XTERRA Vashon Island

Last weekend, I did my second XTERRA event on Vashon Island. Unlike the Las Vegas XTERRA, this was not part of the Cup Series so there is no automatic qualifying for Maui by winning this race, only points. I have two more XTERRA races scheduled this summer and I should get enough points to get to Maui should I be able to go. I have pictures and will try and post them later.

I had never been to Vashon Island but I do want to go back, not only for the race, but its a great place to bike around, sight see, and get eaten alive by mosquitoes....okay, that last one is not on the list of good things about the island but nonetheless, its a nice place.

I drove up in about 2.5 hours, drove right on the ferry minutes before it left the dock, and spent 15 minutes on the boat before it reached the island. I drove to the race site but the people from BuDu Racing had already packed up. After talking to a couple of people, I was a little nervous about the first part of the bike course so I parked and walked up the first 500m or so. I quickly realized that, although their description was fairly accurate about the conditions of the trail, they weren't very MTB savvy. It was steep in sections and it had some sandy sections but it was definitely ride able (except the first part with the switch back to the 26% hill).

Satisfied with my reconnaissance mission, I drove to my accommodations for the night at the AYH Ranch. I chose, poorly I might add, to sleep in one of the dorm rooms of the hostel. I was going to be sharing with 5 other guys. I dropped my overnight bag off in the room and found out only top bunks were still available, this was not good for me but I could do it.

I went back into the town, ate dinner then drove back to AYH for a late packet pick up. The people of BuDu were great. I was going to be their first PC athlete ever in one of their events so they were not sure if they needed to do much else for me but I assured them that unless something drastic happened on course, they wouldn't have to worry about me.

A hostel is a very friendly place. I was chatting with a few other racers and got cornered by one guy from Portland that was either drunk, stoned, or both but either way, he was a bit of an ass. I was rescued by another guy from Arizona that was a former Pro in Motocross. Turned out he was also in my dorm room. During that time, the rain began to fall and I was wondering about the sandy part of the race course and if it was a good or a bad thing that it was raining.

Everyone seemed to be disappearing and going to bed so I went to my room, grabbed my book and came back out to the common area to read. Another mistake as when I went back to bed, there were 4 other guys snoring very loudly. I should have gone to sleep sooner then I would have been one of those guys snoring loudly. Around 11pm I went to bed and shortly after that, our 6th room mate, the guy right under me, came in. He smelled like campfire and cigarettes. Within minutes, he was snoring even louder than anyone else in the room. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. Its amazing how much heat 6 guys can throw off. It was probably 80-85F in that room.

I didn't need my alarm, the one I had set for 6am, as I was wide awake due to the person showering at 5am right next to our room. The walls were basically just plywood so there was no insulation from the sound. I drank my breakfast, packed my gear, and just went out to the race site. The mosquitoes seemed to be less prevalent there.

My plan was to organize my TZ, then go back and rest in the truck. My start time wasn't until 9:07am and it was 7am when I got there. I got there, set up, then chatted with my new friend from AZ. I was on the first rack, closest to the bike exit, with two others. When I got there, they were just leaving for a lap of the course. I know its only a 5 mile loop but doing a pre-ride 1.5 hr before the start of the race seemed to be a little crazy. I decided to go on a short road ride at about 8am. I rode to where the bike course comes out to a paved road and back. I was looking forward to this part of the bike course as it was all downhill and it would be a good stretch of road to spin out the legs before the run.

The race course had changed since the day before due to some pissy neighbours. Instead of two 7 mile loops, we were doing 3 laps of 5 miles. The run course had also changed but since I didn't usually get concerned about a run course, I didn't know what the first course had looked like let alone the new one.

I had my short sleeve wetsuit on and in looking around, so did a lot of others. The water was around 62F, maybe a hair warmer but not much. The course was supposed to be 800m but when the turn around point was pointed out, there was no way it was going to be 800m. I swam it in 13 minutes and change which correlates to 1:40/100m if it truly was 800m and I know I'm not that fast. I only swam twice in the month prior to this race so I was looking at 1:50/100m or slower.....anyway, the water wasn't that cold and other than the few jelly fish that I saw, it was uneventful.

