Camping Whooa!

P. Campfire Capture

This past weekend saw a camping outing to Two Jack campground in Banff National Park. It was a great escape from the city and all that goes with it and my first time camping since the same time last year. Jamie had scored some rafts from his place of summer employment which complimented his collection of retro wetsuits well to provide endless hours of raft wars, swimming and fishing adventure for the initial party of five. Coupled with his incredible underwater digital camera this occupied us for the majority of the first afternoon. Steenbergen showed up Friday evening for a final hurra before mtb provincials (which he never made it to) and made memorable memories of stargazing very naturally in the waters of Twin Lake.
On Saturday we were joined by an ensemble of who's who in southern Alberta cycling which made for even better raft wars and stargazing...All in all it was an incredible weekend. Here is a link to some pics from three days in late August.

Camping Whooa! pics

For Sale

C1
Originally uploaded by per_velo.

I am selling my Giant TCR C1 size Large. I need to get rid of it asap so for blog readers only I am offering this beautiful machine for $2350. The bike is in excellent condition and comes fully overhauled and with new cables, housing, bartape and brakepads.
Spec highlights include: Full carbon frame and fork, Shimano Ultegra 10spd drivetrain with the exception of Dura Ace rear derailluer and Race Face Cadence cranks, Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels, Easton EC 70 stem, Easton EA 50 bar, carbon post, Fizik Aliante saddle etc.
Spread the word. If you tell a friend about this ad they pay $2400 the person who refers them gets the $50 balance, I also have lots of Euro swag so depending on who you are you could walk away with some cool stuff.

Tribute

Jesse James Collins
2006 Alberta Provincial Road Race Champion

Coffee Rides

Chillin. Last years kit plus white long socks and my favorite Gerolsteiner hat with the top cut off makes perfect coffee ride attire. Style is key on any javastop.

The week before Provincials saw a few hard sessions and a handful of coffee rides. Toodling around for an hour or two and then ending up on the patio of your preferred joint is one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon. The place I frequent even has a subscription to 4 major news publications which helps pass the time on long summer afternoons. Once corporate lunch is over I usually have free reign over papers and choice of tables so although somewhat lonely, it is very relaxing. People are funny and I love to watch them , especially corporate types in poloshirts with their blue tooth sets and clip on mobile telephones. For now I am on the outside looking in and I am enjoying every minute of it.
Take a well deserved break, go for a coffee ride!

Where have all the good people gone!? Its 13:12 and empty on one of the nicest days of the year. Oil, it fuels more than one bad habit in our culture....

