Kilpakuntoilijan Tarinoita

Manitoba, Winter Wonderland

2012-02-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

Back in the Winnipeg, waah waah waaaah! Wouldn't be that bad if we had even a little bit more snow because the temperatures are pretty mild. All I can hope for is an early spring. How awesome would it be to have no snow and +10-15 at least for the Easter weekend?

Anyways. Since there is no snow in Winnipeg, I had to go look for some, and I found snow at Falcon Lake. I was told that Grand Beach has some snow as well, but I prefer Falcon because it seems to be bit hillier. Falcon trails are in excellent condition considering last Sunday was +7 and sunny. High Lake "portages" are bit rough, but otherwise trails are in good condition. 10-15 cm of snow would help though, but there's no snow in the forecast. I was kind of surprised to be almost the only skier our there. I saw only two other skiers out there.

I also spotted an awesome looking trails groomed on the south shore of the Falcon Lake. I suppose this was Spur Trail that connects to South Whiteshell trail and is part of Trans Canada Trail. I would like to know how much of this network is groomed in the winter as internet is doing good job hiding the information. It looks like there's really no trail between Falcon Lake and Kenora.

And while I'm on topic. My cross bike is for sale again and this time for reals as I think I may have time to look for a new bike for next 'cross season. Also my Spec Stumjumper HT is for sale. Check the For Sale for details.

Christmas and New Year Training Camp

2011-12-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

Just one day of work between December 23rd and January 16th, so I better take advantage of this and do a training camp.

So far it has been three days of MTB at Grand Beach with two pretty hard rides plowing through the snow in the bush and Boxing Day spin. Today I'm summoned to run errands in the morning so I'll hop on the trainer this afternoon for some oh so pleasant 4 x 20' at 90% FTP (or what I think may be my FTP right now...it's probably bit less). I haven't actually had this kind of training opportunity since the little lady came along. Maybe I can shed some weight too.

There may be a trip to Amsterdam or Stockholm during our holiday and that would be 2-3 days of rest, but we'll see.

Made in China

2011-12-17T06:39:00.000-08:00

Just reading all the typical bike geek stuff online, I happened to notice the latest post on Rapha website. As a solid hater, I found this extremely entertaining. I think I puked a little bit in my mouth and felt like gouging my eyes out, but otherwise I rather enjoyed the post. I'm certain that Rapha loving Jens Voigt army will sleep better after this post as there is nothing to assure the ethical work environment like black and white photos. I am sure that Rapha has gone out of their way to make sure there is a quaint coffee shop within a short wool jersey, knicker trouser clad bike ride away from the factory. All this aside....when they ask $110-170 for their short sleeve jersey, you could expect the jersey to be made somewhere in western world.

And Sven's bike exploded again. Some might call it bad luck, but when it keeps happening "all the time", there's probably more to it than luck. Same as crashing 10 times in one season and calling it bad luck. Luck plays a part, but you may have gotten yourself in situations where you need luck to not get hurt.

And while I'm on my ranting gear, I better keep going.

What the hell is it with this winter? Where is the snow? It's almost Christmas and there's basically no snow on the ground. I want to ski! Now it's the time for snow not in April dammit!

I am evolving into a bigger Fred than I ever imagined. I purchased a dentist bicycle last summer and the most recent purchase was the SRM to replace my powertaps. Speed on the bike reduces and the amount of gear increases...typical signs of becoming a huge moron Fred. Next one will probably be a fatbike or something and at that point I've officially lost the battle and I will start riding longer and longer because "If you can't win go longer".

But five more real working days until our holiday. We'll be heading to the old country so should get some skiing in. December 23-January 16 will be just one working day for me so maybe I'll get my training going.

Non-Cycling ie. Important Update

2011-11-24T18:10:00.000-08:00

I received a request for help today to find Dorothy Woods who went missing in Saskatoon on November 11, 2011. Later I read the reblog below and as a father of a little girl, who will eventually explore the world we live in, I felt that this is definitely worth reblogging.

____________

worth reblogging girls

‎”THROUGH A RAPIST’S EYES” (PLS TAKE TIME TO READ THIS. it may save a life.) Reblog this!

It seems that alot of attackers use some tactic to get away with violence. Not many people know how to take care of themselves when faced with such a
situation. Everyone should read this especially each n every girl in this world. THOUGHT THIS WAS GOOD INFO TO PASS ALONG…

FYI - Through a rapist’s eyes! A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1] The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle.
They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun! , braid, or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.

2] The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who’s clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.

3] They also look for women using their cell phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.

4] The number one place women are abducted from / attacked at is grocery store parking lots.

5] Number two is office parking lots/garages.

6] Number three is public restrooms.

7] The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.

8] If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9] These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas,or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.

10] Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you’re not worth it.

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POINTS THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER:

1] If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general small talk:
can’t believe it is so cold out here, we’re in for a bad winter. Now that you’ve seen their faces and could identify them in a line- up, you lose appeal as a target.

2] If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell Stop or Stay back! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would
not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

3] If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) yelling I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

4] If someone grabs you, you can’t beat them with strength but you can do it by outsmarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm between the elbow and
armpit or in the upper inner thigh - HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it; it really hurts.

5] After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy’s parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you’ll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our
instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause him a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble, and he’s out of there.

6] When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using
much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.

7] Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don’t dismiss it, go with your instincts. You may feel
little silly at the time, but you’d feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

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FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBER THESE AS WELL ….

I know you are smart enough to know these pointers but there will be some, where you will go “hmm I must remember that” After reading forward it to someone you care about, never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do it.

2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans : if a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you…. chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or
purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car: Kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping,eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON’T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side,put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU CLOSE the DOORS , LEAVE.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
a. Be aware: look around your car as someone may be
hiding at the passenger side , peek into your car, inside the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. ( DO THIS TOO BEFORE RIDING A TAXI CAB) .
b. If you! u are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
c. Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked “for help” into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it’s better safe than sorry.

If u have a heart or compassion reblog this post.
‘Helping hands are better than Praying Lips’ – give us your helping hand.

REBLOG THIS AND LET EVERY GIRL KNOW
ATLEAST PEOPLES WILL KNOW WATS GOIN IN THIS WORLD.
So please reblog this….Your one reblog can Help to spread this information.
I hope you all will Reblog. Lets See how many of you really care for this.

DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT NOT REBLOGGING THIS! IT COULD ACTUALLY SAVE A LIFE.

Heading Into Another One

2011-11-12T18:57:00.001-08:00

It's that time of the year again. Snow is staying on the ground, at least in patches, and people do their best not to venture outside. In July it's too hot and in November it's too cold. Go figure.

Canadians are often touted as being very outdoorsy and that wilderness is their backyard. You sure don't see too many canucks out there so I'm not too sure about that whole loving outdoors thing. And who the F#%* dumps their household garbage on their backyard? I don't know where the image is originating, but it doesn't seem to reflect to real life that much.

Or maybe the whole winter/outdoors thing comes from hockey as, supposedly, some still play hockey outdoors in the winter, in Canada. This offers me an excellent transition to another topic.

How many cycling talents never get found because by default they get into hockey and may never make it to even junior hockey, but will not try their luck with any other sport. Making it to junior hockey requires specialization from very young age, and only few make it. This leads to hundreds if not thousands of hockey drop-outs every year. 10% of the drop-outs may be talented in cycling and 10% of these talented guys might be really talented cyclists. Talent scouting is a challenge I suppose.

But anyway. Winter's coming.

End of October 'cross Report

2011-10-30T18:01:00.001-07:00

"Something, something, something, Dark Side", Emperor in Family Guy season eight finale.

This is a suiting quote from a real world person, as I am starting to feel the Dark Side take over. I have been trying to fight it, but resistance appears to be futile. I have been like a Luke Skywalker fighting it, but somehow a gnawing doubt has been chewing my guts, as I've probably deep down known, that ties to the Dark Side have always been there. It was probably the Dark Side today that set the crosshairs at that young Boy Machine's wheel. Or maybe it was the highly illegal barley beverage hand up that gave that extra umph. I am little bit afraid of what will happen once I don the black and red uniform of the Dark Side. Maybe it's more like returning home.

To clarify, Fort Garry Bike Club a.k.a. Dark Side, has accepted my membership application and only the formalities, such as Tuesday Night Ride, remain. These guys do races (race and organize) and that's kind of what I'm looking for.

But back to today's race. I finally got my garage eavesthroughs finished this morning, so winter can come now, and since I'm not sick anymore, I can do some racing. The Halloween at the Harbor changed to Halloween at the Camp because City of Winnipeg continues on its selected path of making small scale, none money making, amateur sport events (which has and is producing Olympians who 'peggers can adore again next summer) increasingly difficult within the city. Only downside of this change was a longer drive for organizers, racers and spectators, but otherwise I think this new venue was excellent.

I think some 25 riders showed up for A race and young Chris and Dylan took the lead from the gun gapping the rest of the field by a narrowish margin. Second spot changed hands for a while but the Juggernaut Chris kept hammering away. It wasn't really looking too good as Chris seemed to be riding away. I really don't have the legs to race at the moment, but had to do something. The only problem was that Chris was way too strong on the fast part and I couldn't catch him in the technical section. I was probably 4-5 bike lengths back heading to the drag strip on the last lap, but couldn't close the gap to Chris. Daniel Enns came in third, Tristan was the fourth to cross the line and JP came in fifth. Good race all in all as it's not like the bunch would explode from the start, now there's actually some racing going on.

Good times and next weekend it's the provincials followe by MN state champs and then it's winter, skiing and such.

Updates

2011-10-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

No real updates, but I added a small cross frame on For Sale page and PT wheelset can be had for good price.

Race tomorrow after being sick for 2 weeks. I'm expecting to do awesome tomorrow.

DarkCross Race Report

2011-09-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

That was awesome! Fort Garry Bike Club and Red River Racing really exceeded any expectations people may have had. The course was really fun, fast and fun. There were tons of people, and it seemed like all those people had lost their mind or at least they yelled and heckled like lunatics. Even the beer garden had expanded their beer selection to include some appropriate beverages (with the help of the organizer). You know it's not very good when MGD is probably the "best" of the standard selection.

It's was the usual C, B and A event with kids race and open race mixed in. 30 something C racers opened the night followed by kids and open. The B race had over 70 starters making it pretty massive race. It was a constant flow of racers for 40 minutes or so. A race was quite a bit smaller, but don't get me wrong. My first race in Manitoba was a 'cross race at Civic Park in the fall of -06 and I'm pretty sure the entire race was smaller than A start yesterday.

The start was OK, I thought Paul would go for it bit harder, but I felt like giving it bit of gas from the gun. Ended up going pretty much all out for the first lap, and we all know what happens after that, yep...you blow your legs. The run up up the grand stand was crazy loud and the vicinity of beer garden was almost equally loud. Maybe three laps in I had recovered enough to start riding bit harder. Young Chris a.k.a. "Monster Boy", Pauly B, Cricket and Donny were hammering away up front with a chase group maybe 20-30 seconds behind and I joined the chase. Some crashing, mechanicals, beer spilling and heckling later (I wasn't involved in any of this) Boy Wonder lead Donny over the line and onto the podium. Because guys crashed and broke their bikes on front of me, I moved to third spot to take the last spot on the podium.

I don't know how you can one-up this race or if it's even necessary. I don't even think that all the races need to be like this. Even the level of racing appears to be higher than before (or then I'm just getting slower) with young guys getting freakishly fast. You definitely missed out if you skipped this race.

Photos are starting to show up on the interweb. More will likely show up and I'm sure there is a kick ass video in production.
Dave Benson
Birch Mountain Club
ABES

Cross is Upon Us

2011-09-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

Cyclocross is not a summer sport. 60 minute race in +30 degree heat with nothing to drink is not cool...or almost nothing as the drip of water, I had in the bottle in my jersey pocket, lasted all 15 minutes. It should be like riding a bike though and I really hope to figure this thing out by next weekend. As we all know, next weekend is the second biggest weekend of 'cross, right after world champs, and that would of course be the Wallace+Wallace Dark Cross at the Red River Co-Op Speedway. That's pretty much the biggest social event in Manitoba, so you just have to be there. I heard the Winnipeg Jets will be at the beer garden heckling the racers. But in all seriousness, it is a pretty impressive set-up here in Manitoba and 'cross is becoming quite the event here.

I remember doing the races couple of years ago and there were at best 3-4 competitive guys out there. Now it's more like fields of 25 riders with 10 fast guys and the lead may lap 3-5 riders towards the end of the race. Or B race with +50 riders and fastest guys being ready to do A race.

This is the cycling season here in MB.

What's Up Lately

2011-09-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

It's been really quiet lately. Reason #1 being the lack of racing and not even paying attention to race calendar and reason #2 is my man project of 2011, that being the new garage. Then the cover all reason of laziness takes care of the rest. But at least we have some covered space to park our car this winter and store all the crap we have accumulated. And I have my very first man project under my belt.

Cross season is closing up on me and I have not touched my bike since crit provincials. Luckily there's a good training opportunity at provincial road race tomorrow and I'll get to take my new bike to a race. Only thing about cross is that there are some grand plans about watering the race courses and I really can't support that sort of assery. If it rains it will be wet and if it does not rain it will not be as wet as in the rain, but watering the race courses is something else. Hells yes I will be doing these races and there is a chance that there will be mud induced damage, but I would rather not run the water pumps to soak the course just because it's somehow more cross and desirable. Most of us pay this hobby out of our own pocket and increasing the wear and tear of the equipment just does not make any sense to me.

But then some awesome photos.

Yes it looks like a dollhouse and yes I may have been behind the wheel of the beast on the background.

New Whip, Part II

2011-08-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

Got a new bike today after two days of garage building slavery. Also did this event on a bike where everyone tries to ride the set distance in shortest possible time, preferably faster than the other rider participating in the event. More about this later. Apparently there's another event like this also next weekend and I may need to check it out.

But here's my new ride. James and Jeff from Alter Ego helped me pick the right bike. Some clean-up is still needed, but "kusiluikkari" test ride around the block proved the bike to be very rideable. Picture sucks, but you'll get the idea.

Starting Up the Weekend

2011-08-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Bit off topic this time fellas. It's Folklorama in Winnipeg, so LC carries more foreign beer than usual and I got my hands on some Delirium Tremens and other fine brews of the old country. Also went to Scandinavian Pavillion to hang out with my fellow norwads. To cap this evening, I logged on to Beatport to sample the latest summer tunes. So yeah, off topic.

But somewhat on topic. FGBC is getting their ducks in line for the upcoming 'cross season. First off will be the Darkcross at Redriver Co-Op Speedway on September 17, and I think this will be something quite fantastic...even mind blasting. It's a Saturday night, with beer garden and live music out on the prairie, so should be good times. It's like night out in the city but you wont need a shower after as bad.

Pretty good tunes they have out there. Would the wifey be upset if I bought $200 worth of mp3...and Allen & Heath mixer, and a pair of CDJ2000's? Probably not, right?

