers), but it'll give me a chance to push myself, have a bit of a "tempo" ride and see what I can do, and for now, that seems to me a bit more fun than just riding slowly but far.

We'll see...wish me luck for tomorrow!

Over and out,
Joy

PS - Just in case we were counting kilometres clicked off the bike's odometer, I did 220kms on the bike this week (and even though the average stage of the Tour de France ranges from 150-250kms in ONE DAY, I'm just happy to hit that in ONE WEEK).

Too Much Training on a Post Race Hilly Ride

Our destination:  Pink Lake Lookout.

Joy here...Last night was my first-ever bike race, and so I wasn't sure what today's cycling was going to feel like.  Along with the Spinning Instructor, The Professor, and The Man (who is kicking his under-the-weatherness, finally), I headed out to the Pink Lake hill so that we could do some hill repeats.

Last Wednesday, we were able to pull off four repeats up that hill (at around 4 minutes each uphill portion, followed by around 2-3 minutes of easy downhill between sets).  The Spinning Instructor was set to complete 5 repeats up the hill this week, but with a time trial effort in my legs (including pushing myself to average 33.6km/hr for 10kms with a maximum speed of 46km/hr on a flat road, powered by nothing other than my legs), I wasn't sure what I'd be up for.

We were treated to intermittent showers this morning as the sun tried to break through the breezy grey skies every so often, and as The Man and I rolled out to meet the other two, we talked about how lovely the day was:  the choppy pewter river to our right, the Canadian geese parents herding their baby goslings to and fro on either side of the bike path, the freshness of the spring air, and the refreshing shower that sprinkled just long enough to keep us cool and comfortable on our bikes.

The graph showing last week's hill repeats.  The yellow is power and the blue is speed.  Note:  the speed is highest when the power is at the lowest because that's when I was going down the hill.  The power (yellow) is high and flat, while the speed (blue) is low and flat, indicating that I kept a solid(ish) effort throughout the hill interval.

Those clouds above threatening the odd drizzle
and making the sky a blanket of white and grey
with light shining through.

Then we met up with the other two and rolled into the park, chatting and catching up with each other, and generally enjoying both the sense of accomplishment that comes with being out there doing some physical activity just as the rest of the world is settling down to their desk or their computer and the sheer pleasure of hangin' with friends.

As we approached the Pink Lake climb, I could already feel that my legs were heavy.  Last week for each repeat, I tried to keep my speed averaging around 16km/hr and my power averaging around 200w (well, actually, I aimed for 240w, but it fluctuates between 180w and 336w...so around 200w is where it should stay kind of steady).  Now the reason that I try to watch things like speed or wattage is because I'm trying to use these hill repeats to build/develop fitness.  So instead of just riding up the steep hill as hard as I can each time, I try to control and contain the effort so that I can get the benefits of the hill repeat.  Back when I was training for my first half marathon, I explained hill repeats on this blog for running, and the premise is pretty much the same for cycling.  Cycling hill repeats build leg strength and power (as hill repeats do for running), and additionally they can improve pedalling technique (whereas, I'm not sure if running up hills improves running technique or not).

Both running up a hill and cycling up a hill are HARD activities, and I wasn't sure if I would have anything HARD left in my legs to give after my first race effort.

So as I began my first hill interval, pushing a heavy gear and trying to build up some speed so that as the incline of the hill got steeper and steeper, I would feel like I already had momentum.

Hah!

This graph shows today's hill repeats.  You can see on the fourth one that the power (yellow) spikes at the start of the final interval, indicating that I had to push really hard just to get going (an indication that I was tired out).  The speed (blue) on that last one dips pretty low too, so you can see why I called it quits after repeat #4.

Not such a good idea.  Turning a heavy gear just tired out my already tired legs sooner than I would have expected, and each hill repeat just felt like a suffer-fest, not a specific workout.  So after the fourth repeat, when my speed was really low and I felt like my legs were burning up I decided to pull the proverbial chute and wait for the Spinning Instructor to finish a fifth repeat, while the rest of us enjoyed the view and ate our snacks (while waving our hands against the onslaught of spring bugs and mosquitoes that are coming out to play in the warmer weather we've been having).