Alberta Provincial Road Race Championships

What a day at the races!
As you know I was not to enthused by this pinnacle of Alberta racing held in Bentley Alberta yesterday. I haven't raced in Alberta yet this year and normally the racing is rather dull and hard, but I must say this years one appearance on the ABA scene was well worth it.
The course was 126 km in length on rolling roads. Some of the rollers were quite long making up for their lack of gradient. Wind was a bit of a factor on the eastbound stretch of the 4 corner course, but otherwise the majority of the race was fast and smooth.
Bicisport was very well represented with J Sparls, Jesse James MD Collins, Bob Verbona Veroba and myself driving the big blue train. Bob put himself out of the contention for the win before the race stating; "I am so messed, Tanya told me to stay home, I shouldn't even be here, I want to go back to bed"....That was the last I heard of Bob for about 20 minutes as he went on a bit of an attack to ease the pressure early on. This was one of the themes of the day as Bob covered moves, bridged gaps and generally took care of business for the first half of the race. Early on I was marking the front as well and got on the right side of a couple solid splits, but other than shelling some filler these were fruitless efforts. Jamie and Jesse made a couple of appearances, but generally we were waiting to unleash the fury in the final hilly, windy 30 km.
The Bicisport plan was relatively simple. The strategy was to cover everything of importance early and if anything substantial established itself in the first half of the race to have two riders in the move. If we could keep the race in check until about 30 km to go the plan was to isolate the contenders by forcing them to chase as they would likely be alone at the that point with no teammates and keep the attacks flowing until we had a group with one of our riders as the clear strongest member of the successful break. The plan played out to perfection.
Bob had done his work and done it well. He patrolled and played a significant role in bringing back the only dangerous move of the day containing an unlucky Synergist and Mr. Bolstad. He had selflessly represented and his work was done. The rest of us were very fresh having been active, but never really exerted the entire day.
As we rounded the final corner with just under an hour to go I watched and waited. Up the first long climb I could hear an awful lot of panting, downshifting and could sense the nervousness in the remaining group. I waited until one of the stronger riders was on the back and another on the front, dove right and took a little test sample of what was left of the race. The objective of this move was to test the field. They bit hard, looking back the men I was hoping to tire were driving on the front to bring me back. To my surprise they were content to tow the entire field back, including me two fresh teammates. From that point on it was counter after counter as Jesse, Jamie and I took turns pelting the contenders. Finally after countless punishment a couple of riders rolled off the front and Jesse jumped taking one other with him and formed the winning move. The break of 4 contained a rider from all of the strongest teams in the race and our man was undoubtedly not only the strongest, but the smartest most experienced rider in that group. As the break rolled away the peleton slowed as ERTC made a weak attempt to chase and Jamie and I sat 3rd and 4th wheel in the gutter watching our man go clear. The break eventually gained about 2 minutes and was never in danger of getting caught so the race was on for 5th and I was not about to call it a day. Over the climbs the group kept getting smaller and smaller with a final selection of 8 including Jamie and I being made with steady tempo. In the final 15 km our group sped toward the finish with everyone being rather conservative spare for a few attacks from Webster, Heemskerk and myself in an effort to split the group. Going into the final ascent of the day we were still all together when Nick Friesen gave gas and powered away. I hesitated for a split second waiting for someone to chase it and get on their wheel, but that never happened and I went alone. The final couple of kilometers I spent about 10 seconds off Friesen with the group another 10 seconds behind. That is how it finished. I ended up 6th, Jamie 10th, which I was rather pleased with especially considering the outcome of the breakaway up the road.
Jesse James Collins, in true Bici form took the 2006 Alberta Provincial Road Race title with relative ease. He stayed calm up the climbs letting others break the wind and then used his speed and power to drive it to the line in the last 500m. It was a well deserved win after the top of the podium has eluded him for so many years. Jesse is one of the core members of our Cat 1/2 squad and it was an incredible day for the team to see our savvy finally pay off and a bonus to see Jesse be the one to deliver. Congrats to Jesse. We will have a nice white kit for him next year, I am thinking Bicisport screened champs jersey with white shorts and white booties.
Thanks for reading.

Family Outing

This past Tuesday marked the first family outing in a very long time. For the first time in about 5 months, 3 of 5 of my immediate family finally had the chance to spend the day together. My parents and I took the Westfalia out to Banff for the day. While my parents hiked Sulphur Mountain I did a little training ride out towards Johnsons Canyon. I had some intervals to do and completed the first set before reaching my destination. Just as I was turning back towards Banff I noticed that my right crankarm had come almost completely loose. For the next almost 30km back to the nearest bike shop I pedalled almost exclusively with my left leg and had to forgo the last two sets. Once I got the crank fixed in town I raged up Mt Norquay in record time and witnessed some incredible views. Unfortunately I lent my camera to my parents so I cant share those sights here. Later in the day we took a hike up to the upper falls of Johnson Canyon. Below are some of my favorite shots from that wander along the rapids. These shots plus a couple other can be found on Flickr, check out the link at the bottom of the right sidebar. Unfortunately I have almost used up my quota of free uploads to Flickr so the images are limited. Upper Falls runout

Smooth

Change of pace

The last couple of weeks have seen a gradual transition to a new way of life. A life of reality and responsibility. It dawned on me sometime in July that I was broke, so I have gone back to working at the Oval and at Pedalhead. In some ways its nice, but overall the other life is far better. I must say I did miss Pedalhead somewhat. There is something magical about the back of a bike store. Spending your days with an apron on, turning clappers into roadsters is very rewarding and the people make each day unique and entertaining.
I was seriously contemplating taking another racing trip to Vermont to do the Green Mountain Stage race at the beginning of September. It is a relatively big race with 4 stages and incredible altitude. I didn't want to go unless I seriously thought I could get a result there and at this point ramping it up again is not going to fit with my head state and having to work. Maxing out the MasterCard and another week on the road isn't appealing at this point. I am struggling with my choice to skip a great race, but I think I will thank myself when September rolls around.
Next year I will spend the entire season in Europe and not have to worry about all this travel and financial strain. I am counting the days....

