DETONATION

So we've been smacking talking each other for a few weeks, knowing that, soon, in the very near future, one of us will emerge as victor and be able to boast and gloat of our spoils until our paths cross again.    Well, today was the day we drew our guns.  Unloaded our arsenal, and showed each other our true cards.

It was innocent enough.  We decided to take part in the Triple Crown for Heart, an untimed charity ride that

sees over a 150 cyclists climb Vancouver's local mountains, starting with Seymour, followed by Grouse, before finally ending up at the downhill area of Cypress Mountain.  After each ascent, we would trace a path to the bottom of Marine Drive before climbing back up to the top.  Fair enough; untimed, charity, non-competitive............I like climbing, this'll be fun, and the fact that proceeds go to support the cardiology patients at Children's Hospital makes the ride that much more palatable.

This will be fun.

Almost on cue, my 16 month old son decided to have a bad morning.  A poor sleep resulted in a fussy,  grumpy tiresome morning.  Gah, no worries.  I'll just hurry to get to the start area.  I made it to the registration table, signed in, pinned my number on, and I'm only 5 minutes away from the start, phew.  Good timing.

Rolling out,  the 'neutral' start was anything but neutral.  I notice guys I normally race against swarming the lead car, as if to say 'hurry up, let's get this show on the road.'  I react, and make my way towards the front of the group (can't get left behind before this thing even starts, right?).  Turning left on to Mt. Seymour Drive, the lead car accelerates and lets the pack loose.  WHAT THA?  Charity ride?  Untimed? So much for a fun, social day of climbing.  Game on.

As the road pitches to the sky, just past the ranger hut, the group is already comprised of a few select riders; a handful of category 1 and 2 riders, including the former Masters Hill Climbing Champion, Larry Zimich.  As the pace surges, I do my best to keep who I think is the best climber at bay.  Jumping on to his wheel, the pack shatters within the first 4 of 5 kilometers of the climb.  Passing the Baden Powell trail crossing, the road spikes with a steep, gentle right hand corner, almost custom made for an attack.  BOOM!  Sure enough, my mate throws it down, accelerating from an already wicked pace.  Pop, pop, pop. You can almost hear the riders being shelled, failing to respond to the increased pace.

We're now down to two or three riders as we enter the first switchback (I can't really remember, my eyeballs were oozing pain and stinging with lactic acid).  As the road levels out, I try to recover, but feel my nemesis accelerate again.  This is ridiculous.  I react, and respond with an acceleration of my own.  An eye for an eye, buddy boy.

The last acceleration created a gap. I need to hold on to this!  With everything that I have, I try to accelerate again.  It worked, the gap has grown!  I settle into an uncomfortable rhythm and try to focus on delivering the maximum amount of power.  I don't look back for fear of seeing another rider come up on me.  2nd switch back....3rd....4th, I peer down to see where the other riders are...nobody....keep going!  Turning the final left-hand switch back, I know there's only a few minutes of agony left.  Let's go!  I get out of the saddle and make the final climb to the parking - and almost fall over when I reach the top.  38:30.  Not bad for a single effort, but I know that two more mountains await.  Crap.  Did I burn too many matches on the first climb?

Nemesis Bob and I quickly descend and make our way over to Grouse.  A controlled climb, we reach the top within 20 seconds of each other, fair enough.   Back down, over the Capilano River, and back up the last of the three mountains. 

I recently set a PR climbing Cypress, so I felt reasonably confident.  I can hang with Bob.