The exit point for the swim was onto barnacle covered rocks but luckily only for a few meters before the stairs then the grass. My typical slow T1 ensued and I was off to the bike part, my favourite.

The first lap didn't not go as I expected. I had to walk the entire first 3/4 mile or so. It seemed that each time I tried to mount my bike, my shorts got caught up on the saddle and I was not able to get clipped in and with the lack of momentum, I couldn't get going. Once I finally got on the bike, my legs were DEAD! It took about 20 minutes of riding to get them moving at a decent pace. One section of the course was not well marked and I went off course. Three of the lead women followed me, silly girls, but the race director was already aware of the problem and he was steaming towards us on his MTB yelling to turn around. There was some cussing from the ladies (bad girls), and it was back on course. I have to say, the bike course was so much fun that I wouldn't have minded doing another couple of laps. It was almost entirely single track and just technical enough to be challenging. I'm sure the pure road tri geeks were not as happy as me but I could look at this as an area I excelled in compared to them.

I pulled over for the fast people that were lapping me and the not so fast swimmers that were faster bikers and only had one fall during that. On the last of the three laps I felt that I was going much faster. I guess my legs were finally warmed up. I hammered that lap and caught a gal that had passed me earlier. About 2/3 of the way through the lap, it began to thunder and rain. The thunder was very loud and I think the race organizers were concerned about the lightening because as I went by the rent a cops that were directing traffic, they were shouting to us that we needed to get back to the TZ, no more laps on the bike.

T2 was shorter (according to my official times) than usual for me. I used a different ankle brace than any other race I had done and apparently, it was faster to get on than my lace up.

Leaving the TZ, the course went uphill for the first 3/4 mile. I actually ran some of it before dashing into the bushes to pee, then I decided to walk the rest of the hill. After emerging from that first uphill section, you went on a paved road for 20m or so, past the aid station, then back into the bush for a rolling trail run. I surprised myself and ran most of it. When the second lap was finished, all we had to do was run back down the hill..... not so easy for me but it was a fun little trail. Would have been more fun on my MTB but I survived. I had to carefully walk down some steep stuff but otherwise, I sort of jogged down. Didn't trip once I am happy to say. Well, now that I said that, I had to sit down rapidly on the last part of the trail, just before we got back to the paved road. It was extremely steep and pretty much sand. I got ankle deep, started to fall, so I just let my knees give and sat down til I slid to the bottom. After that it was a quick run down a dirt road, then across the finish line.

All in all, it was a great race for me. I had fun and I only fell down once. Since I was the only AWAD/PC/paratriathlete, obviously I got 1st in my division but as in all my races, my goal was to finish with a secondary goal of not being last....I'm not sure that's a good goal to have but they are my goals not yours.

Track fun

Got my new track bike a couple of weeks ago. Its a KHS Flite 100 with custom built wheels (Miche hubs, two sided, and some sturdy rims, not sure the kind), Tufo S3 Pro tubular extra sticky tires, FSA carbon track hubs with a 49 tooth ring, Deda Pista track bars, Ritchey stem, Terry saddle, and Speedplay pedals. Soon, I will be getting the Speedplay track specific pedals, that is providing I am good enough on the track to justify the expense. I have been fitted to the degree that the seat height is pretty good but I am heading out to the track to have the final fit done while being watched while actually riding versus doing it on the trainer. Not only are these tires extra sticky (my opinion, not something they advertise) but they are pretty spendy too so I would rather not do the fit on the trainer anyway.