Beat Up...Bad

2011-08-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

So that was a effin' August long weekend. I got immersed in Canadianism so deep that even the beer was Labatt's Blue. Any further than that, and it would have been Labatt's Light and that's teetering on the fence between Canadian and US culture. But the weekend was hard for me since, as many may know, I'm not 20 anymore. I did some (too much) swimming, rock jumping, tubing, drinking beer, cycling, walking, some more swimming and trap shooting. Of course all the activities were executed under scorching sun. All these together messed me up bad. Also...a good wake-up call that "hey buddy...you must do more than just ski and ride your bike!" I spend most of my waking hours sitting on my ass and that's not good for me and the "easy" exercises are not enough to compensate.

But yeah. Cycling in NW Ontario is quite nice. MTB or CX bike would be the best option for all the gravel roads to get more hills into your ride, but even on the road, it appeared to be +200m of climbing per hour. Sure this is not very much when compared to hilly terrain, but compared to Winnipeg, this is hilly. More of this in 2 weeks when I have my 1 week of 2011 holidays. I know it's perverse to not have holidays, but can't really get picky when you're 30 and starting your career.

Tried to snap a photo of the bear #3 of this summer, but the bear was too fast and bears #4, #5 and #6 were having a lunch at the landfill and I didn't feel like going for photos. I haven't seen any bears in Canada before this summer and now I'm at #6.

Even Fat Will Bruise...

2011-07-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

Even fat will bruise if you bang it hard enough against Canadian shield. Had no idea that I may have hurt myself a bit until Sunday night/Monday morning, because the swollen bruises showed up bit late.

And that was pretty brutal experience on the trails of Falcon Ridge. It was +28 when we rolled out of the city at 9 AM and got to +30 when we got to Falcon Lake. I managed to miss the start by 5-7 minutes and did Top of the World trail as a fun rocky extra on my first lap because I can't really handle myself when there's actually options where to ride. I hammered the first lap pretty hard trying to catch up a little. On the second lap I started to feel the heat, humidity and too fast first lap. After the third lap, I had to visit the lake because I wasn't dealing that well with the heat. I did three more laps with lake pit stops every lap and decided to call it quits after seventh lap and couple of endos.

I went for a good long swim, had a beer, went to Northland Appliance Service dog fest and had a hotdog and some Half Pints...and another swim. This pit stop pulled me out of the hole and I decided to hit the trails again. Dave was kind enough to trash talk me into actually riding bit faster and I gave it a good effort. 24:39 later, and almost one hotdog lighter, I finished the lap and decided not to head out for that one last lap. The last laps, few more km's etc. seem to be asking for an accident. Instead I went for a swim and had couple of beers. Eight laps was less than I planned pre-race, but good enough considering how crappy I felt in the heat. I bet that it must have been +32 in the afternoon and in that heat I start to feel it even on the road let alone slow singletracks. I did finish DFL in 8h solo so there's only one way from here.

The fast guys were fast again, obviously. Dave was hammering consistent 25 min laps for 12 laps quitting early and finishing second to Trevor Allen. Trevor rides with Ergon24 Team and looked like a real rider (Dave looks like a real rider too but insists on riding fully rigid single or double speed that may slow him down a bit). Trevor took the 8h solo men win with 15 laps.

But c'mon...a dogfest with free Half Pints three hours before by time was up! There's only one thing that can happen to me, and that's a miserable failure in biking part of the event.

Tough guys and gals kept on riding after I switched to Kokanee mode. The trails are kind of difficult Keskuspuisto level in daylight and frickin' impossible at night, even if you throw ridiculous amounts of lumens at them. Don of course was out there, because he only does everything that involves suffering like a dog on a bicycle. JP and Alex Man were the two top dogs. Those guys did some 35 minute laps in the dark hours after 14 hours of riding!

I don't know how this would compare to some Finnish event because I've never done Tahko 120 or Finlandia MTB or other events. The singletrack is clearly more technical than what most XC races have but the longest "climb" is just 2 minutes long or so. I think one lap has some 100 meters of elevation gain with maybe three hills and some small bumbs.

Late night activities involved Big Lebowski screening, some bonfire, some beer drinking and harassing people who probably didn't want my company at least at that time. My team was fast asleep once I got to the tent after a hard day of swimming and torturing small animals found from the lake.

It was a good 24h or so at Falcon Lake. I may do this again next year, but can't let this become a habit. Moderation is the key here, but we all know how that works for me.

24/3

2011-07-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

I don't know what happened, but I registered to ride 8h on the trails in Falcon Ridge, the same trails that I was less than impressed last year. I'm not stupid enough to do the 24 Hours of Falcon Ridge, but I think 8h will kinda kick my ass more than I'm ready to handle. Well...If you can't win, just go longer.

We'll see how long I can stay on my MTB. On the road that would be an easy ride, but battling Canadian Shield on a MTB may be bit tougher.

Check it out http://www.24hoursoffalconridge.com/

We Have Good Shit And Then We Have That Other Shit

2011-07-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

That's right folks. There has been tons of that other shit going down in le Tour. Half (or more?) of the GC contenders are out with broken bones. But more importantly Vino crashed out of the race and may never race another pro race, and this is not a way to end a career. Yesterday he put in a good effort and made GC contender's teams to do some chasing (please do note that no GC contender was involved in pace making activities), but even Vino can't do a 3 meter drop on his road bike. If this wasn't enough, a French TV car took out Hoogerland and Flecha today in an effort that comes close to regular Winnipeg traffic. I wouldn't be surprised, if that car "driver" was some media studentinterntrainee from Winnipeg who couldn't keep his/her road rage under control any longer, because those fookin cyclists were riding side by side. But the car didn't manage to stop the two buggers from finishing the stage. Hoogerland was frickin cut into threads and they just stuffed the pieces in a new jersey and shorts and he hopped back on his bike to finish the stage. That my friends and foes was a brutal sign. I will not link the most X-rated photos here, but since a picture tells more than some words, I must link something here. Nuff said!

And that good shit. It's been really nice summer weather here. Nice summer weather doesn't always mean good training because +32 with high humidity kind of almost kills you out there on the prairies where there's no shadow. Even if I'm not feeling too good off the bike, on the bike stuff seems to go pretty well and this morning the +29 weather didn't even feel too bad so maybe I'm climatizing a bit. Maybe I will actually pull myself together and do a MTB race or two and get into some sort of 'cross shape.

But there was also some really good shit that went down over past couple of weeks or so. Manitoba riders did really well at nationals. Young Chris took gold in junior's criterium and got himself a spot in worlds selection pool c/w camp and Tour d'Abitibi. Don Sawatzky took two silver in masters 50+ road and ITT. Apparently the road performance was really really strong with Don bridging 1:30 gap to ITT winner, but unfortunately had to pay for his junior mistake in the sprint. Don doesn't always drop his chain, but when he does, he prefers to do it in nationals ;) Marian got silver in masters +50 crit and of course Leah Kirchmann won elite women's crit and took silver in U23 women road race. Nettie Neudorf took yet another gold in master women 40+ ITT. Other riders also got really good results.

Young Chris did a solid run at America's Dairy Land leading to nationals with podium and top-10 finishes in Cat 2/3. Apparently he did this on restricted 53x15 gear because he didn't have junior gear (52x14 I think) on his bike.

And now Karlee's winning stuff at BC Superweek Elite women races. Karlee has made huge progress this year and I'm sure she will keep improving as she's just 19 years young and doing her first year in Elite.

I do not know how talent feels like, but I can recognize talent when I see some. Though these young kids have so much talent that even a blind monkey would notice.

And I updated the price of my 2009 Giant TCR Advanced. I'm willing to part ways with the bike for $2,200.00 now. Other option would be $1,900.00 with new SRAM Rival groupo and option of either Reynolds wheels or Fulcrum Racing 7's. 3T aluminum bar and no pedals would drop the price to $1,800.00.

St. Malo Triathlon on Sunday

2011-06-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

Update: My plan fell through, and I didn't make it to St. Malo today. Give me a call if you're interested in the bike. Phone number is on For Sale page.

I will be going to my first ever triathlon race this Sunday and I have such high expectations of experiencing pain and suffering, well as a spectator that is. Actually this is the first endurance sporting event that I've attanded as a spectator since 2005. This is what happens when you allow yourself to become friends with people who have been subjected to triathlon. Triathlon friends are like a gateway drug. First you say hi and small talk with tri-people and BAM next thing you know you're walking the run leg of your 87th triathlon wearing manbra. Somehow I think that St. Malo Triathlon will be pretty awesome event though.

To make this even more awesome, I decided to announce a one day deal on my online garage sale. I'll bring my 2009 Giant TCR Advanced 0 to the race and will offer one day only race day deal on the bike. Buy my bike at the St. Malo triathlon for $2,300.

Sale is Still On

2011-06-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Sale is still on and this is just a pathetic attempt to draw more attention. I need to build that garage this summer and the basement should be finished too.

For Sale is Updated

2011-06-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

Check out my For Sale section. Time to purge my bikes stuff.

Training, Crashes and Waiting for the Summer.

2011-05-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

I did something that I have not done for very long time. I went out for an endurance ride and actually managed to keep riding for 3 hours. It was actually fun to just cruise around and not torture myself. This kind of training is something that many consider to be the cornerstone of cycling training, and maybe it is. Pros are that this is very easy and kind of relaxing and these are good for burning calories (or joules). Cons are that this takes lots of time. Doing these in Manitoba suck big time though because you need to ride 100 km or so and that's pretty much the entire paved road network in this province. Maybe I should try long rides on a MTB, but I don't have a powermeter on my MTB, and if you can't record your ride properly, it doesn't actually happen.

There were some races too. Actually three (3) races in a week here in Manitoba and all of them were within 30 min drive from my house. This is rather exceptional. I wanna say that I sucked big time, but I think the youngsters are actually getting fast and staying upright on their bikes. I think some of these kids would do pretty well in cycling, or at least should try their hand in this game, but it might be kinda hard, because the path of a Canadian kid goes from high school to university to marriage/work to grave, and there's roughly 2 weeks in between each stage of what may be called life. I'm not even shitting you too much here. There is some effort made by CCA to offer some sort of a program to these kids, and some seem to think that it's the best thing since sliced bread. I have my opinion about this, but I think, I better keep it to myself.

There was also a crash at the race on Sunday. Something like a front wheel and a rear derailleur got broken, so retail value of $2,300 down the drain right there plus some broken bones. The "funny" thing is that all this happened some 300 meters into the race. Sure it was a really short race, but I would have held something back.

My plan is to go and do the two geezer races in Minneapolis next weekend and go back to work super tired on Monday after. If the races are fast and if I do good there, I may think about flying to Toronto for June 26th, but I think that's a really long shot. I would rather pack the famiglia in a plane and fly to the old country.

And I still have few "thoughtfull" blog post drafts in the works. I need to feed my though with few more alcoholic beverages to finish these posts.

MTB This Weekend

2011-05-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

I think it snowed today. It's May 13th. Nuf said?

I'm planning to do the MTB race this weekend, if I can get myself to install a new rear derailleur cable on my MTB. It's the Grand Beach race so it will be sand and singletrack. Or I have not registered yet so it's not 100% certain. There is a hockey worlds final between Finland and Sweden, the classic between Uggly Duckling and Gladstone Gander. Remembering the -95 battle, like it happened 16 years ago, there might be too much at stake for me to miss the game. North American readers may not be aware, but there is actually ice hockey world championships tournament going on right now...it's where the Stanley Cup losers go before hitting the country club bar. But yeah, I may be doing the MTB race on Sunday.

On a different note. As we all know, there was a huge tragedy in the Giro this week. The death of Wouter Weylandt's appeared to hit home for more people than Casartelli's or Kivilev's deaths. Maybe this is due to more extensive media coverage or maybe because safety is in the spotlight on all walks of life. Many comments were about the course being too dangerous and blaming the organizer for putting the racers in harms way to gain more publicity in competition with the almighty Tour. The accident happened on a closed road. Usually cyclists ride that road with normal traffic. The risks are always there so be safe guys and gals.

Road Racing is Dying in Winnipeg

2011-05-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

So weeknight criteriums will not be organized in Assiniboine Park this summer. Two years ago road racing was effectively banned at Bird's Hill Park, on a circuit that got re-paved mostly thanks to being a road cycling venue for 1999 Pan-Am games. It is basically impossible to organize races inside the city limits due to ridiculous permit costs. Last time I looked into this, it was 7000 dollars to run a criterium at an industrial park on Sunday with no full road closures (this industrial park is deserted on weekends, but I guess the park is reserved for teens street racing in their cars). I sure hope that events, that shut down downtown streets, are paying permits that are in line with 7,000 industrial park permit fee. Closing down Broadway costs at least 50,000 right? Sure the cycling community is tiny in this city, but then again we ask very little, but even that appears to be too much. Then again a safe venue, like Assiniboine Park, has allowed the participation numbers to increase. It's not that we're asking for a new velodrome paid for by tax money, we ask to be allowed to organize our events on streets that we pay for already...hell, we even patch pot holes when we organize races. I would be pretty happy if we would be allowed to organize road races at decent hours (not having to be off the road by 10 AM) at Bird's Hill Park, Criteriums at industrial parks on weekends and weeknight training criteriums at Assiniboine Park.

Billion(s) of tax dollars are poured into different recreational facilities in this city of which most expensive ones get to be used by select few. There just is no place for cyclists in this city and I guess this is getting official. If you want to road race, you need to drive to Minnesota, Wisconsin or Saskatchewan.

This will make it to my list of why not to stay in Winnipeg.
_______________________

Eli paikalliset viranomaiset menivät kieltämään viimeisenkin kaupungissa tai kaupungin lähellä tapahtuvan maantiepyöräilykilpailun. Tietenkin rahalla saa, mutta 50-70 kuskin kisojen "tuloilla" ei paljon maksella mitään 7000 dollarin lupamaksuja aution teollisuusalueen teiden käytöstä. Tähän taisi loppua maantiepyöräily Manitobassa, eli ensi kaudella ei varmaan kannata edes vaivautua suunnittelemaan kisakalenteria.

Tämä on sitä oikeaa pyöräilyn kehitysmaata. Tämä ei ainakaan paranna tämän slummin osakkeita mun listalla.

Bike Tuning, Part 1

2011-04-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

Melissa needs a ride too because Jake the Snake just won't cut it anymore. JTS donated some parts to this TCR and the first upgrade is ~1100g crabon fribe wheelset. Next to go are saddle and seatpost.

Light wheels for those climbing days.

Bike is not a bike without a powertap.

My mechanic thinks that yellow swiss stop pads would work better than overpriced TRP pads.

Grrrrravel

2011-04-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

Pretty chilly it was. The mountains of Manitoba were covered in snow and there were tire tracks in the sleet to be ridden. It was like riding a moped or booty call with ugly chick/guy, most of us have done it before, but would rather not do it again.

Unfortunately the biggest hill, le cote du winnipeg jets, was not part of the course due to road closures. The soggy gravel was kinda enough though. Had to ride the cross bike but managed to sneak over the finish line first.

MB Mountains

It wasn't that bad. Less snow than in November when I did my last race of 2010

Jar of gravel trophy. Should have been limestone and mud mixture with some pork poop added

--------------
This is the post I tried to do on my phone, but it just didn't work.

Now there's no races in horizon so we'll see what will happen. I'm planning on riding to the cabin tomorrow, but it does look bit wet for longer ride.

