some pics of me racing.....

where did i put my time trial fitness...?????

just a quick update on my recent racing.....

july 9 14.4km t.t. in waterloo on the "mary hill speedway". took 3rd in 19.02

july 12 40 km o-cup in peterborough. tough course with lots of climbing and a straight headwind on the way back. rough and bumpy roads, chip and tarred for the first and last 10kms. i pulled out a 1.01.19...not very fastbut a great effort non the less..took 6th in sen. 3.

july 14 15km t.t. in hamilton. season p.b. on this course. didn t break 20 mins but pretty close for me. did it in 21.15. gotta break 20 on this course sometime soon. weather was ripe last night for it, but didnt nail the last 3kms at 2-3% incline and was a real struggle to finish it off strong.

next up is a 100km road race n saturday in the small town of ayr. this is a great club race and the course offers lots of undulation.

THE TOUR STARTS NOW!!!!!

JUST A WRAP UP OF MY TRAINING FOR THE WEEK.....AND SOME TOUR PHOTOS......

SAT JUNE 27.......4HRS HARD EFFORT ON ALL HILLS.

SUN 2.5 HRS STEADY TEMPO EFFORT. FIRST HOUR, HR.R AT 160 PLUS, THEN HIGH SPIN HOME.

MON..........2HRS EASY SPIN

TUES..........15 KM T.T WITH HAMILTON C.C., FINISHED 4TH AT 22.58 "EDDY MERCKX" STYLE, NO AERO GEAR. RAIN LIKE A BITCH DURING THE RACE

WED...........CANADA DAY!! RODE 50KM WITH THERESA, NICE AND EASY.

THUR.........2.25HRS FELT LIKE I WAS MOVING QUICKLY, BUT TRIED TO KEEP IT BIG GEAR WHOLE RIDE. NICE RIDE.

FRI..............RODE IN THE MORN WITH NIAL FISHER AND PAUL SHOEBRIDGE. DID 2.5 HRS WITH THE BOYS, WAS FEELING THE MILES IN THE LEGS WITH THESE GUYS. H.R. WAS GETTING HIGHER COMING HOME OVER THE HILLS BUT THAT WAS PAUL SPEEDING ALONG....

SAT.............17.6KM T.T. RACE IN MOFFAT. FINISHED 3RD AT 25.30. NOT BAD AS I AM JUST GETTING USE TO THE T.T. RIG. PUT IN ANOTHER HOUR OF EASY SPINNING IN THE AFTERNOON UP TO A FRIENDS PLACE FOR A PARTY!!!!

THE TOUR STARTED TODAY TOO, AND GOT TO SEE SOME OF IT LIVE FROM CYCLINGFANS.COM!!!

SUN..........OFF.......BUT WATCHED THE TOUR!! CAVENDISH IS AN ANIMAL.

THE GUY IN THE PHOTO AT THE TOP IN PINK IS MY FRIEND ERIK BOX, WHO I HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE OF RIDING WITH OVER THE LAST 3 YEARS. ERIK RIDES FOR THE SEMI-PRO TEAM OUT OF QUEBEC FOR LOUIS GARNEAU.....ERIK JUST FINISHED 11TH AT THE NATIONALS IN THE T.T. AT 56.12, 3 MINS BEHIND SWEIN TUFT OF GARMIN FAME!!!!! AWESOME. ERIK TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD NEAR 20KMS OF CLIMBING IN THE T.T.......CRAZY!!

GIT R' DUNN........

back at it again cycling wise....been off the bike for 3 weeks but mostly just easy rides out in regina. cranked it up this weekend with a nice 4 hrs on saturday with some really hard tempo sections with BERT AND IRISH PAT......the 2 old guys put the hurt on me but i am rearin' to get back at it. did another 2.5 hrs on sunday with the 1st hour at 160 bpm or higher for a nice steady "race" type effort. then spun for the remainder back home. the humidity is still quite high and feels like your totally cooked in a sauna........the provincial road race champs r at the end of july..the 26th in burlington on a very selective, hilly route. its gonna be awesome. lots of climbing.

peace.

I AM BACK.......

back from SASKATCHEWAN and my job fling is over.......not too sad about it. all farming and agricultural work, but my employment as a TOOLMAKER for the company was not what i had planned or what they described to me over the phone. i am taking each day as it comes and planning on getting a good routine down to get my fitness back up to a decent level.......going out to look for work on monday!!!!!!, dont care what it is now.

peace

go west young man....and i am!!!!!!-

got a job offer from an oustanding company in regina saskatchewan. i accepted and i am moving out there for june 1/2009. accomadations r already set and i cant' wait!!!!!! will be awhile til i post again.