Existing the highway, in a rotating paceline, we time trail past the works yard, and start our final ascent.  Looking down at my speedo, we're doing 22km/h as we hit the slope.  Whoa, that's pretty ambitious, I remember thinking.  That's single mountain climbing speed.  I'm on Bob's wheel.  He flicks an elbow as if to say 'you take the lead for a while'  I react, pull through, then ask the engine bay for more power.  The Captain of the engine bay responds, but whispers into my ear - I'm afraid we're already at full power, sir!  Somehow, in my focused state, I didn't hear his warning.  After a few seconds, I flick my elbow, motioning Bob to take a pull at the front.  Good, good, this is all coming to plan.  Until..............Bob accelerates again.  In a split second, I'm out of my saddle reacting to his acceleration, only nothing........NOTHING?  Engine bay, this is your Supreme Leader, I need more power, NOW.  Heart rate increases, ready for the increase....nothing.  It's only then that I notice Bob's gap growing.  I NEED MORE POWER NOW!!!   The Captain of the Engine Bay, shaking his head, tries to open the tap, until KA-BLOOEY!  Engine shrapnel litters the roadway.  Pistons, connecting rods, valves all heaped in a twisted, smokey, flaming mess.  I can't remember the last time I blew up to this degree.  Holyman.

Just past the final hairpin, and Bob's nowhere in sight.  Gone.  He's already enjoying the burgers and pop!

It's only after I download my Garmin to analyze the effort that I realized that I may have been in the red for uhm, a little too long.  My mate Bob takes the spoils today.

Did I mention that Bob Welbourn is the current National Cyclocross Champion?  Damn, he's fit.

OF MOUNTAINS AND MOLEHILLS

You book a ride with your mates only to find out the day’s route holds a significant amount of elevation gain (read: lots of climbing), what do you do?  Don’t fret, with a steady diet of climbing and a positive attitude, you can make any mountain into a mole hill.

Climbing Techniques

Generally speaking, hill climbing takes two forms, seated climbing and out of saddle climbing, though to climb a mole hill (or a mountain) quickly, a rider will likely employ a mix of both techniques.  

Grinding out a seated climb!

On longer, shallower climbs (less than 5 or 6%), stay in the saddle and keep a relatively high cadence   Seated climbing will allow a rider to burn less energy and facilitates the use of larger glute (butt) and hip muscles.
- about 75 – 85rpm. Maintaining a quick, efficient legspeed is particularly important for heavier riders.

To maximize efficiency, and to gain a leverage advantage, slide back on your seat, allowing the nose of your saddle to peek through your legs.  Instead of pushing directly down on the pedals in a piston-like fashion, sliding back on the saddle allows you to push down and forward on the pedals.  Remember – relax your grip on the bars, but use the bars as a fixed point to push and pull against.  On longer climbs, get out of the saddle occasionally, allowing brief bouts of recovery for your back (ouch!) and butt, varying the muscle groups that are producing the motive force.

Out of the saddle efforts add instant power to the pedal stroke for hard efforts, accelerations (think of reacting to a sudden increase in speed) or climbing steep hills at the expense of increased energy requirements  - about 10% more - over a seated counterpart.

Up and out of the saddle in an attacking style!

With proper out of the saddle ‘rocking’ technique, cyclists can conquer all but the steepest of hills by   Done properly, out of the saddle climbing looks like this: With your hands holding the brake hoods, get out of the saddle and pull with the right arm (recruiting the assistance of biceps and lats), as the left leg pushes down on the power stroke. As you shift your weight from right to left, pull on the bars as you push with the left leg. On steep grades, it is almost as if you were walking up the hill.  The bike will have a natural sway from side to side as your body weight is shifted – don’t fight this!  It’s okay for the bike to rock back and forth in a controlled motion.  Advanced riders might even perform a very tight arcing S pattern with their front wheel as they wind their way up the road, using their body weight and upper body strength to assist the power of their legs.

Rules to Live By

Relax - Don’t waste energy with a death grip on the bars.  Relax your grip and your upper body. As you climb in a seated position, remember to keep your hands on the top of the bars, close to the stem, allowing for maximum diaphragm movement, maximizing your ability to breathe deeply.  

When it comes time to stand, it's best to position the hands on the hoods for maximum stability. Unless you’re sprinting to victory on a mountain-top finish, you should never find yourself climbing in the drops; the hunched over position constricts breathing rates, and generally makes life miserable as the road winds to the sky. 

