Total distance: 567.7 km
Shortest ride: 20.6 km
Longest ride: 104.0 km
Monday, 27 April 2015
30 Days of Biking - The Third 9
The benefits to cycling everyday started to pay off in this portion of 30 Days of Biking. I was able to tackle three 100 kilometre rides in a seven day span, two of them back to back.
Saturday, 18 April 2015
30 Days of Biking - The Second 9
The middle phase of 30 Days of Biking. I was definitely in the groove, feeling faster and more energetic while riding. Several shorter rides had me cover less distance than in the first nine days.
Total distance: 270.4 km
Shortest ride: 2.7 km
Longest ride: 72.1 km
Total distance: 270.4 km
Shortest ride: 2.7 km
Longest ride: 72.1 km
Thursday, 9 April 2015
30 Days of Biking - The First 9
The first nine days of 30 Days of Biking flew by.
Total distance: 345.9 km
Shortest ride: 23.3 km
Longest ride: 55.0 km
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
30 Days of Biking - Day 1 - Inspiration
30 Days of Biking is finally here!
Today I set off on the mission to ride my bike for thirty days in April, which I last managed to accomplish in 2013. This year I'm approaching from a different vantage point. I haven't been able to do as much riding this year, so this is the perfect opportunity to motivate myself to get on my bike more.
I usually ride my bike for three reasons. I'm training, I'm racing, or I'm riding to work. However, it doesn't have to be about any of those things because 30 Days of Biking is about just riding. Think about incorporating biking into your everyday life. So many things in our lives can be completed on a bike yet we often choose the easiest way, usually a car, to get things done. Plan ahead and anything is possible.
Some things I'm aiming to do by bicycle for this year's 30 Days of Biking;
What can you do in your life by bicycle?
Not only can 30 Days of Biking be a physical challenge, it can a bit of a mental challenge as well.
To help overcome the mental battle, there is one thing to keep in mind. You really need to choose a bike that you love to ride so that you can enjoy your time cycling. If you like your bike, you are more likely to choose to ride it. It doesn't matter what type of bike you ride - mountain bike, road bike, old, new, light, or heavy. You need a bike that you can ride and most importantly one you will ride.
A bike you enjoy riding will help you get through 30 Days of Biking. Good luck!
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Today I set off on the mission to ride my bike for thirty days in April, which I last managed to accomplish in 2013. This year I'm approaching from a different vantage point. I haven't been able to do as much riding this year, so this is the perfect opportunity to motivate myself to get on my bike more.
Participating in #30daysofbiking doesn't necessarily mean riding to work. It could just mean around the block, through the park ...
— 30 Days of Biking (@30daysofbiking) March 31, 2015
Some things I'm aiming to do by bicycle for this year's 30 Days of Biking;
- Take my youngest to preschool by bike
- Go on a family ride
- Pick up groceries
- Meet a non-cycling friend for coffee
What can you do in your life by bicycle?
Not only can 30 Days of Biking be a physical challenge, it can a bit of a mental challenge as well.
To help overcome the mental battle, there is one thing to keep in mind. You really need to choose a bike that you love to ride so that you can enjoy your time cycling. If you like your bike, you are more likely to choose to ride it. It doesn't matter what type of bike you ride - mountain bike, road bike, old, new, light, or heavy. You need a bike that you can ride and most importantly one you will ride.
A bike you enjoy riding will help you get through 30 Days of Biking. Good luck!
Saturday, 3 January 2015
Rapha Festive 500 - 2014
Another year, another Rapha Festive 500.
2014 marks my fourth year completing the somewhat insane challenge of riding 500 kilometres between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. I had been off my bike for four weeks after the end of cyclocross season. This was definitely going to be a shock to the system.
I knew from my previous three attempts that consistency is the key. It's easy to fall behind and when you do, it is very hard to make up.
Ride #1 - 119.3 km
I managed to switch shifts at work so I could start my Festive 500 in a big way on Christmas Eve. My first ride was out to my parent's in Agassiz. After giving me a two hour head start, my wife and kids jumped in the car and the chase was on! Just outside of Abbotsford they met up with me. I was only at the halfway point, but the hot coffee they brought me gave me the boost I needed to keep going. After a couple more hours I had arrived for an early Christmas dinner.
Ride #2 - 81.3 km
Escaping on Christmas Day is always tricky, but luckily my family is very understanding and I was able to escape for a few hours. It always nice to ride on familiar Fraser Valley roads. Two days in and I had already completed 40% of the challenge.
Ride #3 - 61.6 km
After a break from riding on Boxing Day, this was my first commute of the challenge! I used the now well-traveled South Fraser Perimeter Road to add some extra distance on the way home. I remember back in 2012 when I was one of the first cyclists on the SFPR. It's still a decent road, but the shoulder is clogged with debris and traffic is quite a bit heavier now that it is open all the way through to Delta. Definitely not quite as cycling friendly as I initially thought.