Ultimatum and Spring Classics

2011-04-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

So what the hell happened last Sunday? JV was stuck to his racing for 4th GT mode? There was no frickin' ITT or mountain stage on Monday! What was Hushovd doing driving the peloton on Haaghoek before he got kicked out the back door? Better ban the radio because I'm sure Thor didn't come up with that idea on his own.

Oh well. Superteam got their arse handed over to them but the classics team, that has delivered for the past...what...15 years, almost did it again. That almost was because of Nick Nyens. I can relate to that guy...not so much the handsome devil that got my wife following cycling and is apparently the superman of cycling. There's nothing like the underdog or semi-underdog stealing the show and I'm all for that. Hells yes, another show like that again on Sunday. Actually Boonen winning would be pretty good, but I think it will be Langeweld's turn.

But I was watching de Ronde with Ajokoira last Sunday and it turned out that he used to be a very handy sprinter back in his day. He told me that he was battling it out in the sprints with Djamolidine Abdoujaparov back in the 80's in Baltic Sea Friendship Race. This to me is very surprising, not only because I thought Ajokoira was my age, but also because I have reliable sources telling me that Ajokoira learnt to ride his bike at the age of 12. He does have unbelievable skill to call every single attack etc. some 1-2 minutes before it actually happens, but I think it might be just lucky drunk guesses.

But here in our little duck pond, it has been nice and warm. Just trying to figure out what to do this summer. No racing allowed on paved surfaces here in sport's hinterlands, or land of curling, as the locals call this country. Actually, I would hazard a guess, that no outdoor activities allowed, unless you're getting driven to them in a Volvo. Canadians being outdoorsy people is a bigger myth than Santa living in North Pole. I was in BHP the other weekend and I knew 90% of the people by first name and the thing is, that I can't remember people's names. Not so good if you're trying to build relationships for living.

On a semi-related note. My asset manager sent me a memo, that all the stuff, that I don't use on regular basis, must go. So if I don't go to work in the morning, I'm deemed to hit the basement and make a list of all the stuff that I don't use. I'm supposed to put this list on my blog and price everything to sell ASAP. I have everything from frames to brake pads. I'm not too sure if I can inventory everything, but I'll do my best. Paypal works and I'll ship internationally.

The Big Ones

2011-03-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

The big spring races are coming with Tour of Flanders or Ronde van Vlaanderen really opening the game. Blogs are blogging and tv is televising about this one and about the next couple of weeks of spring classics. Every self respecting blogger must create new expressions by mixing their respective native languages with dutch. It's big amongst the wannabe tough men of the sport of cycling and frickin' huge in Belgium. There are the talk shows on every night with big name favorites and local hopefuls. Newspaper pages are covered with speculation and interviews, and the crazy cycling fans stalk the stars in rain or shine.

The strong guys are Cancellara, Boonen and Gilbert, with Goss, Flecha, O'Grady and Langeveld as the outside favorites on my list. The weather may play a role, but I think rain would just widen the gap between the strongest and the rest. At the moment Cancellara seems strongest, but I would not count out the others. Lepperd Trek is not that strong team, but O'Grady may turn into a super domestique...or get away from the favorites looking at each other.

It will be a 4,5-5 hour show on Sunday and the biggest question on people's lips is, "where to find a stream that works?". I won't tell you even if I find one, because I don't want you there messing up my stream.

I personally really like riding in Belgium and don't mind the cobbles. Racing is lots of fun if you're in good form, and in my opinion, you haven't really experienced road racing if you haven't raced in Belgium.

Spring is Still Just Around the Corner

2011-03-26T05:31:00.000-07:00

I'm still anxiously waiting for above freezing temperatures to make it to Canadian mid-west. It did look good for a while, but right now we're sitting at -12. Of course the flood is coming too and this means that many roads will be underwater, once the weather actually warms up enough to allow water to stay in liquid form. This whole weather thing is getting to me.

But it's that time of the month that normally I would start ramping up volume as I would start riding outside. My approach is reverse compared to the traditional system where you do more miles in the winter, mostly at lower intensities. I do mostly tempo/sweet spot/threshold in the winter and add the volume once I can ride outside on my road bike. This is because I need more time working on my tempo/threshold than getting myself used to spending time on the bike. I've found out that two or three 4-5 h rides make quite a big impact on my ability to do longer races, but the returns of these rides diminish fast and doing more of these rides seems to not help me much. Once the weather gets nicer and evenings lighter I add volume. By volume I mean that I do 3-4 x 20' instead of the trainer drill of 2 x 20' or 90' tempo instead of 60' tempo and so on.

Sure all this adds the time at "endurance" intensities as well and just getting out of city takes 20 minutes or so. Don't get me wrong, there are no +15 hour weeks for me anymore, 12 hours is a huge week. Would be cool to run an experiment and see what racking bigger hours would do now, but with a job and a family, I just don't have the time to average 15 hours over the winter. And quite frankly, 3 hours XC ski in -25 sucks so bad that I would probably quit the experiment after a week.

And another crazy idea I had the other day. Maybe I will take some coaching classes and look into that area and see if someone wants my training programs. The obstacle seems to be that the competition basic course isn't offered that often. Or maybe I would need to take community initiation course to get started, and that would suck. The new NCCP system seems to be even more warm and fuzzy than before. You know...they all need to feel like winners. It's all good, but I'm more interested in competitive side of things and trying to train to become stronger/faster rider.

But now I need to get back to my morning routines of watching spring classics on my TV. You would think that on this day and age, there would be a reliable pay service that you could watch these races on. Cycling TV I hear someone shout? Yeah right, they don't even cover these races and after experiencing their unacceptable service couple of years ago, they really need to convince me that they are worth my money. Luckily I can get this race, probably in HD, later today.

To lighten up the tone and wrap this post up. I feel much better about my uni-brow now. Shave the uni-brow! I have also seen better choices of business name. No I don't mean the bearing company FAG.

Thanks for cycling inquisition for pointing me to this.

Spring is Coming and New Bike Stuff

2011-03-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

Spring is almost here, or at least just 2-3 blizzards of biblical proportions away. So only couple of short weeks of poor glide and we'll hit 2011/2012 winter. What this means for all us bike dorks is that you really need to get all the gear ready for non-snow season. I've been working hard to spec the new whip for the summer and I think I have everything sorted out. I'm not too sure about the geometry, but it should be OK. Below is the photo of the bike with stock factory spec.

Fully spec'd this whip will have a bell and a basket.

It's surprisingly difficult to find an aesthetically pleasing little kids bike and Specialized doesn't bring this bike to Canada. In words of one LBS "who wants to buy a 200 dollar kids bike?" Well I do, because I'm a tool and I'm in progress of spoiling our little lady. You know that you should start teaching your kid to ride a bike preferably before they can talk so that they can't really express their opinion in the torture your putting them through.

Other than this. Bit of a training break threw a wrench in my finely tuned training machine. This was probably for the best because the walls and ceiling start closing in on you in March after four months of indoor training. It's not that I wouldn't run into some sort of obstacles in February-March as the spring just can't come fast enough, so I don't worry too much about this. And as a training tip, if you miss a week or two or even three of your normal training, you'll probably get this lost time back within couple of weeks after resuming more regular training.

I changed to a new team/club for this year too. I'll be riding with Lifesport, the most polish cycling club in Winnipeg. Daniel also moved over to Lifesport so it will be small team there. Plan is to travel to Minneapolis and/or Wisconsin with these guys to do some weekend racing this year. We'll see what happens with my plans this year. Typically most of my cycling plans get revamped big time during the season and I end up not racing when I'm in some sort of shape. I think I'll skip the Bikes on Broadway because that race is really just an ITT. There's better races in Wisconsin that same weekend and probably in much nicer weather...and I can camouflage this trip to look like IKEA shopping trip ;)

Friday Rant (and XC ski ninja)

2011-02-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the week again. It's Friday night and I'm convincing myself, that the little lady is going to sleep in and not wake up at 6:45 AM, as she has done every single Saturday for the past 18 months.

I've been trying to keep up with the latest gossip, but Kimmage's Landis interview and Cyclocosm blog are too much to handle for this time crunched cyclist. I'm sticking to BSNYC blog...at least that makes me smirk in self-contained Finnish way. The opposite for a finn is of course to grip his/her fist in his/her pocket. Only thing that may outrage a finn is a swede showing off in his dad's Volvo.

Well anyway. I went skiing last night since the weather was quite nice. It was nice to have some decent glide on the trails. But then suddenly, a ski ninja approached fast and I just had to hop off the trail to let him pass. He was clad in black and wore a black balaclava over his (her?) face. This is why I believe he/she was a ninja, because only an xc ski ninja would cover his face in such a warm weather. The ninja was skiing super weird ninja wassberg (skiing term for one skate double poll). Almost deep squatting on both kicks and moving sideways at least as much as forward. Him being xc ski ninja is my only explanation...or maybe it was Don.

Anyway, need to see of there's some cycling coverage online tomorrow.

Chasing Legends, or something

2011-02-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

I heard that Silver City Polo Park is playing a cycling documentary tomorrow. It's the Chasing Legends clip about HTC-Columbia and 2009 Tour and specifically following Mark Cavendish a.k.a. Boy Racer a.k.a. Cry Boy a.k.a. Manx Missile. If it would be a documentary of an off-season beach holiday of Fabian & Andy, Melissa would probably force me to go, but since in all our bike geekiness we both dislike Mr. Cav, I can avoid this one. I guess Silver City didn't really think about the huge demographic group of 30 year old cyclist Finns living in Winnipeg when picking their feature doc. I may need not to get this on DVD either, for the fear of smashing my TV with a floorpump, since I may have similar allergic reactions to this than I have to Bobke...except the photo where his crashing on cobbles. But have fun if you're going. I will stroke my purist ego by watching 1983 Paris-Roubaix.

And I was watching some early season racing today on a trainer. WTF is wrong with the new jerseys? Have all the teams bought their design services from Rapha?

New Year Old Tricks

2011-01-14T18:36:00.000-08:00

Yeah...back at it again. Punishing the trainer, while watching 2006 Ronde, like it was a paying gig. I'm quite certain, that this kind of activities, are best kept in the basement, out of sight of normal pick-up driving sweat pant wearing meat and potatoes type who live next door to me. I've even gone skiing twice as many times as last winter so I'm getting to the point were I can actually start skiing.

Or maybe I just think that I'm doing something. Dicking around couple of days a week hardly counts as training. I should put in solid 5 day training weeks pretty much every week, but the winter funk is also getting closer and that means that 2 days a week would be a good week. The girth of my well fed body suggests that more would be better. Maybe I do need the noodling-around-flailing-my-legs-for-hours-on-end type of training just to keep me away from the fridge. This would be all good and well, but this sort of rides here in the prairies would be close to DIY lobotomy due to somewhat featureless landscape.

Anyhow, I got two training sessions in this weekend because our Saturday night plan fell through and I did not have a hangover on Sunday. When you get a chance to go out once every frickin 6 months without the guaranteed 7 AM wake-up, missed training session would be a small price to pay for an angry hangover.

I'm using GC now that I'm cool member of the Apple cult, but below is my Saturday's ride. Sunday's ride looks like a copy of this, but I managed to spend bit more time on the trainer.

The reason for a slow start was my plan to try to put in a solid 60 min interval, but I chickened out after 15 minutes.

Ambiance Verzekerd!

2010-12-08T19:36:00.000-08:00

Well ambiance verzekerd indeed. I saw this commercial of an awesome CD collection of Superprestige (presumably belgian CX scene in general) hits during Superprestige coverage and was forced to check this one out. This collection is too good, I mean, a truly versatile collection of quality music. Somehow this reminds me of walking down the streets of El Arenal in Mallorca past all this German watering holes. You only need to add copious amounts of alcohol and this music collection will hit like million volts. This one is a must have christmas gift for all cross lovers!

You can listen to samples of each track right here.

You can thank me for sharing this with you by sending me single malt scotch beverages or alternatively Belgian beer.

Nordic Cross Pre-game

2010-11-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

Anyone interested in Nordic Cross Pre-Gaming at Elmwood Park c/w bonfire and beverages on my back yard? I have stuff to burn!

Minnesota Cyclocross Championships Report

2010-11-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

So I ended up heading to Twin Cities (a.k.a. IKEA) for the memorial day long weekend with my team. There were others heading out to US for the weekend and Pembina border crossing had probably 300 cars lined up to cross the border once we got there. We chose to pull a U-turn and use the Lancaster border crossing and after my usual 3rd degree by the friendly TSA official, we headed towards the MPLS-St. Paul. Our hotel was tactically located by the MOA and IKEA and we spent the Friday running around shopping. On Friday evening we went to pick-up the numbers at the Angry Catfish Bicycle + Coffee Of course we were early and were kindly advised to grab our dinner at the awesome neighborhood pub called Buster's on 28th. I highly recommend to visit both places during your next visit in Minneapolis. Buster's has some 34 different kinds of beer on tap and bottled stuff on top of that...nuf said?

Saturday morning dawned with a decent snow storm. Here in Winnipeg that would count as a nice summer day. I think it was good 10-15 cm of wet snow . I had a hearty breakfast at the International Pancake House or IHOP. This was truly a breakfast of champions. Had to run back to Columbia store at MOA to get some more winter clothing and those guys seemed to be happy to see us suckers knocking on their door at 10 AM.

This was probably my first race since...I don't know...2005, that I actually got to the race well in time. It did not look too good because it was just a muddy singletrack snaking through the snow. There were guys warming-up on trainers, prepping their pit wheels and bikes and so on. No one was impressed by my awesome black shiny carbon wheels. I felt almost as awkward as in -98 or -01 when I headed to way too deep waters to race.

So it was time. It was time to head to the start and it was to be call-up. I tried to do some jumping and look like I knew what I was about to get myself into. The fast guys got called up first, and I got called-up as the 34th rider. I think I was in 5th row. The commissaire didn't waste any time and blew the whistle to send us off...And WTF! guys are running straight from the gun? OK...shoulder my bike and switch to gallop through the snow. Madness ensues and at the end of that I find myself on maybe 20th spot. After the start, it was riding nicely in line because there were no spots to pass. The leaders got away on the first lap and the race was pretty much over for the guys who missed the top-5 by the end of the lap 1. After that it was a good ride taking things easy and enjoying the winter weather. I ended up finishing at 15th spot and I guess that was OK. It was all good though. I'll come back next year.

We hit the IKEA after the race and loaded our truck with particle board. The next morning I woke up with the nasty flu and I still had to drive 600km back home. The return across the border was much easier that there was no line-up on 59 crossing.

I think I'll do Minnesota Cyclocross Championships next year ass well.

Minnesota CX Champs on Kare11

2010-11-15T16:54:00.001-08:00

See...I'm not the only nut job out there!

The weather looks like a bike race

2010-11-13T06:33:00.001-08:00

Picture says more than 1000 words. It's still 4 hours...so 10 cm until the start.

Posted with iPhone.

Minnesota 'cross Championships

2010-11-12T16:43:00.001-08:00

Throat getting sore, feeling bit tired and even feverish...there must be a race tomorrow. Final preparation at Mall of America and other retail settings went according to plan though.

Weather forecast is calling for snow and high of 36 F. Should be good times. Now to filling my tummy with greasy food and beer. This place Buster's on 28th is a pretty cool neighborhood pub. 28 different brews on tap and good greasy food. Kwak on tap is more of a sign for me...

To chase this one, you might consider this...

