Tour de Gatineau Park

This was my last l-o-n-g training ride to prepare me for the Wilderness 101 race at the end of the month. The goal was to get in aprox. 140 kms - it was as much of a mental hurdle as it was a physical one to get through. I'm confident that I can ride 100 miles (160 km), as I've done it before . . . . but if you're a regular reader of my blog you probably know it's been playing with my head lately. So yesterday's ride was meant to be a mental confidence builder.

clicky clicky the map to make big

The route: home - Gameline - #15 - Kingsmere - Ridge (#1) - #4 - Fortune - O'Brien (#36) - #50 - #52 - #53 - Lac Phillippe - #55 - Lac Taylor - Lac Phillippe - #50 - #36 - O'Brien - Meech Lake Rd. - #40 - Ridge (#1) - Fire Tower - #1 - #3 (ssssssshhhhh - don't tell!) - Fortune Parkway - #1 - Kingsmere - #15 - Gameline - home.

I left the house at 8:30 am to meet up with Disco Stu at the gate. Things did not start out well with me - my stomach was a mess (didn't give myself enough time to eat before I left) and after a long week of some decent mileage (aprox. 430 kms this past week), I was pretty tuckered out and lacking power to turn the cranks over. Stu, a laid back kind of guy, had to reach deep into his patience suitcase while he waited for me at the top of climbs, on the flats, going downhill . . . you get the picture. It gave new meaning to S.S.'ing - Super Slow, Stupid Slow, Sucky Slow, Snail-like-Slow . . . . fill in whatever "S" adjective you like to describe 'slow' and it would describe how I was riding.

34 x 19 - which is equivalent to running a 32 x 18 (which I normally run), which is in turn equivalent to 32 x 16 on 26" wheels (for all you still on training wheels), which is equal to 2:1 ratio, but gear ratios are so five years ago, so it's equal to 52.o gear inches. Got it? If you don't understand gear inches - click here.

Meech Lake

Disco Stu riding through a pasture near Brown's Cabin. Stu stayed with me until the return trip to O'Brien and made his way home through Fortune - clicky clicky on his name, he might have a ride report up soon on his brand new blog.

#1 on the way up to Wolf
Lots of trail erosion due to all the rain we've had lately. Loose, gravelly uphill climbs - a single speeders best friend.

I had ample opportunity yesterday to test out walking in my new dawgs.

climbing the 3km (I didn't realize it was that far from Meech to #1) of the 40 - painful

Funny how hikers and dog walkers quickly point out the obvious. I was so pooped on one sections of the 40 that I got off to walk for about 15 - 20 meters. I just so happen to have a few hikers come around a bend and in a sarcastic, 'look down my nose at you' tone say, "Oh, you're not on your bike!" I wasn't in the most pleasantness of mental states at this point in my ride and I had to hold back my first knee-jerk response . . . quickly I had to dismiss the images of me trying to shove a 29" single speed bike up some strangers arse in the middle of the woods . . . . I had to dig deep to find something appropriate to say . . . .

"You are a very keen observer noticing that I am not on my bike. Good for you! I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since I don't know you and because I'm a very positive and optimistic kind of guy, and take your comment as your way of moral support and encouraging me to jump right back on my bike and spin away to the top of the climb. Thanks very much again for pointing out that I am in fact pushing, and not riding, my bike up this brutal climb."

I never said it, I didn't have the energy to speak at that point in time. I think I mumbled something like, "Tell me something I don't know. Fugg you!" under my breath as I tried to smile at them. Have a nice day! Mentally I can go to some dark shadows in my mind when I feel like crap-ola.


I contemplated surrendering to the ride and making the McKinstry Cabin my new home.

Fire Tower

On the way back down from the Fire Tower I came across this beautiful doe and her tiny, little fawn (who scampered off before I could get the shot) in the middle of the trail. In the winter their coats are much darker, this time of year they are a lovely tan shade.

Lookoff

The eventual and total destruction of trails in Gatineau Park continues. The NCC will not be happy until all trails in the park are wide, smooth, and manicured enough that you could drive a car on them. Brutal.

