We just had a short session on Sunday morning after sleeping in a bit - a nice leisurely ride around some of the local lakes (Edith, Annette, Beauvert) then over to Whistlers Campground where we practiced sprinting on the road leading into the campground. Then back to town, and we were done.
Overall, a very enjoyable weekend and a good boost to my confidence with less than 2 months to go before our trip to France in July. Yes, I was tired and my legs were sore, but I did it!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Cycling Camp in Jasper - Day 2
On Saturday morning, we went to a nearby (deserted) parking lot to practice cornering skills, then again rode up Pyramid Lake Road to practice proper climbing and descending technique. That's a fun road to ride down - the pavement was great (not like all the potholes and gravel here in Edmonton at the moment), so I felt confident to just go fast rather than worry about cracks/bumps in the road - and short enough that I wasn't worried about going too fast either. We had a filmmaker with us all day today, Chris Wilberg, who directed the documentary about Lori-Ann Muenzer, "One Gear No Breaks" - Chris and Alex are apparently putting together a skills DVD about road cycling.
Then, we did our mountain climb up to the base of Marmot Basin.
This was our big climb, on Saturday afternoon - my group started from the turnoff from highway 93A, rode up to the base of Marmot Basin ski area then down then back to town. 11 km total from the turnoff to the top, average grade of about 5.5-6 % (calculating from the topo map, as none of the group members who had Garmins actually knew how to use the grade/elevation functions), 1 hr 15 min up for me. And we even made it to the top before the faster riders caught up to us (they rode from town then up the climb, whereas we saved our energy for the climb by driving to the base). Perhaps the bear seen by the two in front (we had to get passing-tourists' cars to ride beside us for protection just in case the bear hadn't actually run away like we thought) provided that last burst of adrenaline to get us to the top ...
I rode with Wendy, and it was a good feeling to finally realize what others have told me about climbing - you just get in your own rhythm and keep on going. The hills around home (what few there are) aren't really long enough to get into any sort of rhythm, the tendency is to just try to power over them - which wouldn't be the best strategy for these longer climbs.
Riding back into town, I rode beside Alex most of the way - just a neat feeling to be riding along in the mountains and discussing cycling with a former pro cyclist and Tour de France yellow-jersey holder.
We had a group dinner that night (and even Ed was invited), where "awards" were handed out - I got the "Cycling Fan" award (not sure if that was because of the Davitamon-Lotto jerseys I'd been wearing, or my conversations with Alex, or a bit of both - lol). We discovered that both Alex and Chris had ridden with Ed's brother Pete back in the day - small world (Pete was formerly on the national track team). After dinner, we went back to the hotel lounge and Alex showed a video from the Tour of Georgia as an introduction to racing to those who'd never really seen any before - plus some of his photos from his racing days and from his Tour trips. And we watched a bit of the Giro opening day Team Time Trial highlights on cycling.tv.
Then, we did our mountain climb up to the base of Marmot Basin.
This was our big climb, on Saturday afternoon - my group started from the turnoff from highway 93A, rode up to the base of Marmot Basin ski area then down then back to town. 11 km total from the turnoff to the top, average grade of about 5.5-6 % (calculating from the topo map, as none of the group members who had Garmins actually knew how to use the grade/elevation functions), 1 hr 15 min up for me. And we even made it to the top before the faster riders caught up to us (they rode from town then up the climb, whereas we saved our energy for the climb by driving to the base). Perhaps the bear seen by the two in front (we had to get passing-tourists' cars to ride beside us for protection just in case the bear hadn't actually run away like we thought) provided that last burst of adrenaline to get us to the top ...
I rode with Wendy, and it was a good feeling to finally realize what others have told me about climbing - you just get in your own rhythm and keep on going. The hills around home (what few there are) aren't really long enough to get into any sort of rhythm, the tendency is to just try to power over them - which wouldn't be the best strategy for these longer climbs.
Riding back into town, I rode beside Alex most of the way - just a neat feeling to be riding along in the mountains and discussing cycling with a former pro cyclist and Tour de France yellow-jersey holder.
We had a group dinner that night (and even Ed was invited), where "awards" were handed out - I got the "Cycling Fan" award (not sure if that was because of the Davitamon-Lotto jerseys I'd been wearing, or my conversations with Alex, or a bit of both - lol). We discovered that both Alex and Chris had ridden with Ed's brother Pete back in the day - small world (Pete was formerly on the national track team). After dinner, we went back to the hotel lounge and Alex showed a video from the Tour of Georgia as an introduction to racing to those who'd never really seen any before - plus some of his photos from his racing days and from his Tour trips. And we watched a bit of the Giro opening day Team Time Trial highlights on cycling.tv.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Cycling Camp in Jasper - Day 1
Last weekend, I attended the Diva Skills Camp (women only) from "Alex Stieda Cycling" that I attended, based in Jasper National Park in the Rocky Mountains (about 4 hours' drive from where we live). I thought it would be a good opportunity to get in some longer rides and some actual climbing on real mountains rather than just in and out of the North Saskatchewan River valley (the only hills around here). And, it certainly lived up to expectations in that regard. (Ed tagged along to do some riding on his own).
