Paris-Ancaster

This years P2A was again on a sunny and warm and dry day. Great conditions for a race that has you hauling yourself across highways, gravel rail trails, farmers access roads, ditch crossings, and ATV trenched trails and cornfields. There was a significant headwind this year that made the need to be in a paceline as you hit the open trails ever so important.

All the off road sections were fairly dry but soft making it tough to push the cross tires across with any great momentum. Three key sections were, as expected deep with mud, enough to cover the frames and jerseys of all riders.

Early into the race, there was a huge pileup as a crash on the railtrail that sent waterbottles and bikes sliding and skidding. Both DH racers (Edgars and Gord) were lucky to avoid any of the
multiple crashes that occured through the day.

The top finisher rolled in after 1hr, 53 minutes 50 sec, ahead of the other 1017 other male 60 km starters. Not quite 7 minutes behind at 2 hrs and 39 secs was Edgars Apse in 27th place, bettering his previous year finish of 52nd. Gord Lemon, who started well behind 350 riders, fought his way to finish in 111th place at 2:13:05. Of the 288 competitors in their age category they represented 15th and 42nd respectively.

Not so bad for the Flyers early in the season.

Link to the results. http://www.parisancaster.com/Results/P2A2008/Par2Anc60K.htm

First race of the season

April 13, 2008 (Hamilton, Ontario) - Here are the results from Ontario's first road race of the season, the Westover-Strabane Classic, Road Cycling Ontario Cup #1, presented on Sunday by Hamilton Cycling Club and Cooper Tires, and organized in lieu of the traditional Good Friday Road Races.

39. Mark Kremblewski (Darkhorse Flyers) 17' 04"

Slowtwitch UCI Legal Time Trial Position

After a day of theory and an hour of work, I was fit to the "fit cycle" in a UCI legal position at the following coordinates:

80 degrees of seat angle, 81 cm of saddle height, 23 cm of drop from the saddle nose to the aero bar pads and a cock pit of 87cm. Saddle used was the Adamo road saddle, a unique no-nose saddle that you set on with your "junk" hanging off the front. This position would not be UCI legal without that saddle as the nose of the saddle has to be 5cm behind the bottom bracket.

No problem producing power either. 230, 300, 400 watts.

Paris-Nice Action

Watch this little video to the end to find out how Slipstream Rider Tyler Farrar feels about his performance.

First ride of the season - weather permitting

Sunday March 23: Main group start at Timmy Ho's, Birchmount and Danforth. We'll be riding with our sister club, the BCC.

2 pickups along the way (I will be on my bike, so don't expect a ride):

Darkhorse Espresso Bar, leaving at 8:15 AM.

Broadview and Danforth, leaving at 8:30 AM to ride over to the main group starting point.

After turning back on to Kingston Rd from Port Union, the ride will split into 2 groups, one that will head straight back along Kingston Rd., the other taking the hills on Ellesmere and Scarborough Golf Club Rd.

Route 1: Port Union Loop - No drop

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Rouge-Runner

Rouge Runner

http://www.bikely.com/

Route 2: Ellesmere and Scarborough Colf Club Hills
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Rouge-Runner-Extra-Hills

Rouge Runner + Extra Hills

http://www.bikely.com/

Spinning with Edgars Apse - DH Flyers Mountain Bike Specialist

Anyone who has been to one of Edgars' classes will probably agree that an apt description is buckets and buckets of sweat. Be sure to call ahead and reserve a bike as his classes all fill up (http://www.berkeleygym.com/). Monday nights at 5:30 and 6:45.

Here is a sample of one of his classes:

------------------------

3 key work sessions. The first and third are spent out of the saddle transitioning between a tall upright straight back climbing stroke to power climb with heavy grade in 3rd.
The first minute of the standing position should focus on settling in and active recovery.
The sprint section has the rider pushing very hard over a minute on a moderate grade, with a full minute to recover.

Overall, the workout section has the rider in the saddle for only 8 minutes of 40 overeall.

