2012 in Review

A lot went down in the cycling world in 2012. Some of it was painful, some of it was enlightening, and some of it was downright sad. In our little corner of the world, cycling is thriving despite the turbulence being felt in the PRO peloton. More people are riding bikes each year around here, there are many local events to ride, and new projects are on the horizon. Here's how 2012 shaped up from my perspective.

2012 was my first winter on a fatbike. I rode my Surly Pugsley two or three times a week and figured I was setting myself up for some solid rides in Maui come March. The constant tension on the legs had to amount to god strength for the hills, right? Right, I had no issues with my joints during my trip to Maui, but the climbing I did there didn't exactly set me up for the hard training rides I'd do in late March and early April as well as I'd hoped. Instead, the lack of intensity I'd done showed, and I got destroyed on our group rides. Iain and Neil were perhaps fitter than they'd ever been in the early season, and that compounded the ass-kicking. Keep on trying, it'll come. Such was my mantra.

2012 was not a year of winning, yet it was one of my best seasons ever. It was a season of satisfaction earned through striving.



Iain, Tood and I headed down to Battenkill to kick off our season. I knew I'd suck on the climbs, but Iain would be good. As expected, I got schooled, and Iain flatted. The next day, we were back home and I earned a huge boost in confidence, along with a handful of dents in my rims - through attacking the last sector of gravel in the Clarence-Rockland Classic - and fighting off chasers to grasp the third podium spot. This was certainly one of the highlights of the season, as it exemplified the confluence of preparation and opportunity manifesting success. It feels good to take a risk, dig deep within, and meet your goal. Some seem to think racing is about winning. Its not (except for PROs, for whom it is, mostly), its about trying to win, or simply trying to realize every modicum of your potential. Maybe to even transcend what you think your potential is. Every highlight from the 2012 season involved risk taking and tenacity.

Battenkill 

Clarence-Rockland Classic

The Calabogie Classic road race later in April was an odd experience, but another boost in confidence. I rode the Cat1/2 race without any team-mates, and didn't really have a plan. The race was very aggressive at times, then docile. I missed the winning break but made the next best move in helping form the chase group with a group of much more experienced and strong guys. I put in my share of the work, and we almost caught the leaders. I finished 13th, far from the podium, but nevertheless, I was happy. You have to be there if you want to win, and I was there.

Neil's ride at the Almonte Roubaix was one of the biggest highlights of the season for me. We'd planned our strategy, and Neil had committed to an early break-away attempt. He rode through the first wooded sector brilliantly, and made his escape with Osmond Bakker. He rode hard for about 50k with Osmond while the chase group, including Iain, bided their time. Despite his massive effort, Neil still hung on for 4th. This was a massive accomplishment, demonstrating formidable mental strength on top of physical ability. I'm very proud of Neil for the way he rode the race. Iain was not able to match Aaron Fillion and Doug van dem Ham for the victory, but landed in 3rd, a laudable result, nearly pulling off our plan. Rodd rode outside himself too, and I was just left wishing I'd been able to contribute to the team. 3rd and 4th felt like a victory for the team.

Things were coming along well by the time I was in New York city for the Gran Fondo at the end of May. Our Ride of the Damned had just passed, and I was too tired to ride well. But the event was a hit, and I was feeling good in the Big Apple, and eager to ride the route. As luck would have it, I flatted while riding in the lead group and had to chase back on for about 15 minutes. Within another 5 minutes, we were on the first timed climb, and the group was going ballistic. I simply climbed, then chased back on, and continued that way until I was in the lead group of 6 riders coming into the last kilometers of the route. I'd not been able to match the pace of the fast climbers, but I put in a ride to the finish that I was proud of, having tapped my ability to maximum effect, riding with the likes of Tim Johnson and many other talented riders. It was a heck of a ride, the route was spectacular, and despite being way down on the KOM scoreboard, I couldn't be happier about the day. My sealant even sealed up my tubular so I could ride back to the hotel!

Things just got better, but not because I was winning anything. Six of us drove down to the U.S of A. in June for the Rapha Northeast Gentlemen's Race. Sure, we got hassled by the cops on the way down, but that made for great story telling. In a word, the event was incredible. It might even have been epic. If it wasn't, it was damn close. It was a ride I hope never to forget, marrying camaraderie, challenge, heartbreak, triumph, apocalyptic weather, and fashion excellence. Sure, we didn't get cut into the beautiful video, but Dave and I did get props for killing ourselves on the Strava climb. One of the best days on a bike I've experienced.