I have spent approximately 2.5 hours on the track so far. The first ride on it was a Friday night, the first "Fast Twitch Friday" of the season and we did flying 200m sprints....2 laps, then the third lap was timed for 200m. I thought I was going much quicker than my time showed,16:19, the fastest was 13:26, novice my ass ;) Oh well, I beat the fastest novice woman. My trusty mechanic, Dean, the one that built my bike for me, said he should have flipped the wheel to the smaller cog for the sprint (vs the warm up cog) but c'est la vie, next time. Normally on FTF, they have 200m sprints where you go head to head with someone else. I am a little nervous about this but I would love to try it. If you have ever seen it done, its pretty much a chess game for the 2 laps preceding the actual sprint then you can use your opponent (if you are near enough) to draft and launch around them....in theory. My nervousness is only due to my inexperience and the fact that someone else would be on the track when I am and I don't want to crash or have the opportunity to crash. I must say, it felt a whole lot different than when I went to Burnaby (wood track, shorter straights).

Last week, I went out to the track twice. On Wednesday I spent an hour out there getting used to the bike. I didn't have a clear plan when I got there and mostly it was going around and around. I warmed up for 20 minutes, timed my average lap which was not very good, around 30 seconds, then took a short break, drank some water and pondered my next moves. My coach had told me to try and do my sprint intervals on the track and see how I felt. The interval entails riding at my 40k TT speed for 1-4 minutes then sprinting all out for 30 seconds. Attempting to sprint while trying to hit the buttons on my watch was not in the cards so I just went for it after the watch hit 4 minutes and figured I could gauge where 30 seconds was in my head. Um, NOT!!! The first sprint I did 3 laps. I know my lap speed was falling off towards the end but this gave me an idea of how I need to race the kilo, when I get to that point. My HR was up around 189 (after I DL my data from my watch, I will have a better idea of the actual BPM) and I was breathing very heavy. Another thing about a fixed gear bike, you cannot really rest after the sprint, your legs have to keep going even though they might be going slower. Not to mention the fact that you need the speed to stay on the bank or go onto the apron with more speed than you might want.

I rode on the track instead of the apron and kept my speed up just enough so I didn't fall off the bank but all the while watching my HR come down. Unlike being on the road, my HR came down ever so slow because I still had to put out the effort to stay on the bank. I rode for 5 minutes like that then ramped up for the next TT/sprint interval. I decided to only do two laps for this one but that decision was made during lap 2 and I felt I didn't have the gas to do three. Again, I have no idea what my time was but again when I looked at my HRM, I was pumping 186bpm. Another cool down for 5 minutes then another sprint session, this time only 1 lap. I did that one more time but with less rest for the last one.

I noticed a scary thing that I did on a couple of the sprints. I was trying to do the "dog humping a football" thing that Jeremy told us at the Burnaby track, and in doing so, I pulled the front end off the track. At whatever speed I was already going, pulling the wheel up and slightly sideways was very dangerous. I didn't lose control at all but it really made me nervous. I talked to coach and she gave me a few pointers as well as directed me to a video showing the proper technique.

I went out again two days later without a plan again but I just wanted to get used to the track and the bike. I did a long warm up, around 30 minutes, and then some 200m sprints. The HR got up there again in the high 180's, but it came down quicker this time, not sure why.

The track thing is fun but I still have heaps to learn. Tomorrow, I hope to get all the fit items sorted out and learn some techniques from some salty veterans of the velodrome. The folks at Bike Central are cool enough to let me come out to their track time/practice and I am eager to play.

Nothing new to update on the classification side of things. I was hoping to go to Nationals and get classified but as was suspected, the French seem to have the clout with the CCA and they swiped track nats from Burnaby. What is truly interesting and almost makes me want to become a US citizen....almost, is the note I sent to USA Cycling regarding classification was replied to in 3 hours, inviting me to US Paracycling Nationals a short 3 hour drive from me and it also included an email address for one of the US team docs who is an international classifier. I emailed him and got a response from him the next day.

I know there are more athletes etc in the US but I found it sad that in all the things i have sent to people that can help me within the Canadian system have been all but ignored (one response from a classifier back in March but nothing since). I will head to the US Nats, not to race but to get classified, then I will work on the new coach/manager for the Canadian High Performance program.

