New Blog!

Joy here...Some of you have noticed that basically since sometime in 2011, my entries on this blog have had less to do with running and more to do with some other sports that I've taken up, including cross-country skiing and cycling.  One of you even suggested that it's about time I changed the name of the blog to something that reflects this.  I've taken this to heart, and I've started up a new blog:

Training Joy.

So this is my fond farewell to this East and West Running blog, and from now on, if you are interested in my updates as I chart my training progress from knowing nothing about sport to running a couple of half marathons and starting to race bikes, check out the new blog:  www.trainingjoy.blogspot.ca.

See ya at the new blog!

Over and out,

Joy

Riding Etiquette and Consistency, or What I've Learned So Far...

Joy here...After our great ride on Tuesday with Training Payne in and around the Milton Ontario area, we had a few false starts with our ride goals for the rest of the week of our holidays.  And even though we somehow didn't manage a ride on Wednesday (thanks to a too-late night socializing on Tuesday), or a ride on Thursday (thanks to a too-late night socializing on Wednesday), we were all set for a good Sunday ride with a couple of my grad school friends who are super fit.

All loaded up and ready to go!

The girl has around a 1:30 half marathon time (and for reference, my two half marathons came in at 1:49 and 2:01, so she soundly kicks my butt as an athlete), and the guy has finished a half IronMan in 5:27 (and for reference, the average half IronMan time for men in his age group is 5:52, so he's a beast).  I've mentioned him before on the blog, because, bless him, he was there at the bottom of the killer hill at km 25 during my first (and only) 30km run.

Before our road trip, I stuck my courage to the proverbial sticking post and asked them if they'd be willing to take us out on a ride, and when they said "yes," I just had to keep my fingers crossed at hope that we'd be able to keep up with them.  So bright an early on Sunday morning, we headed over to their house to pick them up and load up the car with four bikes, supplies, and four friends, so that we could drive out to the country roads outside of the city.  And then, we were off...

...And what I've learned is that since I started riding my bike this summer and have been able to ride with more experienced riders, I've learned a lot about the sport and its etiquette...and, well, I have to admit, I like what I've learned.  This Sunday's ride was a textbook case in what I've learned and what I like about the kinds of unwritten rules governing good riding.

Below are three of the most important pieces of etiquette that I've learned that were textbook this weekend:

Bikes lined up at the halfway rest point.

1.)  Consistency - A rewarding ride is one that allows the rider to exert a consistent effort.  Now what that effort is--hard, easy, medium--depends on what his/her specific training goals for a given ride might be, but working to keep your cadence consistent, your speed consistent, your effort consistent, your power consistent etc. makes for a ride that feels like its worth your time.  Otherwise, anyone can go rip-roaring down the descents, slow down on the climbs, and then pedal inconsistently throughout the rest of the ride--pedal, pedal, pedal, coast, pedal, pedal, pedal, coast--and I think that kind of riding is the difference between riding for fun or commuting and cycling as a sport.  And this summer I've definitely started to come around to this sport of cycling.  So while we were out there on the road, the half IronMan triathlete beast friend of ours was set on keeping his power at 75%, so we pegged our efforts off his, and all four of us rode together.  It was super annoying when we were riding along, consistently, when a group of 3 guys passed us on the downhill, and then proceeded to ride slowly enough for us to have to pass them, only to have them speed up to try to prevent us from passing (which we ultimately did).  You know when you're driving on the highway and you have your cruise control set, and you're driving along at the same speed, and then you pull out to pass someone, and then they speed up?  And then you pull back behind them, only to have them slow down again?  You know how annoying that is?  Now imagine that on a bike.

We look happy, don't we?

2.)  Group Riding - When not riding alone, it's best to stay close to the wheel of the rider in front of you, and if the group is big enough that you're riding side-by-side as well, it's best to be as close as possible to the rider to your side.  This tight formation can allow you to draft and conserve energy, and, well, it's just more polite than hogging the entire road by riding way out from the curb, making other cyclists and cars swerve widely to get around your particular group of cycling buddies.  Our Sunday ride had us riding with two in front and two in the back, and we were able to carry on good conversation as we rode, trading in and out with who was riding beside whom.  It's up to the riders on the back not to get dropped off the pace of the riders in the front, rather than the duty of the riders up front to slow down for stragglers.

3.)  Communication - When riding with others--whether that's a single file pace line or a group--it's important for the riders in the front to signal to the riders behind when there are things on the road such as holes or gravel.  It's also up to those on front to signal when the group will be slowing down or stopping, and when going through an intersection, all riders need to look for traffic and let the others know if it's clear or not.  In this way, all riders operate almost as one unit, swerving around the same thing at the same time, slowing together, turning together, and keeping good form throughout.  And so while The Man and I had never done this ride before, we didn't feel lost or out of our element, because we just stayed with half IronMan triathlon beast, and he lead us through the rolling countryside with ease.

In the end, we had a great, consistent 90+km ride where we got to catch up with friends, plan world domination in the future, and enjoy a Sunday in the country!

Over and out,
Joy

Training Payne

Training Payne
(aka The Captain)

Joy here...Two years ago, The Man and I met an IronMan competitor through a mutual friend of ours (also an IronMan competitor).  I had just finished my first-ever running race (the 10km running race that Nomi and I did together), and I was high on that experience, and so when I met Training Payne, a triathlete from my hometown who had a very popular blog, I came up with the idea of this little blog as a way to chart the progress that Nomi and I might make on the heels of our first-ever running race.

In October 2011, I gave him a shout out in my race report from my first-ever half marathon, and when he and our friend who introduced him to us in the first place were both coming to compete in last year's Lake Placid IronMan, we had them both over to our house with a bunch of our other friends.

The view up to the Niagara Escarpment.