I was feeling down on myself for having heavy and tired legs, but as we began our descent down that hill, with me tucked and chasing down The Man just ahead of me and topping speeds of 63km/hr, I remembered just how much fun this all is.

When I remember to put aside notions of training, numbers, targets, goals, and specific data, then I remember that it's just really fun to gather up a group of friends and head out for over 50kms of cycling.

So I won't be hung up on data or frustrated with what I should be able to do or want to be able to do, and I'll just smile as I feel the breeze in my hair (under my helmet of course), and I'll enjoy myself with each and every pedal stroke!

Over and out,
Joy

First Bike Race Ever!

Joy here...This blog began on the heels of Nomi and I finishing our first-ever running race.  That was a 10km running race that took place as the sun set on the airport roads in Singapore at the end of May 2010.

Fast forward two years, and it's now May 2012.

I just completed another first.

Snacking on a mint chocolate GU to fuel up before
the start of the time trial!
(See our "favourite things" post for more on sport foods!)

This time it was my first-ever bike race.  It was a 10km time trial.

In May 2010, I finished that 10km running race in 54:48 and was happy to have finished in under 60 minutes, which was my target.  Tonight, I finished a 10km time trial in 17:51 and was happy to have finished in under 18 minutes, which was my target.

Time trialling is a particular kind of bike race where each rider races the clock.  She starts alone, and the next rider starts 30 seconds after her, and the next another 30 seconds later, and the next another 30 seconds later and so on down the ranks.  So you're just out there on the road riding by yourself, looking at your own watch and hoping that no one from behind you is going so fast that she tears through that 30 second head-start you have on her to pass you.  Once everyone has finished the course, the race organizers can tally everyone's results and come up with a ranking.

Me, fourth in line, waiting my turn to start!

There's a local women's time trial series run here in Ottawa out at the Aviation museum (where I've ridden before a few times this season, like this Saturday ride where I practiced going really hard, or when I rode with the Trainer and Professor and another friend and had to battle the winds and a blown tire, or that time when "gym guy" wouldn't let me use the bathroom, or when Cili Padi and I rode for our first outdoor ride of the season back in March).  Since I figured I'm sort of familiar with the road, there'd be no harm in heading out there to try my hand (or feet and legs) at time trialling.

I figured that so long as I didn't come in dead last, I'd be fine.  There are a lot of fit and talented cyclists in this town, so I just didn't want to embarrass myself.

Me just getting started...

The race organizers lined us up in the order of where we figured we would finish, slowest to fastest.  So we gathered together at the side of the road in the proper order, and then each cyclist would get up to the start line, and a volunteer would hold the back of her bike so that she could clip both feet into the pedals (usually if both feet are clipped in, you have to be moving, otherwise you'll just fall over...trust me, I've fallen plenty of times).  As the volunteer counts down from 5 seconds, the rider gets ready to start, and then when the countdown reaches 0 the volunteer holding the bike gives the cyclists a kind of push (ever-so-slight) and off she goes!

I had never experienced this kind of start before, so I was just happy that I didn't fall over into the ditch as soon as the guy let me go!

To compensate, I started pedalling really fast, and before I knew it, I looked down at my computer, and I was riding at 36km/hr.  I knew I couldn't hold that pace for the full 10kms without getting really tired or exploding my legs (both figuratively and literally), so I slowed down to about 33km/hr and tried to hold that.  I could hear my legs pushing--whoomp, whoomp, whoomp--as I willed myself forward.  The road is deceptive.  It looks relatively flat, but it is NOT.  It inclines upwards ever so slightly for quite a while, and then just when I was thinking that I couldn't take it any more, I reached a stretch where there were some wicked winds tearing across these open fields and into me, making each pedal stroke that much harder.  It was like pedalling through molasses...molasses with screaming legs.

Me storming over the finish line.