Keep forward momentum!  Once you enter a hill, it’s critical to keep the momentum going! If you become over-geared or ‘bogged down’ in a particular gear mid-hill, accelerating back to your climbing speed is both difficult and taxing - bringing you further in to the dreaded red zone.   Instead, stay on top of your gear, aiming for a cadence on either side of 80rpm.  If you find your cadence slowing, shift into an easier gear immediately, and try to recapture the lost momentum with a quick out of the saddle burst.

Learn to Love the Hills.  Hills can (and should be added) to any training regime.  Ideally, a visit to the mountains (or any incline) would be included on a weekly or every 10 to 14 day basis.  Find a hill that you can climb in a seated position (3 to 6%), with a length of about 4 to about 10 minutes (longer is better for more advanced cyclists).  Start with two or three seated hill repeats, and add intervals as you gain fitness.  An important factor in hill climbing is consistency.  If you aim for 3 intervals, the first repeat should fall within 10% of the total time of your last. Recovery is the route back to the start area, with an added dogleg if increased recovery is required.   Be careful not to crack-off a phenomenally quick first climb, only to climb the last hill at a turtles pace.  Be consistent!  Keeping a log of times is good, and also serves to motivate and monitor performance.

Accelerations - As you progress and gain fitness, introduce accelerations to your hill repeats. On longer hills that are reasonably steep, accelerate hard (or in business terms ‘jump’) from a moderate pace, holding the accelerated pace for a defined period – 30s, 45s or up to 120s.  From the accelerate speed, sit back down and resume your normal climbing pace for three or four minutes, then jump again!  The key to this workout is hard, maximal efforts, followed by moderate load, repeated.  Ouch.

Playing the piano –

How do you become a better climber? The absolutely best way to improve climbing is to – SURPRISE – start climbing!  Find a variety of hills; long, short, shallow steep, and introduce a steady diet of hills into your regular riding.

ON PERIODIZATION AND PROGRESS

You might be new to cycling, and, under duress and coercion from friends, family and fellow workmates, you have signed up to ride Shoppers Drug Mart's 60km Ride Don't Hide fun ride, a little over a month and a half away.   No need to panic (yet), all you need is a structured plan!

Following a periodized schedule, where training is broken into a specific time periods typically characterized by different forms of training, allows for the greatest chance of success, ensuring you arrive on event day in the best possible fitness.  A properly periodized plan is like a road map, outlining specific training prescriptions required on any given day, week, month, or in some cases, years.

Periodization includes six very distinct periods or phases of training; Preparation, Build or Base, Peak, Specificity or Competition (take your pick), Tapering, Peaking and Rest and/or Recovery.  Each of the six phases can be further broken down into macro and micro cycles of development.  For our purposes, we'll take a quick peek at three essential phases of training as you prepare to take on the 60km ride.  Base, Competition and Peak are mandatory visits for athletes preparing for an event.  What does each period entail, and how long does an athlete spend in each phase?  Let's take a 10,000ft view to see what each period could include. 

First, let's zoom in on the Aerobic base period.

Aerobic Period -- Base training is the bread and butter of any endurance-based training program. Typically, workouts are long and (reasonably) low in intensity, with a primary focus on developing the aerobic system for the harder work to come.  As cyclists that will ultimately spend a few hours in the saddle covering a 60km distance, a variety of activities can be included in this phase, including hiking, running, cross-country skiing and swimming - essentially anything that keeps you moving and the heart pumping at a moderately easy pace (RPE 5 - 7) over a prolonged time.  Weight training, in a circuit-like fashion is also an excellent option for athletes that specialize in one sport. 

Once our legs and heart are accustomed to working hard over two or three hours, we can shift to the Competitive period.

Competitive Period -- After a several weeks, or in some cases, months, spent building a strong aerobic engine, athletes transition into workouts that are much more specific in nature.  Athletes that included cross training in the program now orient themselves to sport-specific development (specificity); think leg speed (cadence), hill work, longer and faster rides.  During the Competitive Period,  workouts become increasingly difficult, mimicking the specific competition, or in our case, event (Ride, Don't Hide) that an athlete is training for.  Specificity can include a regular diet of fast rides that are growing in duration or intensity (introduction of hillier routes for example, RPE increases in this phase, to 7 - 9), or an increase in mileage on any one ride.  As the frequency and duration of mileage and fast rides increases, don't neglect the easy rides!  These ultra-easy efforts help hasten recovery by flushing any accumulated lactates out of your muscles, and serve to prepare your body for increased intensity later in the week.  Because the workload increases on a weekly basis, maintaining adequate rest (Off days) leading to a selected event is a large consideration of any successful training program and to ultimate game day performance.  As hard as it might be, Off days are just that, OFF!