This year, when we decided to hop in our car to take a one-week road trip vacation, one of the places on our "must visit" list was this guy's house.  Both he and his wife are super fun, generous, and open-hearted people, and their kids--a daughter in university and a son in high school--are really good kids too.  So we showed up on the doorstep of the House of Payne with our bikes and our bags and hoped that they wouldn't turn us away.

And they sure didn't.

Top of the Rattle Snake climb!

Training Payne took us out on an excellent bike ride for just under 70kms through some rolling countryside north of Burlington (averaging 27km/hr).  The sun was high up above us for our late afternoon ride, and there was a strong headwind making us seem a lot slower out of the gate than I would have thought, but as we warmed up our legs, got the conversation going, and got used to the wind, we fell into a good and comfortable pace.

And then we approached Rattle Snake Climb.

It's a zig-zagging climb up to the highest part of Rattlesnake Point, and one Toronto cyclist calls it a "monster," describing it:  "this is as close as it gets to an alpine climb in the GTA. Sure, it's not as long, but with multiple switchbacks and a crazy gradient, this is an absolute leg-breaker!" (click here for the site where I lifted this quotation from).  So as Training Payne, The Man, and I approached this steep hill, I put my bike into its easiest gear and just settled in for a long climb.  Training Payne was by my side, grovelling just as I was.  The Man?  He was nowhere in sight.  He just stood up on his pedals and rode out of our sight.  I just pedalled as much as I could, but about halfway up, I needed to pull over in a driveway to have a drink...I stopped and clipped out of my pedals.  Training Payne stopped with me.  Then when I was done having a drink, I couldn't get clipped back in!  The gradient was so steep that I couldn't get enough speed to clip in and keep on going.  Training Payne waited until I was clipped in, and then on we went again...onwards, upwards...onwards, upwards...onwards, upwards.

Post-ride libation courtesy of the
amazing hospitality of the House of Payne!

And then we saw The Man near the top; "it's only about 60 more meters to go!" he shouted, but then the road turned around once more and headed straight up.  I saw my speed go from 8km/hr to 6km/hr to  4km/hr, and I started to worry that I'd be going to darn slow that I would just fall right over, so I hopped off my bike, swallowed my pride, and humbly walked it up the last few steps to the top of the climb, where I then rested, huffed and puffed, and ate and drank, high-fiving Training Payne and The Man before continuing on with the rest of our ride.

And what a ride it was!  Each time I ride in the countryside around Ottawa, I end up feeling like something is ever-so-slightly lacking, but these roads through lush farmland, beautiful golf courses, large acreages, and over rolling hills were truly beautiful.  No offence to Eastern Ontario around Ottawa, but Southern Ontario sure does have some pretty sights!

The sunrise from Training Payne's backyard after
a night well spent with chit-chat!

On most of the climbs, The Man and Training Payne would drop me, and I would just ride at my own pace until I would catch up to them on the flats or the downhill, so I wasn't feeling too bad about my abilities.  On one of the climbs, I just stayed right behind Training Payne, and try as he might, he just couldn't shake me.  I just kept going with him pedal for pedal, and then as we turned towards the last stretch of straight road on the way back to his house, he and The Man were topping speeds of 57km/hr, and I was just flying at 52km/hr with that tough headwind finally becoming a blessed tailwind!

We turned into his driveway, unloaded our stuff, and then showered and were treated to dinner and all-night socializing with Training Payne and his wife.

There's no better way to close out a post-ride high.

Thanks TP!

Over and out,
Joy

50km Recovery Ride: Watch your Dog!

Us with the Ottawa River behind us
and the blue skies above us.

Joy here...With yesterday's 108km ride in our legs, a few of us--my new friend Trish Turbo and her coach (now MY coach) Andrew, The Man, myself, and a fellow rider, ex pro-football player Jed (aka Handsome Jed)--decided that we'd head out for a nice, easy recovery ride this morning.

So we rode out from our Kanata hotel past the start line from yesterday's event, and towards the bike paths.  The sun was high; the grass was dry, and we were ready to fly.  Well, not really.  Even though all our legs felt peppy and ready to go, we reigned ourselves in (for the most part) and rode at a leisurely 30km/hr (even slower on the bike path sections), chatting with each other, and stopping for a few photo ops along the way.

And while there were many fun things about today's 50km ride, many laughs, many good conversations, and lots of friendships cemented, there were a couple of not-so-good moments that bear mentioning.

The Man, Andrew (my new coach), Turbo, and
me.

You see, in Ottawa there are these great multi-use recreational paths.  I usually just refer to them as the "bike paths" (as above), but in all honesty, they're shared by loads of people.  I've run along these paths more times than I can count and first blogged about them nearly two years ago.  People of all shapes and sizes, all ages, and doing all sports use these paths.  There are parents with kids in strollers; there are cyclists; there are recreational bike riders; there are runners; there are walkers; there are rollerbladers; there are skateboarders; and there are dog walkers.

Dog walkers.

That's where we're going today.

Two days ago, during Stage 18 of the Tour de France, former Belgian national champion Philippe Gilbert (who I saw in person last year at the Montreal Grand Prix), amongst others, was injured when a big dog ran out into the middle of the cyclists out there riding their hearts out for Tour de France glory.  Gilbert had to be held back as he gave those dog owners a piece of his mind (no doubt a profanity-filled piece at that).

Philippe Gilbert fearing his Olympic dreams may be
crushed because of irresponsible dog owners.
(Photo Courtesy of Velo News)

Now, I don't have anything against dogs.  I'm not a big dog hater or anything like that.  In fact, I have quite a soft spot in my heart for many of my friends' dogs.  However, I do have a pretty big hate on for irresponsible dog owners.  But while it may be rude or inconsiderate for dog owners to leave their dog's shit on the sidewalk, it's downright dangerous for dog owners to fail to keep their dogs on leashes in public contexts.