We had a mixed group, from some experienced Ironman triathletes and those who had ridden with Stieda on one of his Tour trips previously, to a few who were riding mountain bikes initially (but rented road bikes by the next day). I was somewhere in the middle, quite literally actually on the first long ride.
Friday morning we met most of the group over breakfast, then went to a local grass field (fenced in so the elk and deer don't eat all the grass, just like every house in Jasper pretty much) to practice some bike handling skills drills. Then we rode up the Pyramid Lake Road while practising drafting and riding in a group (average 3.3% grade over 6 km then another 1 km to the end of the road, roughly figuring from my topo map).
In the afternoon, we left from Jasper townsite, road along the highway for a bit, then crossed the bridge and headed up the Maligne Lake Road, hoping to get as far as Medicine Lake. Initially I was able to stay with the main group, even up the first few climbs (well, actually the road seemed to be mostly uphill, but somewhat undulating). Eventually I fell behind, but didn't realize that I was as far back as I was (such that the front group didn't wait for me, probably thinking I'd dropped back to join the 2 on mountain bikes). Unfortunately, they were so far behind I never actually saw them again, nor did I see the front group - but it was a great day for riding and I enjoyed my ride.
Because I was on my own, when it came to the time we'd agreed to turn around I stopped and waited for about 10-15 minutes, thinking that the other group would catch back up to me on their return. When that didn't happen, I powered down the hills thinking I'd catch up to the other two - but no. Even though it's basically off-season right now for Jasper and the town was mostly deserted (compared to summer or ski season), there were still semi-regular tour buses and other tourists going to Maligne Lake, so I never felt particularly worried about being on my own. (I understand that normally Alex's wife rides at his camps/trips as well, which probably helps ensure no one is on their own, but she had broken her arm the month before).
When I got a chance to look at some maps to see how far along the road I ended up (I turned around at the Watchtower trailhead), I realized that I probably only had to make it up that one more hill that had intimidated me a bit, then a bit of easier riding for a few km to get to Medicine Lake. Oh well, next time I'll get there.
(overall distance for me that afternoon = 43.9 km, initially flat by the highway, then about 2-2.5% grade average uphill, again roughly from the topo map)
Ed rode from the town out to the eastern park boundary and back, about 100km. Too bad for him that the return trip was into a strong headwind and he'd forgotten his energy bars (and the store at Pocohontas near the turnaround was closed when he went by).
We had a mixed group, from some experienced Ironman triathletes and those who had ridden with Stieda on one of his Tour trips previously, to a few who were riding mountain bikes initially (but rented road bikes by the next day). I was somewhere in the middle, quite literally actually on the first long ride.
Friday morning we met most of the group over breakfast, then went to a local grass field (fenced in so the elk and deer don't eat all the grass, just like every house in Jasper pretty much) to practice some bike handling skills drills. Then we rode up the Pyramid Lake Road while practising drafting and riding in a group (average 3.3% grade over 6 km then another 1 km to the end of the road, roughly figuring from my topo map).
In the afternoon, we left from Jasper townsite, road along the highway for a bit, then crossed the bridge and headed up the Maligne Lake Road, hoping to get as far as Medicine Lake. Initially I was able to stay with the main group, even up the first few climbs (well, actually the road seemed to be mostly uphill, but somewhat undulating). Eventually I fell behind, but didn't realize that I was as far back as I was (such that the front group didn't wait for me, probably thinking I'd dropped back to join the 2 on mountain bikes). Unfortunately, they were so far behind I never actually saw them again, nor did I see the front group - but it was a great day for riding and I enjoyed my ride.
Because I was on my own, when it came to the time we'd agreed to turn around I stopped and waited for about 10-15 minutes, thinking that the other group would catch back up to me on their return. When that didn't happen, I powered down the hills thinking I'd catch up to the other two - but no. Even though it's basically off-season right now for Jasper and the town was mostly deserted (compared to summer or ski season), there were still semi-regular tour buses and other tourists going to Maligne Lake, so I never felt particularly worried about being on my own. (I understand that normally Alex's wife rides at his camps/trips as well, which probably helps ensure no one is on their own, but she had broken her arm the month before).
When I got a chance to look at some maps to see how far along the road I ended up (I turned around at the Watchtower trailhead), I realized that I probably only had to make it up that one more hill that had intimidated me a bit, then a bit of easier riding for a few km to get to Medicine Lake. Oh well, next time I'll get there.
(overall distance for me that afternoon = 43.9 km, initially flat by the highway, then about 2-2.5% grade average uphill, again roughly from the topo map)
Ed rode from the town out to the eastern park boundary and back, about 100km. Too bad for him that the return trip was into a strong headwind and he'd forgotten his energy bars (and the store at Pocohontas near the turnaround was closed when he went by).