1 Sex Kiss Machine - Mashup James Brown vs Prince – Warm-up

2 Symapthy for the Devil - CLIMB 3 min stand, 3 min in 3rd
3 Solsbury Hill - CLIMB 2 min stand, 2 min in 3rd
4 One Last Breath - CLIMB 1 min stand, 1 min in 3rd

5 Heard it through the Grapevine - 1 min surge in saddle, 70%, 1 min recovery in stand, 8x
6 Blinded by the light

7 Enter Sandman - CLIMB 3 min stand, 3 min in 3rd
8 Sweet Home Alabama - CLIMB 2 min stand, 2 min in 3rd
9 Paint it black - CLIMB 1 min stand, 1 min in 3rd

10 Superman - Cooldown
11 All I Want - Stretch

Queen Street Fire

Shot around 12PM on Feb 20, 2008.

Everyone will miss Duke's. More info to follow.

Spinning with David Silcox - DH Flyers Ironman and Time Trial Racer

David's spin classes are intended to emulate the road cycling experience as closely as possible. I was there last Saturday and can attest to that.

Says David about his classes:

I am a certified trainer and spin instructor however my classes are not the classic spinning style. I take time especially with newcomers to ensure proper bike fit and group dynamics. There are intervals of various intensities (Steady State and T Max), lots of rest and encouragement including awareness of heart rate, perceived exertion training as well as hydration and nutrition. I take into account that the class is a mix of seasoned weekend warriors, triathletes, road cyclists and those who spin for aerobic exercise in the club only. There are hill workouts and eclectic classes that keep the participants fully engaged and pumped. I encourage awareness of bio feedback and try to watch for progress or frustration which I address either privately or during sessions.

I like to think that participants gain an appreciation for the value of cycling and cross training as a means of keeping fit and strong. I also do everything possible to keep it fun including allowing everyone in the class to do 10 jumps in turn. A class of 10 will do 200 jumps in total by the time each counts up to 10 then down from 10. I wait for a particularly tough hill section and tell the class that a big dog a rushed out of the bushes (whoof whoof whoof) and is chasing them up the hill. People can relate better than simply telling them to sprint. Play lists are a mix of tunes that I have heard on radio stations such as 103.9 Proud FM and 104.5 FM. Some people even sing along until it gets intense then I have conditioned them to think about something pleasant during the tough parts, just like a race.

The social aspect of cycling cannot be ignored whether on the road or in a studio. People help each other and become friends.

David's club is Lation Fitness (416) 698-9971.

Darkhorse Flyers Jersey 2008

Masters Team Jersey to be available April 2008.

( click to enlarge)

2007 Jersey

Toronto Archives

http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/fo1244/f1244_it8167.jpg

Team Vegan Interview

I checked in with Bradley Saul, the founder of Organic Athlete (organicathlete.org) and Team Vegan manager/racer to get the inside story on the team, the past season and what is in the works for the future.

Founded in 2003, Organic Athlete’s mission is to “is to promote health and ecological stewardship among athletes of all ages and abilities by sharing information, building community and inspiring through athletic example”. In 2007, a multi-disciplinary cycling team called Team Vegan was established, with Bradley at the helm. Team Vegan includes all categories of racers from the elite category 1 & 2 (about 10 right now) to the club level (about 75), with racers across North America.

(Bradley Saul on the left, fellow racer Antonio Castelli on the right)

Paul Parker: What sets Team Vegan apart from other teams?

Bradley Saul/Team Vegan: One, our team is just part of a much larger organization made of up athletes of all different sports called OrganicAthlete. OrganicAthlete is a membership organization for athletes of all ages, sports, and abilities. We have over 550 members worldwide, and these include runners, triathletes, bodybuilders, surfers, and more.
Two, we're a team of vegans.
Three, we have riders from across North America who are members of the team.

Paul: What was behind the launch of OrganicAthlete?

Bradley: Before I started OrganicAthlete, there were no organizations actively promoting and educating people about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle through sports. Plenty of veg organizations used athletes as role models, but there was not an organization for those athletic role models.

Paul: Must riders meet any minimum requirements to be a part of Team Vegan? Are there a set number of races that they have to do?