Täältä tähän.

Posted with iPhone.

CXMB Provincials Re-cap

2010-11-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

I was driving to Windsor Park on Saturday thinking, "grass crit or something else, grass crit or something gnarlier, grass crit or something mean...". Well...it wasn't a Wildwood style grass crit, but I wasn't 100% certain of that before the second race on Sunday. I was hoping for snow, but in hindsight, it was good that it was a nice dry +15 degree day.

Citizen's race had disappointing turn out with only six riders. Citizen's didn't seem to have too much trouble negotiating the obstacles on the course. Kids race skipped the tough stuff alltogether so that went all smooth and there were some pretty fierce battles between the riders during that race. Masters +40/Women/U17 start showed the true face of the course throwing riders off their bikes, over the handlebars and generally beat riders and bikes up. Don "The Punisher" Sawatzky put the hammer down from the gun and the race was for second spot. Don even had time to cut his calve en route to victory and was sent to hospital for stitches. (mental note: add stitching supplies to medical kit). That guy is f*** 50! I think he should book his holiday next year so that he could do some masters racing in Europe. Last race was about to hit somewhat worn course but that didn't seem to slow things down much. Craig took the lead from the start being trailed by JP and Tristan. Tristan had given in to the temptation of shiftiness and was running gears. Craig started fading away a bit and Tristan launched his attack from 15 seconds behind passing JP and Craig and never looking back. The dark lords Craig and JP were battling it out for a while but at the end Craig pulled away. Less carnage during the last race so that was good.

And then my favorite photo of the event.

Tomek doing who knows what...photo stolen off Olympia Club Blog.

Next weekend. Minnesota Cross Champs in Minneapolis and mindless shopping at Mall of America and Ikea. Should be good times...I hope not to get lapped. Grand Forks guys are organizing some races too so if it works out OK, might stop there on my way home for a quick boot.

CX Provincials 2010/2011 Update

2010-11-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

Five more sleeps to go!

The final prizing will be confirmed later this week...maybe as late as on Sunday. You never know what kind of primes etc. spectators come up with.

Lesson Learnt

2010-10-30T17:24:00.001-07:00

Next time you're pondering whether to race or not, just frickin do it! I was close to not going today, but dragged my arse to Harborview even to get a training ride in.

It was long, uncomfortable and unusual punishment, but definitely worth it because I went home with these two hot almost identical twins. And believe me when i say they're hot! Not like Jessica Alba or the chick next door hot, but hot regardless.

My mechanic checking the hubs and build quality.

Posted with iPhone.

Cyclocros Provincials 2010/2011

2010-10-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

It's only two weeks till the 2010/2011 cyclocross provincials. I hope you're all sharpening your teeth and oiling the chain for the battle. Normally people go to Windsor Park to play golf or to ski, but this time it will be the venue for Manitoba CX provincials. The course will be bit hard and a tad technical, when it's dry, and quite a bit tougher if we get snow.

The partners have really stepped up and with the help of Woodcock Cycle Works, Kona, Chrome, Felt, Giant, Lambert and Norco have been secured as the sponsors for this race. Oh yeah...there will be the glory and medals up for grabs as well.

See below for more details.
_____________________

Date: November 7, 2010

Location: Windsor Park Golf Course/King George Park, 10 Des Meurons, Winnipeg, MB

Times: (Remember that daylight savings goes into effect on this day):

Citizen race at noon 12 PM, 20 min + 2 laps
Kids U13 race at 12:45 PM, 10 min +2 laps (modified course)
U15, U17, All Women, Men 40+, Men 50+ - 1:15 PM (35 min + 2 laps)
Junior Men U23, Senior Men, Men 30+ - 2:30 PM (45 min + 2 laps)

Registration: Registration opens at 11:00 AM and ends 30 minutes before your event. You must hold a UCI/CCA racing licence, MCA citizen licence or KOM licence. Registration forms will be available online and at registration. Please download the form and waiver, fill out and bring the completed form and waiver to the race.

Cost: $15 for U15 and above. Free for U13 and citizens holding a MCA citizen license. Cash and cheque only. Make cheques out to the Woodcock Cycle

Categories: The provincial championships are based on age. Because cyclocross is on next year’s calendar, the age category you race in is based on your age as of December 31, 2011. Additional categories may be added based on registration numbers.

Prizes: Medals to be awarded to each license category top 3. Additional prizing will be awarded for each start, male and female. Additional prizing is based on registration numbers. You must be present to receive prizing.

Race Course: The course will be between 2.5 and 2.8 km. There will be a double barrier, two ditch crossings, grass, some paved sections and gravel path sections. There will be a single wheel pit. Race course will be completely marked by 11:30 AM on November 7th.

Race Regulations: The race will be held under the Manitoba Cycling/CCA/UCI rules. All riders are required to wear a hard-shell ANSI or SNELL approved helmet while racing, warming up, and cooling down. For more details, see MCA website at www.mbcycling.ca

Parking: Parking is available on the King George Park parking lot.

Washrooms: Washrooms will be at Windsor Park Golf Course Club House and will be open 11 AM - 5 PM.

Extra: Cow bells available at the sign in.

The park is a public area. Marshals do not have authority to prevent people from entering. Keep your head up at all times. Be courteous to all park users.

Absolutely no muddy shoes inside the Club House. Also make sure that in case the race course is very muddy that you won't carry mud on your clothes into the Club House.

No riding on the golf course.

Cyclocross GP Weekend Re-cap & Provincials Coming Up

2010-10-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

So another weekend is behind us and it turned out to be pretty good one...or actually an excellent weekend with awesome racing and good result for myself. The prices were awesome as well so now I have a super loud Moen bell and a glass suitable for having just two beers.

St. Malo course was nasty with a big run-up and long long looooong sand section on the beach. The fast corners were bit too much for my narrow rims and clinchers that tried to roll of the rims. Next year...build stairs on that run-up, or have two stair run-ups, or some nasty off camber stuff on that bank. The weather was nice, I like the +10 C weather for 'cross especially when it's dry. Next year again and little bit bigger with more people.

The run-up

Southern Cross didn't fail this year either. I missed most of the earlier action because I was running bit late, but it was at least as awesome as always. The course was really long though and I think B-start was doing +10 minute laps. I think we climbed up the hill twice a lap and the ABES guys had arranged a moving barrier in form of a feral cat. The cat wasn't afraid at all. He was more like ready to rip our eyes out than run away. I'm sure Samantha could pwn that kitty though. Well, at the end I was able to fend of Paul's comeback attempt and avoid running into any of the heckling spectators on the hill. Long lap was kinda nice though because there was no lapping of the slower riders. And post-race was as good as always. Special Southern Cross beer, farmer's sausage burgers etc. Maybe kids and B-race should be run at the same time to shorten the schedule a bit?

Photo of the day

But next it's gearing towards the provincials. I'll be organizing that race and I finally confirmed the venue. It will be a good one at Windsor Park Golf Course. I guess it's time to step things up a notch to match the other races. But it will be November 7th at Windsor Park Golf Course. Stay tuned for more details.

Southern Cross 2010

2010-10-17T20:45:00.001-07:00

Another edition of Southern Cross took place today. Since the grand old man had to be in Cleveland, the junior sidekick had to step in. The outcome was unexpected, but satisfying, as was the grand prix of Half Pints IPA.

Those Altonanians sure know how to organize a good race.

Posted with iPhone.

New Gear

2010-10-17T10:33:00.001-07:00

Just got my (Melissa's) new rims in last week and my mechanic couldn't keep her hands off them.

They should build into a nice light wheelset.

Posted with iPhone.

Decision Decisions...

2010-10-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

OK...So I got my arse handed over to me for the second weekend in a row. Something must be done about this since I heard that there is actually some prices available for the fastest MB cross cup racer. I was prepared for the usual draw price action and as we all very well know, I've used all my luck already and from now on need to resort to skill. Or skill that I should have accumulated over the years of abusing the luck. I have heard from very reliable source (Google) that riding your bike may actually improve your ability to ride a bike, hence I will give this a try. I have been off the bike for good three weeks except the 'cross races and that may very well play a bit of a minor role in my resent state of inferiority.

Otherwise things are going pretty good. I've been too busy art work to have too many lunch breaks so I've managed to keep the weight somewhat reasonable. Leaving home at 7 AM and getting back home after 6 PM, with the darkness agonizingly inching closer and closer at both ends, does not make things easier. I'm in no rush going into the pain cave to torture myself, but then again, those blood thirsty pick-ups on Henderson are pretty scary as well.

I have this strange feeling, that Ajokoira (the hound? It just does not translate) may be packing his bags in Finland and planning a trip to Winnipeg. Ajokoira does not have too many riding buddies in Finland after much of the original posse has hung up their wheels at least for now.

And I got some goodies from the old country. Some dutch Edam, Brugse Zot and this delicious stuff called speculoos spread. This north American food just is not good for me.

Menno Cross 2010

2010-09-25T20:16:00.001-07:00

So when Melissa comes home from work at 1:30, and asks if the race is today or tomorrow, and I'm like "ummm...tomorrow", it's kind of not good thing because the race in question was today and my start was at 2:30. Any who I made it to the race in time and got tools to tighten my cleat (thanks Gary) and rolled to the start line just in time for start. Not pre-riding the race course was probably for the best.

Blogger decided to crap on my report so this would be it for now. No time to re-type everything. Thanks Blogger!

Continued...

I didn't have time to see the B race, huge as last weekend, that destroyed the race course for us. I was expecting to see Daniel and Murray there, but neither showed up.

So I got to CMU, Canadian Mennonite University or something, 10 minutes before the start. Got tools to tighten my cleat from Gary, thanks Gary, and rolled to the start where the other appeared to be lined up already. Didn't pre-ride the course and that was probably for the best, might have chickened out otherwise. I took the start easy, because I figured, that there was lots of time...how wrong was I. Once we left the short gravel start, I sunk in the mud while Paul and the others disappeared into the horizon. To make things worse, my cleat came loose on second lap and I had to stop at my car to fix the cleat. Once I got rolling again, I was in last spot, 30 seconds behind the next rider. So yeah...didn't look too good. Lap after lap went by, I crashed every now and then, but it was pretty good. Two laps to go, an evil stick hiding in the mud, decided to hop up and destroy my rear derailleur. Quick and brutal repair operation got me going on single speed and I finished my race. These muddy races are pretty eventful for me.

It was good times regardless and I must have had good times because I'm smiling in most of the photos. Race was good but pretty nasty slog fest. How nice would it be to have a mechanic handing clean bikes every lap and have gears, brakes and other not cool or trendy or HC or credible features on your bike. Post-race food was again a nice extra.

I'll say one more thing. There will be mud this season.

More can be found here here here and here with results.

Wildwood Recap

2010-09-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

Time for a recap, it was pretty awesome...even spectacular, to see so many riders out for the 'cross season opener. I think it was 65 licensed riders which is more than I'm used to seeing at these MB races. On top of this there were some new novice talent and kids making it 80 in total.

The race course was pretty much the same than before with some modifications. The jump was bit of an extra and at least that helped people take pretty cool photos. And the most spectacular crash was thanks to the jump as well...hope you're OK Dave.

Racing itself...B start was massive. I followed the group on the first lap and couldn't see the lead rider on the first straight. I don't think that I've seen a start of 40+ riders in Manitoba 'cross ever before. To me it appeared that people had good times.

A start was rather large as well with 25 riders. A race was big enough to actually create some traffic at the first hill making the hill a run up. The course was fast and fun, and even those with mechanical issues, seemed not too disgruntled.

Wildwood race results can be found on MB Cycling website

Unfortunately I have no photos to show because I was busy setting up the race course, riding with the kids race and tearing down all the tape. It was an excellent start of the 'cross season though and by far the best Wildwood race I've organized so far.

Next weekend's Menno Cross will certainly one up Wildwood. I wouldn't be surprised to see over 100 riders there. The weather is supposed to be very nice and the FGBC guys are/have been working hard to put together a great event. Poster below and check out the website mennocross.ca

Manitoba Cyclocross 2010

2010-09-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen!!! It's Time!!!

Manitoba cyclocross season is just one week away and I'm sure that all the parties involved have been gluing their tubulars and sharpening their teeth for this one. And again this year there will be participation series, all the usual classics like Belgian Club, Altona and Whittier Park. In addition to the guaranteed good stuff, there are new venues and for sure new racers waiting to experience what all the fuzz is all about.

During some moment of weakness, I again put my name down for organizing duties and my race at Wildwood will kick off the season and I will also organize the provincials. All this is with the help of Woodcock Cycle Works and the trusted group of friends helping out with the race.

So first things first. Below are the specs for the Wildwood Cross 2010.

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Woodcock Cycle Wildwood Cyclocross, CX series #1

September 18

The first race of the Manitoba Cyclocross series will be held at Wildwood Park, 271 North Drive, Winnipeg, MB.

Race course is the tested lung burner/leg buster in Wildwood Park along the Red River. Races will be fast and furious, the perfect way to get up to cyclocross speed. This is also the first race of the CXMB participation series. More info on CXMB blog.

Light food, fruit and water are available for all racers.

Race prizing to be awarded after all races are complete. You must be present to accept your prize.

Registration from 1:30pm - 3 pm at the Wildwood Community Club, washroom facilities located here. Parking on the North Drive gravel shoulder.

Registration $15, novice riders and kids under 16 race for free.

Races starts at 2pm B Race - 2pm, 30min + 2 laps

Kids Race - 3pm, approximately 15min + 1 lap (modified course)

A Race - 3:30pm, 45min + 2 laps

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Next one will be the provincials on November 7th at Windsor Park

Late July Update

2010-07-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

It's July 20th. I was just about to type an update but my wifey parked the truck on the street...some other date...

Superweek

2010-07-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

So the juniors are going strong down in Wisconsin/Illinois. Jess is leading the Cat. 3 points while Chris and Blake are up there as well. This is good news because provincials should be a tough race with these guys getting the Superweek boost right before the grand Manitoba Road Provincials. Karlee is kicking butt even bigger time taking a win, leading the amateur ranking and doing really well in sprints. Oh yeah...she's only 19. I think cycling may be the stronger sport for her.

Le Tour de France Deux Mille Dix

2010-07-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

I need to stop doing this. I mean typing almost entire post and then leaving it for couple of weeks. I typed the stuff below on July 1 (I think) and now it doesn't feel right to finish it.

I really want to get that serious post about differences between NA and European cycling and differences in training philosophy. Not a pro level insight, but stuff that I think are different.

---------------------
See I'm fluent in french. I just need to switch gears from watching football to watching cycling...I like watching football just as much as I like watching the Tour, so not that much but I can't miss these either. However I've been enjoying the World Cup much more than ever before and hopefully the Tour will be more than waiting to see if someone has a bad day or not. I wanna see some fireworks!

