Deda bars For Sale

Deda Newton Anatomic bars, 44 outer-outer (42 c-c)
Black in color with Red Labels. Like New!!
$60 takes em

Brand New Super Record 11s Braze on FD for Sale

I have a BRAND NEW in the box, never opened Campagnolo Braze on Super Record 11s derailleur and a 35mm Campagnolo Black Clamp adapter still in the plastic wrap for sale... don't need it... was from a previous messed up order I had placed...
$170 for Both... retail with tax would be close to $300

For Sale

Yes for real....

2008 57.5 Pinarello Prince Carbon - Campagnolo Super Record 11s , Bora Ultra Tubulars $6500
2008 57.5 Pinarello FP8 - Record 10s, Zipp 808 Front, Ghibli Disc $7000
2007 57.5 Pinarello Paris - Record 10 UCI Group, Powertap wheels $6000
2009 56 Ridley XFire, Gigantex Carbon Tubulars, Campagnolo 10s $3500

Serious inquiries only.

Superpresitige LIVE here

http://www.vt4.be/superprestige-cyclocross-gavere

110KM on November 11th??

Yeah.. was kinda weird doing that.. and I could have/would have done more except when I start seeing peoples headlight turning on.... its time to leave.. that and even though it was +11 out, when the sun gets low in BHP it gets cold... brrrrr

Everytime I come home I say OK thats it, strip the bike and give it the tuneup... but I keep managing to squeeze in ONE more ride!! The mighty Paris will be ripped down shortly for Super Record 11, and some new bars... the funny part is the chain has over 8000km on it this year and hasn't shown any sign of stretch.. gotta love Italian!!

Will I squeeze in another ride... who knows... Im more than happy to rde the computrainer... but who can turn down +11 in November!

Post race unsubmitted Haiku

Steak Steak Steak Steak Steak
I had to run home real quick
I had to eat steak

And Im not joking... :)

What will next year bring...

I think we now discovered what a whorl is

It wasn't hard, but it sure made me dizzy... It was actually nice to come out of and ride to a barrier (and I HATE barriers)

A few lessons learned today:
1) Adjust your front derailleur properly before racing... I overlooked a few details... oh well
2) Probably better to run that sand today...
3) When you crash jump up , get on and ride away.. after I crashed after the ditch I layed there for a second thinking WTF , and then the brain kicked in and said get back on your bike dumb ass!!

Superprestige LIVE here:

http://www.vt4.be/superprestige/

The next 20 weeks...

Winter training officially starts tomorrow on my beloved computrainer and ergvideo.. this will bring me upto March 12, 2010 where at 4:00PM I plan to be riding in Maui for 3 weeks... boohoo...

Monday - 4X9s tempo pace @ 240 watts avg 3 minutes rest between each
Tuesday - 1:15 @ Temp0 201 watts avg
Wednesday - 1:15 Aerobic 164 watts avg
Thursday - 1:15 Tempo 211 watts avg
Friday - 1:30 Aerobic with some hard sections 204 watts avg
Saturday - Maybe 2 Hours of the Kona Hawaii Triathlon Live Course Video
or 4 X 5 minute Endurance Intervals @ 300 watts, maybe a climb up Mt Ventoux, maybe the Italian Festival Grand Prix Criterium, maybe a jaunt up Plateau de Beille, or the Port de Pailheres, maybe a few hours riding hills in Mallorca... decisions decisions....
Sunday - Sweet F*** ALL!!

Each day also will include some core work, and as much as I hate to say it... stretching...

Ergvideos in use this week:
Monday - Long Threshold Intervals
Tuesday - Tempo Club Ride
Wednesday - Base 3 Cool Rides
Thursday - Four Man TTT
Friday - Adirondack Club Club Ride
Saturday - ??
Sunday - Doing SFA

Heres a video of my view climbing, while the computrainer is setting the riders power level at my threshold level....

The weigh in

Well the XFire topped the scales at 16.8 lbs.. not bad for a 56c-c (60 to top) cross bike.. the funny thing is.. its .2 lbs LIGHTER than my Pinarello Paris (granted thats with Cosmic Carbone Power Tap Wheels) The better thing is my Prince topped in at under 15.6 lbs.. extremely light for a 57.5 road frame...

The plan today... duh.. road of course :)

End of season

The weekend plan calls for....

Beating on the Pinarello in Birds Hill Park seeing how its supposed to be +13 out. A week of HARD Computrainer, Crosstastic on the 26th, and then indoor Winter Computrainer starts til March 12 where Ill be hitting the Roads in Maui by about 4PM for 3 weeks...Im finally down to less than 5 months to go!!

To ride or not...

Well seeing how I just scored some Metallica tickets for tonites sold out show... the bike just got chucked to the corner...

Between flying a Metro around, and tonites concert.. I should be deaf by the weekend...