I often wonder if I am putting too much effort into this classification thing. I mean, I will be 46 by the time the next Paralympics comes around, is that too late? Ciao for now.

XTERRA Las Vegas, West Cup

Saturday was my first XTERRA triathlon. I have raced MTB for years and although courses longer than 15 miles were not my favourite, I endured them. I got to Las Vegas on Thursday and headed straight to the bike store to rent my bike. It was a Santa Cruz Blur, full suspension, XT drive train and Fox shocks. Pretty sweet ride.....for a TANK!! In its defence, I have beed riding my steel hard tail that only weighs 22lb for more than 10 years so I am spoiled. I think this thing weighed in at very close to 30lb. I dropped the bike off at my mom's place then went out to the race hotel to get things finished and go to the race briefing.

I orginially signed up for the XTERRA Cup race and after the race briefing, I was still convinced that was what I was going to do. I hoped I would get one of the Hawaii spots for the World Championships in October.....not that I can afford it right now but you never know what can happen in a few months. Went home after that, had dinner, got my stuff prep'd for the following day, then had a much needed good night's sleep.

I got up early the next day and went out to the race site to pre-ride the course. There were loads of people in the parking lot and being the friendly lot that most MTB riders are, a few of us chose to ride the course together. I had orignially planned on riding about 2-3 miles of the course and skipping the hard climb and just checking out the bike and its nuances but peer pressure and all got me to ride the whole thing. I rode all the down hills and walked up some of the steep stuff. The toughest down hill was around mile 3 and it was steep and loose. I made it down 75% then locked up my front wheel when I was trying to turn, hit a big rock and over I went. I landed mostly on my right side (I know this because of the numerous scratches and abrasions on my right side). As I was getting up and moving my bike off the trail in case one of my riding partners was bold enough to ride it, I heard the air escaping from the front tire. The rock I hit caused a pinch flat but thankfully I had a spare tube and quick fill cartridges.

I had the front wheel off and was changing it when the others made it to the bottom. A long time ago, when I raced MTB, I could change a tire in under 5 minutes but it took a while longer. After I put the front wheel back on and headed down the hill, I could hear the disc brake rubbing a bit but not so much that I was worried about it.

After that little mishap, I told my cohorts I was going to head back to the car, which I could see from my crash site but once again, peer pressure and all that had me riding the course again.....the hard part was over we convinced ourselves. The course, by the way, was very wide open and you could see most of it from the transition area.

After my crash, I took it very easy and tried not to push my effort too much. There were two other hills I ended up walking up and I skipped the last portion of the single track. I had to leave my Chamois Butt'R at home because I took everything on the plane with me and I didnt want to give it up when they searched my luggage and I was beginning to regret that BIG TIME. My nether regions were sore and I knew the next day wouldnt not be happy after the race.

After the ride, I went inside to the registration area to pay for my USAT one day licence and decided that one lap would kill me and I didnt think I could do two laps and still walk the next day. It was a tough decision as I most likely would have got a spot for the World Championships in Hawaii if I could have finished (there were not many AWAD/PC/Paratriathletes entered).

I got back to my car around 11am and headed back to Mom's place. I had originally planned on stopping at REI and buying some trekking poles but since I had changed to the shorter course, I skipped that idea too. I went back to the house, put my Skin's compression pants on and fell asleep. The pre-ride really took a lot out of me.

5pm, Mom wanted to go to Red Lobster for dinner.....otay Mom, sounds good. Had some scallops, rice, and chicken, drank a lot of water and skipped desert. We went to Target on the way home to get the boys something. AFter that, went home, got stuff ready, watched a movie, then went to sleep.....

I didnt really get much sleep. I kept reviewing the downhill where I crashed and my decision to go to the Sport race instead of the Cup race. Over and over, I kept thinking about my line down that damn hill. I woke up at 4am and downed my usual 720 calorie liquid breakfast and a banana. We were out the door by 5AM and at the race site by 540AM.