As our little group of 5 recovering cyclists headed out on our leisurely ride today, I was thinking of poor Gilbert and all the other cyclists who get taken out by careless owners who let their dogs randomly walk in front of a pro peloton...dangerous to both cyclists and dogs alike.  And as I was musing on the stupidity of some people out there who put the lives of cyclists and the life of their pet at risk by being irresponsible, what should we come upon?  You guessed it.  There was a lady just walking along the path...ON THE WRONG SIDE...carrying her coffee in one hand...with her dog trotting along three feet in front of her...WITH NO LEASH.  So not only was stupidhead walking on the left side of the path, forcing us to veer around her into the other lane, but she was just merrily letting her dog go unleashed on a public, multi-use path, not only putting cyclists at risk, but probably scaring the pants off any dog-fearing path user as well.

Here's a clip from the 2007 Tour de France.

I just shook my head and thought mean thoughts about her.

Then we turned around a bend in the road to come upon a guy on roller blades with his dog on the leash.  Sounds good so far, right?  Yeah, it would have been good if he either knew how to use roller blades, or had his dog under control.  Neither was the case.  The dog was pulling him left and right, and  he was wobbling around utterly unstably.  Then his dog jumped on another rollerblader as his owner rolled right into the ditch at the side of the path.  Seeing all this, I turned to the group behind me:  "go slow, dog ahead!" I shouted, as I took our speed right down to a crawl so that we could stop, veer, or react as necessary.  The guy merely looked at us sheepishly.

So now I take a moment for crazy-coffee-no-leash-lady and stupid-rollerblader-no-control-guy and any other dog owners out there wanting to take pets out into shared public spaces where there might be folks with wheels:  BE CAREFUL!  Unless you're at a leashes-off dog park, please keep your dog on a leash.  Please.

I will just enjoy my friends' dogs...all the fun, none of the responsibility!

Over and out,
Joy

100km Medio Fondo (Second Ever Metric Century)

Joy here...Last August I signed up for and completed my very first metric century ride (100kms).  I rode with a group of people out on a cold and windy day as part of the "Share the Road" initiative.

The long line of keen cyclists waiting outside the
registration tent.

This July I signed up for my very second metric century ride (100kms), as part of the 1st annual Ottawa Gran Fondo...a three-distance event organized in the spirit of gran fondo rides in other parts of the world.  There's a SuprFondo (220kms), a GranFondo (170kms), and a MedioFondo (100kms).

We signed in on Friday, and as this is just the first year of the event, there are a few wrinkles still to be ironed out in the execution of the event...I don't want to complain, because I'm super happy that this event exists, but the line ups to register were INSANE.  After our looooooong wait to register and get our kit, we went for a much-needed drink, followed by dinner at the hotel, where one, by one, we texted our other friends who were riding and lured them from the line up to the dinner table.

Post-Registration, Pre-
Ride libation.

Why wait in line when you can
hang out with friends??

Then we got up bright and early on Saturday morning, and my new fast friend, Turbo Tricia, (who I met on Thursday and then rode with on Friday) told us that she opted to ride the 100km distance with me and The Man.  We met up under the blue sky and hot sun for our 9am start time and got right up to the front of the starters.

We thought we'd average around 30km/hr, taking it easy as we rode over the rolling terrain through the countryside to the west of Ottawa, but as soon as the announcer said "Go!" that front group (with us in it) was off like a shot!  We were racing out of there at speeds around 40km/hr.  Soon a tight, but fast group arranged itself around us, with that little Turbo up on the front, and me working in the group, staying on the wheel of the person in front of me.  It was faster than I thought we would be going, but I felt good and strong.  The group was working well together, with some strong riders up front, and the rest of us along for a fast, hard ride through the countryside.

My average speed...just under 33km/hr.

At around the 30km mark, we wheeled into the first water/toilet station.  As is usual for me, I was in the portapotty before the wheels on my bike stopped turning.  When I got back on my bike and headed out with the rest of the group, we were still on our hell-for-leather pace.  I was sweating under the ever warming summer sun, but I was able to hold the wheels of the strong rider in the group; I was able to take my turn on the front pulling the group; I was able to stay strong over the rollers; and I was feeling great...like there was nothing my legs couldn't do.

At around the 60km mark, we had to take a detour for the next water/toilet station.  By that point I was all out of water.  My two 750ml bottles were utterly dry, as I had been sucking on them for the previous hour and a half.  I filled them up with stale (but icy cold) water from the coolers at the feed station, and then our group rolled out.  Unfortunately, a few of us got caught behind traffic trying to pull out of the feed station.  While the stronger riders up front peeled away from us, some of us were stuck watching traffic go by.  Then when our opportunity presented itself, I pulled out and put my head down and just time trialled away on my own to catch up with everyone (including The Man who had made the split).  I was riding at over 40km/hr, and the rest of the group who had been caught behind with me couldn't hold my wheel.  I was on my own, when I saw the group up ahead.  They were just rolling away from a stop light and were slow enough for me to catch them.  I slowed down to the 35km/hr pace that the group was holding, but my legs were tired.  Our group was a lot smaller than it had been before the split at the last feed station.

So with two strong guys up front, Turbo, me, The Man, and a couple of others, we rolled onwards, over a rough gravel section of road and onwards to the last 1/3 of the metric century.

And then my back pain showed up.

Not again!!!!

That back pain first appeared at my first ever bunch fondo ride back in May, and then it showed up with a vengeance when The Man and I rode two loops of the park before the bike race, but it was a real pain in the back during my first ever bike race last Sunday, and now it was here again, at kilometre 79 of this 100km ride.  And with the arrival of the lower back pain, I experienced the departure of any power in my legs.