The bear

Caution.. EXTREME bike porn within

Its done.. aside from lopping the top off the steerer tube... tomorrow evenings project... like they say, measure a million times, cut once.. damn carbon..

Its almost going to be ashame to get this thing dirty!!

Bourkevale Images

Bourkevale CX Videos

Took the week off due to my back bothering me... in the meantime, here's a few videos of the barriers.. my camera unfortuneatly has gone nutzo in still mode, so 99% of all the pics are blurred... I'll post the "better ones"

Treviso

Full Results here:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/uci-cyclo-cross-world-cup-1-cdm/stages/stage-1/results

Treviso

Preliminary results:

Brief results
1 Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus
2 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team
3 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb Pro Job Cycling Team
4 Martin Bina (Cze)
5 Francis Mourey (Fra) Française Des Jeux


Don't think there was any live coverage on this one unless you had a UCI package from cycling.tv, but those guys are so unreliable now and randomly don't show races so I gave up..

Progress on the XFire

Well, in my attempt to post a picture of the progress... I realized I left the camera ON all night hooked up to the computer.... so needless to say the battery is DEAD!!!
Anyways, I haven't had alot of time to mess with it, but its 80% complete.. I still have to put the chain on, and tune the derailleurs and brakes... and the fun fun fun part... glue the tubulars...

Anyways here's the parts list:
Frame/Fork: 2010 Ridley X-Fire Carbon 56cm
Headset: FSA with Integrated cable hanger
Bottom Bracket: Campagnolo Ultra Torque English Thread
Crank: Campagnolo Chorus 10s with TA Vento 46T outer, Campagnolo 39 inner
Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Chorus 34.9mm
Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Chorus 10s
Casette: Campagnolo Veloce 12-26 10s
Shifters: Campagnolo Veloce 10s New Style Ergo
Brakes: TRP EuroX Carbon with inline adjust pads and adjustable straddle cable
Brakepads: TRP Carbon specific
Handlebars: Deda Zero 100 44cm (o-o)
Stem: Deda Zero 100 12cm
Seatpost: Deda Zero 100 Carbon 31.6 diameter
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR
Handlebar Tape: 4ZA
Pedals: XTR
Chain: Campagnolo Record 10s
Wheels: Gigantex 38mm Carbon Tubular on Novatech hubs
Tires: TUFO Flexus Primus 32mm Tubular
Cables: Campagnolo Ultra Friction

New bitch

Might as well be a hot blonde... cause this baby is HOT!! In fact its on FIRE!!

Motivation to kick my ass back in gear

It may be indoor motivation, but I gotta do something here...
Should hopefully be receiving my new ergvideos today.. Some of the videos I purchased were the "Roads of the Tour de France" which includes the climb up Mt Ventoux!

I also opted for a few more including "Grand Prix Blainville" and the "Italian Grand Prix" both sound incredibly difficult, but its all good... To check out the coolness www.ergvideo.com

I checked my TT test I did last year on the Computrainer compared to this year at the exact same time... as crap as I feel, Im very slightly ahead.. its only 5 watts ahead, but If I can progress like last year and get another gain in the watts its all good... Ive decided Ill just be doing these ergvideo rides from now on during the evenings at very low wattage (150 avg or so) for at least 3 weeks, maybe the odd weekend road ride (weather pending of course) I'll have to retest my threshold at some point real soon for the ergvideo training... 20 minutes up a 2% grade right now doesn't seem like alot of fun... hopefully I can average 330 watts.. for some reason Im guessing 310 though.

On a sidenote, the UPS 757 arrived this morning from Minneapolis with my new CX frame... Im usually pumped about getting a new toy... right now, I could care less to be honest... don't get me wrong I want it bad.. Im just not motivated to start building a bike right now... Im thinking Im gonna pull out the golf clubs on the weekends til it snows and just enjoy something different...

I'll post some pics later of the new CX bike.. it is very cool I must say... and yes its Belgian...

Its been a fun season.. Im done...

Batteries need a few weeks to recharge... power is down, my back is killing me... and Im not having fun right now... when that happens, its time for a break... cya on the road in April.

Smash and goes

Well here's a picture of the last smash on into Winnipeg Runway 31 on Saturday night... actually all the landings were pretty damn greasy if I do say so myself...

Excuse the wicked blur of the picture.. I more or less turned the camera on and shot... this is about 50 feet above the lead in lights with my copilot landing... It still a cool shot though

Menno Cross Report

My back hurts... enough said...
And to top it all off.. I have to go do 5 circuits in the Metro tonite at the airport... I haven't landed a plane in the dark in about a year now... should be interesting.. By the time Im done 5 smash and goes my spine should be back in alignment....

Ridley Crosswind and Parts for Sale

The XNight was sold, now the Crosswind is for sale as well...