Sunday, May 6, 2007
First day riding to work this spring
The weather forecast was for potential showers later in the morning (I thought) but mostly cloudy, and it wasn't raining when I woke up or when I left, so I thought it would be fine to ride to work and back last Wednesday. When it started raining a bit about a third of the way into my ride, I had a few second thoughts, but it was really more of a mist than rain so I kept going. I had a pretty good ride (50 minutes - not bad for the first time this year when I wasn't pushing hard).
During the day it seemed to get more and more ominous-looking outside, and seemed to be raining most of the day. The forecast had changed from "19 C and cloudy" for the afternoon to "13 C and rain" - but the rain was supposedly going to stop in the late afternoon or evening, so I delayed leaving for home a bit. Finally by 5 pm (clinic closes at 4 pm since May 1) I really had no more work left to possibly do, so I left for home.
As it was really the first time I'd ridden my road bike in wet rainy conditions, I was really quite cautious. Particularly down the switchbacks on the Keillor Road trail (lots of dirt/mud/dead leaves there too - good potential for slipping and falling I figured and I had done that enough last year). It was a good ride in the sense that it was good for my confidence to get more experience riding in unfavourable conditions (and to realize that it's really no big deal). But it was kind of miserable, even if it really wasn't raining all that hard.
Then, as I reached Patricia Heights school (about 2/3 of the way home), my cell phone rang. Normally I would likely have forgotten to turn it on, but that day I was hoping that a surgeon would call me back to answer a question I had about a patient ... pulled over to the side of the road and answered, it was Ed. He asked where I was, and sounded quite relieved - told me to turn left not right after crossing the upcoming ravine, and said "what are the chances of having two punctures in the same ride?". So, he'd already changed his back tire once in the rain, and punctured again (actually it turned out the valve broke) but only had brought one spare tube so he needed mine.
I met up with him, watched him change his tube (he figured afterwards he should have had me do it for practice - but by that time the rain was getting heavier and heavier so he would have been a lot quicker at it that I would have been), then we set off for the last bit home. About 6 blocks to go and he punctured again ... the rain was so hard by then I just kept going (he said he'd be ok to walk). In the end it turned out there was a really sharp tiny piece of gravel embedded in his tire that he'd missed (hence the multiple punctures on the same back wheel).
It was a good test of our new rain jackets. And we both wondered, was this the kind of weather that they kept mentioning was more common for the Spring Classics than the hot dry weather they actually had this April in Northern Europe???
(we should have taken the photo about 10-15 minutes earlier when there was torrential rain - it had slowed down considerably by this point and the flash makes it look much brighter than it really was).
During the day it seemed to get more and more ominous-looking outside, and seemed to be raining most of the day. The forecast had changed from "19 C and cloudy" for the afternoon to "13 C and rain" - but the rain was supposedly going to stop in the late afternoon or evening, so I delayed leaving for home a bit. Finally by 5 pm (clinic closes at 4 pm since May 1) I really had no more work left to possibly do, so I left for home.
As it was really the first time I'd ridden my road bike in wet rainy conditions, I was really quite cautious. Particularly down the switchbacks on the Keillor Road trail (lots of dirt/mud/dead leaves there too - good potential for slipping and falling I figured and I had done that enough last year). It was a good ride in the sense that it was good for my confidence to get more experience riding in unfavourable conditions (and to realize that it's really no big deal). But it was kind of miserable, even if it really wasn't raining all that hard.
Then, as I reached Patricia Heights school (about 2/3 of the way home), my cell phone rang. Normally I would likely have forgotten to turn it on, but that day I was hoping that a surgeon would call me back to answer a question I had about a patient ... pulled over to the side of the road and answered, it was Ed. He asked where I was, and sounded quite relieved - told me to turn left not right after crossing the upcoming ravine, and said "what are the chances of having two punctures in the same ride?". So, he'd already changed his back tire once in the rain, and punctured again (actually it turned out the valve broke) but only had brought one spare tube so he needed mine.
I met up with him, watched him change his tube (he figured afterwards he should have had me do it for practice - but by that time the rain was getting heavier and heavier so he would have been a lot quicker at it that I would have been), then we set off for the last bit home. About 6 blocks to go and he punctured again ... the rain was so hard by then I just kept going (he said he'd be ok to walk). In the end it turned out there was a really sharp tiny piece of gravel embedded in his tire that he'd missed (hence the multiple punctures on the same back wheel).
It was a good test of our new rain jackets. And we both wondered, was this the kind of weather that they kept mentioning was more common for the Spring Classics than the hot dry weather they actually had this April in Northern Europe???
(we should have taken the photo about 10-15 minutes earlier when there was torrential rain - it had slowed down considerably by this point and the flash makes it look much brighter than it really was).
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