A couple kilometers or so from home. In the end I had just under 150 kms for the day.

By the end of the ride I was feeling my more confident in my ability to complete a 100 mile race. Finishing just shy of the distance by aprox. 11 km (6.8 miles), and still having some steam in the engine, made me feel good.
Total ride time was under 8 hours and I had zero cramping - yay!
Rest and recovery week with some shorter, harder efforts towards week's end.

My feet get a treat

The evolution of my mtn bike shoe purchases . . .


My first real pair of mtn bike shoes (My FIRST pair of shoes were a pair of real low end Diadoras that I started riding clipless pedals with, but they were too big, didn't fit right and laced up). In the store they fit and felt great. I have a wide foot, so I really liked the boxy front end of it. Problem with the first generation of Specialized shoes was heel slip. These things would sometimes pop right off if I had to walk up steep climbs or got bogged down in muddy conditions. I use them today as my commuter and/or spinning shoe.

My first 'high end' mtn bike race shoe. These Shimano's were the cat's arse and still would be if they weren't so worn down. They were an expensive purchase which I justified because I was beginning to race - so, I had to "look like a racer" in order to race. Stooopid mentality, and I've grown up a bit since then. I've been using again at the end of last season and all of this season for single speeding because they are very stiff.

I've add the outside stitched up a couple of times after being torn on rocks, the inside heel cup are worn away and the right side is cutting and leaving blisters, the bottom (see below) around the cleat is really indented and worn away - causing lots of play/float around the pedal - the Eggbeaters already have excellent float, but with the sole being so badly worn it's too much. They are the heaviest of all my shoes - today's to-end Shimanos are much lighter.

Worn away sole area around the cleat.

Two seasons ago I got a great deal on these Sidi Dragons - top of the line racer boy Sidi shoes. I didn't really need them at the time, but couldn't let the deal go (they were still damn expensive) - I guess I was still in that mental state of having to look good. And boy-o-boy are these good looking, sexy Italian slippers! They are very light, are very comfortable (as long as you are not ss'ing) and fit extremely well. My road shoes are also Sidis and have a narrow fit to them (Italians must have narrow feet), but these fit my wide'ish foot well.

My two main issues with them were: one, they are really flexy - not at all stiff enough for single speeding. I wasn't 100% committed to single speeding at the time when I bought them, and when I did wear them ss'ing, I got sore feet - felt like the pedal axle came right through the sole into the ball of my foot - not much support. Two, the Dragons are equipped to have the soles/lugs replaced when they wear out - which they did, and did so easily. Perhaps a strategy to sell more to the consumer? Conspiracy theory? I was blown away by how fast the soles gave way. I hear readers out there sneering that I walk lots, yes, true . . . but that was not the case. The lugs/soles are very soft, which are great for rock and slippery surfaces, but needed replacing. The replacement lugs/sole are not cheap either. I replaced them twice - which totaled up would equal roughly 3/4 the cost of my new shoes! Crazy.

The Eggbeaters really wear down and compress the area around the cleat. Anyone with ideas of how to remedy this without switching pedals (I love Eggbeaters!) or adding a big shim (keep in mind, the shim would have to be harder than the sole)?

My new dawgs look more like soccer cleats than mtn bike shoes.

The sole is nice grippy rubber. No stupid toe spikes either.

I've been eyeing and researching around for a new pair of mtn bike shoes for a couple months now and climaxed my search yesterday afternoon with finally going out and trying a bunch on. I tried four stores, each carrying different brands here in town and went with these black and white Shimano MO86s.

My latest shoe purchase are the least expensive mtn bike shoe that I've made thus far, excluding the low-end Diadoras that I started out in. They have a nice wide foot box section, the heel cup is comfortable and snug, and they provide good arch support (for when I am walking - which, depending on where I am riding, do a lot of). They are not quite as stiff as an upper-end carbon shoe, but certainly very stiff enough for ss'ing. What's more is they are not even close in price as the upper-end, ubber expensive mtn bike shoe that Shimano and other brands offer - I could have bought two pairs of these for the same price as the higher-end carbon soled shoes out there.