Come July, it was time to crack the Masters stage race in Sutton, QC, Les Coupes des Ameriques. Again, we didn't win anything, but the weekend was incredible. Hanging out with the guys, talking bikes, racing, and Le Tour, we were in a bubble and loving it. Todd rode an outstanding time trial, Alex was a motorcycle, Jamie worked himself over, and Iain and I just missed the podium in the circuit race. In 2013 we'll aim to do better, but at the very least, we'll take risks and have fun.

"Winning is over-rated." - Iain Radford

Later in July I rode the Ottawa Gran Fondo. I didn't blog about it because I didn't want to add to the negative feedback swirling around the interwebs. I won't ride the event again, but not because I had a bad ride. On the contrary, the ride was great. It was my first day actually hitting 200k, finishing at 223k. I've come within one or two kilometers so many times, I was happy to finally hit it. But beyond that triviality, I was able to ride with many of the strongest riders in the area for the whole 223k,



Rounding out July our Hell Climb for Kidneys went down. It was incredible. The spirit of the event was embraced and taken to 11 by numerous participants. The quality of costumery was staggering, and to be honest, heartening. I can't wait to see what people go in 2013!

August's Deerfield Dirt Road Randonnee was special for a couple reasons. First, Rodd was there. Our rental car's flat could not keep him from making it down to Massachusetts for his long overdue first D2R2. Iain was along for his first too, doubling the excitement for me, as D2R2 is best enjoyed by taking in the glee exuding from your camarades as roll out of the countless dirt descents. Pascal and Chris were on tap with families at their side, along with Nathan, Dawn, and Deb, our homies. Good company: check. The second thing that made the 2012 D2R2 special was seeing the communities we rode through having bounced back from 2011's hurricane, which destroyed swaths of road and property. Roads were reconstructed, locals were out smiling and urging everyone on. It was beautiful.

Into September, the Hastings Hilly Hundred was back for a rain-filled edition. Have you ever ridden for 180km in constant rain? I hadn't. Now I have. Ditto for Rodd, Todd, and Andy. Despite 50mm of rain, the ride was outstanding. The pace was mellower than usual, conversation more intense. The ride was free of drama (mostly), but at the same time, kind of illuminating to realize how riding in the rain for 6 hours can be no big deal. Its fine. Whatever. Its wet. I enjoyed learning that. I also learned to be more careful about dropping my buddies.

Double Cross, in October was a blast. Beautiful weather, great company, Pipolinka....what more could you want in October?

Cyclocross season is now a blur. It played out differently, yet the same as 2011. I finished no worse than third in every race I did, 13 of them. I was dogged by two lung infections, with one weekend clear in between, so I never felt like I was at 100%. I found it virtually impossible to beat Steve Proulx, whom I'd been able to battle in 2011. Most of the time he was on another level. I just did what I could, and I was consistent. About that I feel good. Second overall in the series for the third tear in a row, I can only hope to pull off the win eventually. Iain's steady ascent in the ranks was a consolation. His goal was to beat me, and that he did, convincingly. Neil was out for virtually the whole season with a broken collar bone, so it was just Iain, Andy, Jim, and me out there most of the time. Fewer team-mates than we'd have liked, we still had a great season.

This run down only captures the events that stood out over 2012. Interestingly, almost every big event I did made the cut. That must be a sign that I'm doing the sort of events I ought to be doing. Most of the rides I did in Maui should be on this list. The riding there was breathtaking in every sense of the word. But in fairness, the after work hammer sessions I did with the guys on Tuesday nights were amazing too; they brought us together and made us stronger. In the end, the most satisfying experiences I had on my bike in 2012 had nothing to do with winning or being better than anyone else. They were about working together; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

2013 has begun, what adventures will it bring?

Nomological Danglers: Double Cross Un-race Report

I once took a 'philosophy of mind' course while working away at a degree in...philosophy, back in Montreal. The course could have been extremely interesting. Either I wasn't quite ready for the material, or the prof was in fact a lame duck. I can say that he wore the same black jeans, black running shoes, and black sweater every day. In addition, he had thinning long gray hair and spoke with a British accent. Classic.