You've followed an 8 week build program that's brought you to tip top shape, you are comfortable riding in a peloton of cyclists, and you have the sleek look of a brightly colored gazelle, replete with matching socks, shorts, jersey and gloves, what next?  It's time to Peak.

Peak Period - You have identified your goal; to ride 60km on June 23rd!  You've established the Ride, Don't Hide Bike Ride is your "A" priority event, everything else falls off the calendar, this is the day you will SHINE and be in the best possible shape!  After a brief rest period, cyclists following their 'road map' will find that their fitness has bumped up several notches, ensuring a successful day in the saddle!

With just under 8 weeks to go before the green flag drops for participants of the Ride, Don't Hide, there's plenty of time to notch up your fitness, and to have a PEAK performance on event day!

To learn more about the Ride, Don't Hide Campaign, click HERE.

FOCUS

As a young buck, I loved climbing. Show me a hill, and I would attack it like a rabid dog, foaming at the mouth as I crest the top.  Now that I'm an old guy, I remember the thousands of ascents up our local mountains with fondness.

Sustained HR, with little variation in effort.

Regardless of pace, weather or social company, climbing a mountain or a mole hill is never easy, regardless of how good you (think) you are.  It's always a challenge to commit to a razor's edge focus for a prolonged duration, delivering a controlled maximum power output from bottom to top.

 

Consistency and knowing where - and how hard - to push is the key to success.  Whether you target a racy Strava-inspired climb, or aspire to crack the hour on your local ski hill, you need to be ALL in, mind, body and soul.  If we consider rider/bike/equipment weight relative to a reasonably competitive time (in our case, Cypress Mountain, typically measured from the 2km marker to the powerlines), a rider needs to dial in a wattage in the area of +/-335w to meet his or her objective.  Before you get carried away with thoughts of holding a measly 335w, keep the blog title in mind - Tall 'Skinny' Old Guy -  skinny being the operative word.  For those intimately familiar with their local climbs, breaking a mountain up into sectors is helpful, taking note of goal times (or speeds) for each of these sectors will help you keep focus and pace.

Pace notes help keep you on the straight and narrow.

Remember, weight is your enemy during any ascent, keeping it to a minimum is essential. Bring only what you need and no more - that means ¾ (or less) of a bottle for the climb!  If you're going for a time, the assumption is that your 'go-to' race bike will be used.  Before you set out, make sure the chain is clean, the drivetrain freshly lubed, brakes aren't dragging and tires are up to snuff, at the manufacturer's  recommended psi.  Why lose out on a precious few seconds from mechanical friction, right?

How do you tackle each sector of the mountain?  I've provided a few pacing strategies below that are Cypress Mountain-specific, but could be adopted for just about any longer climb.

For cyclists outside of Metro Vancouver, Cypress Mountain is a very steady climb, with four switchbacks over its 10.5km length, taking on some 660m of elevation over the course of the distance.

OK, let's get rolling! I've broken Cypress into four sectors, each averaging between 5% and 6% in grade:

2km Marker to the 1st LookOut (LO) 

a.)    2km to the 1^st LO time needs to be +/-11 minutes, noting that a really fast opening time may push you too far into the red in other sectors.  Target time +/-10:15 – 11:30 or +/-18 to 20km/h.

b.)    Gas needs to be consistently open through each corner, targeting a velocity of +27km/h around each of the first two switchbacks. It’s easy to back off in the corners for recovery – try to limit load drop.  Keep the gas open, as they say.

