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