my heads' in a tizzy.....soon i'll be busy

havent put in a post for awhile......took 13th in o-cup #2 in calabogie. shit finish, timing camera at the end of the race crapped out and the o.c.a. allowed 2 other groups racing at the same time as us to get tangled up at the end and deliver a non-sprint finish cuz it was wayyyyyyy to hectic with car traffic and other riders fuckingabout at the finish. needless to say, i still am in great shape, and showed my hand a little at last tuesday's mid-week crit with a 3 man flyer with 10 laps to go.....we madw a gap, but got gobbled up with a lap to go. took my rightful place at the back of the group for the finish as it was pretty chaotic. i was pleased to finish. the 1 hour crit covered 44 kms. not bad. i missed this past weekends race in london at springbank as i have had some job news come from out west. my head hasnt' been in the same place since thursday. could be moving to regina soon, if i hear back from them. hope i do.

i have just put in 3 days of 3 hr rides, 2 of which were covered at 33 km/h for some hard tempo work. did alot of steady hill stomps, just get out of the saddle and keep pace high, but not an attack, up and over the top of any hill during the ride and continue at 34-35 km/h. the legs r feeling the heaviness but i am really pleased. this weekend is the ZM ZIG ZAG BY THE LAKE on the toronto waterfront. huge crit. and more upgrade points on the line. but this job thing has got me all in a tizzy to get busy.

vo2 workouts.....

once a plateau has been hit with regards to aerobic conditioning.....the basic conditioning to survive a road race, u need to work on the high end to improve your ability to move with very fast attacks or the ability to bridge to another group shopuld u get dislodged from the pack.....

here are some examples...

Vo2

1. 3sets of (3mins hard, 3mins easy). these are done as hard as u can.

2. 5 sets of (20secs sprint, 40 secs rest) stay in same gear for recovery

3. 12-20 reps of (30 secs sprint, 30 secs easy) stay in same gear for recovery

4. 4, 3, 2 intervals...4mins hard, 1min easy, 3mins, 1min easy, 2mins hard, 5min rest (2sets)

* if possible, try to do them on a trainer, it is easier to control. i like to warmup outside and cooldown with a longer spin outside but do the meat of the workout on the trainer.

doing them a minimum of 2x weekly will improve your system rapidly.

i like it when a plan comes together.....4th place!!!

sooo.....race day came and went. first race of the season and the adrenaline was flowing good before the race. i chose sen.3 to start this year and make the jump up to sen.1/2. our race was 74 kms long and a series of short punchy climbs acentuate the second half of the course in sucession. the course is 18.3kms around. i did everything that i was told to do as best i could in the race. stay near the front and keep out of the wind. our field was put together with the juniors and under 23's....where the field ballooned to over 100 racers. the start was fast and frantic. i was at the back and got up to the front about half a lap into the race. the yellow line rule was in effect and it was a little difficult to navigate up to the front. there was alot of jockeying for position going into the bottom of every hill, as u want to see what is happening. i could tell early on that i was feeling good in the legs, which i normally do, but this time it was different as i was able to watch the race from the front, so any energy lost at the back of the pack is not when u can see the flow and adjust for it accordingly. i took one bottle with me, a sports drink, which was enough to keep my thirst at bay. i was nervous because i wanted to getthe upgrade points that r offered to the top 5 men. lets take a look at how my body worked to get 4th place. AVG SPEED WAS 38.5 FOR THE RACE. AVG H.R. WAS 155. CALORIES (dont think this is right) 3419. MAX SPEED WAS 65KM/H. MAX H.R. WAS 195. RACE TIME WAS 1 HR 56 MINS. at the end it was a full on sprint, and with less than 100meters left i was leading the damn race, but i got pipped at the line by bryan king, a friend i train with who had an awesome last 75 meters, who took the race, 2nd and 3rd were just a half wheel in front. to say i am happy with this is the understatement of the year!!!!! its been 2 years since i finished an o-cup level race and to nearly win with some of the best juniors and under 23' s in the country is mind blowing considering i am the oldest guy in the race at 38. time and patience played a big part in the result. something i have lacked for a long time. but i had to believe that i could do it. and it payed off.

next up is either calaobogie 0-cup #2 or paris to ancaster......its a toss up as calabogie is 5 hrs away and p to a is 1/2 hr away. points on the line in calabogie though.......if i hear back from friends in kingston, i might go.

btw, thats me in the middle out of the saddle. we r going thru the start/finish at 45km/hr... finish was really fast..somewhere around 55 to sprint, wind was at our backs too. my legs were DONE!!!!!!

race time is almost here!!!!