Bradley: The only requirement to be part of the club is 5 hours of volunteer work per year. All members of the elite team must be vegan and commit to the team schedule, which we're still working on for 2008.
When building the team schedule, we are looking at both cost and time, but also we want to consider the team's development. We need to enter races that challenge us as a team, but we don't want to overdo it.

Paul: When racing, do you or the other athletes find it difficult to find food that meets your dietary needs?

Bradley: No, plant foods can be found or bought everywhere we go. We know that race sites often have very limited suPaullies that meet our dietary needs and so we try to plan ahead. We carry what we need in our team van, a 1982 VW Vanagon with a turbo diesel that we run on bio-diesel when we can

(The Team Van: "Harold and Estelle")

Paul: Name 2 things that helped you get through this season.

Bradley:
1) Our mission. “Founded in 2003, OrganicAthlete unites people in a global effort to create a better world through sport. Through individual initiative and teamwork we can achieve the extraordinary and inspire the pursuit of personal and planetary health. Our mission is to promote health and ecological stewardship among athletes of all ages and abilities by sharing information, building community and inspiring through athletic example.”
2) Organic bananas.


Paul: Have you received any taunts out on the race course? Your bib shorts say "Go Vegan" on the back, and that must elicit some response.

Bradley: Any taunts usually come from our friends. We've gotten a lot of respect for what we're doing and what we stand for.


Paul: When racing, how important are team dynamics, on and off the course?

Bradley: It depends. We're a new team that's just learning how to work together in local and regional races. In the bigger national level races, we're pretty much trying to hold our own. A good team can definitely take advantage of the disorganization in the peloton that is characteristic of smaller races, but you have to be strong enough to do that.

Paul: Who are your 2 favourite cyclists right now?

Bradley: Christine Vardaros - a pro cross racer and member of OrganicAthlete's pro-activist team. christinevardaros.blogspot.com/
Scott Nydam - a local BMC pro rider who has completely shredded me at countless Tuesday night crits. He's a nice guy, too. www.bmc-cycling.com/team_nydam.html

Paul: What is in store for the team in the future?

Bradley: We're growing as fast as OrganicAthlete is growing, and we'd like to have a continental level pro team in the future. This year, the elite team is sticking to the West Coast with the possibility of entering a couple of international races.
I would love to do the FBD Ras (www.fbdinsuranceras.com/event/) in Ireland again. I did this race in 2000.

Paul: Who are the stars of Team Vegan right now?

Bradley: Molly Cameron finished 5th overall at the Tour of Ohio (www.mollycameron.com/). David Glick finished 20th at the San Dimas Stage Race (http://www.u.arizona.edu/~dglick/cycling.html%20). We were stoked about those finishes. Of course, there's Sami Fournier who won the Masters Women 40-44 National Championship in 2006 (spokepost.com/diary/sami/).

Paul: I heard that you have recently opened a bike store Sebastopol, CA. Tell me a little bit about the shop and how your core values as a vegan and cyclist are expressed in the design, merchandise, marketing of the store and your role as a business in your local community.

Bradley: The name of the store is the West County Revolution Bike Shop (http://www.westcountyrevolution.com/). Though Steve Michel (part owner) and I are hard core roadies, we also recognize that we are the only shop in our town to sell bikes. We try to have a range of bikes from kids to the dedicated racer. Charity Kirk (also part owner) keeps us in line organized and focused on our goals.
This year the store opened just weeks before the Sebastopol Tour d'Organics. As the ride director and shop owner, I was pretty busy.
At the store I do most of the buying, so I don't buy any non-vegan nutritional goods. I do my best to purchase non-leather saddles and soft goods. Ultimately, the ethos I bring to the store is compassion. I want to see more people riding bikes, as I believe it is healthy for people and the planet.

Paul: Shout out your sponsors.