The transition was about half a mile from the swim start so after dropping my bike and run gear at the TZ, Mom dropped me off at the Hotel for the swim start then went back so she could take pictures of me getting out of the water. I made my way to the swim start and chatted with a couple of people from Boise that knew one of my team mates then got in the water for a warm up. The water was probably 67-68 F but everyone was saying it was colder....they should swim somewhere other than Vegas Im thinking, it was nice enough for a short sleeve.

I didnt expect my swim to be that great considering my lack of swimming over the past 4 months but I did expect to be able to get through the 750m fairly easily. Apparently, I did OK after seeing the results but it wasnt great by any means. I think it was longer than 750m but by how much, I dont know. My time was around 19 minutes. The wind picked up and after we turned broadside to it, the chop made it hard to breathe to the right.

My T1 time was slow as the TZ was set up on dirt and running from the water along that surface made me take a couple minutes longer to clean my feet and put my socks on (road tri's I never wear socks). Because of the amount of walking I was going to have to do, I debated whether to put on my ankle brace or not but adrenaline was surging and I just wanted to get on my "tank" and ride.

The bike ride was tough, coming straight out of the TZ into a lengthy climb then a short downhill followed by the climb called "Dave's Outhouse"....not sure why. It was around 23-28% grade and even some of the pro's had to walk it I heard. At the top of that 200m section (might have been 50m but it seemed long), you got to mount your bike for a short DH section then back up a 20% grade then down another short hill, very loose, to a 110 degree turn to the right and back up another hill.

This was the section I had been up all night dreaming about. Should I ride it or shouldnt I? I got down most of the hill then saw heaps of people going SLOOOOOOOOOOOW down in front of me and I decided that I would walk the steep part which I think was around 20-22% grade.

AFter that section, the really hard part was over and I settled in for the pain of the rest of the ride. A couple of steep hills which were rideable, a river bed which I didnt ride, and some fun single track right next to the lake. I wish they would have had more of this type of riding as it is what I am best at, technical single track with some rocks and roots, but alas, we were in the desert and that wasnt an option I suppose.

T2 was slow. I changed socks, put my ankle brace on, and tied my shoes while standing ( I usually sit down but I didnt feel like sitting down in the dirt and my back was beginning to seize). I left T2 and was running but it was down hill so it was easy. I ran for less than 200m then walked up, up, and more up. The run course was pretty much up hill to the turnaround then all down hill to the finish line. It was pretty uneventful except I got to see some of the pro's and the fast age groupers descending one of the hills on the MTB course. They made it look easy. I walked from the turn around, down a steep hill, then started jogging down the less steep section, up another hill, then all down to the finish. There wasnt much fanfare at the line (at least not as much as I expected) but since there were only 350 or so competitors, I guess it was OK. I crossed the line, got my finisher medal and went back to the car. I dropped my MTB off with the place I got it from; Im happy they were a sponsor so I didnt have to get dear old mom to haul this monster back to the shop in Vegas.

The host resort let the competitors use their pool which was very nice, so I got my gear, left mom with a book sitting in the shade, and I went swimming. The water was cold but welcoming as my feet were on fire. I had some gravel rash from the day before and this gal asked if I was OK.....truth be told, I was feeling very lightheaded and a little dizzy but I just smiled and said something about falling down while playing on my bike. I sat in the water for a few then sat down on a lounge chair and the dizziness was not going away. I got up, got dressed, and went and found mom. I needed food apparently.....first time this year, racing in heat and dry weather caught up with me. I thought I had enough calories in me but it wasnt til after I ate and had no more strange feelings, did I realize I was wrong.

Things I learned from my first XTERRA: a short MTB ride can be one hell of a lot harder than a long road ride; running up hill with foot drop, not so easy, running down the same hill with foot drop and a leg that doesnt catch up very quickly, really hard; racing in the desert requires more fuel intake than you think, especially if you train in the rain forests of the Pac NW; riding a rental bike isnt so bad unless it weighs 30lb but it was lots cheaper than bringing my own bike.