56cm Ridley Crosswind with Python Carbon Fork
FSA Headset
Deda SuperZero 100 Alloy post
Empella Frogglegs Brakes + extra pads
Deda Newton Bar and Stem

A STEAL at $400... I won't be advertising it long as my new baby is on the way and want it off the credit card..

Empella Froglegs brakes for sale

Empella F/R brakes for sale, all hardware/yoke cables included as well as
4 Kool Stop Eagle Claw Pads
4 Empella Pads which were never used
4 Swisstop RAT Yellow Carbon Pads

$70 takes it all...

Provincial Crit at the Mint

An awesome day for a race... temperature was probably around 26 degrees, and light south wind that increased a little as the race progressed.
Master A/B were combined together to make a decent size group.. I don't think you'd want it too much larger on todays course which looked more like a downsized formula 1 course than anything. Right after the start you follow the road around the mint which isn't straight, but not too curvy, followed by a sharp 90 degree right turn going slightly uphill to the next road, about 150m of straight away followed by a 90 degree right, into a left, into a 90 degree left into a 90 degree right (aka crash corner) Our race was 40 minutes + 3 laps and 2 primes.
Right from the gun it was go... I made sure to be at the front and had no intentions of ever drifting more than 5-6 places from the back. I anaged this for 99% of the race. At one point I was sitting in about the 7th spot and wasn't liking it.. time to move up. Apparently after the first lap it was broken up already, I never looked back once in this race. I think there was a group of about 7 or 8 of us together, like I said, never looked back! With 3 to go, things went crazy.. I was positioned in 3rd spot and stayed there pretty well.. with eithe 2 or 3 to go on crash corner I heard sliding behind me. Another attack, jumped on Rory who was just givin her full tilt!! Trevor got around us at one point on the final lap and managed to stay away, Rory dumped it on crash corner right in front of me, I managed to avoid him.. all I remember is Rry on his side and sliding backwards.. damn.. hopefully his wrist is OK... I ended up with 2nd in Master A.. stole a Silver... Rory would have had it for sure if he didn't go down.
Well that unfortunealty ends the road race calendar.. a little ironic as it seems summer just arrived in the last week and half... what can ya do.. mother nature is one weird chick....
Next up Cyclocross which will be every weekend from now until November 8th... wow that seems so close now... and checking my calendar, I'll be riding in Maui in 6 months anyways.. hopefully this is a short winter!!

Tuesday Night Crit results

Crit results from past Tuesday are posted on the MCA site... pictures are also located here http://photoshare.shaw.ca/gallery/bonzoboys/ from Dave Benson, and he says everyone is free to download.. thanks Dave!

Who knows what the day will bring

At 9:30AM the Tstorm was over the city (see the pretty orange mass over the city)

The Winnipeg airport Terminal forcast for the rest of the day doesn't look much better...

TAF AMD CYWG 081431Z 0814/0912 17015G25KT P6SM SCT010 BKN040 TEMPO 0814/0817 VRB20G30KT 2SM TSRA BKN010 OVC040CB FM081700 22015G25KT 4SM -SHRA BR OVC010 TEMPO 0817/0902 P6SM -SHRA BKN025 PROB30 0817/0902 VRB20G30KT 2SM TSRA BR BKN008 OVC015CB FM090200 30012KT P6SM SCT030 BKN120 FM090600 22010KT P6SM SKC RMK NXT FCST BY 081800Z=

Decoded to English... well put it this way, moderate rain showers, light rain showers, and maybe even another thunder bumper between now and 9PM tonite

Wheres all the pictures...

Seems like at every race there is a mass of flashes going off taking pictures, but they are never put online... anyone know what the deal is?

Racing weekend

Weekend started with a prompt 5:45AM wake up call... I stayed at my Moms house because there was NO WAY I would have waken up in time at home, I would have rolled over and went back to sleep... I usually end up getting up at 6:15AM everyday anyways for work, but my body has also learned somehow when its Friday night and tries to get that extra 1 hr 15 minutes extra in... After 6 scrambled eggs, a bagel, orange juise, and a cup of coffee.. I was officially temporarily stuffed.. and my Mom wonders where all the food goes..

The TT went good for me, I won the Master A category with a time of 32:26... I think I could have gone harder in places, but we all think we can after a TT... if I nailed it there, that was 15 seconds... its hard to say.. I was hoping to go under 32:30 and managed that.. it was good to see the training program I was on all summer paid off.... bad thing is the program is over, so now I need to be creative for the next 2 weeks of racing.. do I revert to a cyclocross only training program now... or pick 2 weeks that would help for crits...