Outbound

Its been a while....since I raced.
Its very odd to not be racing. After Kelowna there has been nothing. This weekend we have provincial championships in the hopping center of Bentley. There will be no spectators, 40 riders, portable toilets and free reign over a shoulder of some highway. It will be great and then the season will be over...for the road anyways. I am not motivated. I have been on the training 100% after taking 3 days off after Kelowna and I feel normal and strong, but what for!? I am frustrated and suffering from withdrawal or something like it. I cant look at cyclingnews anymore. To many people I know racing all over the world. Cyclocross will be a good chance to get back into it again, only about 6 weeks...

Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

IMG_4465
Originally uploaded by per_velo.

Belgium-Quebec-Vancouver-Pennsylvania-Kelowna all in 6 weeks!? It was a crazy plan. I am an optimistic sucker who loves racing way too much to pass up a free place to stay, strong field and "only" a 7 hour drive to great racing. I should have stayed home.
Nick and I rolled out of Calgary on Friday onroute to Salmon Arm were we had scored a free place to sleep at the Skinner's. The drive, although long, was uneventful. That same evening we took a little spin on some of the interior BC backroads guided by our gratious hosts. At the time my legs felt car tired, but not overly wrecked. I figured that the first bit of Saturdays race would be rough, but that I would come around to my old self eventually.
Saturday we drove the 1.5 hrs to the course just outside Kelowna. It promised to be a great day of racing with a solid field, an incredible rolling course and great weather. From the gun I knew I was in big trouble. The cold I thought I had kick from the week before was giving my a sore chest and labored breathing again, my nose was running and my legs were as flat as ever. I didn't even recognize my own body at the time, it was almost frightening. I ended up missing the break as I sat helplessly in the bunch just trying to ride and after just over an hour I pulled the plug and abandoned. As I pulled over in the feedzone I was shivering with goosebumps covering my arms and legs...it was 30 degrees out. Something was definitely not right and although it was unbearably disappointing at the time I know I made the right decision to pull the plug.
I never should have made the trip, instead I should have just stayed home and focused on the Bow crit which I wont even make an appearance at now. I completely overestimated my ability to cope with being sick and the extensive travel. I learned some valuable lessons.
As Nick and I drove home we started to reflect on the past 5 weeks. Ever since I came home from Belgium I have been criss crossing this continent in search of prime racing and so far it has been rather successful. There are many like us who do the same, but none from Alberta and few without teams and support staff to ease the stresses. I think we have discovered the limits of trying to be a privateer racer based in this part of the country. It definitely has its limitations and we have discovered them. All the more reason to be very confident and happy with my plan for next sea

Kelowna BC Cup

I am heading out to Kelowna for a little BC Cup racing action this weekend. First up is a road race on Saturday and then a crit on Sunday. After the crit its a long drive home and the Bow crit on Monday.
Went for a couple hours north of the city yesterday and was hit in the head by countless unobservable bumble bees. Speaking of bumble bees I should be under constant barrage again this weekend as everyone's favorite swarm of yellow and black, Symmetrics, should be out in full force in Kelowna.
Road report and photos to come.

Weeks Onion Best

America: Addicted to Oil...and Meat
I'd believe this after my recent visit to the land of More Lots, Sheetz and Big Mart.

Tour de White Rock photoset

Check the link for a photoset from this years Tour de White Rock criterium.
White Rock Photo Set