I highly recommend it to all triathletes..... come on Meyrick, you know you want to try it. The only other PC athlete in the race was BK. He did the bike course twice in 1:40, I did one lap in 1:15.

Racing 105

I recently wrote, Racing 101, so in the spirit of higher learning, the next course, entitled Racing 105, is not too advanced, but another learning experience nonetheless.

Got to PIR a little later than last time and still had to get dressed. Had not even put my number on. I got geared up and went out to sign in only to find a massive line up. I finally got to the front, after one of the officials called all of the Cat 4/5's up as our race was going to start in a few minutes. I found out that the team got a pass for the season so I wont have to pay for anymore races at PIR this year.

I got my bike and was going to do a quick warm up but they were staging us so I went to the line with "cold" legs. I started out at the front but before the half way point of the first lap, I was at the back. I tried to make my way up through the group but every time I got to where I wanted to be, there would be an acceleration. I took my coach's advice and started anticipating these surges and it worked great. On the second, third, and most of the fourth lap, I stayed on the wheel of the same guy who was on his team mates wheel. They looked like they knew what they were doing. The front guy kept making sure his buddy was behind him and he wasn't letting go of that wheel for nothing. Unfortunately, this guy, and a few other Cat 4's were using this race as a warm up for the Cat 3/4 race and before I knew it, the wheel I was following pulled off and I was on my own.

Like last time, I hammered with the little gas I had left but to no avail. I looked around for others that got dropped but apparently, all the people that hung out at the back of the field with me were all Cat 4's and they were staging for their next race. I finished my second Cat 5 race of my career albeit last again but it was another learning experience. Today's lesson, follow someone you know is a Cat 5.

Racing 101

So, March 29, my first road race of the year. It was called "Piece of Cake". They should name it "Stay with the pack or have fun riding by yourself in the WIND!". It was fun and all but I probably wouldn't race with the Masters 40+ again. The category is deceiving. These are just fast guys that got old I think. I am definitely not one of those people. Race was slated for 3 laps of 17 miles. On the advice of coach, I tried to stay in the front of the group but each time there was a corner, the front people would accelerate and I couldn't hang onto a wheel so I would keep losing my place in the group. About 13 miles into the first lap, with our average speed ranging from 16-30 mph, I looked behind me and heard the guy next to me say, "yep, we're last, but don't worry, its only the first lap...." Um, OK. Then we turned right onto another road that had a short slight downhill. The group accelerated to over 40 mph and I lost the last wheel of that group and that was the end of my race. I looked behind me and saw one other guy 20 yards back but he was losing ground too. I chased by myself for 2-3km at over 50 km/h but somehow kept losing ground. I crossed the finish line for the start of lap #2 and kept putting out to try and catch the group. I waited for the one guy behind me to catch up in hopes he and I could work together, maybe get closer. I followed his wheel for about a mile then I took my turn..... no sooner did I start my pull when I looked back, he was already 100m back. I said screw it and just went out on my own.

It was a windy day, did I mention that? I was maxing out my HR and my legs were burning. I just kept going. AT one point, I could see the group but it was at the most windy spot that I saw them, maybe half a mile up the road. I also turned around once because I didn't think I was going the right direction and found the guy I lost back at the start of lap 2. He seemed to think we were going the proper direction so I turned around again. I then looked back and could see the women's field catching us. I told this guy I didn't want to be caught by the ladies before the finish of lap 2 so I took off, hoping I could stay away for 7 more miles. With about 4 miles to go, the Cat 1/2/3 women's leaders passed me. One of my friends, Lindsay Fox, was in the lead with one other gal and cheered me on. Their chase group passed me and I tried to latch onto them but realized I probably wasn't supposed to do that and even though i was going to DNF anyway (a third lap on my own wasn't going to happen), I didn't want a DQ. I stayed about 100m off the back of the group til the finish line, then I went back to my truck. I saw another one of my teammates and she DNF'd too. It was a good training experience. It proved I wasn't ready to race at that level just yet but I think I will give it another go at that race next year and with more training and more experience racing, I will do better.