Cyclocross Sunday was awesome... arrived at 11AM to help with course setup... The A group started at around 4:45PM.. so it was a long day, and a long battle with our favorite provincial bird... the mosquito... it looks like summer finally arrived again.. for maybe the 4th day all year... The race started uneventfully.. I was at the front, but then lost my line going through some wet mud.. crapper.. anyways fell back a little and then Mr Singlespeed Dave Dorning pulled me around for probably 30 minutes and schooled me on every barrier... one day Ill get that remount figured out... The only reason I caught back onto Dave was because I have 20 gears.... but I think I used 3 all race... 46X19,21 and maybe the 23 at the end... I ended up 8th overall... quite happy with that especially not getting lapped like last year in cross... Im sure Olli is just getting warmed up though so Ill be looking for him to be coming from behind later in the year...

Next races are Tuesday Night Criteriums at Assiniboine Park on Sept 1 and 8, followed by Provincial Crit somewhere in 2 weeks...

Cross Racers - TRP CR950 Brakes and Pads For Sale

I just got some Euro X Cantilivers with TRP Inline adjust pads for my XNight, so the Carbon CR950s are for sale.. they were used only last season, and come with Kool Stop Black, Koolstop Salmon (multipurpose wet/dry) , and Swisstop Yellow Carbon pads.. (front and rear for all sets) The brakes have fully adjustable up and down pad placement, and toe in...

Stradle cables, and stradle carriers included... retail price from labicicletta.com is $249 for the pair, the carbon pads sell for $65... I am parting with everything for $150

I will bring to the cross race Sunday, or if someone wants before the race I can arrange pickup...

Email camaroz28@shaw.ca if interested.

Oil Slick.. or something anyways....

Well the 1st of 3 extend the season Crit races happened lastnite... I arrived from work at the park at about 4:45 to start setting up the course... I got the leaf blower from Jayson as I had received emails saying the course was littered in debris... I was thinking yeah whatever a few twigs here and there.. well I arrived to basically find the road looking like a hurricane had run through... great... fire up ye olde leaf blower and have at er!

Things were looking good until I got out ofthe final sweeping corner which leads to the normal finish line... right out of the apex I start blowing and see what appears to be a large stain on the road.. after making the mistake of walking on it, and almost parking my ass in it... I decided to wait and considered cancelling the race... my thoughts were I dont need anyone crashing here and then putting the blame on me being the organizer...

Well after actually cancelling the race, and after a few phone calls, we decided to try and clean the mess up... Tim arrived with a I don't know how huge litre jug of degreaser which was promptly dumped on the spots, and then brushed like crazy... we decided to use the leaf blower now to dry the spots... of course the blower was out of gas, so now another adventure to go find 50:1 engine oil for the blower to mix with the gas... down the street to Shell... who (in)conveniently dont have any... so whip over to Crappy Tire by Polo Park... yoink! Some gas, some mix, and lets go blow dry the corner... After about 15 minutes of drying, it was a doable corner (with a few pylons added in just for safety factor)

Since I am on an easy week, and my aim on a personal best time at the ITT this weekend I decided to just marshall the course... it looked like a pretty quick race, and Don The Hammer Sawatzky won the race.. good work bud.. for those that don't know Don, he has one speed.. GO!

I kinda LIKE it...

More specifics on Pinarello's new monster... I kinda like it... and YES... Im saving up for it.. look for it in a Manitoba pack near you in 2010...

http://bicycling.com/blogs/thisjustin/2 ... ma-60hm1k/

I called for 3 positives... looks like more

I predicted on my facebook 3 positives in the Tour... looks like I am WAY out... Dekker has already been removed by Lotto... and read the other news here:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/four-to-seven-more-doping-cases-possible-before-tour-start

New Pinarello for 2010... No I am NOT getting it...

Looks like an all carbon lineup for Pinarello for 2010... They finally dropped the Magnesium Dogma and replaced it with a 60 ton carbon frame.. this effectively puts the Prince second in line with a 50 ton frame... Note from the pictures the shaping of teh tubes, and ribbing around the bottom bracket area... can you say MEGA stiff... Rumor is the tag on the frame and fork is 4000 Euros... Even with my healthy Euro friends discount it would still be pushing $6000 CDN for the F/F... Pictures below.... oh what the heck... we all know Im going to have one... which makes the Prince the training bike??? Ohhhh dear.....

http://www.arueda.com/tech/noticias/fotos-en-exclusiva-de-la-nueva-pinarello-dogma.html

Im still retiring sale

2 more tires to go...

Grand Prix 4000S Clinchers 700X23 still in the boxes!

$70 takes them both

The I Retire Sale

Have some stuff for sale again:

3 BRAND NEW Continental Competition Tubulars - Still in the boxes... 700X22 These retail for some ridiculous amount in the city... $60 each, all 3 for $160

2 BRAND NEW Continenatla GP 4000S Clinchers 700X23 still in the box $40 each

Chris

Thursday Night TT

I guess the cold temps scared everyone away (wimps) Granted it was a blazing +4 degrees at start time, and a light SE wind, which in BHP means a hurricane down the other side regardless of how light it is...