The group was riding, and my legs were turning, but those riders were getting farther and farther away from me.  I watched my speed go from 38km/hr, to 35km/hr, down to 32km/hr in a matter of seconds, all the while the group was riding away from me into the blue skies and rolling green hills.  The Man soft pedalled back to me, but I couldn't even catch up to him or shout to him to carry on.  I was just in my own, small world filled with pain.  I told him to go on, and he began his own time trial to catch up to the rest of the group.

I looked down to see that I was at kilometre 81, and I had less than 20 kilometres of pure suffering ahead of me.  Well, I figured I could do that.  So I just put my head down and went to a dark, dark hurty place.  I was sure that my back pain was actually renal failure from something in the mystery water I drank.  I saw a long life ahead of me with dialysis; I've seen Steel Magnolias...I know how bad that ends.

So I just put my head down and suffered my own, personal kidney damage, pedalling all by myself and just wallowing in self pity.

But then, at around kilometre 85, suddenly my legs were turning more quickly even through the back pain.  I caught up to another rider and clung to his heel for a while.  He had a sign on his back "I'm riding for Martine" with a link to the Princess Margaret Cancer care centre, ibelieveit.ca, on his back.  I don't know who Martine is, or what that person's battle is or why this guy was out there under a hot sun  by himself suffering through the final leg of a 100km ride, but it sure put my own little back pain into perspective.  After recovering on this guy's wheel for a while, I was feeling better, and I pulled in front of him; "hey, thanks for the tow, I'll take my turn on the front for a while," I said.  So we took turns pulling on the front, and we were joined by another girl who was out there suffering by herself.  The three of us rode together, each taking turns on the front, each making small talk, and each counting down the final kilometres.

And then we hit kilometre 100.

But we were in the middle of the country side.  There was no finish line.  There was no hotel.  There were only trees and rural country roads.

Kilometre 103:  Still nothing familiar.

My well deserved post ride meal & beer.

Kilometre 105:  Finally, we turned into a subdivision that looked familiar from Friday's "loosen the legs" ride.  I put my head down, pedalled, and my speed was back up to 40km/hr before I knew it.  The group of us all gathered together at the red light, and with nearly no time at all, we were turning down the road towards the finish line where The Man was waiting, people were cheering, and there was cold beer waiting for me at the conclusion of my second ever 100km ride.

Ride Stats:
Distance:  108km
Time:  3:17
Average Speed:  33km/hr

Over and out,
Joy

30km Loosen the Legs Ride!

Joy here...On the heels of my first ever bike race, the Gatineau Grand Prix (where I placed 6th, just in case you needed a friendly reminder), I basically took this week off.  I took both Sunday and Monday as pure rest days and did a whole lot of nothing.

Then on Tuesday I did a short bike workout.  On Wednesday I did nothing, and on Thursday I did strength training with The Trainer.

Some of the folks out for an easy, peasy
"loosen the legs" Friday afternoon ride.

But Saturday was the Ottawa GranFondo, a fondo cycling event organized by local cyclist and all around great guy, Greg Capello, and I had signed up for the 100km event (there's also a 170km and 220km event).  So I knew I'd have to get out there and ride to loosen up my legs before Saturday's big 100km effort.

As luck would have it, The Man and I decided to check into the hotel at the start line of the fondo event--a little "staycation" for us--and ex-pro cyclist Andrew Randall who just retired after a 10 year long professional cycling career was leading a small group of riders out on a little ride just to get the blood flowing, and we joined up.

We rode easily out for around 15kms, and then at the turn around point, Andrew had us all start 30 seconds after each other in order to do a 5 minute effort.  "Don't time trial, or anything," he said, "just ride hard to get your legs firing."  Ha!  "Don't time trial"?  Really?  You're going to tell me to do a 5 minute effort and NOT treat it like a time trial?  Good luck.

So, yeah, I fanged it outta there like a maniac, hitting speeds around 49km/hr, chasing down the woman who started in front of me, but then I did slowly begin to realize that I couldn't actually sustain speeds over 40km/hr.  I slowed down to about 34km/hr and kept on going until we regrouped with the rest of the folks out for this easy "loosen the legs" pre-ride.  Then a category 3 UCI racer--who I nicknamed the "Pocket Rocket" since she's 5 feet tall and 105 pounds--and I went to the front of the group and rolled easily together back to the hotel, holding a nice, comfortable 30km/hr pace.  Trish-the-Pocket-Rocket, whose real nickname is "Turbo," and I chatted along the way, becoming fast friends.

Andrew is her cycling coach, and by the end of the ride, she had planted the idea in my head that he should be my cycling coach too.

So all-in-all it was a good, little "loosen the legs" ride, one that may just have netted me a new cycling coach.

Over and out,
Joy

WOW Ride + The Man = Fun (Loop #18)

Joy here...After a lacklustre performance on Tuesday night at the Time Trial, I was feeling a little apprehensive with the approach of the weekly Women on Wheels (WOW) ride on Wednesday night.  The sun was hot; the sky was blue; the air was still, and so I couldn't blame the weather for anything.  Twelve riders showed up at the meeting spot, and I could feel myself getting more and more nervous--if my back pain from Sunday and my metallic legs from Tuesday show up again, I'm gonna be really embarrassed in front of a pretty good group of people.

So, swallowing my nerves, and resisting the temptation to fall back on my childhood habit of nail biting, we rolled out of the parking lot in neat rows of two, heading towards the Pink Lake climb.  At first I wasn't on the front of the group, but tucked nicely in the middle, and the pace wasn't too high, so I was feeling good and was sucked along in the middle of the group, keeping my legs light and easy.

