Minimal Monday

Great weekend of riding. Waiting to receive a gpx trace from Jamie to post, hopefully tonight. Until then, check out this outstanding blog post Pascal sent around today by offroad fixed gear master frame builder Matt Chester. My favourite chunk:

"As little bike as possible" is a statement that resonates with me more than any other in matters of cycling. As alluded to before, how another might interpret it is a personal matter, perhaps resulting in a freewheel, simple multispeed capability, or other concession away from the notion of bare asceticism. The idea is to yaw towards self-sufficiency and simple independence in a way that is motivating, embracing the experience through acceptance versus a warring frustration to crush and "overcome" what is ultimately an empty universe.


http://5metresofdevelopment.blogspot.com/2011/03/rough-stuff-machine-as-i-see-it.html

Magical. Untamed. Africa.

This Friday, Tall Tree Cycles' resident time trial master, David Stachon, will fly to South Africa to prepare for a the AMSA Cape Epic stage race. The race, which begins on March 27th, is composed of 8 stages, launching from 27km in Tokai Forest, which forms part of the Table Mountain National Park. Dave, like all other competitors, will race with a partner, a friend I believe lives in South Africa. Dave has been training as hard as he can on top of working full time and family duties; I'm confident that he will be ride well and have a great race. I'll be receiving email updates from the organizers daily on Dave's progress, which I will share here. We'll be able to send Dave our encouragement through this portal; whether he has energy to do anything more than change and eat before hitting the sack each night remains to be seen. 


Here's an exciting Trek video about the race. Dudes are fast. I'm pretty certain Dave and his partner will race the Masters category, so I don't think they'll be 'worrying' much about these two. 




Go Dave!

Its in the air...

Sorry, I tried to get an action shot, but I couldn't convince Steve or  Todd to remove their gloves to snag an iPhone photo...this will have to do.

Confirmed, spring is in the air. Sure, when I say 'in the air,' I mean I can catch a fleeting whiff, little more, but lets not get caught up in that; its in the air. Do you know how I know? Riding. Outside. Twice. In a row.

Yep, its true, two consecutive days or riding out-of-doors. Not on the trainer, not on rollers, not on snow, not in a bar; on the road. Indeed.

Saturday was relatively balmy, striking a high of +4, and with a few interludes of sun breaking up the overcast palour, twas a beautiful day. Jamie and I struck out at two hour window to occupy, so we proceeded to hammer toward Wakefield. Despite a bit of headwind, we managed to make food time to the turnaround point 10k from the village, and our return was quick enough to afford us time to roll up Kingsmere road for a bit of steady climbing. The roads, while wet and apparently more pothole riddled than usual, were free of ice or other hazards, so all was good on that end. Despite over 1000k worth of time spent on the trainer since January 1st, I found myself pedaling squares more than anything else. I think the rollers are a bit better when it comes to maintaining technique. Ah well, its March. So a good ride on the books, about 70k all in.

Sunday proved drier but a bit colder than Saturday, +3, featuring a pretty stiff headwind from the North. Today Pascal, Steve and Todd were out, featuring a motley assortment of steeds. Steve sported his robust vintage Miyata touring bike, Pascal his trusty fixed gear Bianchi, and Todd was on his freshly fendered Steelwool Truffle Pig, courtesy of Brad's handiwork. Todd will post some photos of the ENVE cross fork mounting after a bit more tweaking; its a pretty ingenious set-up. No surprises on my part bike-wise; I rode my Steelwool Secteur 18, which is presently 'dolled up' with mismatch downtube shifters, impotent STIs, XTR rear derailleur, 105 Octalink cranks, a dinged up Open Pro on the back, and a weird Specialized handlebar that's wider than I like, but features elastomer suspension/vibration damping! And a high end carbon seat post. Yep, its a hodge podge for certain, but the Truffle Pig gets all my good bits, and will come out to play when its drier out. Or if/when I put fenders on it. Whatever, training/rain/spring bikes don't need to be fancy, they just have to fit well and roll. And have nice tires. And make you ant to ride. Check.

I digress. Our (s)quad carried a mellow pace north, and we found traffic pretty light and respectful. Nice. About 25k from town a rider approached. I could distinguish what appeared to be an OBC jacket, mitts, and a toque. Aha, John Large, out to Wakefield and back I figured. Great to see him out, smile on his face.

As usual, the low lying section of River Road along the water about 3k from town sported a few spots of ice, just like those packed onto numerous streets in Ottawa. Not a problem, these were easy to avoid. With a small group, we had no trouble avoiding all the holes on the road. This will be tougher in bigger groups, so if you are out, be wary. Also, as always, bigger tires make a big difference when hitting the odd hole. I like 28s and up this time of year...well, all the time really. 32c or 35c Panaracer Paselas make an awfully nice spring tire; changing flats in the cold rain sucks.