I ended up in 2nd place behind Mark Fournier. I tryed to tweak my position with some lower aerobars.. well that blew up in my face!! So I currently have a nice set of Oval Aerobars for sale! Im going back to my Dedas... The aerobars are a pretty sweet setup really, but obviously not right for me... Ill post more details on them tomorrow.. now I am going to have a HOT bath and goto bed... I think instead of cash prizing we need to give the winner a nice big fur coat these days! Or should we just cancel the rest of the road season and move into cyclocross season...

Valverde suspended by CONI

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/may09/may11news3

Watch the Giro LIVE here

http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=13044&DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=3734597

Its nice they are doing this, but unfortunatey I now get screwed on my cycling.tv subscription to watch the Giro... cycling.tv is nice because I can just select the race AFTER it has been watched and download it and view... I doubt there is going to be any kind of archive on here... apparently cycling.tv is working on things...

Mothers Day Road Race

Looks like the entry / waiver forms have NOT been posted by the MCA webmaster... why am I not surprised... I am hoping the waivers will be up shortly... Preregister at Woodcock cycle...
I will try and get waivers/entrys posted here later today...


Here are the prelims for the race:

Event: Mothers Day Road Race, Manitoba Cup #3

Date: Sunday May 10, 2009

Time: Registration starts at 9:00AM, ends at 10:00AM. Please come early to prevent line ups.To save time please print and fill in the waiver ahead of time.10:30 a.m. race start.

Location: Pan Am Games Start in Birds Hill Park.Entering BHP from highway 59, Follow North or South Drive around the park to the top of the hill in the SE corner of the park. If Entering off Highway 206, turn left on South Drive and follow for approximately 1.5km to the top of the hill.
Cost: $22 pre entry by May 7 @ 8PM. Please fax entry or drop off at Woodcock Cycle. On site registration fee $27. Mothers race for free!

Distance:Course will follow clockwise loops of the park. Each lap is approximately 11.3km.Cat 3 - 9 laps (app 102km)
Cat 4 - 7 laps (app 79km)
Cat 5 - 3 laps (app 34km)

Prizes:Product and cash prizing at the completion of the Cat 3 Race, you must be present to accept your prize. Winner of Cat 3 and Cat 4 races both receive a bouquet of flowers for your mom or significant other.

Fast Ride BHP tomorrow

Fast Group Ride at BHP starting at noon. Meet at Chickadee ready to ride by noon... if you are late go counterclockwise and meet up. Looks like a large fast group coming out. Brain buckets MANDATORY! No helmet, no ride with group.

Oh this doesn't look good... but lets see how wrong they are!

I hope in typical fashion the weathernetwork is WRONG in their forecasts.. but lately they've been more accurate than Environment Canada... I am going to update this everyday for the next week just to see how close they are and what it actually does.. Just because I am bored :)

Forecast for Saturday the 25th, posted on Saturday April 18

Wet Snow, High +5, Wind North @ 30kmh, 10+ cm of snow, less than 1mm of rain

My Predicted forecast: +7 Light NE winds, partly cloudy... on a sidenote.. theweathernetwork.com shows for Friday Cloudy with +7 for a high and -3 for a low.. while Environment Canada shows a high of +14 and a low of +2 ... hmmm only a 12F split... yuh huh..

And from the farmers alamanac...
16th-19th Very cold air Saskatchewan
and Manitoba, bringing frost and freeze conditions. 20th-23rd A swath of rain and snow sweeps east through the Rockies and Prairies. 24th-27th Rain showers. 28th-30th A big Rocky Mountain storm brings severe weather to the Prairies. The cold air that sweeps in behind it brings freeze conditions.

Gravel Race Cancelled

Highway 247 is flooded so no race this weekend.... UNLESS..... you join us at Birds Hill Park at noon on Saturday and Sunday where training rides always turn into a "race"

Wednesday Night Jam

Its time... 18 degrees.. now to FINALLY let loose with warm temps... no more freezing.. well for today and tomorrow anyways... 20 degrees tomorrow as well.. unfortuneatly.. the gravel race Sunday is only calling for a high of +12... and showers/rain for the previous 3 days.. looks like it could be a mud bath ala Classic Paris Roubaix... Im using my crossbike with a few mods...

Weekend rides...

Thanks go out to the hardcore crazies for coming out this weekend.... good riding! I managed to squeek in 270km over the long weekend with some hard hills and wind sections... I have to admit I will be happy to go back on the trainer tomorrow evening with the erg set @ 150 watts MAX!! LOL 1 HR 15 mins of doing SFA will be NICE... the temperature here is killing me... Tshirt, long sleeve jersey and thermal winter jacket today and the wind was going right through me...
First race is a week today... plan on using the cross bike..