And then, I was at the turn-around point.  I had to watch for traffic, because the road isn't closed and we just ride on the paved shoulder, the turn-around point can be rather dangerous, because you have to shoulder check and also hope no one's coming from the front, so I slowed down quite a bit and did the turn kind of awkwardly, but then I picked up the pace and went over 40km/hr for a while before the wind picked up again and my legs told me to slow down a bit.  So I just kept my breathing steady and tried to keep my legs steady as they turned over, and then, before I knew it, I was only 300m from the finish line and I pedalled as fast as my little legs could carry me...zooming past the finishing line and shouting out my number so that the time keepers could match my time up with my identity.

In the end, it was a super fun race experience, and when the results were posted, I was happy to find out how I did:

Out of 29 competitors, I came in 14th, and in my category (female age 30-35), I came in 3rd!

Woo hoo! I didn't come in dead last!

Over and out,
Joy

PS-I couldn't have had this amazingly fun race adventure without the help of The Man who came with me (and took the pics), cheered me on, held my food, and was the one who told me to aim for around 18 minutes in the first place.  He also told me how to ride a time trial, so that when I started off a little fast, it was his voice I heard in my head telling me to ride smart and conserve energy.  Just a little shout out to The Man...well deserved! :)

Hardcore Mother's Day (Loop #6)

Joy here...It rained all night last night, and so when our alarms went off in our separate houses this Sunday morning, we were all greeted to wet roads and residual showers.  I decided that since April turned me into a "hardcore" kinda cyclist a little rain wasn't enough to encourage me to roll over and go back to sleep.  I mean, since my first full loop of the park (65kms) this season was done in -8C temperature, I figured that +13C and a bit of rain wasn't enough to daunt me.

Not all my cycling sisters were equally undaunted.

A few were, in fact, well daunted.

Overcast morning sky as we started.

Cili Padi and the Sashinator opted to roll back over in bed and wait for the sun to come out in order to complete their ride in the comfort of a lovely spring day.  Can't say that I blame them.

But the Spinning Instructor is a mom, and today being Mother's Day and all meant that her kids had all sorts of treats planned for her later in the day, so if she didn't ride in the morning, she wouldn't be riding at all.  Since I was game to ride in the wet, and she was game to ride in the wet, we headed out the door and into the park.

The air hung around us thick with humidity, making the first part of the ride feel rather gruelling.  We decided to blame it on the thickness of the air, clearly robbing our bodies of their full complement of oxygen.  Makes sense, right?  All the O2 in the air was turning into H2O, and we just aren't amphibious enough to breathe that.  So we just huffed and puffed and...you know what?  As the skies cleared, and the day dried out, our legs felt better and better.

View from Champlain Lookout, with only the merest
wisps of clouds left.

Last Sunday The Professor, Cili Padi, and I met at the same starting point at 8:30am, and pushed ourselves through the park so that we reached the finishing parking lot at 11:11am.  We were pretty proud of ourselves, and managed over 21km/hr as our average speed, despite all the slow climbing required when riding in the park.

But this Sunday, as the sun came out (and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider...) we must have been pushing our pace without even knowing it.  We finished our ride at 10:42am, with an average pace of just under 24km/hr!  It didn't even feel like we were working that hard at all.  We surprised ourselves and had a fantastic Mother's Day ride.

Just don't tell the others, because we want them to think that we earned extra hardcore points for heading out there today.  Shhhhhhhhh....

Over and out,
Joy

Longest Ride To Date This Season

Joy here...Um, I have something I need to tell you.  I think that my Trainer might be trying to kill me.

Seriously.

Earl

It all started on Thursday when I showed up for our weekly training session.  The Man is still under the weather, so I was going solo with the Trainer for the third week in a row (starting with that Thursday she made me suffer through "drop sets" that I wrote about).

This Thursday she tried to kill me with Earl.  Yep, that's right.  Earl.

Earl is her new 5.5kg medicine ball that she made me lift up over my head, bring down into a squat, slam against the floor, and repeat for a total of 30 times, followed by a wee break and another 30 times.  Now do you think that's premeditated attempted murder or something closer to manslaughter?