As I say, some of the material for this course just didn't really resonate. However, there were at least a couple really fun terms we got to throw around:

1) Homunculus - This word and its denotation are so interesting they've left a lasting impression in my mind. In a (small) nutshell, a homunculus (in this context) is a hidden agent steering/directing the functions of the body.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus

Rather than digging out my notes, I've gone to wikepedia for a quick and dirty account. Gilbert Ryle writes,

According to the legend, whenever an agent does anything intelligently, his act is preceded and steered by another internal act of considering a regulative proposition appropriate to his practical problem (Ryle 1949).

That's not really very illuminative is it? Nope. That's ok. I encourage you to do some more reading on homunculi if you are interested. That's what the interweb is for. The point is, its a really cool term.

2) Nomological dangler - This is another one that just stuck; its so distinctive. This time, wikipedia comes through with a good spiel:

Nomological danglers is a term used by Scottish-Australian philosopher Jack Smart in his articleSensations and Brain Processes. He credits the term to Herbert Feigl and his article The "Mental" and the "Physical". It refers to the occurrence of something (in this case a sensation), which does not fit into the system of established laws. He thinks that systems in which such "nomological danglers would dangle" are quite odd. In his example the nomological danglers would be sensations such that are not able to be explained by the scientific theory of brain processes. Some mental entities for example in a phenomenological field, that are not able to be found (and do not behave in the way that is expected) in physics....Smart puts forward his own theory in the form of Materialism, claiming it is a better theory, in part because it is free from these nomological danglers, making it superior in accordance with Occam's Razor.

BTW, I maintained the hyperlink on Occam's Razor because I've always loved its elegance. Check it out.

Ok, so what's the geeking out al about? Well, as a person who maintains a fascination with the many wonders of the mind, I like to pursue things that pop into my head from time to time. Once in a while, something is indeed going on below the level of awareness we call 'consciousness' that bears fruit. Dreams are sometimes productive in this way, as are intuitions. Nomological danglers popped into my mind as soon as I started thinking about this post, so I decided to follow the lead. What's the connection to Sunday's ride? Read on, I'll try to piece it together.

Like most, if not all, would be riders, I awoke on Sunday morning to +6 overcast weather, a good 4-5 degrees warmer than predicted. Very fine. After a quick breakfast, mostly brown, I 'kitted' (isn't that and annoying term?) up. I was faced with what would prove to be one of my most difficult decisions I'd make that day: which embrocation to apply. Indeed, I underwent mental gymnastics, weighing the pros and cons of capsicum versus cloves, finally arriving upon my choice: Mad Alchemy Uber Secret Coffee flavour. Its my favourite, and consequently I tend to save it for special days. Such a day it was to be. Off I went.

Five minutes later I faced an even more challenging question, quandry even: should I return home to get the maps I'd forgotten. I was already cutting it close to arriving on time, and it certainly looks bad for the organizer to show up late. Maybe I should leave them....But I photocopied them and everything! I decided there was more to lose from having riders get lost without maps than me showing up late, so I backtracked and got them.

I arrived to see a solid mass of riders assembled at Gamelin. Well, solid in number, not congealed, that is. Without much fuss, and a minimal speech we were off on the parkway.

What felt like a mellowish pace proved not quite mellow enough pretty quickly. By the time we turned onto Mine Rd. we'd already broken a few danglers off. I knew Dom and Sean were likely to be happy maintaining their own pace, so I didn't worry. They are always well prepared with routes, so I figured we'd catch up at Pipolinka. There was a bit of hammering going on up front that had to be tamed, which I managed to do one point. I was very impressed by the quality of riding in the group, numbering about 20 at this point. A few of the riders I know are not powerhouses on the road were sitting in very well, riding really smart. There was very little yo-yoing happening and we were covering ground fast.

As usual, Cross Loop was a real crowd pleaser. For the first time, I witnessed riders pass in and out of the covered bridge from atop the hill; a beautiful sight. Before we I knew it, we were pulling up to Pipolinka for a snack. It felt premature for a snack to me - we'd covered the first leg so quickly - but it was promised, and I think well appreciated by many if not all. Stronger riders tend to not realize how much a break like that helps others recover. I quite enjoyed my coffee, as I always do there.

Off to the trail past the Mill we went.