Another afterburner ride...

I dont think I need to say anything else.. 90km today... wind was sure cold though.. sure made +9 feel like -1 or so when your going 40kmh...

Hammmmmmmer time....

Thats whats yesterday was... I really wasn't expecting it to be *THAT* fast.. but it was all good... Ended up doing 9 laps of BHP... 2 of those laps were slacking around... and the average was 35kmh for 103km.. average power was 209 watts... when I selected the 7 laps of fury on the powertap... 37.2kmh avg, and 230 watts avg... pretty damn good for 4 degrees out... Good strong ride... hopefully the weather coopereates for the rest of the weekend.. apparently +17 on Tuesday and Wednesday... may have to goto work a little earlier so I can get out to the park after work before the temp plummets on those days...

Sanctions against Lance??

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/apr09/apr09news3

OK this is getting really ridiculous already in my opinion... using evidence in Italy against Valverde from the TdF against a case in Spain.. now this stuff... I releize doping is a problem in our sport.. but some of the tactics being pulled are getting a little stupid in my opinion...

Todays ride...

Another day in the basement... Today I did 4X20 minutes @ 260 watts.. some nice tempo intervals with 5 mins break between each effort... Last year I estimated my threshold to be what my tempo wattage is now... I could really feel the difference in Hawaii... especially on the hills where I was using bigger gears with less effort it seemed... Now the trick is to build on this throughout the year... GULP!!

Computrainer Hill Intervals

Well instead of riding outside... sorry guys.. its still too cold for me, in a few days this subzero crap will all become normal and all too familair again... I elected to do some ergvideo hill intervals.. Is et my threshold @ 300 watts, and it controls the rest.. keep pushing or ye shall stop dead.. its in erg mode.. you can't make the watts.. its GAME OVER.... The workout consisted of 6X6 minutes at approximately 110% of threshold.. each interval worked out in the 325 watt average range.. well except that last one where I was caught off guard and it ramped up to 360 watts and I started to bog.. Iquickly lowered my threshold to 280 watts and completed that one with about a 290 watt average.. not bad considering before I went to Hawaii after the 3rd one of these I was ready to barf.. sooo I gained some pretty decent power there... Id hope I would anyways seeing you couldnt turn anywhere without getting shot up into the sky... which brings me to next year.. getting ready to book already March 12-April 4... cant book the return yet though because you cant book that far in advance... Below is the image of my power profile for todays hill (hell) fest...

Post Maui Depression

Thats what it is... what a depressing place Winnipeg is after getting back from Hawaii... Especially with all this f***king snow all over the place... and the fact that it keeps on doing it... what happened "April showers" there will be no May flowers because the ground is still going to be frozen solid!!! Maui is a different place... there are actually people outside jogging, and cycling, and WANTING to be fit.. then I got home to porky mainland....

Well between a few Computrainer rides, stripping my bike down and rebuilding it, and work.. and losing my precious Hawaiian suntan.... I cant wait to get back outside.. Its nice to see a long weekend coming up.. and forecast highs of 8 to 10 degrees the whole time... NICE... that equates to about 300km outside easily in my books... so only 6 more Computrainer rides which Ill be sure to pick the hardest ones in the program to do.. I shouldn't really complain about that Computrainer.. I could probably ride it all summer and be in better shape than riding outdoors.. I like the idea of being able to control the workout on the trainer... Like really... if you are scheduled to do an ultra easy 140 watt average recovery ride... how do you do that here when in one direction you are fighting normally a 30kmh+ headwind... even going 25kmh into that wind you would be generating over 200 watts at that point... I also like the idea on the Computrainer of being able to set the interval at 300 watts, and maintain that solid 300 watts... changes in the road, wind, draft etc all effect the interval..

Anyways, time to finish rebuilding the Hawaii bike, installing Super Record 11s on my Prince, and then to ride... may even take a drive out to BHP later to check on the road conditions..

To put it politely... WTF!!

So I knew I was coming home to some snow.. but wasn't expecting this... WTF!!
Anyways, Maui went great... 20 rides and 2000km, and probably in the vicinity of 50,000 vertical in climbing... Maui is very up and down, inside of 20km you could climb over 1000 feet easily.. A nice loop I made had roughly 800 vertical, doing it 5 times gives you a nice 3+ hour ride and some nice climbing.. Im feeling like a bit of a mountain goat right at a feathery 158 pounds... unfortunealty my plans to get out and ride as soon as I got home dont look too be cooperating at all... anyone up for skiing this weekend??