So the Tour starts on Saturday. I was really hoping to be there in R'dam to watch the prologue and see the cross wind blow the peloton in pieces on first stage. I only lived in Rotterdam for couple of months, but it is probably one of the coolest places on earth and it will be insane this weekend and has a special place in my heart. After all the strange chain of events, that lead into me suffering from temporary loss of mental sanity and that in turn got me to decide to move to Canadian prairies, started in Rotterdam. So in short I really wanted to stop over in Holland on my way to Finland this summer. However my job keeps me here in the hinterlands of road cycling for one more month, where I'm dependent on the crumbs that Bob Roll is kind enough to share with the lower beings such as myself. I will take it though and ask for more. In this case more would be the $15 versus app for your iPhone. You can watch the race on your iPhone...like p0nr for bike geeks. Just a word of caution though, this might seriously hinder your input at work and I take no responsibility if you get yourself fired staring at the 4" screen. Check it out on Versus website

Here at my end I had a rough rough ride today. I was planning to go for my training ride early in the morning but diaper changing, booking flights, phoning family back in old country etc. delayed my start and I got out at around 2PM. I planned on doing 5 x 5' at around 112-117% FTP and ride for less than 2 hours. I should have known better when I saw the temperature being 31-32 C heading out. The first 5' went fine, the second not so smoothly and during the third one, I hit the wall. OK I might have overcooked a bit on the first one, but still, I had to stop to rest. Haven't even almost puked for long time on training rides but this time was rough...holy mother... So time to scoot home avoiding any sudden accelerations and medicating my weakness with liquid gold.

Now I have my aim set at a two stage race in Finland on August 14-15. The race is basically on my dad's cabin backyard so can't really let that one go. I just need to find new legs and lungs to keep up with the animals who apparently push some frickin' 400 W at threshold. Oh well...I'll tool around and get my legs ripped off by them. Or actually I may not be strong enough to even suffer long enough to really suffer in that race.

Nationals and MTB Marathon Euro Champs

2010-06-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

For some this was a race weekend. Road nationals taking place this weekend in most countries and European MTB marathon championships was today as well.

Canadian nationals race is starting in an hour or so and of course there are masters aged non-pros racing as well.

Finnish nationals took place in Sulkava on long loop with two hills. There's no reports out yet whether the hills were hard and many enough to decide the race, or was it just the dominant TWD team, with a dozen riders and both Finnish ProTour pros in their team, that decided the race. Jussi took the win in two man sprint or "sprint" against Kjell and the photos look pretty cool with lots of spectators by the road. It was a five man breakaway with four from TWD and Helminen from CCH. Must have sucked for Matti to try to do something in that group. He's strong but not that strong. And Tero seemed to have a good race as well finishing 7. Not bad for a guy with a full time job and a family...and who was complaining about not feeling great just a week or so ago. I'll try to find some photos that I would be allowed to post here.

But the big news of the weekend came from Veneto MTB marathon european champs. Men and women did their race today men's race being quite long 129 km. Finland had two riders racing, Pia Sundstedt in women's and Jukka Vastaranta in men's race. Pia has a solid track record in these races but her crash couple of weeks ago must have slowed down her training a bit. Jukka has been riding strong in Spanish cup MTB races and at least in his pre-race blog post seemed pretty confident about top 10 placing. The race course had only 35 km or so of trail and the rest was gravel and asphalt and no hills over 5 minutes long. In men's race Ralph Näf took the lead with ~30-40 km to go and the chase group was not able to close the gap. Jukka rode a really strong race in tough bunch and crossed the finish line in 4. spot. Maybe his own estimate of being in best form ever is not that far from reality. In women's race Pia took bronze behind Esther Süss and Gunn Rita Dahle top three finishing with one minute intervals. Good job.

Speaking of. Hopefully the rain will stop so I can go for a ride. And I finally ordered new MTB shoes. Hopefully I'll get them before next weekend's Morden Back 40. I still need new tires, Schwalbe Racing Ralph might be good or then budget option Fast Fred in 2.25". Screw big knobs here in MB, it's either hard pack or tire clogging mud so the tread doesn't really matter.

HTFU - Thanks Dave

2010-06-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

Bit of a reminder to myself and possibly others as well. Harden the f**k up!

Just noticed that Dave's blog has 4. most visitors from Finland. Those guys back there know how to HTFU and still think it's business as usual. No wonder I stayed away from MTB scene back in the day.

Swamp Donkey Or A Falcon?

2010-06-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

OK...I'm late with this and there might not be room on internet for more of this topic but here goes.

I used to not like XC racing all that much back in the old country. Rocks and roots were my least favorite things. So the solution was very easy, I didn't do XC races. I accidentally registered for Finnish nationals back in 2002 and finished the crapfest just to confirm that I didn't like that stuff. I used to do some DH and quite a bit of XC as a teen, but my idea of fun was bit different than your average Finnish XC race. I got back to this stuff in 2007 because, as some of you may know, if you want to do more than half a dozen of races (or something along those lines) here in Manitoba, you need to do every single bicycle related race/event all over the different sub-genres of this sport. 2007 provincials course was fun though with good amount of climbing and all the non-XC stuff that I knew from back home. So yeah...it was fun for a while. I even got my own bike and let Daniel keep his rigid winter rig.

It was time to get a reality check though. Last Sunday at Falcon Lake sucked more than...well I can't really use the proper comparison here, but it sucked a lot. The rocky parts of the course were worse than any other XC race I had done before. Oh yeah, in addition to rocky sections, the sections in between were 50/50 swamp and somewhat ridable stuff. There were no sections long enough for me to ride hard enough to feel like racing. It was ridiculous, too bad the organizers couldn't make the decision to run at least some parts of the course on double tracks and gravel trails. Or maybe they did...maybe the course was even worse before the added 1km of logging road.

Maybe 4 km in was the moment when I realized that the race was over. I should have realized it even before we started, but I'm not that smart. I just thought that how bad could it be, I've done worse, it's not a bid deal and come on...the race posting said that it would be up and down so I should be just fine. Well...it was flat and worse than I pictured.

Post race I didn't hear too many positive comments, I had to wait till Tuesday to hear Tristan rave about the best XC race he has ever done. All I can say is that he has some serious issues and should seek help. But what can you do, he doesn't seem to understand that riding without a powermeter is like not riding at all. The time and effort put into riding just gets sucked into a big black hole and become nothingness. I will offer my consultation just to make him understand that the soul of cycling lies within the tiny numbers on the tiny LCD display. 6 hours in Ingolf is not an epic ride, downloading your record 60 min power onto your computer is epic.

But seriously. Good for the guys who had fun doing the race. If someone really had awesome time running through the bog, I have nothing against that. I've had awesome time on my bike and it's great if someone else had awesome time on Sunday, I guess it's their turn.

At least the junior member of Team Hoot support team was super pumped about the mud and outdoors in general. I guess it was better than being stuck in the city.

Otherwise the training is going good. I backed off a little bit trying to get longer rides in this and next week before switching back to L5 stuff. My trip to Finland is all but certain because we haven't booked the flights yet, but if I'll get there in August, I'll do some racing. If we won't get the flights, cycling is the least of my worries.

Ja suomilukijoille. Kuvitelkaa mielessänne tekninen enduropätkä ja sitten kuvitelkaa sitä samaa pätkää kilometrikaupalla. Teknisten pätkien väliin sitten polveen asti upottavaa suota ja mutaa. Nyt alkaa mielikuva olemaan aika lähellä sitä, mitä sunnuntain kisa piti sisällään. Kiva että joillain oli hauskaa.

Plans Fell Through

2010-06-06T10:30:00.001-07:00

So no Canadian nationals for me. Or I'm 95% certain that this won't happen. The technical guide was published on May 31st and under eligibility it reads that "Master age riders must race in their age category". 2600 km driving in one weekend, plus few hotel nights and other related expenses for 120 km masters 30-39 race...no thanks. Apparently my UCI class will be master if I'm over 30 and don't hold a pro license. I asked for clarification, but haven't heard anything back and the race is in three weeks. It seems odd to me, but this wouldn't be the only backwards thing in Canadian cycling.

I would have probably had my arse handed over to me anyway, but that would be good every now and then. I've been gaining power quite nicely over past weeks, actually my power shot up after Bikes on Broadway, but that doesn't mean that I could finish the nationals road race. I've had 0 contact to real racing since 2005 or 2006 and being relatively fast locally gives no indication of my actual form. I've heard rumors of guys pushing +400 average watts in finnish races in a breakaway for an hour. Knowing the race course, that must be in the range of 450-500 watts while pedaling. That's lots of W in my humble opinion. By numbers I'm quite a bit stronger than 4 years ago, but I guess the rest of the world has been training as well.

Next weekend will be the Falcon Down MTB race at Falcon Lake. It appears to be the fourth race of the Manitoba XC cup, so while I thought that I missed just the Brandon race, I might have missed another race as well. Need to check. Falcon Lake is bit closer to home so no need to drive for half a day. This might be the only race where full suspension would help, but in anticipation of Back 40 I swapped the parts to my hardtail. But my 1x9 hardtail climbs much better than the tank fully so should be good times. I'll miss the Tuesday night Stony Mountain crit though because I'll be in Chicago this week. After few crash fests and recent lame riding, I don't think that I'll miss that much, but I kinda like the hill on that crit course even if it's not quite enough to break the group.

More Stuff for Sale

2010-06-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Another item for sale: 2008 Giant Anthem frame with Fox RP2 shock, seatpost collar and headset. 3.5" travel
Size: L or 20"
Color: Black and aluminum

Not used too much. For sure less than 2000 km on this frame.

Asking $450
_________________________

Pair of Campagnolo Victory Strada tubular rims. Mint condition, never ridden. I have them laced onto Chorus hubs, but haven't actually tightened the spokes. Both rims are 32h.

Asking $60 for the pair.
_________________________

Old steel road frame. Spray painted fast black. 56 cm. Cast drop outs and appears to be pretty decent quality.

Asking $40

If you want 1" threaded headset and Shimano BB with this frame, the price would be $60
_________________________

Michelin Pro 3 Race tire. 700 x 23 mm. Black.

Asking $50 each. $95 for the pair.
_________________________

Local pick up and cash payment. Paypal only if item(s) need to be shipped.

Second Post in One Day, Stuff for Sale

2010-05-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

OK...Spring cleaning time.

For Sale!

Crossladen.de Traktor frameset: Frame, Kuota Fork, Cable Stop and Headset, 55cm. Asking $250. Offer!

The frameset above with Columbus Muscle 31.6mm seatpost, Race Face Ride 110mm stem, Truvativ Rouleur crankset and Truvativ GXP BB. Asking $320.

Complete bike. Everything above with 105/Ultegra/Fizik/Tektro/Shimano 505(or crank bros Smarty)/Challenge/Mavic Open Sport. Asking $600.

Offer and keep an eye on more stuff for sale. Photos to follow.

BoB - Bikes on Broadway 2010

2010-05-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

Dave...Don't hold your breath waiting for my posts.

So my annual tradition since 2007 is behind us again. I mean Bikes on Broadway, my only annual road race where I'm not expected to make the race. The race where you expect to race in summer weather since it's end of May. The only Cat 1/2 road race "near" Winnipeg on this side of the border. This year the race was surprising in many ways.

It didn't look too bad when we took off from Daniel's house at 7:30ish on Saturday morning. The mighty iPhone was promising +18 and cloudy and we were on schedule. Of course it started pissing little bit before Regina and by the time we hit HWY 11, it was pretty much pouring and the wind was so called "laivankansituuli" or similar to the wind you experience on a cruise boat deck while sailing on Baltic Sea in February. We finally arrived in Saskatoon at 3 PM local time, checked in to U of S dorms, took our bikes in and headed to the registration via Starbucks. By this time, the weather had turned pretty miserable. Start times were a nice bonus this year, but I guess that cost Daniel's warm-up because we didn't really want to spend too much time in the rain and cut our schedule bit too short.

The TT was a TT. I suck! When the weather is +7, 50 km/h headwind and pouring rain, I suck even more. I should be fine with all the insulation I nurture with beer and food, but nope. I wanted to start slow and failed miserably, I couldn't spin...all in all it didn't go well. Daniel did pretty good beating me by 30 seconds and Tim was 15 seconds faster than me. I assumed the winning time to be around 13 minutes, but Chris McNeil hammered through the course in 12:32. Bruce Copeland was second at 12:56 and he came past me as if he was sprinting to the line. I thought that the race was done after the TT.

Sunday dawned miserable. The race wasn't going to be long, just 120km and there was just two hills both ways over the river. The wind was still there, but it was headwind-tailwind so whole lot less interesting than crosswind. I was expecting ERTC to put the hammer down from the gun and use the 10k crosswind to do something. That didn't happen, but they let me and few other guys go. Of course there was an H&R guy marking us, two ERTC guys and Chris from Saskatoon. I felt that I was doing a fair share of work and the others seemed to be kind of coasting along and we never got more than a minute something gap. It's the same story every time at BoB, it's the TT and then just sucking wheels for two days. Some 60 km to go the triathlete of the two Edmonton guys, the one who wasn't too interested in working before, decided to attack and H&R guy went with him. Triathlete was pretty confident attacking that far away with the bunch right behind us.Too much Paris-Roubaix and Fabian for you mister is all I have to say. Luckily they didn't ride too fast and I managed to pull them back after few km's. Then came the ballsy and unexpected move, or simply a lucky accident, when five ERTC guys managed to sneak away from the chase group and bridge to the break. Heading back into the wind, I was sure that the group would come together because our front group couldn't really get things going, but the gap kept growing. Some 30km to go ERTC decided to start attacking, trying to shake us off their wheel. They got rid of couple of their own guys quite soon, but there was no way that the H&R guy got dropped after taking it easy all day. 15 km to go the ERTC guys put some pressure on in bit of a crosswind, and that proved to be too much for me and Chris. I watched in amazement how one ERTC guy was riding away with H&R guy and three other ERTC's chasing. We lost 1 minute over the last 10 km so not too great. 100 km went with no problem but after that my legs started to cramp. I may need to do some longer rides before the nationals...if I'm allowed to start that race. Well...what am I supposed to do after I loose 2 minutes in a short TT? I have to attack and try to take time back.

Third stage was the crit. Four corners and short straights. Usually not much happens here, but this year was bit different. H&R block guy from previous day's break was leading the GC so ERTC's job was to put the hammer down. The race started at an OK pace and I was hoping for lots of attacks. No attacks...ERTC let one of their guys go and then blocked the road with 8 guys. I know...you may see this in cadet races and I must admit that I have taken part to this myself as well, as a cadet... So by this time ERTC formed the majority of the bunch and was really putting the brakes on. I tried to get a chase group going once with Chris and once or twice on my own, but ERTC was pretty good at shutting things down. The lone break lapped us and the race was over. You loose when you snooze. But in my frustration I managed to have a run in with one of the ERTC guys. He had even shorter fuse than I have and that's generally not a good match. Long story short...lots of barking, no biting, and I felt like an idiot. I'm the guy who should know by now to not loose his cool no matter what and not to try to egg someone to make the first move.

Well it was an OK training weekend.

Going forward...I still haven't heard back from MCA/CCA whether I will be allowed to start at the nationals or not. I should be allowed to start, but you never know and you won't know if you don't dig out the information from somewhere. It's not that far away anymore and I would need to start looking for flights, hotels etc.

I will adjust training the normal way. Higher intensity, less volume, trying to get the top end where I want. Low end is there but the high end seems to needs some work. Unfortunately I have no road races lined up before nationals. Too bad I can't make US races to work either. Need to figure out something.

Now I need to go to bed and get rested for weekend of trainer riding because the weather will be miserable.

The smart, witty and not self centered blog post is still slow cooking so bare with me.