She's named this particular medicine ball "Earl," and so...cue the Dixie Chicks...clearly Earl had to die.

I did my workout.  Earl didn't kill me.  The Trainer's nefarious intents bore no fruit.

After surviving Earl, on Friday morning, the Trainer had it in mind for us to ride out to the west end of the city for a 50km flat ride, and then tag on a climb up Pink Lake at the end just for fun.

I really do think she's trying to kill me.

Is The Trainer giving me the evil eye???

I met up with her at 9am on Friday, and we met up with a couple of other friends--the Spinning Instructor and another friend who I rode with for the first time ever last summer during our 100km "Share the Road" awareness ride.  So off we headed into the paths and roads to the west, cycling directly into one heck of a head wind (that surely The Trainer ordered up specially as part of her plan to off me).

Riding at the front of our little group on the way out, I had to struggle just to keep the speed at around 25km/hr, but then when we turned around and that head wind turned into a lovely tail wind, without any effort at all, I was riding at a comfortable 32km/hr.  Once again, The Trainer's tricky headwinds didn't do me in.

But she wasn't done yet.

No no.

She had other plans up her sleeve.  So up Pink Lake we headed.  With 55kms of cycling in my legs, we were joined by Cili Padi so that we could roll into the park and begin cycling up the steep Pink Lake climb.  With the slightest incline in the road, my muscles started to complain.

They were screaming with leftover pain from Earl.

They were shouting from the winds.

They were crying as I just kept on going.

Pink Lake...didn't kill me this time!

Up, up, and up some more, until we all regrouped at Pink Lake, and I wasn't dead yet.  I foiled that Trainer once again.  Smiling to myself at my cleverness, she and I rolled out of the park to head for home...dodging lunchtime pedestrians and oblivious pathway users (clearly more obstacles that she was hoping to kill me with).

I survived it all and arrived home safe and sound, with just under 77kms in my legs.  My longest ride so far this season.

I can't believe that my legs are so strong so soon.  It's not even mid-May yet.  I guess that old adage is true:  what ever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

Hmmmmmm, maybe she's not trying to kill me after all....only make me stronger.

Over and out,
Joy

What Jens Said...

Jens looking
at me with worry as
I stalked him at the
Montreal Grand
Prix, 2010.

Joy here...One of my favourite professional cyclists is Jens Voigt.  I'm not alone in this; he's a favourite of a number of people and is hugely popular in the peloton as well.  He's freakin' hilarious in interviews; he's tough as nails (tougher actually) in a bike race; and at nearly 41 years of age, he's a real inspiration.

He doesn't know it yet, but he just might be my BFF.

He's known for coming out with amazing one liners, like predicting that all it would take for his team to win the Tour de France one year would be for the rival team (with the previous year's winner on it) to be attacked by bears.  Then, according to Jens, his team could just "smoke" all the way to the finish line.  In another instance, he was asked how he keeps going through all the pain in his body, and he said that he just orders his legs around:  "Shut up, legs!  Do what I tell you to do!"

That kind of advice was sure to come in handy for today's ride.

The Spinning Instructor and I were heading out to Pink Lake to tackle some hill repeats, but unlike Friday's ride with The Professor when we did two repeats, or last Wednesday's bilingual ride where we managed three repeats, today we were set for four repeats up that hill.

The sun trying to shine
through the clouds and trees.

My aim was to keep my wattage at around 240w for the duration of the climb, which takes about 4 minutes.  Now, that's not my maximum power output or anything, but it seems to me to be a kind of output that I can hold for the length of an interval (the 4 minutes of the climb).  To put this power talk into perspective, during one race, Jens Voigt's average power output was 515w and his maximum power output was 1187w (oh yeah, and that was in a race that was 216kms long!).  So when I say my aim is to merely hold 240w while climbing up a 4 minute hill, that's really hard for me to pull off, but it would be like a walk in the park for Jens Voigt.  Actually, Jens could probably do that in his sleep.