After the obligatory stop at Pipolinka, where I had an outstanding vegan apple curry soup, we enjoyed the tailwind all the way home; what a joy that is. Just outside town we crossed paths with Thom, Brad, and Martin, who seemed to have missed our meeting time by 2 hours. After a brief chat they were on their way to Pipolinka for coffee and snacks (yes, there is definitely a trend here). We missed our opportunity to get a great group shot...doh.

The distance was just right for Pascal's first outing of the spring, as the fixed gear was far from forgiving. He'll be out on his sweet Steelwool Rover next weekend, I'm certain. Steve too, I bet! We agreed its probably wise to keep the fixed gear to the flatter routes early in the year to avoid injury. Once the legs tune up, its great to get hit some hills and work on some strength. But pushing hard early is risky.

So 80k today, 70 Saturday, that's a nice even 150k for the weekend, about as good as one can hope for this March. The roads are bumpy but otherwise good, and temperatures above zero allow for at least a few hours on the saddle in relative comfort. Looks like a couple gorgeous days to come later this week, so I hope some of you have opportunity to get out and enjoy a spin. I think there will be more than a whiff in the air at +10!

Options

Since Matt's post below Ottawa's winter situation has gone from bad to worse -- in the form of 20cm of new snow. At this time last year we were putting in long road rides without fenders or any real winter gear. Now we're snowbound and the first races are a month away... oh my god oh my god oh my god... what to do? I give you The Enabler:

I've been monkeying around with this bike racing thing for quite some time now and though I'm no pro I have figured out something that has allowed me some modest success. Here it is, wait for it: you have to train in the winter. Particularly if you want to be strong in the Spring.

I despise riding an indoor trainer, I live in Ottawa and I want to be fast in the Spring. This statement presents a challenge that requires some creativity to overcome. Certainly cross country skiing -- particularly skate skiing -- provides a crucial cross training opportunity and this has been my go-to alternative activity for many years. Also spinning classes. Yes, it's a lot like riding a trainer but the group, instructor and music make motivation easier to muster. At least for me. Cyclelogik -- just up the road from Tall Tree and not an aerobics studio with exercise bikes -- is an excellent venue. So ski a lot, spin once a week, hit the trainer occasionally and ride outside in heinous conditions. This basic strategy has been working okay.

Then this year Trish and I acquired two Surly Pugsleys and things changed. The bike's giant wheels and tires make riding snow covered singletrack a real joy. Since getting the bikes in late January the misery sticks have seen a lot less use but we have managed three rides per week including three and even four hour outings on weekends. The key word in that last sentence is "outing". As in "outside" and not "inside" on a trainer. I think I've been on the thing four times all year. From our house near Westboro we can easily do a three hour loop using the unplowed bike paths with minimal road miles and no driving. I have often complained how Ottawa does not plow bike paths. Now I realize I just had the wrong bike!

The Pugsley opens up possibilities and turns otherwise negative situations -- like having a tonne of snow in March -- into positives. Okay maybe not positives -- but manageable situations. Roads covered in snow? Hit the trails. Minus 10 degrees and windy? Get off the road and onto the snowy trails -- 7km per hour and labouring hard on a 35lb bike makes minus ten degrees feel like plus ten. We've even got "first tracks" on city streets following big snow storms. When snow paralyzes the city it becomes a playground for the big bike. Cruising the neighbourhoods ramming through snowbanks is ridiculous fun and excellent training. What more could you want? For $1900 you can buy the ability to ride pretty much anytime. Options.

Just be sure to order your Pugsley months in advance as they are apparently sold out across North America. Hmmm....

Two-fer Tuesday

Rodd’s come up with a couple sweet links to sink your teeth/eyes into.


First up, last weekend’s L’Eroica in Tuscany, specifically, Crete. The strada bianche (white roads) looks smooth and fast for this year’s race, and fellow Canadian, Ryder Hesjedal gets lots of camera time. This footage ought to get those with a penchant for dirt roads juiced up and ready to unleash. All we need now ‘round here is spring. In the absence of spring, this made for a great companion to last night’s trainer ride. Beautiful roads and scenery, if this race doesn’t tempt you to plan a trip to Tuscany, perhaps nothing will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqGV3kd0MZg

Tagging off, this gorgeous film has to portray the most inspiring trail riding I’ve ever seen. Chris Akrigg, whom some will recognize from past videos carrying out his stylish bmx-inspired street/trials infusion interpretation of urban landscapes, turns to natural trails here. Smooth trail moves are interspersed with awe-inspiring maneuvers unlike anything I’ve seen before. Think Hans Rey trail riding, but turned up to 11. Yep, this one goes to 11. Enjoy.

http://vimeo.com/20601448