Saturday morning/afternoon thunder showers.

And once it stops raining here in Ottawa I'll get a chance to test them out.

Run to the hills

In attempt to get some climbing legs underneath me in preparation for some l-o-n-g climbing that's coming up, I got out for some hill repeats over in the park this afternoon . . . . cause, being a teacher and having the summer off, what else am I going to do (salt in the wounds for a blog reader for yesterday).

The plan was to do three hill repeats on each of the three big hills in the park: Pinks, Blacks/King Mtn, and Fortune. On my first ride up each hill I set the odometer on the computer to check the distance, and locals correct me if I am wrong, but here is what I got: Pink = 1 km (give or take a few dozen meters), Blacks/King Mtn = 1.4 km (this was from the base of the larger portion of the climb - just after the MacKenzie King parking lot dealie, not from the Gatineau/Champlain intersection obviously, to the top where the picnic/parking lot is), and finally Fortune = 2.1 km (from the bottom at Meech Rd. to the beginning of the Lac Fortune, just past the yellow 'hill' sign).

• 3 x Pink @ 1 km = 3 km of climbing
• 3 x Blacks/King Mt @ 1.4 km = 4.2 km of climbing
• 3 x Fortune @ 2.1 km = 6.3 km of climbing

Grand total = 13.5 km of hill repeat climbing, plus all hills in between. My total for the ride was a hair over 80 km return trip from home. Legs felt really good throughout. No interval stuff, ie. one legged climbs, standing sprints, spin ups, etc. Just seated climbs in a gear that I had to work, but not so much to send me over the edge.




Yes, I like Iron Maiden. Yes, I used to have a mullet.

Summer Slacking

Being off for the summer (hey, don't b*tch to me about teachers having it easy, you should have become one - suckas) I'm out of routine and into summer slacking.
Schedule: get up, make coffee, make some energy breakfast, settle down in front of the jumping box to watch the Tour while stretching & doing some core work, get ready and go for a ride.

Chocolate honey (yes, it does exist) & peanut butter AND peanut butter & banana (my favourite).

Morning coffee and the Tour

** my server is down and all my scheduled posts are all over the place.

Extra Miles

With the race on this past Sunday, I decided to get a long ride in on Monday as well to get the legs ready for some big miles down south later this month. The VV was heading out as well to get ready for her multi day stage race at the Intermontane Challenge that's taking place at the end of this month. We ended up doing a loop of the park and a there and back to Champlain - all told from my place aprox. 90 kms. Curvy Butt joined us for the there and back portion. It was an easy pace, just what I needed after Sunday's effort, but threw in some hard efforts on a few climbs to blow all the crap out of my legs. That, and in combination with stretching and rolling out my legs did the trick.

Climbing Fortune

VV in the drops

Panorma from the Champlain Lookoff

Raven playing in the up drafts

Curvy Butt was making me nervous pointing those things my way - nearly took my eye out.

Calm night with rain clouds in the background over the Ontario side of the Ottawa River.

Making my way back home via the Champlain Bridge

Hello sailor! Who's that handsome fella?!?

Marathon Challenge Race #3 Report

This is not so much a race report as it is a report on what I did (ate) before and after the race. Really, once you scroll down you'll see not one single bicycling photograph as it relates to my race. Let's be honest, I don't race for the sake of racing . . . I race for the sake of eating my face off.

Big ass snapping turtle on the road that we had to shush off. Was our meeting some foreshadowing of the race to come?

Headed out of town Saturday afternoon with the Vegan Vagabond and Disco Stu in tow. My bike bra ('skirt' according to the Empire) developed a window in it - which will hopefully be replaced soon with a new prettier skirt.

Stopped at the Kawartha Lakes Dairy just outside of Bancroft on the way to my mother-in-law's place where we would crash for the night. Terminator Moose in Bancroft have ice cream dispensers built into their arse. Wondering if I have a fetish for moose?