We rolled into the park under grey skies still clearer than last Friday's ride in the clouds as the sun gamely tried to make its way through the cloud cover, and we approached the overhead power lines that mark the start of the climb. I looked at the Spinning Instructor, smiled, and then pushed my pedals hard, measuring my breathing and feeling the burn grow in my legs: push, push, push, push, click down to an easier gear, push, push, push, push, click down to an easier gear, push, push, push, push, click down to the easiest gear...push, push, push...wheeze, huff...okay I'm almost at the top...phewf!

I did that three times, trying to keep my wattage around the 240 mark; sometimes it was 218w, sometimes 269w...but it's not an exact science!

As I tried to pull my tired body up the hill that final, fourth time, feeling my body covered in sweat and hearing my legs scream at me, I thought to myself, "what would Jens do?"  And the answer rang clear in my head in his German accent:  "Shut up, legs!  Do what I tell you to do!"  I channelled my inner Jens and shouted at my legs, and they kept going.

The Spinning Instructor did hers just behind me, and we high fived and had a snack at Pink Lake.

Here's the graph of my power output; those four bumps in the middle represent my four hill repeats....and even though the fourth doesn't quite reach the peaks of the first three, it wasn't too bad!

Then we roared down the descent topping 62km/hr before riding out of the park, finishing a ride totalling over 50kms door-to-door and just over 2 hrs of riding time, and then finally I rolled into my driveway and arrived home.

The Pink Lake perk of our hill repeats.

Even Jens might be proud of my four-time hill repeat today!

Over and out,

Joy

Chase 'Em Down (Loop #5)

Chase 'em down...

Joy here...Sunday morning came, and a few of us (me, Cili Padi, and The Professor) agreed to meet at our usual meeting spot for an 8:30am start time for our usual ride in the park.  The sun was already high in the bright, blue sky, and we were ready to take on the world.

The rolling, winding road.

As we got to the park and began rolling towards Pink Lake and that first hard climb, I was a bit ahead of the other two.  Since the park opened to vehicular traffic for the next two weeks, we have to share the roads with cars, which means that the three of us can't really ride along side-by-side without pissing off motorists (and a pissed off motorist is a dangerous motorist if you're the one on the bike).  So we had to ride in single file, and I was out front, lost in my own thoughts--it was a sunny, daydreamy kind of day--when I could hear someone coming up behind me like a freight train.  I could hear gears turning, and there was a force of air moving in front of the person.  As the locomotive passed me, I was stunned to see that she was a girl!  I'm not used to women cyclists blowing past me with that kind of power...I thought to myself, "holy cow, is that Clara Hughes???"  (For those who don't know, Clara Hughes is an Olympic speed skater and cyclist; she's won something like five Olympic medals--in BOTH the summer and winter Olympics!!!  But most importantly, she's from my same home town.)  In my mind, that woman was Clara Hughes in the flesh...pounding out a powerful rhythm.

Cili Padi cresting the hill...chasin' ME down!

Instead of being daunted by the thighs of the train pulling away from me, I used it as a carrot dangling out there in front of me and picked up the pace, I started the close the gap between mystery woman (Clara) and myself.  As I rode up Pink Lake I had her in my sights.  The downside of her powerful legs is that she's carrying more muscle mass than I am, which means that she has more weight to carry up a steep hill than I do...tipping the advantage in my direction.  So I just stuck to her, and reached her back wheel just at the top of the climb, while I pulled up to catch my breath and wait for my friends.

And that first chase was the start of things to come.  Today I seemed like a bull enraged by a matador.  With each cyclist who passed me, or who I saw up ahead of me on the road, I took the chance to chase him or her down.  When we came upon a group of fit female cyclists, The Professor sighed and said, "oh no, Joy's going to chase them down," which I took to be a kind of permission to do just that:  I rode up behind that group, through them, and eventually in front of them before stopping at the Champlain Lookout to relax with my friends, enjoy the view, and take a bit of a snack before rolling out of the park at breakneck speed.

The view worth chasing for!