I would also like to take this opportunity to slam Air Canada to the ground.... I will NEVER use them again on a paid vacation again... It started in Winnipeg with them now suddenly wanting to weigh my bike case and make me remove 5 pounds... hmm funny thing is same case, same stuff in the case, and lighter bike all the time suddenly is a problem after 8 years.. interesting how it works... and then they failed to load the bike on the plane in Vancouver coming home... although I did get it back later that evening, it was nothing but a headache... WestJet just got themselves a new customer every year for Maui... In Maui I never had a single piece of luggage weighed, but almost everyone else at the counter did... strange how airport security and screening works...

So the weather does not look good for the next little while... and even if you laugh at the farmers almanac... Its actually pretty close.. unfortunealty, April does not look so good..

April 2009
1st-3rd Brief clearing, then clouds arrive. Turning colder.
4th-7th Chilly air spills into the Rockies from the west.
8th-11th Generally dry and cool.
12th-15th Increasing rain and thunderstorm activity spreads east from the lee slopes of the Rockies.
16th-19th Very cold air Saskatchewan and Manitoba, bringing frost and freeze conditions.
20th-23rd A swath of rain and snow sweeps east through the Rockies and Prairies.
24th-27th Rain showers.
28th-30th A big Rocky Mountain storm brings severe weather to the Prairies. The cold air that sweeps in behind it brings freeze conditions.

West Maui Loop Ride

I got wind of the ride around the West Maui Mountains yesterday... my phone call from home @ 545 AM woke me up as planned... sorry.. I need to get woken up to be up before 7AM lately if Im actually going to wake up.. anyways, a quick 17km ride down to Maalea harbor and I met up with 20 or so more riders...
The ride started out good.... one guy flatted (his first of 3 on the ride) Unlike at home.. everyone just kept on going.. I was in a group that decided to soft pedal and hopefully wait for the guy...
At Kapalua it started to rain and I decided to put in a 400+ watt effort up what they call Pineapple Hill.. I pulled one guy along with me, and caught and passed everyone who was the group ahead that didn't wait.. a note about the road that comes ahead.. its CRAZY to say the least.. wet red slippery mud in almost all the corners.. and we're not talking gradual corners.. these are vicious sweeping switchbacks... I slacked off on all the downhills for the simple reasons
a) I dont know this road at all
b) In places its single lane and you cant see around the corner
c) I still have 9 more days of vacation left... I dont want to be eating asphalt (keep reading)
Well up comes what they call Mr Steepy... for good reasons.. 1/4 mile long and 18% grade.. 39X25 400+ watts... 10kmh... hit the top of Mr Steepy and my rear wheel hit the white painted line on the downstroke which promptly kicked my bike about 45 degrees to the outside... no big deal keep on going.. then the wind hit.. You have to see this road to beleive it.. you are against a mountain on one side, and the wind is blowing full boar off the Pacific Ocean.. its WINDY.. deep dish carbon wheels and this road.. not a good idea.. a little unnerving back there I must say....
Anyways, after that it was mostly a battle between the wind, muddy road, and my front wheel not like crosswinds.. The entire 130km ride condo-condo took a little over 4.5 hours... just about 5000 vertical climbing in the end...
Eating Asphalt... I feel really bad for this guy.. he had a BRAND NEW Cervelo P3 TT frame he was riding (why on this road, I dont know... anyways, not my problem) anyways, he lent his buddy his road bike to ride... he hit some loose gravel on a downhill and hot hard from what I hear... He was apparently out of it for a few minutes... nothing broken thankfully but the poor guys pupils were totally dilated... luckily the guy has insurance and hes going to get checked out.. buddy on the new P3 flipped over top of him and looked like he more or less eroded off 2 fingertips... Apparently as well a few guys that were coming the other way against the way we were going, one guy missed a switchback corner and basically ate the face of the mountain... not to sure of the outcome on that one....
Over all an awesome ride.. tomorrow there is a planned ride around the east side... Ill pass up on that one.. I was specifically told on todays ride if I take my wheels back there on those roads... there not coming home in one piece... Ill pass and do some more climbing tomorrow up Haleakala.. Ill get up to the 3500 foot area and the temperatures will be a nice cool pleasant 15 degrees or so...

Hawaii Training

Guess Ive neglected my blog while over here.. anyways, the weather has been a rollercoaster event. One day its blistering hot (literally... my arms are killing me from the blistering... kinda gross actually) and the next day its pouring rain and windy like crazy. Today was my 10th ride and I just surpassed 1000km total.. My goal was to do 100km + a day.. For here with the heat beleive me... thats plenty.. especially for this early in the season... I am going to be home with 2000km outdoor kms in the legs already.. hopefully the weather cooperates when I get home at the end of the month.
I did the Haleakala crater climb yesterday, sea level to 10,023 feet 57.2km of nothing but climbing. I took 25 minutes off my personal best, and did the climb in just over 3hrs 20 mins.. the weather from 7000 feet up (12 miles) was pure hell... it poured, I was in cloud, couldnt see more than 50 meters ahead of me at times... and the temperature at the top... +3 windchill -1... yes -1 in Hawaii... I was wearing jersey and shorts.. and frozen solid.. a family from Florida gave me a ride down... probably saved my life actually..
Todays ride was windiest is been... I headed north to Haiku to Maui Cyclery to get my powertap wheel looked at.. riding the Mokulele Highway.. wide open.. 30mph wind.. you know its windy when.... you are doing 260+ watts and only going 24kmh MAX... yeah... coming back I hit hit 60kmh on the flats... most of time was spent in 53X12 at 250 watts just over 51kmh for 8km.. gotta love a tailwind!!
Caught on that theres 2 group rides this weekend.. one around the whole west side of Maui.. about 120km ride, and the other one Sunday all the way around the East side... the east side is crazy...but I think theres a support vehicle coming..