If I see one goose, I call it a 'goose'. If I see two or more, I call them 'geese'. Why is it that if I see more than one moose they're not called 'meese'?

Pre-race ice creams. Seems like all we do is eat on race road trips.

As per the race . . . it was aprox 79 km in length and took part in the Ganaraska Forest. This is the location of Paul's Dirty Enduro race - which by the way is my favourite race of the year. Dan of Substance Projects made excellent use of the primo single track that is littered everywhere through the forest. Apparently the course was 50% single track and 50% double track - if felt to me it was more like 75% single track.

I struggled through the first 50 or so kms of the race, waiting for my legs to show up. I usually take a while to get warmed up, and start firing at 30-35 km into an event. I kept looking down hoping that they'd start feeling good . . . . they did, but it wasn't until the last 28 kms - better late than never.

A lot of the issues that I was having was with my stomach. Every now and then when I race my stomach goes into digestive distress - sometimes it's nerves (not so much anymore), sometimes I go out too hard too early, sometimes it's what I put into my pie hole minutes before the race (ie. caffeinated gels - which I've stopped doing). This time it was stupidity. Last race you may remember I was experimenting with coconut water, which I felt really worked for me warding off the cramps. I went a wee bit too far this time when I added some E-Load to the mix. It made two of my bottles too sweet and every time I drank my tummy didn't like it. It would take me five to ten minutes to start feeling better after every time I took a swig. Maybe my belly was sucking too much blood away from my legs trying to digest the sweetness. I don't know - that's my excuse anyway.

Other than that, the race was pretty uneventful. I found my pace, saw the same riders throughout most of the race when I wasn't riding alone. I ran a 34 x 19 gearing which seemed pretty much bang on. My legs were wishing for a bigger rear cog on some of the climbing (which there seemed to be a lot of), but I managed all but four or five of the climbs. A lot of the single track was over grown and eye'ing the trail was difficult at times. Often, at the last possible second, a log would appear across the trail in front of you which made for some Star Trek-like evasive maneuvers. No crashes, no cramping. I did catch handfuls of salad from all the overgrowth between my fist and bar ends - a few occasions I thought it was going to through me down as I pinched off entire leafy sections to small trees and bushes lining the course.

Single speed podium.
I've got more podium shots, which I am sending to Dan. Hopefully he'll fire his web guy, get a new one and get some of the photos from all three races up on his site.

Race organizers messed up on this, as I came in third. As I crossed the line they were looking the other way and I had to get their attention so that they'd know I finished. I haven't seen the results yet, here's hoping that they at least got my time right. I don't much mind not being on the podium but I do hope my time is recorded correctly - for posterity sake. I was even glad to see Tom up there in third - he missed a turn in the last race and DNF'd, getting to stand on the box must have been some sweet payback - looked good on him. Only problem is now that he's got a taste of victory he'll be that much faster next race! Great to see more single speeders out - more competition, more racing . . . less podiuming? Meh.

Vegan Vagabond also had some stomach issues which may have slowed her down - despite feeling 'crappy', she still pulled off a second place finish. Whoot! Disco Stu had derailleur issues the entire race which held him back from placing higher than he could have. All in all, I think that we were all pleased as punch with the course. Great to see Mari there racing the half marathon - hopefully she'll be able to drag some of the True North team to the rest of the races. Always nice to see Mari! Spak, not so much. Brahahah, couldn't resist - his report here.

On the drive back to Jeannie Beanie's we had to stop at a store for some nutrition - if you call chips nutrition. I polished off this bag in under five minutes. Yes, that is a big bag of chips. No, I did not share them. No, I did not even offer anyone some. Yes, I am a pig.

But not nearly as much of a pig as Stu.

The guy weighs as much as a chicken but eats ten times his body weight without gaining an ounce. He had within the four hour period after the race: two recovery shakes, a Clif Bar, a half bag (a big bag) of chips, french fries, a bowl of pasta, two large bowls of salad, 1/4 of a baguette, a big ass ice cream with two rows of chocolate chip cookies, and to top it all off a Baconator combo meal at Wendy's. His eating skills impress me way more than his riding skills. He is my new hero.