Then we rotated in the group, and I found myself on the front.  I kept the pace steady, and I didn't work myself too hard, but before I knew it, some of the ladies were having a hard time holding on to the wheels of the riders in front of them.  And then we approached the Pink Lake climb, and while a couple flew off the front of the group up the climb, I just kept my pace steady, and one by one, I began catching up to those riders on the hill.  By the crest of the hill, I was at the front, and as the group re-gathered itself to keep on going, we pedalled slowly a bit until those on the back caught up, and then we carried on in our group, taking a moment to practice all the rules of group riding etiquette (some of which you can find listed on this helpful website; just click the hyperlink).

As we approached the Fortune Lake climb, one of the group organizers shouted for the stronger riders to get in their biggest ring and climb while standing.  Feeling much better than Sunday's ride, I thought that "stronger rider" might just refer to me, so I stood up and climbed up that hill.  Eventually, about 1/3 of the way up the hill, I had to sit down, but I kept my bike in that big ring (the hardest gear) even while seated for a while.  Then those of us up front got the word that the group had splintered, so I slowed down my pedalling and waited for everyone to catch up, and then I rolled to the back of the group and put my bike into its hardest gear again so that I could stand up for the rest of the climb.  We crested that hill in no time and had a bit of a drink, and I was starting to feel good.  My back pain hadn't showed up, and my legs seemed to have enough gas in them to keep up with the demands of the ride.

And then as we paused for a photo at Champlain Lookout (and a wee snack), we also found The Man out in the park on his ride.  As we rolled away from our pause and passed him, I shouted out:  "Hey Handsome Husband!"  And all the girls checked him out as we sped past.  He said, "I'll catch up to you," and one of our riders turned to me and said, "I think that's a challenge!"

The gauntlet was dropped.

Here we are at the top of the world!

Then as our group roared over the rollers after the main climbs, and tore down the speedy descents (with me topping speeds of 69km/hr), The Man and his friend were ahead of us on the road, and it just so happened that I was at the front of the group at the time, so I stood up and pushed the pace, heckling The Man and his friend...and soon other WOW riders joined in with the heckling:  "speed up guys!" "you're about to get passed by a bunch of girls!" "Beep! Beep! Get a move on!"  With a pack of 12 women chasing them, The Man and his friend had to push their pace and pedal their little hearts out to avoid being passed.  I could hear our group splintering behind me, and one rider shouted:  "stay on her wheel!" meaning mine, to which the response was "she's chasing her husband, I can't keep up!"  After Sunday's crummy ride and Tuesday's crummy ride, it was encouraging for me to hear that my legs seemed to be back in form.

Eventually we all regrouped, and passed the guys on one of the descents and leap-frogged each other throughout the rest of the park.

Ultimately, The Man pulled ahead, but before he knew it, our WOW group was roaring past him on our way out of the park, and it was all he could do to jump on the back of the group.

As I pulled up to the car and hopped off my bike, The Man was nowhere to be found.  In a moment or two he caught up to me and arrived at the car, and the girl who had noted his challenge shouted over to us:  "So, who won?"  "I did, of course, as it should be!" was my response.  The Man looked back and forth between us, not understanding, and I winked at him and told him of the challenge that he had unwittingly issued, and that I had won.

All in all, our ride was 43kms and our average speed was 28km/hr, much better than Sunday's painful ride, so I have no complaints.

Over and out,
Joy

Pain is Temporary (Loops #16 & #17)

The sun already high in the 7am Sunday sky.

Joy here...After taking two weeks off the bike, I felt like I was back in the groove a bit this week with Monday's easy flat ride, Tuesday's Personal Best Time Trial, and Wednesday's strong WOW ride; then Thursday I went to the gym with the Trainer and did some intense strength training, took Friday and Saturday off, and thought I was all set for a strong two loops of the park...only one week before the Gatineau Grand Prix, the very first real bike race that I intend to compete in.

So as we rolled out early Sunday morning, into the gusty winds and under the blue sky, I felt like I was strong and ready to have a powerful ride, challenging myself up over the hills and maintaining a strong and consistent pace for my first two-loop ride in the park in about a month (my last one being when I first started toying with the idea of doing the race...but back then I figured I had 5 weeks of training to prepare...now I'm down to 1 week).

But while my brain seemed to think I was all set to go with a strong and powerful Sunday morning ride, my body seemed to have other ideas.

Even before we reached the first steep climb (the Pink Lake Climb, about 1km of climbing around 70m of height gain with an average incline of 5.6%), my back was killing me.  I had a sharp pain in my lower back like I had been stabbed in the right kidney.  I don't know if I slept wrong and had back pain, if I was pedalling too hard and was straining my back, if I had worked my back too hard on Thursday and it was seizing, or if an invisible monster had jumped on my back and was digging in his claws.  I'm not sure what was going on, but no matter how I tried to stretch my back on the bike--leaning forward, standing up, sitting on the back of the saddle--nothing seemed to work.  The pain had settled in and seemed like it was there to stay.

So the battle between the brain that wanted a strong, hard Sunday ride and the body that was suffering began.

I huffed and I puffed; I tried to moderate my breathing lamaze-style to deal with the pain; and I just tried to ride beside The Man and not be too slow as to ruin both my ride and his ride this Sunday morning.  My face cringed; my mouth groaned; and my hands clenched.  I was doing everything I could to mind-over-matter this back pain.

Then, just before the start of the second big climb in the park (the Fortune Climb, nearly 2km of climbing over 150m of height gain with an average incline of 6.2%), we came upon The Professor and Cili Padi relaxing with their bikes and having a snack before tackling the climb up to the Champlain lookout.  We had a bit of a chat with them, caught up a bit, and I complained about my back, and then we hopped back on our bikes and headed up the hill.

At first my back seemed to calm down a bit with my pedalling up the steep part, but then that dagger started twisting its serrated edge in deeper and all I could do was settle into my bike in my easiest gear and pedal as consistently as possible.  I could feel the tears in the corners of my eyes and was happy that my sunglasses were hiding those eyes so no one would be able to see.

The Sunday morning view from Champlain lookout.