The result of all this chasing is that we finished our ride a good 15-30 minutes faster than our usual loop time.  According to my Garmin, our ride time today for 65kms of rolling, chasing hills was 3hours, which unless my math is off (which it might be), has us averaging around 21.6km/hr, when our usual pace through the park lately has been around 20.5km/hr.  So all that chasing really pushed the pace, and gave us a good day out...only now my legs are killing me (I bet Clara's legs don't hurt like this.).

I think I'm going to take a well-earned nap.

Over and out,
Joy

Cycling to the Castle in the Clouds

Joy here...Back in the 1980s Victor Hugo's classic 19th Century novel, Les Misérables, was adapted into a stage musical, complete with rousing songs, pathos, melodrama, and romance, all the things that my 13-year old self couldn't get enough of.  I bought the tape of the whole musical--back when there were things called cassette tapes--and when it was time for our annual school musical auditions, I signed up with a friend of mine and was all set with my audition piece, Cosette's song, "Castle on a Cloud."

So into an empty auditorium where the drama teacher sat alone in one of the front rows walked my friend and I for our audition.  My friend has a beautiful voice.  She sang in the school choir, and sings like an angel.  I, on the other hand, opened up my mouth to sing and cringed with what came out.

In the end, my friend was cast as the youngest daughter, Gretl, in the school's musical, The Sound of Music.  To the silence that greeted the end of my tone deaf singing (if it can be called "singing"), all the poor drama teacher could say was:  "well, that sure is a lovely song."

I didn't get a part in the school musical.

The castle on a cloud.

A city on a cloud.

But today as I rode out into the early morning fog, that song came back to me.  I could see the Canadian parliament buildings rising out of the early dawn spring mist resulting from the crashing up of cold air against warm air that often happens at this time of the year.  And as I rode, I thought of little Cosette, an exploited and unloved child forced to work as a ward of greedy innkeepers.  I thought of her song about a place in her mind where she can go to escape, to be happy...her Castle on a Cloud.  In my own way, I was cycling to my own castle on a cloud...my own place where I can escape and be happy, for that's what a good morning bike ride is all about.  It's about not just dreaming about being something, but about doing something about those dreams.  It's about not just being mired in the present moment, but about transcending that present.  And most importantly, it's about having your own personal soundtrack running through your brain the whole time!  (Ideally, not singing songs with my tone deaf voice...heck, the songs in my head sure aren't sung in my voice, so the songs in your head sure as heck shouldn't be in my voice!)

I had a work meeting in the late morning, so I had to head out a little earlier than normal for our ride this morning, and luckily for me The Professor was willing to head out into the wet and foggy streets to join me for a ride.

The Professor appearing out of the mist.

As I rode to meet her, other cyclists and runners would appear momentarily out of the mists to pass me in the opposite direction, only to disappear back into the whiteness moments later.  Through it all, I could barely see The Professor, despite her bright, yellow jacket that should have shone like a beacon, but once we found each other through the mists The Professor and the ex-professor (me) headed to the park to do a couple of hill repeats up Pink Lake, just like we did on Wednesday.

We approached the start of the hill together, talking and joking, and then as the hill started to climb upwards--5% incline, 7% incline, 8% incline--and I started my first session of seriously hard pedalling.  My watts went up to 240 and I tried to keep it there, even as the climb kicked up for one, last steep section before the Pink Lake lookout itself.

Pink Lake through the clouds.

And then I turned around and did it all over again.

On the second repeat, we stopped at the top to look at the lake.  But we couldn't see it.  You know how sometimes you can look out the window of an airplane and see an entire landscape of clouds that look so solid that you think you could just step out the window and frolic in an entire white lands of soft cotton?  Well, we had stepped right into it; we were in that world of cotton...and it was moist and wet and white and it hid the world around us.  And as I stood there staring into the whiteness where I knew the lake should be, The Professor and I both heard music playing in the distance.  Making its way through the clouds and mists, we heard music...no lyrics, no strong beat, but just the faintest whisper of music.

So my ride began with a song in my head and ended with one in my ears, and I rode home (50kms in total) with plenty of time to get back down off my cloud to be present and accounted for for my work phone call.

Don't worry...I didn't sing to them.

Over and out,
Joy