1st LookOut to 2nd LookOut  

Spikes show increased speed through corners.

c.)     1^st to the 2^nd LO is tricky, focus is very narrow with the undulations in pitch.  Don’t be afraid to get out of the saddle to maintain effort if you bog down, particularly in the first 150m of the sector where the grade increases. Target time +/-8:30 – 9:30  or +/-18 to 20km/h.

d.)    Once you come through the 2^nd LO, focus snaps back to maintaining a high speed through the corner, aim for +28km/h for this long right hand corner. At this speed, aero comes into play –  you should be in the ‘power position’ (hands on hoods, stretched, flat back).  

2nd LookOut to HairPin 

e.)    2^nd LO to Hairpin is deceptive. The rider’s perspective shows a false flat, but the pitch is a constant 4 to 5 degrees. Settle into a rhythm, and try to pinch some speed exiting the 2^nd LO corner, before the incline becomes significant. Target time: 7:15 – 8:00 or +/-16 to 20km/h.

f.)     As with each switchback corner, you need to maintain a high speed through each corner.  You can back off the gas, but do so sparingly, knowing the finish is near. 

HairPin to Powerline 

g.)    Hairpin to Powerline is nasty.  Focus becomes even narrower. Due to the grades, a brief, out of the saddle effort will be required to maintain a high load.  Watch the clock, with 2 minutes to go (~3:30 lap), begin to increase pace, with another concerted, out of the saddle effort with 1 minute to go. With 30 seconds to go, get out of the saddle, digging as hard as you can across the powerlines to the finish.  You will need to moderate the speed, using 2min, 1min and 30s markers as benchmarks. Target time: 5:30 – 6:30 or +/-18 to 20km/h.

h.) Focus from bottom to top is narrow, becoming narrower as you reach the powerlines.  As you crest the mountain and fall over in a mass of exhaustion, don't forget to take a gasp of air and look out over the Bay.  The million dollar view is worth the climb!

Easy peasy.  Now you have the recipe to out-climb your buddies. Like any great chef, how you conquer your local hill will require subtle tweaks in the delivery and make up of the recipe, but keep the basic ingredients the same, and you will meet the climbing challenge head on, and ultimately emerge successful.

Now, get out there and enjoy the slow burn!

Ode To A Coffee

After a series of sleepless nights, I bring you a quote from Talleyrand (1754-1838) that rings close to home this morning.

"Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love."

Somebody, please, bring me a cup, I've a mountain to ascend tomorrow, at sunrise.

It's ON!

The first angry ride on the Ghost took shape in the form of a prolonged hammer session out to Belcarra,

doubling back to Deep Cove, then rolling through the slopes of Lynn Valley.  All in, 125km and just over 2,000m of climbing.  How did the Ghost react to multiple locomotive-like efforts at 400w?  In a word, absolutely flawlessly!  In all honesty, sliding into the cockpit of the Ghost was like putting on an old pair of gloves - everything fit, even the ProLogo Zero2 saddle was comfortable over the 4 hours pain that was being dished out on a repeated basis.  Climbing?  Gotcha covered.  Out of the saddle efforts yielded immediate acceleration, no energy robbing flex at the bottom bracket or chainstays - stomp on the pedals and you are rewarded with instant acceleration!  Just the thing I needed keeping up to Saturday's musclemen (Yes, you, JI).  

So, climbing is spot on, but what about the descents, do the muscular fork legs, the beefy downtube and overbuilt bottom bracket area all combine to form a delicious recipe of stiffness and sure footed-ness as speeds increase? YEP!  Once the rollers of Belcarra are conquered, riders are faced with a long, winding descent, exactly the conditions required to test the new rig's stability.  Railing the big Ghost through corners was inspiring - the only thing holding me back was a lingering thought of self-assembly - are you SURE you tightened that stem bolt? - Apart from a moment's (mental) hesitation, the bike behaved as it should, rock solid as speed tickled 80km/h in the short descent back to Newport Village. Similarly, scrubbing off speed on the beautiful Easton EC90SL was smooth, easily modulated, without any drama (or squealing brakes) whatsoever.   Perfect.