After a last minute addition of air to the tires (sorry, I should have done this earlier, like at home), we were rolling on the dirt. Ryan and Nathan pulled away immediately, never to be seen again. They expected to see some of us at some point. Nope. The rest of the group rolled toward Lac Phillipe as a group for a bit, then strung out. I pulled up the the parking lot at the lake and waited for the others to trickle in. Jamie and Neil were right there, but we soon realized there were issues further back. A lengthy wait revealed a number of flats have occurred further back. Once we were all reassembled we continued on around the lake.

‘We' is a little misleading here. In fact, a few riders dangled off the group and were completely detached. This was not realized up front until we'd pulled away from the lake. This was where the most difficult decision had to be made: do we wait?

The problem at this point was precedent. I/we'd waited the first time. I personally felt like riding with friends beyond Jamie (no offense Jamie, the more the merrier), and thought there were a lot of people riding the same pace anyway. My informal plan was to keep everyone together around the lake, then let it string out the rest of the way. Getting around the lake on the path we wanted to take is a little tricky, but getting around to the far side of the lake is pretty easy, one way or another. Unfortunately, a few riders broke off before we made a couple key turns. So when we found ourselves missing riders, I wasn't quite sure what to do. The tempation was to backtrack to find them, which Rodd and Pascal did, while the rest of us continued. But they came up empty. Later on I wanted to backtrack to get Rodd and Pascal, but they ended up catching us as I fixed a flat anyhow. In the end, the missing riders all made it home, but a couple ended up stopping to hang out, which we didn't know about. So, the lesson I take from this is that we have to follow a pretty cut and dry approach: unless explicit agreements are made between teams to wait for each other, riders should continue on with their partners, assuming those behind them will sort themselves out. Since you can't tell whether someone behind had a catastrophic failure and called in a lift home, took a shortcut home, or opted to take an hour long break, its best to just keep rolling. This lends predictability and reduces confusion. Dropped riders will know they can ditch the route and nobody will get screwed looking for them, and everyone can proceed without doubt. Again, pairings are meant to cover people - you'll know your buddy will come back for you.

Beautiful shot by Rodd.

Steve. Beer. We amassed a gaggle of riders apres at Raw Sugar on Somerset and it was great. They serve proper coffee, food, desserts and beer. New after ride spot I think (replacing our present non-existent one).

It would be rather nifty indeed if I pulled this all together and revealed how its all about nomological danglers. But its not, so I won't force it. Sure, I could work it, but the theme here is danglers, and I think that's what made me think of nomological danglers in the first place. Danglers are not unstuck, at least not all the way. They don't break off in a clean a binary manner: on/off. While a rider might well perceive they are off, unlikely to get back on, they often still dangle in the minds of those ahead. Where are they, just around the bend. They are not gone, a thread of concern psychically connect them, almost imperceptible...danglers.

If anyone else felt pretty bagged Sunday night, know that you are not alone. I cannot remember once doing an long cross bike ride on trails and not being drained at the end. Micromanaging your lines takes much more mental energy than riding a road bike on roads or an mtb on trails. Decisions are constantly being made. Its draining. Its also very rewarding. So don't think you are in worse shape than presumed; its just a case of sensation not really lining up with expectation. Not nomological, but certainly phenomenological. More on that another time.

Rodd's photos can be found here

NEWS FLASH: Sunday's ride was so much fun I can't wait to ride more trails on my Steelwool (below). After this coming Sunday's cross race, the last of the season, I hope to be able to pull off at least one more long ride before the snow sets in. I've got a couple routes in mind that would be fun (and longer) than the DC route. This would of course be an informal affair, but I'll post here if it looks like a go. I'd really like to make it out past Lac LePeche and return on the trails. You can email me at talltreerides@gmail.com if you are interested.

Some will recall I promised a post on the ride quality characteristics I had in mind for this bike. That post is sitting, waiting for a quiet time to put up. That time will come very soon. I hadn't expected to ride this bike much with full on cross tires, but took Sunday as the perfect opportunity to try it. The bikes geometry is very different in comparison to my Pinarello. While it is set up with mid-reach caliper brakes, it still fits a 34 in the front and a 32 in the back, on account of the chainstays being too narrow for my fat 34. I fell in love with this bike on Sunday. Before then, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. On the trails the bike was flawless, incredible stable while plenty nimble. I will race it on Sunday and see how I like the geometry and tubing in that context. I hope for mud for the sake of making the race harder technically, but hope my brakes don't hinder my progress if that materializes. I'll report back on this for certain. I've tipped off the Belgian Waffle man about the race, so bring some cash in case he shows up!