Bradley: Our sponsors rocked this year:

• VegNews Magazine (http://www.vegnews.com/);
  
• Organic Spa Magazine (www.organicspamagazine.com/);
  
• Clif Bar (www.clifbar.com/);
  
• New Harvest Organics (www.newharvestorganics.com/);
  
• Melissa's (http://www.melissa.com/);
  
• Mill Valley Cycleworks (www.millvalleycycleworks.com/);
  
• Beljum Budder (www.beljumudder.com/);
  
• Bio-Lube (www.bio-lube.com/); and
  
• Verge Sport Clothing (http://www.vergesport.com/)

Track Part 2

The track school at the velodrome is run by volunteers, people with a great love for cycling and who want to see the velodrome succeed. Their approach is to introduce participants to track riding and get people on and off the track safely. The cost of the Track 1 course is $30 including bike rental. A team from PedalPerformance.com was there with me along with a couple of other first-time riders.

The program starts with bike setup. The velodrome has a number of bikes in a variety of sizes that are far from a custom fit, but are just fine for the first time track rider (bike #21 was mine). The bikes at the velodrome have a shorter wheel base, track specific bars, and possibly a steeper position than your regular road bike (it may be close to your tri/TT bike). The wheels were clinchers, tires were garden variety (save your money and just buy a good quality tire, not a track specific tire I was told) and inflated to about 100 psi. Participants need to bring their own pedals/clips.

Gearing at the track is limited to 48X16 or less in order to restrict speeds in what was described to us as the shortest and steepest track in North America (138 meters, 50 degrees in the corners, 15 degrees on the flats). According to Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator (700c, 172.5mm cranks), a rider with a crank RPM of 80 would travel at approximately 30 km/hr. That means that if you want to go 60 km/hr, which people do reach on the track, you would need to pedal at 160 RPM.

The first lesson is just learning to ride the bike. If this is your first time on a track bike, be prepared for cross over between your front wheel and foot on the forward portion of the pedal stroke. The drills practiced speeding up, slowing down, steering by turning the handlebars instead of leaning and beginning to be comfortable with the momentum or speed that track bike stores up. The many kilometers that I put in on the fixie over the past 2 years prepared me for riding in a straight line, but adjusting to the new turning technique took a little while. "Twist your shoulders!" was the mantra that followed me around the track. It is also possible to coordinate turing with the pedal stroke so that the wheel is always turned away from the leading foot, allowing you to avoid contact between your foot and the front wheel, although I was only successful at that about 50% of the time. If this happens, just keep pedaling, do not panic.



Next we worked on manuevering between sets of cones placed on the floor, followed by moving on to and off the track. Hitting the bank on the straight-away for the first time was pretty exciting and my mind was very busy doing calculations (too busy I would soon find out). The technique is:

1. Shoulder check
2. Twist the bars and ride up the track, don't lean into the track
3. Slow down at the top cone
4. Shoulder check
5. Ride in a relaxed angle down and off the track, controlling the speed of the bike

Next we were given the chance to get on the boards. Riders need to be mindful about the entrance and exit angles to avoid contacting the pedal with the track surface (as so many have clearly done as indicated by of the scars on the boards) and to maintain about 30km/hr to stay upright in the turns. On my first attempt I was stiff as a board and I did not accelerate as fast as I should have. I came into the first corner and felt the press of gravity as the bike leaned on its side. The sensation was so foreign that I fought the track instead of staying loose and I soon found myself riding off the track about half way through the turn. No wipe out, but my over-thinking almost had me sliding down the boards on my first attempt.

After watching a few others, it was my turn again. I loosened up, gave it a good push at the entrance and all of the sudden I found myself up. I let out a couple of "woohoos!" that echoed through the building and 2 laps later I was back down.

The leaders then set up a pace line of 5 and the instructors led us around the boards, along different lines at different heights on the track (black is the lowest, red next and the blue line at the top, the yellow line is really a warning line that you are at the top of the track and are about to launch into the rafters). On the second lap the lead rider peeled off and rode above us. That was a little alarming at first as in the turns, we would basically be stacked up, one rider leaning over the other. On consecutive runs, I relaxed more, fiddling with my position on the bike, practicing the art of steering in the corners and using the slingshot of the turn to pick up speed. There is nothing quite like the feeling of being pressed into the bike as you build up energy and are fired out the other end.

All totaled, I went around the track about 40 times, or about 5.5kms.