Last Tuesday I did another race. It was at Portland International Raceway, our local auto race track, 1.9 miles long. This time I went with the regular Cat 5's (versus the Masters 40+ Cat 5's). Actually, it was a 4/5 race. My hope for this race was to finish with the group. The race was 6 laps and it was tough. I lined up at the start right at the front of the group. I looked back and there were maybe 40 other guys and a few women. I figured there were enough people that I could draft for the whole race and finish in the middle. Wow, was I wrong.

Right from the gun, I went from the front to mid pack in less than 100m. For the first 1K, I was just getting used to riding in a huge group and being very tentative. I tried to stay on a wheel at all times. After each corner, the group would accelerate and I would lose a few places. I had a lot of trouble with each acceleration and I struggled to get back on. My HR was spiked the whole time. I averaged 179 for 20km and it was over in 27 minutes. We were told we would get a bell to let us know we were on the last lap and I had lost track of laps and went to the front at the start/finish line when I though we were heading into lap 6.....I was wrong again.

When I got to the front of the group, I slowed right down, hoping others would follow suit and I could try and stay up there for the finish straight, 3km down the road. By the end of the front straightaway, I was already being spit out the back. I looked back and one more guy was behind me so I kept on my pace and rode the last lap and a half on my own. I finally finished a road race, learned a lot, and didn't come in last. I was going to race this week too but it wasn't in the cards.

It was fun and I am looking forward to doing much more racing at PIR over the next few months and I am having a track bike built. Even if they aren't able to give me a para cycling classification, I am still going to go balls out on the track. Speaking of classification, should CCA not get back to me soon, I'm looking into the British Cycling Federation. Maybe they can help a brother out, I am a dually you know. OK, ciao for now

Last week........ reality sets in

You ever have one of those weeks where you just want to put your bikes on Craigslist and eat bon bons instead of training? I usually don't have weeks like that but I often have days like that and I dislike the feeling.

I have lofty goals this year, the biggest one being the national para cycling team. If I can be classified, I think I can make it. The only problem with it is I cant seem to get a return call or email from the only person I know that has the information for the two classifiers in Vancouver. Sent two emails and left a voice mail but to no avail. Yesterday, I emailed the British Paracycling team to find out if I can get on their team. Haven't heard anything yet but I'm patient. I was browsing through old emails and found one from 2003. It was a response from the same guy I have been trying to get in touch with from the National Cycling Center. It too said he would be in touch with me after finding out something for me..... still waiting for that one too. I knew I heard his name before, just couldn't figure out where until the weekend.

Anyway, over a week has passed since I began writing this so I forget where I was going with the first paragraph but I'm hopeful as I keep writing, I remember......

Oh yeah, the bike thing. Last week, I only got in 108 miles over 6 hours. I felt pretty crappy about it. This week, however, started very well...... It started with a day off, HAHAHA. Well, I'm doing intervals now, unlike before when i was just riding to ride so my time on the trainer tonight wont be as boring.

Still don't remember where I was going with this post but it will come. until next time, bubye

Track junkie

I think I am officially a track junkie. Short, fast races (for para cycling anyway, 3-4k max), and its what my body was meant for. I have been doing triathlon for almost 5 years since my injury and until last year, I only competed against myself. Granted, I did okay in my age group but I always wanted to compete against other athletes with disabilities. Having said that, I have yet to find another spinal cord injured athlete that isn't in a wheelchair. Triathlon is great but I'm loving going fast, even if its just for a few minutes.