Saturday training ride...

A fun?? 115km jaunt with ergvideo. Threshold set @ 300 watts and running on a level 2 ride setting... worked out to a 200 watt average for 2 hours 45 minute ride. Covered 115km today... setting up nicely for Maui in a little over a week!

Dave Z house burglarized

http://velonews.com/article/88567/zabriskie-s-home-burglarized

The world (North America in particular) needs tougher laws on these parasites who break and steal what's not there's... some of those items stolen can NEVER be replaced...We've been broken into before, luckily we didn't lose to much... I vote on automatic death penalty... guilty til proven innocent... my rant for the day...

I think this just about sums it up...

"I have always believed cycling offers so much. Whether you do it for a healthy lifestyle, a way to spend time with family and friends, an outlet for your energy away from the stresses of life, or with aspirations to race, or for other reasons. The sport has a technical side involving equipment and clothing and a physical side which at times can demand extreme suffering. Finally a mental side where a rider can be pushed to limits never thought possible. - Kevin Livingston"

Ruptured spleen to world champ...

Niels Albert DESTROYED the field... what more can you say... intensive care a few months ago, now the world champ.

1 Niels Albert
2 Zdenek Stybar
3 Sven Nys
4 Bart Wellens

Hammering in Hawaii...

Soon... Well its been a looong countdown to Maui, and its still a long countdown away... another 41 days to be exact... Winter training has progressed nicely.. Im floating at almost fighting weight.. power has substantially increased for now anyways... I started XC skiing FINALLY.... its amazing what the proper kickwax can do... or shall I say I found out what lack of kickwax can do.. my upper thighs are still killing from the 2 hour ski at BHP over the weekend... 4.5 hours of Computrainer on those 2 days didn't help much either... Oh well... off to work, then ride, and maybe a quick ski tonite...

Ergvideo is awesome

I'm just about to start into the 8th week of my Computrainer Ergvideo training program... so far things are progressing.... "nicely" I haven't gained an ounce of weight since season ended.. thats good because normally over winter I tend to put on a few pounds.. This year I also elected to squash the gym from the program... I usually end up (a) Hurting my knees (b) Feeling to sore to ride properly (c) Coming out in spring and my legs feel like concrete... so I figured this year its 6 days a week on the bike and nail the set program.. which reminds me I should go cancel my gym membership...

Ergvideo is unique to the computrainer... you can watch the videos if you want and ride try to ride the power profile if you have a powermeter and a regular trainer, but its not the same... Ergvideo is taped races and training sessions along with a power profile. You are considered to be a rider in the pack.. when the pack increases the pace/power output, the computrainer sends resistance (watts) to the load generator and you have to maintain the set watts (erg mode) If you start bogging you are getting dropped. The thing you have to watch with videos is if you see a hill coming the normal tendency would be to gear down... you can't do that in this.. when you see a power spike coming you need to INCREASE your RPM to maintain the profile... most of my rides have been averaging around 105rpm and I have been riding a 53X16 generally.

This was probably one of the harder weeks on the program...
The week consisted of:
5X9 minutes @ FTP with 3 min break between each effort
3 sets of 8 reps 45 seconds @ 125% FTP with 2 mins break between each effort
1+15 minute recovery ride - very cool ride with team CSC in South Africa
1+45 minutes @ Aerobic level with some bursts on the hill upto 400 watts
2+30 minutes with 14 hill intervals @ 80% FTP 4 minute intervals
1+45 Aerobic ride

It was funny today after climbing a few minutes @ 320 watts how 240 watts seemed rather "easy"

The best thing about this program is I can scale the video to ANY profile... you ride the videos at your ability... my threshold isn't the same as yours, so you can set your threshold to your level, but we get the same workout, just at different wattage output... Just because the CSC ride was easy yesterday, at the push of a button on the Computrainer controler I can ramp the ride foorm a Level 1-2 recovery up to a Level 3-4 hard ride...

This combined with 3 weeks in Maui in March should have me prepared for spring... unfortuneatley, the first race isn't until late in April...