Key Points I Learned

• Relax the arms
• Press on the left side of the handlebars in the turn to correct your line if you are edging up the track
• Use the turns to accelerate and be careful not to go too hard into a turn.
• Be aware of the pace and learning how to gauge your speed to prevent going too fast and working yourself up the bowl and over the rails!!
• Enter and exit at the right place on the track
• Always check over your shoulder before changing lanes or entering and exiting

The next step is to schedule the Track 2 lesson and participate in the Sport-Rec session on Thursdays.

Track Rider Lean Analysis: http://www.analyticcycling.com/genmodel/LeanAnalysis.html

Track Part 1

On Saturday November 17, 2007 I will be heading down to the Forest City Velodrome to partake in the Track 1 class. This is the first of 2 pre-requisite classes to be eligible for track racing at the velodrome in London Ontario.

The velodrome is housed in what was once the "Ice House", or the "London Gardens", the previous home ice of the London Nights and the site of many jubilant outings to watch hockey when my family lived in London Ontario. I even had the opportunityu to play on that surface as part of a AA team in London.

I returned there last winter to watch the 5th day of 6 Day Racing and have been thinking about getting on the track ever since. My goal for the day is not to crash, and if I do, to get up and ride again.

More on Sunday...

Wikipedia info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-day_racing

HED wind calculator

http://hedcycling.com/images/template/launch-yaw-calculator.gif

This is a nifty little tool that is intended to help you with wheel selection, but also gives you some idea of the effort you will have to put out under various wind conditions to go a certain speed.

Figuring out how to use this was pretty easy. Start with adjusting the rider speed and then place the wind direction perpendicular to the rider. Bump up wind speed and watch the bottom line graph change. This number correlates to the apparent or approximate wind resistance and should give you an idea of the amount of work required. Higher number = more work. Perhaps they should have added little sweat indicators and sounds of someone wheezing in the background.

The diagram in the bottom right hand corner shows how the rider experiences the wind. Note that a perpindicular wind direction at 20km/hr results in an wind that is felt slightly from behind, but as the wind speed increases the side wind becomes more pronounced.

What this means for wheel selection is that if you expect direct on head winds or mild side winds you may be best off selecting a disc or very deep dish wheel. The more that the wind is expected to slam into you, the more a middle depth (50-60mm)deep dish or aero spoke wheel makes sense. A strong compromise is to run a trispoke on the back and a deep dish on the front (a very versatile combo).

Keep a few of things in mind:

1. The depth of the front wheel has more influence on the handling characteristics of your ride than the rear. It also gives the greatest aero advantage, which may explain those with only an aero spoke wheel on the front and a traditional rim on the back.
2. Your body may actually contribute more to handling difficulties in heavy cross winds than any set of aero wheels.

Keirin Carnage

Most Keirin races will have a few crashes and I can only imagine that the adrenaline must be pretty high out there. This clip from the Leigh Valley Velodrome was particularly alarming as the last crash took place after the end of the race.

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From: http://www.reference.com/search?r=13&q=Keirin

The keirin is a mass start Track cycling event in which 6 to 9 sprinters compete at one time in a race with a paced-start. Riders draw lots to determine starting positions and start as the pacer (which could be a motorcycle, a derny, or a tandem bicycle, for example) approaches. The riders are required to remain behind the pacer, which starts at the deliberately slow speed of about 25 km/h, gradually increasing in speed and leaves the track approximately 600-700 meters before the end, at a speed of about 50 km/h. The first cyclist to finish the race is the winner (sometimes finishing at 70 km/h). Keirin races are about 2 kilometers in length (8 laps on a 250m track, 6 laps on a 333m track, and 5 laps on a 400m track).
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Keirin is supposed to be Roller-Derby on bikes, but the last crash in the video just seems excessive. Cyclingnews.com gave the following update: (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/aug05/aug04news2)

The final result was few suspensions and thankfully no permanent injuries were sustained by the riders. Some may say that it is all part of the race, but a tackle/check like that is the same as finishing a play after the whistle blows in hockey; dirty and dangerous.