Tour de Toona - The rest of the story

I have received many requests to finish the tale of the 2006 Tour de Toona so I will, as much as I would like to forget it.
Coming off of Wednesdays road race I was feeling very confident that I would be in for a good rest of the week and had lofted my overall goal to a top 50 GC placing.
Thursday was a rolling, very fast 100km circuit race. I started well and found myself at the very front of the race for the first 15 km. I was seriously thinking of getting in a move when it all went down. Two riders collided just infront of me as we ripped along at 50km/hr and just as screeching tires and carbon crackling filled the Holidaysville morning air and I thought I was going to get around the mess I was struck from behind and flung over the bars. I hit the road hard on my knee and shoulder, buzzed my chin off a tire and ended up at the very bottom of a big pile. After straightening my stem and levers, in the heat of the moment it appeared that my rear wheel was way out of line so I took it out and requested a change. The Mavic guys were running around trying to get the 20 some riders in the crash off again and in the end I was one of the last to get a wheel and when I finally did the caravan and almost all the riders were long gone. I started off with about 75 more km to race with the sole mission of making the time cut and not getting to down on myself for the now inevitable plunge I would take down GC. After 20 km solo I was joined by a Quebec rider and another rider who were also caught in the crash. For the next 55 km it was basically a 2 man time trial with the Queb and I taking the brunt of the pulls to keep the speed up. Finally after much work I rolled in 17:54 down on the winner and headed for the medics tent. I was lucky as I escaped the crash with only some relatively minor road rash on my knees, shoulder, elbows and chin. I was not happy with the loss of time on GC, but my plan was to take it all back when the race hit the mountains on Saturday.
Friday was another circuit race this time 120km. It was windy and much of the course consisted of ripping along at 60+. I focused on staying out of trouble and conserving for the hard day to come and that was working well until about 15 km to go. On a straight piece of rolling road it happened again... A rider went down taking a couple with him just in front to the left and I thought I was going to get around when I was bumped hard from the left as another rider went down and I ended up tumbling into a very lush ditch on the right side of the road. This time I managed to get back on my bike before the last riders were getting around so after a few km of hard chasing I was home free and safe to finish in the bunch.
Before and after the race Friday I was feeling some strong hints that a case of the common cold could be swinging my way. I took these hints seriously, tried to rest a lot and stay hydrated etc.
Saturday morning I woke up after a night of coughing and little sleep to an 8 am start and a 155 km stage with 3 significant KOM climbs plus countless rollers. I tried to block out all feelings of weakness and doubt and survived the first 30 blistering kilometers along rolling terrain before settling in to a 35 km transition on flatter roads to Blue Knob and a 30 minute KOM climb to the ski station. At the base of Blue Knob I felt it right away. I had very little to give to stay in the front group and not quite enough to make the second group of 70 riders. My legs were so stiff and sore from poor recovery related to being sick and breathing was labored and tight. The incredible humidity on the day didn't help and in the end I crested that first peleton splitting climb at the back in a group of about 12 just hoping to make time cut. I had gone from a virtual 45th on GC (that would have been my GC placing on Thursday had it not been for the crash) to gutting it out in time cut land trying to just get a spot to start the crit and finish the week. Mentally it was devastating to know that although my firm and preparation were obviously good enough to ride this race close to the front fate and luck had put me back in a position I didn't feel I deserved to be in. I finished Saturday and ended up in 115th on GC, just getting me a spot in the final crit.
Sunday during warmup I was coughing and felt as though I should be heading home for a nap. I knew that finishing half of the crit would get me a final GC placing, getting pulled before 15 laps meant a DNF overall. I lasted 3 laps. The pace was high, no doubt about it, but compared to Gastown it should not have been a big deal on a normal day. I was wheezing and coughing, trying to fight my way to 15 laps, but I failed miserably. I knew it was going to be a miracle to make it through any race that day. A steady finishing road day could have been doable, but crits start out like cross races and that means 15 minutes of ultimate sufferage before the pace settles in to just sufferage. I couldn't take ultimate sufferage and paid the consequence of a big fat DNF and nothing to show.
I know I can race at this level and i proved it the first 4 days. All of the top pro squads in North America were in attendance and none of the racing was harder than my spring Belgium campaign. Unfortunately racing involves tragedy as well as success. I was very lucky to escape both crashes with only minor, superficial injuries and I proved to myself if not to anyone else that I belong at this level. I know I get my chance to show it all again soon.
On a happier note Jamie Sparling was the only rider from the team to finish the week. He rode consistently at the back as tail gunner and despite my tormenting him about the dangers of always riding at the back he avoided all mishaps and popped out at the end of the week with a finish. Our top placed rider going into the crit was Trevor Connor who was just inside the top 50 on GC. Unfortunately the crit handed him some splits and getting caught behind a crash so he to had to bite the cold DNF bullet.