As I crested the steep part of the climb and rode towards The Man, he took one look at my scrunched up, "I'm in pain" face and said, "you know, we don't have to do two loops, we can just turn around at the top and go back."  I could have kissed him right then and there for the offer.  Everything in my body screamed:  "YES!  I wanna go home!"  But instead, I heard myself say:  "No, I need to finish these two loops."  What?  Did I just say that?  My brain seemed to be winning this battle between body and mind.  My brain was thinking that I needed the experience of suffering through these two loops as this Sunday's ride would be my last two-looper before Saturday's race, and without these two loops in my legs, the race would come along and I wouldn't have the mental fortitude to complete it.  When those voices in my head show up during the race (as they always do), I knew that I'd be quitting.  The only prevention strategy that I have in my arsenal is to finish this painful two loop ride on a hot and windy Sunday morning so that when the race begins to hurt, I can say, "shut up little voices, I can suffer through two loops, and even coming in last place is better than quitting."

Shadow Joy giving a thumbs-up, but definitely not
feeling thumbs-up-like!

So onwards we trundled, up to the Champlain Lookout, stopped long enough to eat and visit with The Professor and Cili Padi as they eventually reached the lookout, and then The Man and I began our descent so that we could reach the turnaround point and do it all over again.

I looked down to my Road ID on my wrist--it's a little velcro bracelet with a metal info plate engraved with my name, phone number, The Man's phone number, and my blood type.  It was a gift given to me by Simon (aka TriTwins), our friend from Malaysia who came to visit us last summer and rode with us in the park.  In addition to the info Simon had engraved on my little wrist ID, he also added a slogan:  "Pain is temporary."  So as the stabbing back pain spread from my right lower back to radiate to the rest of my lower back, not letting up at all, I looked down at that slogan, swallowed hard, grimaced, and just kept on pedalling...suffering up the Fortune Climb for a second time and suffering over those rollers on the way down from the top of the climb and suffering all the way out of the park.

In the end, our average speed was 26.5km/hr, and the ride was just over 80km door-to-door.  My average speed should have been somewhere between 27km/hr and 28km/hr (ideally even faster), so I was disappointed with that.

But when I think about the fact that I suffered through more than 3 hours of riding and was still able to complete the ride within spitting distance of the time that I would have expected of myself, I am pleased.  While this ride certainly doesn't represent a triumph of the body with fast legs and a fast time, it represents a triumph of the mind.

Napoleon once said:  "The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind," and this Sunday I can't say that I intercepted that communication between my body and mind, but I sure did prevent it from stopping me, and that's my triumph for the day...one week away from the two-loop race day.


"Pain is temporary...Pain is temporary...Pain is temporary...Pain is temporary..."


Over and out,
Joy

WOW! Independence Day Ride! (& Loop #15)

Joy here...In one of my favourite movies of all time--Bend it Like Beckham--the two young heroines of the soccer (ahem, football) flick head out for a day of shopping in London's Oxford St district, breaking their parents' rules, having some girl bonding, and generally asserting their sense of identity.  The soundtrack for this day of youthful fun is former Spice Girl Melanie C (aka "Sporty Spice") singing "Independence Day," and as I rode out to meet the Women on Wheels (WOW) riders on this July 4th, I heard her voice ringing in my mind:

This is my independence day

My independence day

Hey, my independence day...

No matter what comes my way

I'm gonna live for today,

This is my, this is my independence day!

After taking over two weeks off my bike, nearly three weeks since my last ride in the park, but finally getting back on this week with Monday's 75km flat ride and Tuesday's Time Trial, I was starting to feel like myself again--independent and full of the spirit of 1990s "girl power"!

Then when I meet up with the rest of the WOW crew under a boiling hot late day sun (temperatures around 34C) the theme of powerful women was destined to continue.  We rode at a reasonable pace to warm up towards Pink Lake, and as we reached that climb, one of the more experienced riders shouted for us to do the climb in our big ring.  I gamely tried for about the first 1/3 of the climb, but then the screaming in my legs forced me to sit down as the two strongest riders pulled ever-so-slowly away from me up the hill.  I crested the hill in 3rd place, just behind the other two, and then we all regrouped before continuing on through the rolling section of the park.

Every now and then we would slow down as some riders got trailed off the back of our 7-woman group, and then as we approached the great, long descent we decided to just rip it as fast as we wanted and regroup later...and that's just what we did.  I was still up front with those other two strong riders, and then as the descent started, I chased one down as fast as I could, and she and I were in first and second place down the descent!

But what goes down must eventually go up...at least in cycling that seems to be the case, so as we regrouped at the bottom of the descent and rolled towards the Fortune Climb, we knew that the hardest part of the ride was just ahead of us.  Again as we approached the climb, that strongest rider shouted for us to stay in our big rings.  The same three of us managed to climb up in our hardest gearing combination, but about 1/3 of the way up the climb, I had no other choice but to sit down.  My legs were full of lactic acid, and the muscles felt like they would give out, and I'd topple over...so with a grunt and a whimper, I sat down again and watched those two stronger riders--still standing--pull ahead of me up the hill.  I recovered as I rode up behind them, pedalling while seated as fast as I could up the incline, passing other riders out for a Wednesday eve ride, but I still never caught them before we crested the hill.  However, just like at Pink Lake, I was only 3rd place.  We regrouped again, and then continued to the peak and the hot, summer view at Champlain Lookout.

Here we are at Champlain Lookout.

On our way down from that highest point to finish our 43km ride, we decided to no longer hold up and wait for those falling off the back of the group.  So I followed those two other stronger riders out over the rolling hills and down some rip-roaring descents (topping 70km/hr).  Each time we hit a bit of a climb, their stronger legs, greater experience, and higher technical facility let them pull away from me a bit, but I pedalled my little heart out to catch up with them each time, so that we tore out of the park in a train of three almost 10 minutes ahead of the rest of the group as a whole (and averaging 27.7km/hr for the ride)...with each and every one of us feeling strong, independent, and powerful.