Wait for it

2010-05-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

I am planning to come up with a post that will blow your mind, it will be so awesome that it will be mind blasting, it will just blast your mind. I need little bit of time to put everything together and not just type a bunch of words that don't really carry any message to you.

In my end things are not looking too good. I fought off the strep throat - sinus infection but caught some baby cough soon after getting back on my bike. Then I was stupid enough to force myself to do the Grand Beach MTB race in the freezing rain and mess myself up even more. Time is running and my main goal is starting to turn into a miserable 100 km failure.

Mother's Day Stage Race

2010-04-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

It will be a battle of epic proportions!

The second bi-annual (?) Mother's Day Stage Race has been moved closer to the race hungry cyclists of Canada's mid-west. I had to abandon the very co-operative people at Alexander RCMP and move the event to the Birds Hill Park to make the event little bit easier for us organizers and racers as well. Quick scoot to the Park on mother's day will be much easier to justify to the mothers of your family and easier to execute the logistics...Right!? You will be there!

In short it'll be an ITT on May 8th, RR on May 9th, rest day on May 10th and a criterium on May 11th. More details can be found right on this pdf document. There will be some BBQ, bouquets for winners of the RR starts and lots of old school racing.

2010-04-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

This just in...or actually this came in yesterday, but lazy me took a while to post it.

Het grote Ras (The Big Race)

The first bike race of 2010 is coming up on April 25^th. This year’s season opener, organized by the Olympia Cycling Club, will be something special. Hosted by the Belgian-Manitoban community of Bruxelles (about 90 minutes southwest of Winnipeg), the course comprised of some of the most scenic (and most hilly) roads in Manitoba.

Styled like the “spring classics” that take place in Flanders at this time year and involve steep hills and rough cobbled roads, Manitoba’s own Belgian Classic will substitute gravel for the cobbles and includes sections of the Trans-Canada Trail. A winding lap of about 30 km will challenge riders with over 1,000 feet of climbing over nearly a dozen short, steep hills. Nobody will leave unchallenged.

The event is classed as a Manitoba Cup race and we’re expecting all the top riders from around the province to compete for series points. Elite riders will complete 3 laps, with novices and intermediates doing 1 or 2. A participation-oriented tour, led by experienced cyclists, is also taking place the same day for riders who want to try out the course at a more leisurely pace.

The Manitoba Belgian community and the town of Bruxelles are both involved in the event. A short awards banquet in the community hall following the race will include a performance by Winnipeg’s Belgian Folk Dancers. Locally-prepared Belgian beer stew and other treats will await hungry riders and spectators. Tours of historic St. Gerard’s church and cemetery will be available throughout the afternoon, and a large playground is nearby.

More event details, including course maps, can be found at www.olympiacyclingclub.ca.
We’re looking for riders, spectators, and a few more volunteers. If you have questions or would like to help, contact Hal Loewen at hal_loewen@shaw.ca.

AND: A few people have asked about equipment. For the race categories, you are required to use a road (or cyclocross) bike. The roads are in excellent condition, so regular road tires (700x23) should suffice (a group ride last weekend that included about 7 people on 23mm tires did not result in any flats). That said, 25-28mm tires would probably be more comfortable and would be less prone to pinch flats. There will be a separate “open” category race (1 lap) for anyone wanting to race on a mountain bike. Oh, and… glasses and gloves are recommended to protect against the odd little stone that gets kicked up.

AND ALSO: The Olympia Cycling Club is also hosting the mountain bike season opener the following weekend (May 2) at Grand Beach Provincial Park. A fast and fun course is planned – c’mon out and ride or get some good bike karma by lending a hand helping out.

Should be good times. I tooled around a little bit and came up with this. Course on Mapmyride

I was planning to drive down there on Saturday to check out the race course, but then I noticed that Bruxelles, MB is 160-170km away from my house. I'm not that good in using time to measure distances yet so the distance in kilometers caught me by surprise. I might need to stick with my usual classic called GP HWY59 - Omloop Het Noord Sub-Urban. I'll see the race course three times next week anyway so I'll save the planet and keep my car in the garage. And win-win actually, the gas money buys me a twelve of beer and I'm not talking about Lucky here. It's not that I've never started a race with no idea what I'm getting myself into..."I guess I'll see how long the race is after the finish, if I ever get there".

But back to the topic...which is Fabian Cancellara.

Last Sunday even my wife got up at 7 to watch Fabian destroy one of the classics that I hold dear. She's actually becoming quite the hardcore cycling fan now and surprises me with her insightful comment regarding the race tactics and riders not working and Fabian ripping the legs off weekend warriors such as Boonen and Flecha. The other guys...the invisible guys, the guys who had to get the results even if it took some serious wheel sucking, were the downside of the race final. Boonen fought and lost like a man and even Flecha kinda rode bravish, but the test team guys were just sucking wheels and scrapping in whatever was left loose for wheelsuckers to take. Oh well, the strongest rider won and I think he would win more should he start more classics this spring. Maybe Riis is organizing his troops for July's crosswind/cobbles assault in July and rest of the classics don't fit in the plan?

I would like to write something about training, but I'm still feeling kind of crappy. I've tried to ride a little bit slow rides, but not much luck. Well that's how it goes sometimes. I've had lots of time for my other hobbies that are drinking beer and hanging on online forums. I'll be pretty surprised if I manage to get into any sort of shape by the end of June, but I can't really back off from doing the nationals, so it might be IKEA shopping trip with 40km of barely hanging in there thrown in the mix.

One More Sleep!

2010-04-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

De Ronde van Vlaanderen is tomorrow! I have this feeling that it will be a good one and I'll have my eyes nailed on TV from the start. If only I would be allowed to watch the 5h video of last year's race today, but apparently painting the kitchen is more important.

And quote of the day from cyclingfans.com website.

"You can't shoot hoops on an NBA court and you can't practice your
serve on center court at Wimbledon. But you can ride the cobblestones of the Ronde van Vlaanderen."

How to Come Back From Sickness

2010-04-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Well...that subject could/should have a question mark on it.

It got sick with strep throat about two weeks ago. Went to see a doctor and got some antibiotics to deal with that. Now the frickin' sickness is working its way to my sinuses. So I'm feeling rather miserable, it's almost start of my season, last two weeks have been a write off when it comes to training, work is getting busier. I sure hope that I won't get sinus infection as a sequel. Good thing is that the main goal is still 3 months away.

But how to come back from such a setback? I don't know so I'm open to suggestions. I've been doing some easy rides this week kinda trying if that would help, but no real improvement so far. Next thing I'll try my good friend Sailor Jerry. Is there anything spiced rum wouldn't heal? But yeah...should I just wait and rest or start to train a little bit? Tomorrow is supposed to be a rain day (painting day) and maybe giving it a go in the basement staring at the back water valve because the river is high and sewer system might have some trouble handling everything. Water freaks me out... You home owners may know what I'm talking about. And on Sunday, I will be watching De Ronde.

I think I just need to go back 2-4 weeks with my plan and keep doing whatever it was I was doing at the beginning of March. Good thing is that I will do it outdoors and extra time will maybe help me catch up.

Ronde van Vlaanderen, my favorite classic is on Sunday and I have been waiting for this. It's the first of the northern monuments and by far the most interesting race at least in my opinion. I think it will be between Fabian, Flecha, Boonen, Devolder, Gilbert, Breschel and...well some surprise guys like Hushovd and Langeveld. Liquigas, Astana and BMC may have some cards to play, but we'll see about that.

When it comes to really important racing, there is a super tough race coming up on April 11th. The big one...It's the Red River Racing's first annual(?) spring race. I refuse to use the term classic since inaugural race has hard time being considered a classic, but I may need to take that one back. Next one after that will be Bruxelles Spring Classic with steep (up to 18%) gravel road climbs. These two races should be a good warm-up to racing season. Or maybe these will be the toughest races of the Manitoba season, we'll see. Not too many details out yet.

I need to try and update more often, but working on computer and combing through contract jargon at work, I don't always feel like updating my blog after work. I need to train every now and then as well.

Another Weekend of Spring

2010-03-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Well I guess T.I.W (This Is Winnipeg). Sub-zero temperatures on Friday and +5 on Saturday and temp is rising again today. Waiting till noon before heading out to avoid the chilliness. Had a surprisingly good ride yesterday, kinda one of those "no chain days", and was able to hit it really hard for 2 x 30'. This was surprising because I've felt bit off this week and went to a social on Friday night. Sometimes slight hangover boosts the fuel tank just right, but that's as hard to do as trying to fix diarrhea by farting.

Went to scout the Bird's Hell race course and it appears that park people decided to place huge rocks in two spots, I guess to prevent red necks from ripping up and down the bike path in their pick-ups, but I need to ask those to be removed at least for one day or I need to come up with plan B. The originally planned course is as close to those Belgian races as possible here in Manitoba, no bunch sprints on that course.

Need to start building my TT bike as well. Or just the bar end shifters and brake levers. Just some Shimano friction bar end shiters paired up with SRAM brake levers. Should be pretty good. Then need to keep an eye out for UCI legal bar combo. Those bastards just make the life difficult for those who actually need to buy their own equipment. Sucks c**k out of a car door to spend hundreds or even thousands of $/€ and find out after couple of months that you are not allowed to use that widget in a race.

I'm also looking for a new pair of wheels. Need to be carbon, tubular, 50mm or taller and good quality that will last more than first pot hole. I'll lace the rear on to my 24h PT hub so rear hub doesn't add any value in this case. FFWD and Edge are the strongest candidates at the moment, mainly because rims are available separately and I wouldn't need to buy 24h rear hub in the complete wheel.

But off to the roads I go. Remember to stretch.

Back in the Basement

2010-03-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

Normal Winnipeg spring weather forced me back to the basement. Or actually it was the dark because wifey is sick and little chica had too much energy to burn tonight, meaning that I was strongly advised not to go outside to play. And it was hard to go back to trying to be entertained by Paris-Nice while pushing through intervals. It's so much easier outside. So my return to trainer looks like below (there was a bit of a suffer-fest yesterday for 90min). All I can say is that I'm not an evening training type of guy.

Had pretty good weekend though. On Sunday I rode to the park and hooked up first with Dave, Eric and Brad, but they were just finishing their ride and then I rode for few laps with Marian and Lifesport train. Good ride and tons of people in the park since it was the first spring Sunday of the year. Marian has been coaching the Boy and trying to train himself as well. He has a full-time job though so he can't train the way he used to before. The Boy is in good condition though, might be a good season coming up in the duck pond. Below is a photo of my Sunday ride. I finished the ride by towing little lady in the Chariot behind my MTB and that combination works pretty well when riding with the wife. She can actually drop me on the hills on her CX with road tires.

And again I got some feedback from my faithful fans. Apparently leaving the numbers out is childish and cocky. It's nice that at least someone reads my blog but I'm terribly sorry if my stories upset those readers. I guess I'm getting old because I feel kinda guilty for upsetting people with my blog rambling. Thank you for the feedback though, I'll do my best to meet your expectations.

Good night.

First Ride Outside on My Road Bike

2010-03-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

Pretty weird. It's March 14th and I'm about to go out on my second training ride outside on my road bike. This wouldn't be that special anywhere else, but last three years, while living here in the prairies, I've been shackled on my trainer this time of year. Yesterday it got up to +11 or +12 and it was pretty nice with sun and not much wind. Can't complain.

So all the highways are dry here and even the River Road was pretty good. Quite a bit of melt water on the road though so I won't be riding there today. It's pretty wet inside the city still but all the snow should be gone by the end of the week. Here's a picture from River Road. What makes me even happier is low water level in the river...shouldn't need to stress about flood this year and no roads blocked by water.

Of course I got bit excited, because of the good weather, and my first road ride outside and overcooked my first interval a bit. It just felt too good and the damage was done before I noticed anything. Had to take the second interval bit easier but kept going 10 minutes longer. So 28 and 38 minutes at bit below my threshold. Trying to get that 60 min of threshold/SST work in every outdoor session now. I removed all the power/speed/HR/torque/cadence numbers off the picture below because I've received some feedback about them in one of my previous posts. Smoothing in the picture is 30".

So this 60' of threshold/SST per outdoor session will be the meat and potatoes of my training for next 8-10 weeks. Local races will help me with non-structured VO2 training starting mid-April and I'll start my structured VO2 training at the beginning of May. Then it's pretty simple. Bikes on Broadway 4 weeks before nationals and hopefully few races at America's Dairy Land a week before nationals. I wasn't really thinking about training too hard once the season gets going. Just do the local MTB races for training and then Tuesday night crit' and two other rides during the week.

MTB enduros are pretty good training though. I need to pin it at high SST just to keep up with the more agile MTB guys. Being overweight = good training on MTB when trying to follow those more cyclist looking guys on the trails. And MTB enduro stands for MTB marathon locally here in Manitoba. Don't confuse it with MTB enduro familiar to Finnish guys.

Most important goal for me is to get rid of few more kilos. 75kg by the end of May would be OK and I can get there pretty easily. 73kg would be better, but that takes some more commitment. 70kg would be great, but that is little too much. I guess 500g/week is good pace without killing yourself so 11 weeks x 500g = 5500g. Doesn't look that bad...

OK...enough of this rambling and off to a training ride.

p.s. After the winter and parking spots covered with snow, some of the fellow 'peggers have as hard time parking their beloved trucks as they have allowing cyclists onto THEIR roads. Good for him only blocking two spots. My wife didn't let me take another picture later on that would have explained this inability to maneuver a vehicle.

New Challenges

2010-02-08T17:09:00.000-08:00

Long time silence on this blog, sorry about that. I started a new job at the beginning of the month and before that I had to take advantage of my week long winter holiday and finally drywall the kitchen ceiling and one wall upstairs. So I've been busy to try and get my training in and geeking has been put on back burner.

Season is getting closer and basement is getting smaller and smaller. Luckily the worst of the winter seems to be behind us now and at least the next week shoud be nice and sunny. I'll try to write something interesting this weekend while watching Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

ISM Adamo Saddle

2010-01-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

I just received the new "toy" on Monday. It's a ISM Adamo Racing saddle that is supposed to prevent numbness in man parts. The saddle looks rather exotic or tri or at least not very good, but after hearing only good about this saddle I had to give it a shot. So my Arione had to give way to the new kid at least on a trainer and this Adamo will be my designated TT saddle on my Norco. To make things even better, this saddle is pink. My wife named the saddle "pink taco"...

I'm still adjusting the saddle, but after the first ride it feels rather comfortable and definitely less numbness than with Arione or SLR in trainer use. The saddle feels bit weird because all the weight is on sit bones and the boys are hanging loose. So far I'm quite impressed and it should be even better on TT bike compared to other saddles.

State of the sport (in smaller communities)

2010-01-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

So this tends to grind my gears...

Small community sport scene is really suffering. I would use our dear Manitoba/Winnipeg scene as an example even if it may upset some people. This is the only scene I have a real insight at the moment so I can't really comment anything else.

Some seem to think that you can buy sporting events, but in smaller communities like Winnipeg's, it just doesn't work that way. Well at least not at a reasonable cost. Or actually the reasonable cost varies between individuals. The problem is, that in smaller communities, the willing payers' group isn't enough to make things roll. Since there is no way to make sport consumerism happen in Manitoba, there needs to be volunteers to keep racing scene going. Or you could buy sport events, but the cost would be something completely different than current $10-20 entry fees.