as the belgian spring classics are into full swing, our race season here in southern ontario is about get into action with the season opener on friday. i will race the sen. 3 cat. and try to make it into the sen.1/2 cat. with in a couple of races. i will jump from racing from75-85km to 120-180km!!!. i have been laying down some really big numbers as for hours on the bike which build overall basic strength and mixing it up with threshold rides and sprint sessions of intensities and duration. my goal was not too do to much at this point in the year and hopefully save myself as the season continues throughout the summer and into fall. I have fine tuned the road steed, as one of my shifters went to the great shifter garden in the sky. i am not one to change my bike or components every couple of weeks, i have had this carbon bike now for 5 years and the ultegra 10sp grouppo has survived probably 30,000kms of harsh climates and tons of aggressive shifting. it doesnt' owe me anything.

as for the week leading into the race, here is how the training went...

sunday 3 hrs all intensities went out to the o-cup course and hammered over the hills with a large group.

monday off bad snow storm went thru dropped 15cm of snow on us.

tuesday off getting a bit better weather wise

wednesday 45 mins 20 * 30 secs on, 30 secs off all indoors.

thursday 2hrs easy spin

friday race day!!!!!

i will post after the race with data off the garmin and how the race went.

as i write this..its is snowing way too hard!!!

the tour of flanders was run on sunday....stijn devolder doubled up with another ronde in his palmares. another solo ride after putting the hammer down on the mur! i had a couple leffe's for him..fine belgian blonde ale to go along with the race.

as for my week, it was a down week.....a little recovery....

sunday march 29 off recovery

monday 2 hrs endurance...nothing hard, zone 2

tuesday 2 hrs indoors 4,3,2 intervals 4mins 350 watts, 1min rest, 3mins at 360 watts, 1min rest, 2mins at 370 watts..5 min spin...4 mins at 360 watts, 1min rest, 3mins at 370 watts, 1min rest, 2mins at 390 watts.

* rode in the evening with my buddy cliff, he did his workout and i rode shotgun....1.25 hrs ridden at a fairly quick tempo and lots of wind.

wednesday 1.25 hrs easy

thursday 3 hrs intervals 1.25 hrs at race pace hr.r at 165 to 175, 2 * 5mins at 15 secs on, 15 secs off, then 8min t.t. with 200m sprint at end.

friday off

saturday off

* in all 9.5 hrs ridden and some really good intensity. legs feel great.

kieth kelly has been posting on his cycling build up and has now joined usa cycling and is on a team for 2009, all of this to compliment his return to running at some point once his knee is sorted out. i have been helping him with some intervals for his training and overall structure for his time on the bike. wish him all the best as i think the freshness of a new sport is lighting a fire under his ass.....

ITS COMING SOON!!!!!!

APRIL 12 2009........95 KMS OF "HELL"

part duex.....

i finished todays riding with an evening ride with cliff van clief. cliff is the owner of THE HUB BICYCLE SHOP in down town hespeler. he is the one that got me into cyclocross, as he is a die hard for that. as we were riding tonight, just as the dark started to creep in, i mentioned that a very specific x-race was added into the calendar for the x-season. the race is at GARRETT FARMS. this is the first cross race that i did with cliff....and, at one pont during the race, also my last.....for about 2 weeks....lol....that i swore i would never do again. but, once bitten by the bug, its in your blood. we ran more than any other x-race i have ever done. just nothing but black topsoil for as far as the eye can see and about 3 ft. deep at its shallowest point. and it snowed, and rained, and snowed some more.....and the wind decided to chime in as well. they had some awesome kerosene heaters in the barn...thats right, a barn, where u got dressed in one of the stalls, with the animals still wandering around too....mind the poop. cliff loves the race, and is pumped even more now than ever since it hasnt' been used for a couple of years. believe it or not, i cant' wait either. :)

just a quick note about todays workout.......bike racing is about aerobic metabolism. to boost your performance, u need to work on anerobic power. its to pace high intensity work so that u dont get dropped a the end of a race. this workout optimises that anerobic ability to do high intensity and get use to how it "feels" when the hammer drops. lets get to the meat of it!!......

warmup for about 15 to 20 mins, increasing your workload to build up a good sweat.....for me, its going from 120 to 160 for 3 mins prior to the actual work.

after your warmup, u can do 2-4 sets fo these. 2 for 60 mins or 4 for 90 mins.

1. 4 mins at (this is for me) 350 watts, 1 min rest
2. 3 mins at 360 watts, 1 min rest
3. 2 mins at 370 watts, 3 min rest
   now, i didnt fully read the entire workout, so i gave myself too much time on recovery.....i was doing 3 mins per rep.

now my next set was done like this...
1. 4mins at 370 watts, 1 min rest

2. 3mins at 380 watts, 1 min rest

3. 2 mins at 390-400 watts, rest and recover (THIS WAS DONE ON THE COMPUTRAINER)

this was really hard the first time, and i will work up to 3 sets. basically, this helps with any surges or bridging u need to do to stay afloat in the race.