I guess Americans don't have a monopoly on Independence Day after all.

Over and out,

Joy

First Bike Ride in Two Weeks!

Joy here...Okay, so I was out of town from June 18-24 (i.e. no working out at all, unless you count splashing around in the pool with my 2-year old nephew or my friend's two kids), and then when I came back, I had to catch up on a lot of work that piled up while I was away, so I missed that Tuesday's Time Trial (the second one in a row that I missed).  Then I had a function to attend on Wednesday, so I missed the "Women on Wheels" ride (the third one in a row that I missed).  And, in short, my last bike ride was Saturday, June 16th--a great 95km ride over rolling, country terrain with two more experienced riders--and so when my friends were up for a ride on Monday, July 2nd, I did the math and counted more than two weeks of no-riding for me, and so I agreed to Monday's ride and hoped for the best.

The view of the country fields and the aqua sky above.

And the best arrived.

We met under gloriously blue skies and a light breeze at 9am, and rode 75kms door-to-door with four of us practicing a pace line and keeping our over-all average speed around 30km/hr, even with the sometimes strong headwind.

At no time did I feel tired, taxed, or put to the limit.  It was a great ride, and my legs were thanking me for getting back up on the bike.

While I've struggled with motivation for the last two weeks, with feeling overwhelmed by my growing to-do list, and worrying that I just can't finish everything that needs finishing, after that bike ride, I felt invigorated...like the whole world is my oyster and there's nothing I can't do.

It almost looks like the prairies with that big sky, doesn't it?

So if my little 25 minute runs this week are allowing me the opportunity to meditate, to find something creative and centred in a personal way, then this bike ride reminded me that bike riding gives me that extra bit of confidence and external power so that I can do anything I set my mind to.

That combination of riding and running just might be the magic elixir that I've been seeking.

Over and out,
Joy

Meditative Run

Joy here...After this week's first 20 minute run (my first run since March, yes, March!), I got out again this week for a 25 minute run in my minimalist shoes.

It's unbelievable to me how out of shape I am vis-a-vis running.  I mean, I know that I've been doing a lot of bike riding lately, and I know that I've actually been doing a lot of nothing physically for the past two weeks, but I was surprised at how 25 minutes was probably my limit.  I don't think I had much more in me...maybe I could have pulled off another 15 minutes or so, but that would have been pushing it.

While I was out there huffing and puffing for my wee 25 minutes along the bike path, Nomi and Lulu were on the opposite side of the world running in Australia's Gold Coast Marathon.  Nomi has now finished two (yes, TWO) marathons, and this one was Lulu's first-ever marathon.

Nomi and I began our running journey together, and she's just gone on and on with longer and longer distances, where I've veered away from the running road and onto the bike.

But part of me sure does miss those runs.

While I was out there huffing and puffing through my 25 minutes, I remembered what I love about running:  It's very creative and meditative.  Cycling is fun and fast and there's adrenaline and speed, but running (at least for me) is more about the rhythmic pounding of my feet against the ground and getting my breathing in time with my feet so that my whole body works like a drum...beating out its own rhythm...so that I can turn inwards and think about writing and the world and myself in it, and all those things that in my busy work-a-day world, I sometimes forget to take time to do.

So while I imagine I'm going to be doing a lot of bike riding for the rest of this summer, I'm going to try to take some time for these little runs so that I can reconnect with that thoughtful side of myself.

Over and out,
Joy

Running? What's that?

Joy here...Last week I was out of town for work-related meetings.  I've blogged about the difficulties with keeping up a training regime when travelling numerous times before (first here in 2010 when I had to go to an out-of-town conference, then here, or here in 2011 when I went to babysit my toddler nephew and ran after him, but didn't train, or here in 2012 when I went on a trip to NYC with my non-running/non-cycling sister, or often when I whinge about having to travel to Winnipeg where no sport ever unfolds as it should amidst the work and socializing).

One of our friends--an IronMan athlete who came to our Lake Placid party--also happens to be from my hometown, and he recently had to travel there where his training suffered too (you can read his post here).

So I headed off to Winnipeg...I didn't bring my bike, but I brought my running shoes and numerous changes of clothes so that I'd be set to resume some running and not let all my fitness fade.

Ha!

What did I do?

Good question.

Nothing.

I worked; I socialized; I visited; I ate, and I drank.  I didn't ride or run the whole time I was there.

However, I reconnected with high school friends who I graduated with some 18 years ago.  We had dinner; we had drinks, and we decided that we all definitely look much better now than we did back in high school...so I can't complain.  I won't complain.  It was a much-needed break, and I wouldn't have missed any of the socializing just to go for a run or a ride.

And since I've returned home, I've been very busy catching up on everything, which means that I missed this week's Time Trial as well as the Women on Wheel's ride.  I did, however, get out the door in my Vibram Five Fingered shoes for a 20 minute run, the first run since March!!!  (Today's blog echoes the title of one back in November, again when I seemed to find very little time for running, but enjoyed my barefoot run nonetheless.)

It felt fine, no aches and pains, but it's certainly not the same as going for a good, long, hard bike ride.  Now I'm worried that I'll get back on my bike this weekend and fall over due to lack of fitness and two weeks off the bike.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, and stay tuned for more updates!

Over and out,
Joy

Carp Loop

Joy here...Since I began thinking about riding in the local bike race--the Gatineau Grand Prix (and blogged about that decision here)--I've made the decision to throw myself into as many group rides as I can.  And so when one of the women who I met on a rainy Women on Wheels ride last week invited me to join a group of women cyclists who meet up every now and then on a Saturday morning for a group ride, I was in for sure.