Last week, I went to Burnaby BC to ride in their velodrome with some athletes from the National Cycling Center in Calgary. All of these athletes are disabled in some way or another. We had four amputee's, one head injured, and me, spinal cord injury. Only two of us had been on a track before, me being one of them, and I had not been on a fixie for almost 7 years. I must say, the first look at the banking on this track was a bit worrisome and I was nervous. We were told, any less than 30km/h and you will fall off the track. One of our gals did just that on her first lap. Right before that they said there are two kinds of bike racers, those that have crashed and those that are going to crash.... I went over, knocked on the wood track and said, I haven't crashed yet. That's not altogether true either, I crashed a lot while racing my MTB, but so far, not on my road bike.

We had three days, two hours per day, on the track. I have to say, I haven't had that much fun in a long time. Our first day was just getting used to the track. Out of two hours, I probably only rode for a third of it not because I was tired but because we were still learning and we needed some alone time on the track. I took some time out to evaluate the knee of one of the other riders. He had fallen the week before and his "good" leg was hurting to the point where he had to come off the track. He definitely should not have been out there, he couldn't even pedal hard due to the amount of pain he was in. When I did a cursory exam and brief history of his problem, it was apparent that he had some meniscus damage and possibly some patellar injury as well. He was having an MRI, scheduled after his fall last week, today so I'm dying to find out what the official diagnosis is.

The second day was a lot more fun. The only thing was my not feeling well. I woke in the morning and felt crappy physically. My legs felt great but my GI system was not happy with whatever I ate the night before and I was going to cancel my track time. I am thankful we had until 1pm so I rested until I had to leave for the velodrome. Once I got out there, I didn't want to come off because I felt so good. Meyrick, Mark, JP, and I all got together and rode in a pace line, each of us taking one lap pulls.... at least that was the plan, JP did a few extra pulls, but that's okay, he got it eventually. He was a little squirrely as well at first and I'm just glad Meyrick was on his wheel and I was on MJ's. I quickly learned, thanks to Mark, that moving up track, slows you down rather rapidly. you don't have to move that far but if you are drafting, you catch the wind, and you go up hill slightly and according to Mark, you slow 2-3kph when you move 1-2 feet away from the draft..... that sounded kind of strange, but if you got that, you know what I'm talking about.

After our warm up of 25-30 laps, Meyrick, JP, JP, and I all did some intervals. Those were hard especially considering how ill I felt earlier in the day. I thought I was going to puke so I had Brian bring a garbage pail closer to the track. I'm happy to say, I didn't have to use it. The goal of the intervals was to be as consistent as possible. The plan was to do 3 easy laps then two hard laps. I averaged 17.4 +/- 0.3 seconds for each lap of my interval sprints. Meyrick pulled off a 16.1 first lap then fell off from there but he wanted to see what speed he could go. I was pissed (at myself, I'm very competitive) he beat me on that lap but I averaged better overall. I had done a couple of hard efforts earlier in the session so I was a little tired and I thought it would show on the last couple of my four intervals but it didn't. From there, we did about 25-30 lap warm down and then went for dinner. It was a great session and I felt pretty good about my new found passion for track racing.

Friday was our last day on the track. I got on the track as soon as I got ready. It was cold in there and I needed to warm up. I probably rode 20 laps on my own and then we did the same pace line warm up we did the day before. We didn't do any sprints but we practiced our track starts. I was using a rental bike with a huge gear, 51-16, and I had a tough time getting out of the gate but once I was rolling, it was perfect. I think for a kilo, I might use a different gear but for the pursuit, I will use something like that. Again, we did a 25-30 lap warm down to finish up our session.

Afterwards, Meyrick and I talked to Stephen. I know he is not the guy responsible for the national team but he does know the system and the way to make the team. There are three people necessary for classification for para cycling. Two of whom live in the Vancouver area. While they cannot get me officially classified, they can give me an idea whether I will be able to be classified or not. I guess, until then, I'm in limbo as far as trying to make the National team. I'm waiting to hear from Stephen to get the classifiers info so I can make plans to go to Vancouver and get this taken care of once and for all. Technically, I'm classified in triathlon, but cycling has different categories so, who knows, I might just have to race my bike in the masters category and forget about the other stuff. In the meantime, check out MJ's blog for pics and his take on the whole velodrome thing.