top pic is of my beautiful wife theresa ( on the right) in nassau , bahamas 09'

suppose to meet up with the owner of THE HUB BICYCLE SHOP, cliff van clief, for a ride tonight at 7.30 pm. he has some goals of his own this year and wants someone to hang with him while he does his workout. i already put 2 hours in indoors, so this should be fun.

come on summer!!!!

took an nice, well deserved rest sunday.....thought i would share this with ya!!!

ohhhhhhhhhh...the agony!!!!

how the week breaks down: 16.75hrs ridden...

sunday endurance with hard pulls 3.75 hrs *last 10km hard.

monday off

tuesday endurance zone 2-3 2.25 hrs

wednesday off bad weather

thursday steady state ride zone 3-4 hard steady ride 3 hrs

friday zone 2 easy 2 hrs

saturday all zones with hills, sprints and attacks. 5.75 hrs *longest ride this year at 153 kms. felt good untill headwind back home. :)

the ride today was a real test of the strength that i have been building on for the last couple of months, and i must say, that if i didnt have to ride the last hour on my own but in a race pack, i know that the legs would react in the proper way if there was a sprint. i felt strong on the hills and could pull pretty hard from bamberg back to waterloo over a series of short punchy climbs. need to have a couple of days of rest and start doing some short hard reps now to tickle the red zone for surges and sprints.

i like black.....when worn like this...

thats all i to say on that...... :)......and the sprint between haussler and cavendish at milan sanremo was epic.

HOLY HOURS BATMAN!!!!!

i am tired right now....long week. lets break it down:

sunday 2.25 hrs zone 2 endurance

monday 1.5 hrs zone 2 endurance

tuesday 3 hrs zone 2 endurance with 2-3 hill sprints with chris kraemer

wednesday 3 hrs zone 4-5 hard tempo workout with erik box. 60kms in 1:46

windy night, hard sprint at 3 blue signs.

thursday off fix up cross bike for paris to ancaster

friday 3.5 hrs on cross bike zone 2 endurance with some dirt hill climbs

saturday 3.5 hrs zone 4-5 5 * 150m sprint, 3 * 200m hill sprint (hard!!!), big gear, low

rpm into headwind and finished of with 5km hard tempo ride finish with sign

sprint.

overall nearly 17 hrs of training and good intensity. strength is really coming up, and hopefully this week will be another big hour week before i lower my hours and pick my intensity.

i like days of more sunlight...more time to ride.

weather has been up and down all week.....except friday, saturday and sunday. awesome. had a great week of training again. got most of my time in on friday and saturday..lol...probably a bit too much...but gotta take it when i can.

this is how the week went.....

sunday mar. 8 3.25 hrs zone 2 endurance

monday mar. 9 off

tuesday mar. 10 2 hrs zone 4/5 hard tempo ride with erik box. avg watts at 290, avg. hr. 170

33km/hr avg. hills not attcked, but tempo constant.

wed. mar. 11 off

thurs. mar 12 1.25 hrs indoors zone 2 endurance

friday mar.13 4.5 hrs outdoors zone 2 endurance cool day, temps at 0 deg. but lots of sun

sat. mar. 14 3 hrs indoors on computrainer zone 2-5 workout consisted of 6 * 10min t.t.

efforts at 290-320 watts, then 8 * 40secs on/40 secs off ...sprint/tempo

protion...10 secs hard and then sit in and hold 360 watts for 30 secs.

my week goes from sunday to saturday. 14 hrs total for the week.

not bad overall, and with some better weather this week, hopefully, a bigger week in total hrs.

hope kieth's mri goes well...but with all that pain, its hard to tell. just keep the faith man.

THE DONUT RIDE

went into toronto on sunday morning with my buddy "fast" freddy to do the donut ride.. a legendary ride that has existed since the mid-70's that some of the great in canadian cycling have made their fave training route for years. its even on the wikipedia website as to the history of the ride. it was my first time out with them, and of course my bladder acts up like 5 times in the first hour, more from all the coffee consumption, and my last pit stop is just when they drop the hammer into a long, grindy hill....bye bye group. caught them at coffee stop in king city withthe help of a gracious rider who helped me sort out my directional probs and get me on my way again. the group splits into 2...one to do the longer, hillier route thru aurora and the other makes an earlier exit to get to the coffee shop sooner. the coffe shop has all these photos of the rides that have stopped over the years to partake of their coffee and donuts at the mid way point. all, in all, a great day of riding with some of the best in ontario. about 3.5 hrs of riding and new friendship making.

as for the week.....

mon 90 mins indoors
tues 90 mins indoors
wed 4hrs outdoors some intervals
thur 3.25 hrs outdoors
fri 2.25 hrs really windy 60km/h gusts
sat 3 hrs indoors hard computrainer session
sun 3.5 hrs donut ride toronto

the legs r feeling the volume, but will get use to it. as this is the start of march, hopefully the rest of the month goes along at this pace.