Ride #4 - 101.1 km
No rest from the Festive 500. A Sunday off work meant I could grind out another big chunk of the challenge with an easy flat ride through Richmond. I saw many other cyclists out enjoying the cool and dry winter conditions. I could only assume at least a few of them were out to complete the Festive 500 as well. It has grown to be quite popular thanks to the cycling website Strava. When I first completed the Festive 500 in 2011, only six other Canadians finished it. This year there was 101 finishers from Canada!
I was 73% complete with only three days left and I had to work all of them. This is where the Festive 500 can get you. So close but still 136.7 kilometres to go. No time to slack off.
Ride #5 - 63.1 km
Another commute to work brought me to 85%. Outside washing my bike off in the cold, I was contemplating whether I could knock off the rest of the challenge in one last ride, or play it safe and use both of the remaining days.
Ride #6 - 79.1 km
The average temperature recorded for this ride was 0° Celsius. It was much colder than that when I set out for work at 05:00 in the morning. I was feeling good after work and decided to go all in. I was going to finish this challenge today! I got a flat just as the sun was setting. I could feel it getting colder as I repaired the tire on the side of the road. I arrived home in the cold and in the dark, but I was finished. My fourth straight Festive 500 in the books!
2014 marks my fourth year completing the somewhat insane challenge of riding 500 kilometres between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. I had been off my bike for four weeks after the end of cyclocross season. This was definitely going to be a shock to the system.
I knew from my previous three attempts that consistency is the key. It's easy to fall behind and when you do, it is very hard to make up.
 |
| Festive 500 - 2014 |
I managed to switch shifts at work so I could start my Festive 500 in a big way on Christmas Eve. My first ride was out to my parent's in Agassiz. After giving me a two hour head start, my wife and kids jumped in the car and the chase was on! Just outside of Abbotsford they met up with me. I was only at the halfway point, but the hot coffee they brought me gave me the boost I needed to keep going. After a couple more hours I had arrived for an early Christmas dinner.
Ride #2 - 81.3 km
Escaping on Christmas Day is always tricky, but luckily my family is very understanding and I was able to escape for a few hours. It always nice to ride on familiar Fraser Valley roads. Two days in and I had already completed 40% of the challenge.
Ride #3 - 61.6 km
After a break from riding on Boxing Day, this was my first commute of the challenge! I used the now well-traveled South Fraser Perimeter Road to add some extra distance on the way home. I remember back in 2012 when I was one of the first cyclists on the SFPR. It's still a decent road, but the shoulder is clogged with debris and traffic is quite a bit heavier now that it is open all the way through to Delta. Definitely not quite as cycling friendly as I initially thought.
Ride #4 - 101.1 km
No rest from the Festive 500. A Sunday off work meant I could grind out another big chunk of the challenge with an easy flat ride through Richmond. I saw many other cyclists out enjoying the cool and dry winter conditions. I could only assume at least a few of them were out to complete the Festive 500 as well. It has grown to be quite popular thanks to the cycling website Strava. When I first completed the Festive 500 in 2011, only six other Canadians finished it. This year there was 101 finishers from Canada!
I was 73% complete with only three days left and I had to work all of them. This is where the Festive 500 can get you. So close but still 136.7 kilometres to go. No time to slack off.
Ride #5 - 63.1 km
Another commute to work brought me to 85%. Outside washing my bike off in the cold, I was contemplating whether I could knock off the rest of the challenge in one last ride, or play it safe and use both of the remaining days.
Ride #6 - 79.1 km
The average temperature recorded for this ride was 0° Celsius. It was much colder than that when I set out for work at 05:00 in the morning. I was feeling good after work and decided to go all in. I was going to finish this challenge today! I got a flat just as the sun was setting. I could feel it getting colder as I repaired the tire on the side of the road. I arrived home in the cold and in the dark, but I was finished. My fourth straight Festive 500 in the books!
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
2014 Cycling Goals
I'll be racing for Daryl-Evans Racing in Category 4 in 2014. This is now my second year racing with a UCI license so I'm setting some personal goals for the upcoming season.
1) BC SuperWeek
In my opinion this is the top level of amateur racing in BC, and will be the main focus me in 2014.
Goal: Top 10 in Delta, UBC, and White Rock
I love this race. It has quickly become my favourite in my short cycling career.
Goal: Top 5
Road race, time trial, and criterium.
Goal: Top 10 general classification
In previous years I've had trouble attending races due to my work schedule. I'd like to increase my participation and use these to build up for Barry's Roubaix and Race the Ridge
Goal: Participate in 5 races, finish in front group.