The meeting spot, not my usual bike shop, but
a good one nonetheless!

Before I could ride with the group, though, she offered me a cycling skills clinic, and so at 8am, I showed up for the clinic, and it turned out that only she and I were present, so the "clinic" was more of a one-on-one tutorial, for which I was very grateful.

Like our cross-country ski instructor who began with the basics and had us doing drills--one foot at a time, no poles etc.--this ex-team bike racer had me doing drills--figure eights, bunny hops, turning circles in a parking space--and I couldn't have been a keener student.

Everyone says "it's just like riding a bike," whenever they're talking about something that's apparently really easy and that you'll never forget.  But what if you never really learned how to ride a bike?  Then what?

Evidence of one of my early falls.

As a kid, I learned how to "ride a bike" in that I learned how to propel it forward without falling over.  That's it.  I never learned any technique, and I never really owned a bike.  And when I did own a bike, I never rode it anywhere, because I was afraid of theft.  My hometown "has a much higher bike theft rate than elsewhere," and one Winnipegger writes that cyclists should simply "learn that it is Winnipeg and bikes get stolen on a day to day basis."*  So for all intents and purposes, I didn't learn how to ride a bike until I was in my thirties.  And by "ride a bike," I mean that I learned how to make it go forward...not necessarily without falling over!

So this morning's one-on-one lesson was really helpful.  Did you know that when turning a corner on a bike, you should have the outside leg straight and the inside leg bent?  I didn't know that.  Let me tell you, it sure did make a difference to my turning radius!  (I actually can't wait to try out my new turning technique at the next time trial!)

Once I had mastered the basics, we rode back to the meeting spot and another cyclist met up with us, and out we headed for what turned out to be a 95km bike ride over some rolling country roads (well known to local cyclists as the Carp Loop).

My cycling buddies for today's ride.

While out in the country, we continued the theme of "drills," practicing different types of pace lines, learning how to sprint, and how best to build up speed going up and down rollers.

It was a great ride as the sky got bluer and bluer and the sun warmer and warmer.  I never felt tired, taxed, or put to the limit with these other more-experienced riders, and I was able to learn a lot from them.

Oh, and it doesn't hurt that they're both really nice!

And they think that I should just sign up for the Grand Prix and give it a try.

So maybe I will.

Over and out,
Joy

*Both quotations are taken from a Winnipeg bike shop's website offering tips to avoid having your bike stolen.  Click here for the full article from Gord's Ski and Bike Shop.

A Word About Rapha (& Loop #14)

Not quite the fashion I'm talking about!

Joy here...In lots of couples it's the woman who is all about fashion.  It's the woman who has a massive shoe collection and whose clothing takes up more closet space than is strictly fair in a master bedroom.  It's the woman who blushes and hides the receipt when she sneaks out to go shopping, returning home laden with clothes that she simply needs.  It's the woman who preens in front of the mirror and trolls online shopping sites looking for deals.

Not so in our house.

In our house, it's The Man who is the clothing nut.

But make no mistake, I'm not married to a metrosexual with fantastic taste in Prada or Gucci.

Instead, I'm married to an athlete who enjoys the finer things about athletic aesthetics.

Rapha - the Mothership of
cycling gear.

Let me explain:  when I very first started running, it was a sport I took up to share with him (a story I explain in one of our more popular posts here--Long Runs and Running Demons), and I used to think that I could run wearing anything.  I had a pair of old second-hand shoes, a cotton T-shirt, and some cut off sweat pants that I had turned into shorts.  I figured that I was just going to get all sweaty, so what's the big deal with what I was wearing?  Well, I was soon educated on the finer points of technical fabrics, wicking, tights, running shoes, socks etc. and have begun to develop my own preferences when it comes to running gear (as Nomi and I outline in our "Favourite Things" blog post).

And with cycling, once again, it was The Man who took the fashionista lead, and I'm catching up.  It all began a couple of years ago, when he discovered Rapha, a UK-based cycling company.  They make everything from cycling shoes to cycling bibs to underwear; they have continental touring teams; they make awesome, short cycling videos; and most importantly, they make really stylish, good quality cycling gear.

We're hooked.

And now we've gotten all our friends hooked.

Click the pic for a larger picture of
the Rapha gilet that started
all this Rapha madness (or
click here for the Rapha site).

Click the pic for a larger picture of
 the women's Rapha soft-shell
that both the Sashinator and I have
 (click here for the Rapha site).

It started when we bought Superdave a great Gilet for his 60th birthday.  Then we started adding to our own collection.  Then Superdave's wife, Cili Padi, tried on my cycling shorts for sizing, loved the length of them and bought a bunch for herself.  Then as The Man, Superdave, Cili Padi, and I began to grow our collections (both Cili Padi and I were Rapha clad on our first ride this spring), we sucked the Sashinator into our shopping spree, and she and I now have matching soft-shell jackets for the cooler weather.  Then with the onset of warmer weather, The Professor joined the fray, buying herself some Rapha gear, including their amazing lightweight jersey.

So when Friday morning came around and a bunch of us all met up for an easy loop of the park, we realized that we were all kitted out as "Team Rapha."

Our little "Team Rapha" at Champlain Lookout.

There were Rapha bib shorts, Rapha women's shorts, Rapha socks, Rapha shoe covers, Rapha arm-warmers, a classic Rapha women's jerseys, some Rapha lightweight jerseys, a Rapha cap, and a Rapha Imperial Works jersey all on show.

We rode that park - 65kms door to door - at a pace a little easier than my usual pace these days (25km/hr versus 27km/hr), but, damn, we looked good.

And if you look good, you feel good.  And if you feel good, you're motivated to get out there and ride. And once you're riding, the whole wide world is your oyster.

The view that even our Rapha gear can't compare with.

So just ride,
Joy