VV seemed to bounce back from her digestive issues to eat some vegan crappy 'iced treat'. She kept making the mistake of calling it 'ice cream'. Her 'iced treat' came from a bean. If it doesn't come from a cow's teat, it ain't ice cream!

Freak'in Frigg'in Rain

Rain. That's all we've had in terms of weather lately. Eighteen degrees (that's 64 for you Yanks) in July. Stooopid. I could have been in Colorado right now sucking wind and trying to acclimatize.

Canada Day Ride

Got out early'ish yesterday morning with Stu for a road loop of the park. It was moist and hummid - conditions that I don't do well in . The dampness does something to my lungs and I find it hard to get a full breath in. Same thing happens in the shower. Meh. What are you going to do. To better prepare for these type of conditions I'm setting up the trainer in the shower over the winter.

That's Disco Stu . . . you may not recognize him from the arse end. Perhaps you saw him at the last 24 hr race . . . .

Here's mud in your eye.

Chico's 24 Hr Summer Solstice turned into 12 hours of rain and mud before they shut it down. Stu pushed his bike to nine laps for a very impressive second place finish in the men's solo division (2nd our of 24 riders). Last year Stu and I battled it out in a race or two and we were generally about the same speed. This year however, the guy is fast! He hauled me around the loop and waited for me at the top of climbs.

View from Champlain yesterday morning - hazy and foggy . . . . like how my lungs and legs were feeling.

Crazy legged skaters

On my way home I ride though the back streets of my neighbourhood and came across a skateboard slalom contest near Dovercourt Community Centre. I stopped to watch for a bit. I spoke to one guy and the fastest time down the course was nine seconds. Freaky fast.

Got home to find The Peanut just off the boob and she had the JAMS. Just Ate Must Sleep. Out like a light.

Recovery food. Toasted peanut butter and bacon sandwich. Don't knock it until you've tried it - yummmmy.

School's out & going steady

School is finally out for summer and I am free. Free I tells ya. I don't think that I could have lasted one more week without committing some hideous act of violence against one or all of my nutbar students which would have found my ugly mugg on the front page of the newpaper. I cannot completely and 100% tell you what a relief it is to be finished.

With all this free time on my hands I'm getting to spend lots of time working in the workshop.

You don't actually use those for brushing your teeth, do you?! Bike gets cleaned first, then the teeth.
Recycle your toothbrush!

What? I've got great oral hygiene.

Working away wrenching on a bike I've finally made a decision that I've been tinkering with for a couple months now . . . . to ride exclusively single speed from here on out (mtn bike that is). Yes, exclusively single speed. That means my big race of the year, the Wilderness 101 down in Pennsylvannia, will truly be a sufferfest like I've never suffered before. I'm embracing the suffering to be honest. No ride from here on out will ever be completely easy.
Meh. Easy is overrated.

We're going steady.

So, since I'll only be on one bike from here on out, I'm selling off most of my geared gear.

The first to go is this very lightly used Vassago Bandersnatch and bits (King headset, White Bros Magic 29 fork, Thomson seatpost and stem, Easton Monkey Lite carbon low rise bar, Salsa seat collar, WTB Rocket V saddle). Tell your friends!
This is truly an awesome bike. It's the same frame geometry used on the Jabberwocky - the same bike as current points leader in the single speed category for the Marathon Challenge series uses. So you know it's got to be good!

Also up on the chopping block:

• Hope Mono Mini brakes
• X9 & X7 rear derailleurs
• a couple bottom brackets
• a BLT lighting system
• etc.

You can find all of these items here (clicky clicky!)

All profit made from my sales will go directly towards my "2010 Yet-To-Be-Announced Stage Race Fund".

And since I've made the decision to suffer I may as well go all in. Rigid. I located a never used White Brothers rigid 29'er fork! Whoot!
Thanks Peter!

Happy Canada Day

Mmmmm . . . . Canada Day.