I haven't raced a lot of crits in the past. I'm going to try and change that for 2014.
Goal: Participate in 7-10 races.
Cyclocross is a fun activity in to fill in some free weekends in the fall. It's never been a major focus for me. I would like to try and race more than three races in the season.
Goal: Participate in 7-10 races.
Sunday, 19 May 2013
Race The Ridge 2013
April 27-28 2013 marked the biggest weekend of my very short racing career. The always interesting Race the Ridge stage race organized by Local Ride Racing was being held in Maple Ridge.
The road race and time trial were contested on Saturday, while the criterium was run Sunday. I had done a lot of riding leading up to the race and wasn't quite as fresh as I could have been. But I had signed up to race Cat 4 months ago so I went out to give it my best shot.
As with most early season races the weather always decides to play a factor.
Road Race
The toughest course I have raced on. It makes the Spring Series races look easy.
A 10 kilometre loop with 5 kilometres of punchy hills and some tight corners at the end of long downhill straightaways. I managed to get dropped quite early, tried my hardest to work with some others off the back, but the climbing was too much. The rain started with about 3 laps to go, adding insult to injury.
Eventually I finished in 16th place over 6 mins down on the leaders.
Pretty disappointed in my performance, I was hoping to stay much closer to the lead group.
Time Trial
I felt really good about my performance in the time trial. I had never raced a time trial before or even used aerobars. Ted Matson had withdrawn from the Cat 1 race and kindly lent me his helmet and aerobars.
The road surface got really rough about halfway through the TT which complicated things a little bit. Definitely made the effort a little harder to sustain.
I clocked 16:40 (44.97 km/h) over the pretty much flat 12.5 km course finishing in 12th. Lost another minute to the GC leaders.
The headwind riding back from the TT finish was even harder than the TT!
Criterium
I really enjoyed the criterium in downtown Maple Ridge. It's pretty awesome to have the roads completely closed to traffic. I found the course very fun course, a nice flow to all the corners.
I flew off the front partway through and spent three laps alone out front. No one was willing to come across to me so I was caught. I tried again later in the race, but my move was quickly shutdown. Finished 17th.
Overall it was a great weekend of racing. I finished 16th overall out of 29 starters. Not so bad for my first ever stage race.
Other links of interest
Results: http://www.localride.ca/wp/2013/04/28/race-the-ridge-results/
Local Ride: http://www.localride.ca/wp/2013/05/07/cyclists-storm-ridge-meadows-for-12th-annual-race-the-ridge/
Maple Ridge News: http://www.mapleridgenews.com/sports/205478301.html
Criterium Photos by Alex Pope: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157633375950010/with/8691672910/
The road race and time trial were contested on Saturday, while the criterium was run Sunday. I had done a lot of riding leading up to the race and wasn't quite as fresh as I could have been. But I had signed up to race Cat 4 months ago so I went out to give it my best shot.
As with most early season races the weather always decides to play a factor.
 |
| My late race attack in the criterium getting shutdown. |
The toughest course I have raced on. It makes the Spring Series races look easy.
A 10 kilometre loop with 5 kilometres of punchy hills and some tight corners at the end of long downhill straightaways. I managed to get dropped quite early, tried my hardest to work with some others off the back, but the climbing was too much. The rain started with about 3 laps to go, adding insult to injury.
Eventually I finished in 16th place over 6 mins down on the leaders.
Pretty disappointed in my performance, I was hoping to stay much closer to the lead group.
Time Trial
I felt really good about my performance in the time trial. I had never raced a time trial before or even used aerobars. Ted Matson had withdrawn from the Cat 1 race and kindly lent me his helmet and aerobars.
The road surface got really rough about halfway through the TT which complicated things a little bit. Definitely made the effort a little harder to sustain.
I clocked 16:40 (44.97 km/h) over the pretty much flat 12.5 km course finishing in 12th. Lost another minute to the GC leaders.
The headwind riding back from the TT finish was even harder than the TT!
Criterium
I really enjoyed the criterium in downtown Maple Ridge. It's pretty awesome to have the roads completely closed to traffic. I found the course very fun course, a nice flow to all the corners.
I flew off the front partway through and spent three laps alone out front. No one was willing to come across to me so I was caught. I tried again later in the race, but my move was quickly shutdown. Finished 17th.
 |
| Coasting in for 17th place in the criterium. |
Other links of interest
Results: http://www.localride.ca/wp/2013/04/28/race-the-ridge-results/
Local Ride: http://www.localride.ca/wp/2013/05/07/cyclists-storm-ridge-meadows-for-12th-annual-race-the-ridge/
Maple Ridge News: http://www.mapleridgenews.com/sports/205478301.html
Criterium Photos by Alex Pope: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexpope/sets/72157633375950010/with/8691672910/
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