If things seem rosy to you, there are minimum standards set for all the organizers to meet. This again is all good, as long as there would be organizers to meet these standards. I was just wondering where the organizers will come from since breaking even will be extremely difficult. Standards will effectively block all the hopes of organizing long loop races under MCA. It almost seems that those, who laid out these standards, have never organized a road race. Maybe there hasn't been any input from the people who have organized road races. Just saying...

Well see what happens...

I should add that the other smaller cycling communities are facing the same issues. Many of those have even greater challenges with increase in traffic and more difficult permit processes etc. While the external factors are making race organizing more difficult, the internal factors are adding to the issue. Finding volunteers must be more or less a global challenge and if consumers are not willing to pay enough to hire course marshalls etc. the challenge might become a problem.

My Winter Training, Part 2.

2010-01-13T06:40:00.000-08:00

Now that I managed to get sick again and have to take a bit of a training break, I need to battle the old nemesis, that is weight/fat/lard.

In winter time the activity level goes down quite a bit and you spend more time sitting on a couch with a fridge just couple of steps away. And many will get sick too. Add smaller training volume to the equation, because most can't spend more than 90min on a trainer, and going out to ski or snowshoe in -30 temperature, just to keep your weight down, is not too appealing either. This whole mess tends to do terrible things to your waist line. This sure as hell is demanding time for me, but I've found couple of tricks that should help.

These are my 7 P's of weight control.

1. Planning (Eating Schedule)
I know I know...It shouldn't matter when you eat, only the total energy intake matters. Eating schedule helps with this though because you won't be eating snacks all night and you have a plan laid out. Extra energy is easy to take in at night and not eating all those extra snacks may well make the difference between gaining or losing weight. Big breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and light supper tends to work pretty good for me.

2. Proper Diet
Don't eat sugar. Especially if most of your training is on a trainer and you get 10h/week at best. You just don't need too much carbohydrates to keep you going and I would hazard a guess that most people eat way too much bread, pasta, rice etc. in winter time. Also don't eat animal fat. Animal fat has over twice as many calories per gram than carbohydrates.

3. Phunger
This gets bit tricky. I need to be hungry pretty much all the time in winter to lose couple of kilos. This is very personal though because some have better genetics and don't need to torture themselves to keep the weight in check.

4. Peer
Yeah...about that. You can't have beer if you want to slim down. Beer has more energy than rocket fuel, but usually beer is consumed in such circumstances that minimal energy is required. Other alcoholic drinks are no better but beer tends to be the most regularly consumed alcohol beverage. So don't drink beer, wine etc

And actually, don't drink soda, energy drinks or other sugary goo either. Well, why would you drink that stuff anyway?

5. Palance
You need to eat enough to keep your metabolism going. If you try to starve yourself, your body will switch to energy saving mode and that's not good.

6. Pregular Training
Another used-to-be-beneficial mechanism in human body is atrophy. That is the ability to start breaking down the not-used cells after 24-72 hours. Nowadays you don't need this ability but evolution is a slow beast to change these things. You need to train regularly all the time to keep things going. You don't want your body to turn the energy saving mode on. This is why it's better to train in blocks of 2-3 days and have adequate rest every week instead of Soviet style 3+1 system where you train hard for three weeks and rest for one week. And seriously, how many non-pro guys with full-time job and life outside of cycling, can plan and execute such a long training schedule?

7. Protein
If you're hungry all the time like I am, you may want to do something about it. No I don't mean cigarettes to suppress the hunger, I mean whey protein isolate. 30g of this stuff takes the hunger away really well but doesn't have too many calories. Some people like to drink diet soda but I think that the protein works better.

Now I just need to do what I need to do and that's the hard part. My aim is to be 73kg by the time of nationals at the end of June so we'll see.

My Winter Training, Part 1.

2009-12-30T06:56:00.000-08:00

I finally go my training back on track after fighting the flu for the whole month of November and trying to learn how to ride a bike again. Christmas of course was bit of a distraction with all the gatherings, eating and drinking and enjoying our little lady's first Christmas...I'm sure mom and dad were more excited than she was, but all that wrapping paper and ribbon seemed to be the greatest thing ever. Work is trying to screw up my training between Christmas and New Year because somehow I was the only manager/supervisor left to take care of the business...funny how that works...This occurred to me on Boxing Day or Tapaninpäivä so good thing was that I didn't have time to stress about this. Two words though...communication and the other words starting with RE and ending with CT.

But anywho. We got snow so that's great, I can take my skis out. Also the temperature is somewhat mild considering it's end of December. I went out skiing on Sunday and while the trails were pretty rough, it was better than some years before. The local ski trail guys are just bit spoiled with snow in earlier winters and don't really seem to have equipment to get the trails going when there's less snow. I did ski for 2 hours and 24km which was OK for the first time especially in those conditions. I was pretty spent after that though, but it's always the same when hopping on skis.

I took Monday off and just commuted to work in crispy -20 temperature. Same thing on Tuesday with fairly strong wind. My legs felt pretty good riding home from work so I decided to try 3 x 20' again after suffering like a dog the other day. This time it wasn't that bad and I was able to do 3 x 20' at 303W, 309W and 309W average without killing myself. I think I'll keep doing this from now on once or twice a week and hopefully he increase in volume will bump my power up another notch. I've seen 10% gains a year in my 20min power over past 2 years and another year like that would be great. I think it means that I need to push myself quite a bit harder than before. Below is the graph of my Tuesday trainer session in the dungeon.

I'll take my skis out again today and see how my legs work. Trying to do another 2h to find my ski power. First 100km is always a struggle and after 200km the skis start to move much better. 500km and you can actually ski. Too bad we had such a poor December with snow. Hopefully we'll get more snow and the weather stays mildish so this wouldn't be another crappy skiing winter.

New TT Bike

2009-12-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

My new TT bike is starting to take shape. Or actually

this is my first TT bike since 1999 or so. I'm both excited and terrified because of this. Excited because this bike will make me almost as fast as Fabian and terrified because now I need to start doing TTs.

Saddle height is where it needs to be, but handlebar needs some work because that's ~2cm too long. Shorter stem and chopping the extensions should do the trick.

Posted with iPhone.

Winter Training Center a.k.a. Bike Cave

2009-12-14T08:01:00.000-08:00

So winter is on it's way here in Manitoba. It was -40-45 yesterday with wind chill and even without, the temperature stayed below -25 mark. Funny how otherwise warm house turns into drafty shack when the temperature dips below -25 and the furnace seems to be running almost 24/7. So it's time for some indoor fun on my bike and this winter the women of my family relegated me from our upstairs office to our dungeon-like basement. Below you can find some photos of my high-end training setup.

This is my basic set-up. Bike on Giant trainer mat and rubber pads. That was the same stuff I had under my trainer when we were still living in an apartment and I never got any complaints from our neighbors. You can also see the 18" fan that takes care of cooling. Few upgrades are still needed because those rubbermade containers make pretty damn poor table. The white wire in the picture is for my headphones that I have connected to my laptop with and extension cord. Headphones are just cheap scull candy headphones but they work well enough.

Trainer is the trusty Kurt Kinetic Pro Trainer that I use with just the small flywheel. There is a bit of a chance that the resistance unit might be broken because my workout speeds have crept up to 36-37 km/h range and using the power formula, that should be 337-359 W. That would be great, but I doubt it especially after being off my bike for a month because of bad flu.

Ja sama härmän murteella. Eli kuvassa on mun trainerisysteemi. Alla on Giantin trainerimatto, jonka päällä on kumilätkät mitä me käytetään kaupassa huoltopuolella lattianpäällysteenä ja siinä päällä sitten fillari ja traineri. Tota samaa systeemiä käytin kun asuttiin kerrostalossa ja toi eristi melun niin hyvin, että kahden talven aikana ei tullut yhtään valitusta metelistä. Kuvassa on myös 46 sentin propellilla varustettu tuuletin, joka siirtää ilmaa ns. sikana, eli ykkösnopeus on ainoa mitä on tähän mennessä tarvinnut käyttää. Muuttolaatikoiden tilalle pitäisi laittaa asiallisempi taso. Valkoinen piuha on mun korvanappien piuha, eli musiikki tulee nettiradiosta.

Trainerin virkaa toimittaa KK Pro Trainer ja pienellä vauhtipyörällä. Vastus saattaa olla sökö kun vauhdit ovat nousseet vähän liian paljon, eli 36-37 km/h vauhteihin ja KK:n tehokaavalla vedoissa tehot pyörisivät muka jossain 337-359 watin välillä. Toi olisi toki ihan mahtavaa, mutta epäilen, varsinkin kun mulla oli neljän viikon treenitauko flunssan takia.

Two close-ups of the rubber pads. This is sold as 4' x 8' sheets, but the cost of a full sheet is somewhere around $150, so I chose to use tiny pads. These pads allow bike to rock a bit. The mat is made out of recycled car tires and other similar rubber.

Kaksi lähikuvaa kumilätkistä. Tota myydään 1200 x 2440 mattoina, mutta hintaa on suunnilleen 150 kanadan rahaa, eli en viitsi kokonaista mattoa hankkia vaan noilla pikkulätkilläkin päästelee ihan hyvin. Kumilätkät joustavat sen verran, että pyörä pääsee keinumaan pikkuisen puolelta toiselle. Matto on tehty kierrätetyistä auton renkaista yms. kumista.

And here's the fan. 18" blade with 1/5hp motor and three speeds. This is a real wind machine, not like the huge 72" fans, but for its size, it does very very well. I haven't had need to use second or third speed so far. This fan is labeled under Canarm brand, but you can find same or similar fan from Honeywell and probably couple of other brands as well. These cost $80-90 here in Winnipeg. I won't even try to do indoor training without a fan...no way.

Ja tuuletin. 46cm propelli, 1/5 hv moottori ja kolme nopeutta. Tämä tekee tuulta sisätiloissa siihen malliin, että pyyheliinaa ei kovin paljon enää tarvita. Isompiakin tuulettimia on saatavilla, mutta tämä piisaa mulle kun 2- tai 3-nopeutta ei ole tarvinnut käyttää tähän mennessä. Tämä tuuletin on Canarm merkkiä enkä oikein tiedä mitä Suomessa on saatavilla. Ne pöytätuulettimet yms. kyllä jeesaavat, mutta tehokkaampi tuuletin jeesaa enemmän. Mä en edes lähtisi yrittämään sisätreeniä ilman asiallista tuuletinta.

And here's another angle. I'm getting a desktop computer for my movies and online radio. It does look like a dungeon or some hard core dominatrix punishment chamber with this light. If I'll get the new job that is oh so close, I'll start insulating the walls. Well...I guess this is where you win or loose the races that won't start for another 5-6 months.

Ja toisesta kuvakulmasta laitos näyttää aika synkeältä kun vähän säätää kameran valotusta. Voisi alkaa vuokraamaan meidän kellaria jollekin HC domina-tädille kuritushuoneeksi. Jos saan sen uuden duunin, joka on niin lähellä ettei lähempänä voi ollakaan, niin laitan eristettä ja panelia seiniin. Pyöräkaupan palkalla ei paljon remontoida niin kauan kuin vaimo on vauvan kanssa kotona. No kai se kuitenkin on niin, että täällä voitetaan ja hävitään ne ensi kesän kisat.

Next to come. Tips for trainer riding including training protocol, music tips, movie tips etc.

Seuraavaksi tulossa. Treenivinkit traineriharjoitteluun, musiikkivinkit, leffavinkit jne.

Test Run

2009-12-13T21:09:00.001-08:00

Doing a test run on my iPhone.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Missed weekend

2009-11-23T22:10:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the missed weekend. Being sick for weeks on end and finally trying to get out for a ride in November in +13 and sunny weather kinda threw me off. The ride was followed by club wind-up party at Tim and Arlene's so that ruined my Sunday. I got up to watch the Hamme-Zogge Superprestige though but that was only because Melissa kicked me and the little lady out of our bedroom. I was couching like a MoFo and little lady just had good time screaming on top of her lungs while wifey tried to have her beauty sleep. Good thing little lady likes to watch cyclocross.

Now we're heading to the weekend of MCA AGM so there will be lots of local cycling politics going on this week and after the Saturday, I will try to step back from all that. I don't mind giving back to cycling, but all the "official" wrestling is not for me, I'd rather stick with organizing races at least for now.

One exciting thing will take place at the AGM though and that is the participation series awards. The awards website can be found here. Over $6000 worth of prizes will be given out at the banquet so it should be good times. Sure the awards won't really challenge the WCW Club awards but I won't complain if I win one of the draw prices. Maybe there will be a prizes based on performance in future?

Next big race will be Koksijde World Cup on November 28th and Gieten Superprestige on November 29th. World Cup will be more difficult to find online, but I will do my best, but the Superprestige can be viewed following the links from Superprestige website. Apparently Superprestige is joining the UCI front with blocking the access to their races because the Hamme-Zogge Superprestige video on Vimeo is private and blocked. Well that didn't last long but I'm sure Nissan is very happy that the race organizer is limiting the visibility of their brand by blocking the little guys from showing their video material. Oh....they do use Vimeo to distribute their video...how funny is this?

Luckily Youtube supports event sponsors by allowing their brand to take advantage of viral marketing. I would assume that event organizers would offer this to their partners but that is beyond my knowledge of marketing I guess.

But Niels Albert might be struggling right now and Stybar and Nys might be striking back. Way to go guys.

Superprestige Asper-Gavere, Live

2009-11-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

Another Superprestige coming up tomorrow at 14:30 CET. You can watch it live at Superprestige website. Unlike world cup races, that have been sold to the online cycling broadcaster whose name I shall not mention or to national TV stations, Superprestige understands that their partners want visibility and thus offer live video feed on their own website.

It was Asper-Gavere where Niels Albert crashed hard during the training session on the course. Asper-Gavere is a tough course with many technical sections. I'm certain that Sven Nys is hoping for rain that would make the course more technically demanding and help him get an advantage over Albert. Stybar will certainly be up there challenging the two belgians no matter what's the weather like. Stybar has been getting stronger and stronger during the early season and now it might be his turn to step on the top ladder.

Here's a quick preview of tomorrow's race.

SP Gavere from jef cleemput on Vimeo.

And me...I've been sick since monday and haven't really felt like updating my blog. I watched the Niel GVA race but I was in such a feverish state that I thought that Albert won the race. Sucks to be sick when it's +10 and sunny outside in November here in Manitoba...

Cyclocross World Cup #3, Nommay, France

2009-11-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

Just a quick one this weekend. 5 month old little girl is getting sick and clearly uncomfortable and is vocally very clear about that. This in turn stresses her mom. Since the cat is freaking out already I have three distressed women in the house so my attention is distracted.

Niels Albert has won the two previous rounds of WC and Nys may have his chance to start his comeback in muddy Nommay. Last year it was Nys who was dominant until Nommay but it was Boom who took the victory in the mud. Stybar is again one of the favorites and at least I hope he would be gaining form with Nys. Battle between Albert, Nys and Stybar would be the better than any 'cross fan could hope for.

The Nommay WC live video should be found right here. If this doesn't work, I'm trying to be awake in time to find another link if this doesn't work.

And of course the live video is geo-restricted. I haven't been able to find a link that would work in Canada.