So, a new missile to the arsenal. Bring on the Tuesday Nighters (said with all due respect).      

Menacing To Look At!

The bike is built, and unfortunately, due to a string of miserable weather and my inability to stomach riding in

Stare too long and this thing will kick you in the shins!

poor weather (years of rain and cold doesn't harden you, it does the opposite), I haven't had a chance to ride the Lector in anger (yet!).  What did I do instead?  Put the Ghost on the Computrainer and pushed through a favorite workout - multiples of 20 minutes at threshold, FUN  (not really).

Having raced for Giant at the peak of my illustrious career, my body has morphed to accommodate the compact geometry of their flagship race bikes.  Love it or hate it, the severely sloping top tube of the TCR line makes for a stout, efficient machine, at the mercy of fit.  It took many months to tweak the cockpit of my first TCR to find a combination of comfort and power.  Moving over to the Ghost, with it's impressively lengthy head tube, I found myself giggling at a whole new level of comfort.  While maintaining its aggressive look with a 'slammed' stem/bar, the seat to bar relationship is in another universe compared to the old race rig.  This can only be good, right?  Opening the chest to allow for deeper breathing, and decreasing the hip angle for better power delivery.  I'll buy that, but can you quantify this cockpit "improvement?"

Let's go back to the aforementioned Computrainer.  Moving closer to race season, the workout du jour includes a standard diet of 20 minute sets.  I've been struggling to push through 3 sets done at a successively higher load (320w > 330w > 340w).  The last set is particularly hard, requiring a very special combination of angry music and razor sharp mental focus (because hey, reality is, hot, crackling bacon is a mere 20 feet away).  The last few workouts were somewhat of a success, pushing to failure at 10 minutes and 12 minutes (of 20) respectively. Here's where it gets interesting.  Swing a leg over the matt (matte?) black machine, settle into a tempo and the first  two sets are banged out with relative ease.  For an old geezer with a new kid and VERY limited saddle time (and even less sleep), 340w comes with profound sweating and a little bit of swearing.  It's hard.  Minutes trickle by, BOOM, 10 minutes pass, now 12, OK, the fun begins.  I've just passed the previous gold standard (12 minutes), and strangely, while operating at about 90%, I'm feeling good. Let's go for 15 minutes and call it a day, setting a new benchmark to wrap the day's session up.  15 minutes rolls by, meh, keep pushing.  16.....17.....18....WHAT?  Can I finish this workout?  DONE! DONE and DONE!  Wowzers.  So maybe it's not the position, and it's the excitement of a new bike (or it is?).  Either way, I'm over the moon to have pushed through the mind-numbing and leg tingling interval, but now I'm even more excited to rail this thing on the roads!!!  

The Ghost Has Appeared!

The Ghost Lector Race has landed, and holyheck, what a rig!  A reasonably easy build (slap on the seat/seatpost, wheels and stem/bar combo and away you go!).  Once built, the Lector is an intimidating looking machine, draped in matt black paint with subtle hints of gray and splashes of red to keep things visually

interesting, the Lector is all business. 

BEEFY TUBING! Sculpted tubing resides everywhere on this bike; tapered top tube, stout chainstays, a bottom bracket that would look at home on the USS Enterprise and my favorite, fork legs that could have been modeled after Jessica Zelinka's gams - gorgeous and muscular!  This bike screams performance!

Component selection is top shelf, the Sram Red group has a tremendous following in the racing world, combining double-tap technology, and light weight. Carbon wheels, you say?  Yup, the Lector's got those too, in the form of Easton EC90's, wrapped in Schwalbe's premium race rubber, Ultremo ZX!  By now, it's late, I'm in the garage, wifey is probably asking where I am, and I need to go to bed!  More on this thing later.   Stoked?  Oh yeah!

Wow, it's been that long since I actually posted to this blog?  I've got some catching up to do!  So, new bike, new clothes, new kid (!!!) and a whole new level of excitement to get out of my garage (Oh the misery and the stink of it all).  Lot's to write about, but for now, it's coming up to the end of the day, it's sunny, and I have a bike to build!