Here in MB we have the last cyclocross race of the year this sunday as well. Report of this race is coming later.

Manitoba Cyclocross Provincials

2009-11-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday there was also a big race in addition to Superprestige. That is Manitoba Cyclocross Provincials at the Woodhaven Park. The weather was nice and miserable, the course was nasty and riders were ready for a fight. Olympia guys had done grea job with the race course, the course even used a hockey rink.

I missed the race by running late all day but I made it there to watch the race. I tried to take photos of the A start, but dim light and my pocket camera didn't really work too well together.

A start saw Dylan, Paul, Tristan and Craig ride clear of everyone else. Craig couldn't stay with the three others and got gapped maybe 20 minutes in to the race. Dylan started the attacks when it was couple of laps to go but suffered a broken chain and had to finish the race running. Paul attacked Tristan on the last lap and took the victory with a large margin. Tristan held his second place and Craig took over Dylan on the last lap for third spot.

Some crappy pictures...

Superprestige Hoogstraten, recap

2009-11-02T05:46:00.000-08:00

Only half of my prediction was correct. Niels Albert took the win and Stybar was second while King Nys was left third. The weather looked to be getting greasier with the rain every lap and all the favorites had minor crashes in first couple of laps. Stybar might have escaped the crashes, or at least I didn't see him crashing. Once Albert got to the front, he was pretty much gone even if it looked that Stybar might get back to him. Stybar is looking strong though and he might be able to take the victory in Nommay world cup next weekend. Weather forecast shows lots of rain for this week in Nommay so it may very well be a mud bath that we missed in Koppenberg.

Video recap of Superprestige Hoogstraten.

Superprestige Hoogstraten, Nys vs Albert

2009-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

First the videos.

ek hoogstraten veldrijden from jef cleemput on Vimeo.

RTV Special Hoogstraten from jef cleemput on Vimeo.

Another weekend and another round between the two favorites. The king of cross is being challenged by the prins of cross yet again (just wondering if belgians know what prince albert means). Last weekend Nys took what was his. Maybe the King had some help from lady Fortuna who made Albert get tangled to the banner on first lap and had to get back to the head of the race from the last spot.

Tomorrow the course is quite different from Koppenberg with less climbing which seems to favor Albert. Especially if the weather stays nice and dry, it should be Albert's race but if you add little bit of rain in the mix, the tables might turn. If the weather is fast there is also a chance that someone like Stybar might get away early on and hold off others till the end. However if Nys wins tomorrow, it will be his 50. victory in Superprestige so he won't give up the win easily that's for sure.

Albert is my favorite for the race but I would really like to see Stybar and Pauwels try to go at it. Stybar has been up there at every race and Pauwels has been doing really well too. So far the pure strength of Nys and Albert have made it impossible for anyone else to snatch the victory. Being a fan of underdogs, I would really like to see some new faces on the top ladder.

Quick search of online betting agencies shows that both Nys and Albert have odds at around 2, Albert having lower odds with most bookmakers. Stybar has third lowest odds at around ~10 with most bookmakers. My money would go to Albert and Stybar...maybe 5€ for Stybar and 10€ to Albert.

VT4 will broadcast the race live starting at 14:00 CET. The race should be live right here, but if it changes, I'll try to post the change ASAP.

About the European Championships. Belgians are the favorites in juniors and U23. In Women's race there are other strong riders as well.

Superprestige Hoogstraten start list:

Belgium: Niels Albert, Sven Nys, Klaas Vantornout, Sven Vanthourenhout, Kevin Pauwels, Bart Aernouts, Erwin Vervecken, Rob Peeters, Dieter Vanthourenhout, Jan Verstraeten, Ben Berden, Wim Leemans, Kendric Van Grembergen, Mike Thielemans, Quentin Bertholet, Tom Van den Bosch, Jan Soetens, Tim Van Nuffel
Netherlands: Gerben de Knegt, Wilant van Gils, Thijs Al, Eddy van IJzendoorn, Thijs van Amerongen, Bram Schmitz, Jerry Kallenfels
Czech Republic: Zdenek Stybar, Radomir Simunek, Petr Dlask, Lukas Kloucek, Martin Zlamalik
Slovakia: Milan Bareyi, Martin Haring, Robert Glajza
Italy: Enrico Franzoi, Marco Bianco
USA: Jonathan Page
Poland: Mariusz Gil
Great Britain: Ian Field
Luxemburg: Gusty Bausch
Germany: Philipp Walsleben
Hungary: Tislan Zoltan

Cross-Tastic Recap

2009-10-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

So two to go after Cross-Tastic. Cross-Tastic was the first hammerfest of the season with long straightaways and not too much technical sections. The weather was nice and not too cold with no wind. Because of good weather and fast, not so challenging course, the race stayed together for the whole race. Or the top-6 stayed together riding peacefully without too many attacks and sprinted for the win. Run up and down the hill lowered the average speed somewhat but at the end the average speed was somewhere between 24 and 25 km/h. It was a good race.

Southern Cross video

2009-10-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Short movie from the Southern Cross. Click the title for HD.

Southern Cross 2009 from dnb on Vimeo.

GVA Trofee Koppenberg

2009-10-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

One of the classics of 'cross races will take place tomorrow in Oudenaarde. Koppenbergcross is the second race of the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee series and the race has traditionally been very tough test of man and machine. And if nothing else, the race will be hard fought between the two Belgian cyclocross superstars, Sven Nys and Niels Albert. Albert won the first race of GVA Trofee in Namur with fairly large margin, but Sven Nys wants to take his sixth straight victory of Koppenbergcross so if Albert wants to keep his clear track record, he has a taunting task of beating Sven Nys in his own game. It will be an exciting race.

The weather forecast calls for some rain showers overnight so the race course may very well turn into mud bath yet again. The course looks dry in the photos shot of Albert training on the course, but bit of rain can change this overnight.

You can watch GVA Trofee Koppenberg live at GVA Trofee website. The broadcast is scheduled to start at 15:00 CET on Sunday October the 25th.

This works very well for Manitobans. Get up at 7 AM, have some coffee, watch pros race, get pumped up and head to Whittier park and race yourself.

About the old man Marian

2009-10-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

As some of you might know already, my team mate Marian Pyszczek won Canadian national championships road race in Masters C (50-59). And if you met Marian at the beginning of the summer you must know that he was extremely confident about winning the race and he made sure that everybody knew that he was going to win the race. He was even kind enough to let his competition in the race know that he was going to win the race. I kind of doubted Marian's chances even if it was clear that he was in super form in June. When Marian won the race, it wasn't a surprise to himself. It was a bit of a surprise to me and definitely a surprise to "cycling experts" and to the race favorites. I happened to stumble upon a discussion forum where some of the frustration was vented just weeks after the race. The forum is Florida club Windermere Roadies' forum.

RR was on course that is too flat to create any selection in big strong deep field-couple of long climbs but very gradual-all big ring 53x15 type stuff so going fast and so draft is there-tried again and again to break it up but just way too many strong guys so it came down to big field sprint with nearly all of us still there-got 4th but must admit when winner jumped I knew I couldn't out sprint him and I just cruised last bit not caring about anything except win that was gone. Guy who won was some unknown ( to us guys anyway) who quite literally sat on my wheel for the whole 50 miles-every time I went he just sat there-never put his nose in wind until last 100 m. I was marked from first pedal stroke by the whole peleton and on that kind of course result is inevitable. I guess fair to point out that I was not feeling at all well after Sutton races-got very badly chilled the Fri night and never got over it-didn't ride at all on the Mon or Tues and only for 30 min on Wed before TT-sinuses, sweating, not sleeping, massive headaches-just felt like shit so slept and drank and took aspirin and Claritin D and then I really buried myself trying to make up for the flat in TT so perhaps I was not as strong as usual in RR-still frustrating. results here( Masters were Thurs and Fri) I am Vet C in Canada 50-59yrs -move to Vet D next year and with a 4th and 6th maybe that's where I belong!

Since Marian's main weapon is his sprint along his sharp and calculating cycling supercomputer, and he has used these successfully at Canadian nationals in Masters A, B and now C and in numerous US races, he stuck to his guns and took what was his. I'm still fighting the temptation not to post on that forum and let them know that Marian was much faster before his heart attack. If Marian would have my dull racing wit, he probably would have ripped the legs off the other guys much earlier than 300m (not 100m) from the line and then proceeded to getting beaten by some TT guy in a slow, tired, old man's sprint. I still remember this motor pace session in crazy wind we had in June. Once Arlene peeled off to wait for dropped riders, I hammered for another 5-6 km with Marian and every time I pulled off the front he flew past me going 55-60km/h. You can be fast even if you're suffering a handicap of not having regular contact to high level racing, you just need to work harder.

And little birds are tweeting that Marian has his aim set at 2010 nationals in Edmonton. Hope he won't get much stronger or I can't train with him anymore.

Another weekend of 'cross

2009-10-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

So there's another 'cross race coming up this weekend. All the locals should know the most important details already. The race will have some awesome draw prices. Main price will be a complete set of TRP EuroX Magnesium 'cross brakes. Another prices will be jerseys and other clothing. I've been saving my good luck for this race so I hope to be able to write up a test report of the brakes in couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing how the race course will be because Whittier is very challenging place to organize 'cross race at.

And me...I thought that my racing is done for now when I hit the tree last weekend, but maybe getting a good hit on my left side helped to get my right ribs better. Funny how it works. Or then it's even worse...I don't know because I haven't been on my bike since Sunday. Oh well...I won't stress about it.

And on to another subject. I want to congratulate Teemu Viholainen for getting a spot with Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy. Good to see that Teemu got his form together after injury ridden spring and managed to get the results he needed to get the contract. Also Tommi Martikainen signed a contract with the same team so the team will have two Finns next season. Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy is formed on foundation of Cycling Center and JBCA has racing team in addition to offering accommodation for American riders who wish to cross the pond to Belgium. I raced at the same races with Cycling Center team couple of years ago. It seems that the team is much stronger now than back in 2005. Link to Cycling Center and JBCA website http://www.cyclingcenter.com/

Talvi tulee

2009-10-15T19:19:00.001-07:00

Tiivistyy fiilikset aika hyvin tähän Viivi ja Wagneriin. Vapaa-aikaa varastava ajanviete on hanurista, keli on hanurista, fiilis on hanurista, treenit on hanurista, selkä on taas hanurista ja kutakuinkin kaikki muu paitsi yläkerrassa nukkuva pikkutyttö ovat hanurista. Sekin on hanurista kun ei ole aikaa leikkiä sen pikkutytön kanssa. Jos olen vakuuttanut haastattelijat ja muut päätöksentekijät riittävän hyvin, niin ensi viikolla saattaa duunipaikkaan tulla huomattava kohennus.

And for those unfortunate ones who don't speak the most beautiful language in the world, I'll try to translate the comic.
"Geez this life", "What's bothering the pork?", "I wish I knew, maybe my biorhythm is out of whack?", "Now the beer doesn't taste like beer! Call the doctor...No! Call the doctor and the priest!"

To open this more to those less culturally savvy friends of mine, I'll post this link to elaborate on swine and a woman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viivi_&_Wagner

Southern Cross, Altona, Cyclocross #6

2009-10-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

And the next one to go is the Southern Cross in Altona. Always a good course with lots of climbing. I'll be there.

I did the race the first year and it kicked butt. The course was really good with soft sand pit and all. This year it's supposed to be a killer course that will tear off legs of anyone who dares to try their luck on the course. Even the mayor shows up to witness the sufferfest but tries to cover up his true motivation by volunteering.

But joking aside. It will be a really good race and the weather should help. Forecast is +10 and sunny.

We had mud!

2009-10-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

(Picture stolen from FGB blog)

So it was muddy...very muddy.

To recap my race. Tried to gap the others on first lap but had to slow down after half a lap. Got passed by what seemed like half the bunch while taking it easy. I found my own pace on second lap and started catching the others. Cruised the rest of the race and got 4. at the end. Went down only once and didn't rip my derailleur off. Daniel beat my by half a day though. It's not easy to race if you can't breath deep.

Pictures tell the story much better. So check out David Lipnowski's photos here http://lipnowski.blogspot.com/2009/10/belgian-supercross-saturday-october-10.html

Belgian Club Classic, Cyclocross #5

2009-10-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow the hammer will go down and veri punnitaan like we say in Finland. It's not quite like winter war, but snow flakes keep falling and everything will be frozen come tomorrow morning. It will be a tough, miserable and especially extremely entertaining race. The start at the Belgian Club is always fast and fight for positions is hard in the first lap. I might even take it seriously and bring my spare wheels and trainer out for warm-up.

Olympia guys are stepping the game up quite a bit though with race announcer, DJ and jewellery etc. I was perfectly happy with just the Belgian Club, but this is even better.

And what's even more important for me is that I have no back/rib pain today. I hope the course is slow enough that certain rider on his 29'er won't just disappear into the distance.

GVA and Superprestige

2009-10-09T06:59:00.001-07:00

Gazet van Antwerpen and Superprestige series are starting this weekend.

GVA is in Namur on Saturday and Sporza has live broadcast starting at 15:45 CET (LINK). That would be 7:45 central time. Official website is at http://www.sport.be/cyclocrossnamur/2009/nl/

Race course seems suitable for strong guys.

On Sunday it Superprestige at Ruddervoorde. VT4 will broadcast this race starting at 18:00 CET, 10:00 central time. (LINK) Official website is at http://www.cyclocrossruddervoorde.be/ Not too much information available about the race course or anything else.

Found a cool video of 2008-2009 Superprestige series though. Hopefully Niels Albert won't get injured this year. He will kick ass this season.

Superprestige overzicht 2008-2009 from jef cleemput on Vimeo

Battle of Bourkevale Park

2009-10-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

So fourth cyclocross of this season is done. I sucked, or actually my back/ribs still sucked. I started at the back and lost control right at the start and couldn't bridge to Dylan who hammered away at the front. I sucked wheels in a group with Greg, Don and Craig and decided to save what there was to be saved and decided not to be the bastard who sucks wheels all race and beats the group in the sprint. It was a good training though and without the race I wouldn't have ridden at all.

David Lipnowski has some pretty cool pictures. Good photographer makes it look much faster.

On Saturday we will have a classic at the Belgian Club. It will be cold, muddy and miserable, but all the mental and physical wounds will be healed by couple of Duvels after the race. There will be some trials demos and DJ and everything, so it should be good. I hope to do much better than last weekend, but will see...My legs arenot there.

Cyclocross #4

2009-10-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

So it's the fourth cyclocross race of the season today. Weather is more seasonable than before, meaning that it's +5 and raining instead of sunny and +25. I haven't been training at all since last weekend's race because my back has been killing me and I've spent my week popping different pills and seeing chiropractors and massage therapeutics. Apparently the problem was with four ribs joining to the spine and problem there caused my muscles to spasm. It seems to be much better now so riding should be bit easier today.

Since I had a week long break and I won't be doing any out of province 'cross races, I was planning to start my winter training tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just set-up my training station in the basement and start using that on Tuesday. I just need to get the huge roll of old carpet and a hot water tank out of there.

Here's a video of the Menno cross. It even seems kinda fast at times. Click the title to view the video in HD.

A MennoCrossection 2009 from dnb on Vimeo.