This was my last chance to finish the Rapha Rising Challenge. I had estimated I would get around 900m of elevation gain for the 160 km.
I was riding the Valley GranFondo as a volunteer with Fort Langley Cyclery as a Ride Ambassador. I was there to provide mechanical support and route information to the participants. Some how I got selected to ride in the fast pairing, aiming for an average speed over 30 km/h. This had me a little worried since I had put in so much riding leading up to the GranFondo, including the 105 km I rode the day before.
Once we got rolling I actually felt really good. As I had found in the Festive 500, riding into "form" actually works, as long as you are taking care of your body's nutrition and rest needs.
My clock time was 5:00:29 at the finish. I knew it took more than 30 seconds to cross the start line, so I knew I had finished in under 5 hours.
I only stopped at two of the rest stations. I did have to answer the call of nature after the first rest station. I was so focused on grabbing food and refilling my bottles and getting my drive train adjusted, I forget one thing.
When I got home and uploaded my ride I was happy to see I had climbed 7,257 m for the Rapha Rising Challenge. That was good enough for #1178 in the world and #36 in Canada.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Rapha Rising Ride #5 - Burnaby Mountain Strikes Back
I managed to stick to the plan and hit Burnaby Mountain twice on Saturday.
The morning ride to work.
Then eight hours of this.
Then the afternoon ride.
I rode to a friend's house warming party. I ate a lot. They wondered why.
The morning ride to work.
Then eight hours of this.
I rode to a friend's house warming party. I ate a lot. They wondered why.
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Rapha Rising Ride #4 - Return to Burnaby Mountain
Hot and windy.
That pretty much sums up my commute to work Thursday afternoon. I left home early so I could make the detour to Burnaby Mountain again.
Anytime I was heading west, a strong headwind made it tough going. I fought the wind most of the way up Burnaby Mountain. The average temperature recorded by my Garmin was 29.7 C!
722 metres was way lower than I was expecting. I've got a lot of climbing to make up for and the weather isn't looking to great for the next couple days.
I've completed 61% of the challenge, leaving me with 2,618 metres of climbing to tackle on Saturday and Sunday.
That pretty much sums up my commute to work Thursday afternoon. I left home early so I could make the detour to Burnaby Mountain again.
Anytime I was heading west, a strong headwind made it tough going. I fought the wind most of the way up Burnaby Mountain. The average temperature recorded by my Garmin was 29.7 C!
722 metres was way lower than I was expecting. I've got a lot of climbing to make up for and the weather isn't looking to great for the next couple days.
I've completed 61% of the challenge, leaving me with 2,618 metres of climbing to tackle on Saturday and Sunday.
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Rapha Rising Ride #3 - Cypress Mountain
Cypress Mountain looms large over the Vancouver skyline. It was an obvious choice to include in my quest to complete the Rapha Rising challenge.
Cypress Mountain is a popular destination for cyclists. There is even a Cypress Challenge organized annually by the Glotman-Simpson Cycling club to raise money for pancreatic cancer research.
I used the SkyTrain to get into downtown Vancouver. I rode through Stanley Park and over the Lion's Gate Bridge to get to West Vancouver. I did a small stint along the Upper Levels Highway to reach Cypress Bowl Road.
The climb started off easier that I expected. I was expecting a much steeper ride, similar to my ride up Seymour the day before. I saw quite a few cyclists descending. I wonder how many, if any, are competing in the Rapha Rising challenge. It was quite overcast, so there weren't many cars on the road. At one point I didn't see anyone for just over ten minutes. Aside from my laboured breathing, the hum of my tires, and the chirping birds there wasn't a sound.
I started entering the clouds as I neared the top of the mountain. There was a pretty stiff breeze that was quite cool. The clouds were swirling across the road, definitely and interesting thing to observe. After climbing for just under an hour, I was at the top.
It was quite cool at the top, luckily I was prepared for the descent. I had the foresight to bring a vest and arm warmers in my jersey pocket. No gloves meant my fingers were due to get a little cold. Despite the cool temperature descending for 10 minutes down the mountain was pretty awesome.
A quick ride back over the Lion's Gate Bridge and down through Stanley Park brought me back to the SkyTrain and on home to Surrey.
My biggest day of climbing so far, 1,177 metres total, brought me up to 3,341 metres, which is good for 48% of the challange.
Hopefully three more rides up Burnaby Mountain and the Valley GranFondo will put me over the top.
Cypress Mountain is a popular destination for cyclists. There is even a Cypress Challenge organized annually by the Glotman-Simpson Cycling club to raise money for pancreatic cancer research.
I used the SkyTrain to get into downtown Vancouver. I rode through Stanley Park and over the Lion's Gate Bridge to get to West Vancouver. I did a small stint along the Upper Levels Highway to reach Cypress Bowl Road.
 |
| The lower slopes of Cypress Bowl Road |
 |
| Climbing into the clouds on the upper slopes of Cypress |
It was quite cool at the top, luckily I was prepared for the descent. I had the foresight to bring a vest and arm warmers in my jersey pocket. No gloves meant my fingers were due to get a little cold. Despite the cool temperature descending for 10 minutes down the mountain was pretty awesome.
A quick ride back over the Lion's Gate Bridge and down through Stanley Park brought me back to the SkyTrain and on home to Surrey.
My biggest day of climbing so far, 1,177 metres total, brought me up to 3,341 metres, which is good for 48% of the challange.
Hopefully three more rides up Burnaby Mountain and the Valley GranFondo will put me over the top.
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Rapha Rising Ride #2 - Mount Seymour
A lot of planning went into this ride.
I had learned from the Festive 500 in December that family support is crucial for me to complete these challenges. I can't imagine completing the challenge without the support of my wife and our three kids.
I had spent some time planning a picnic lunch at the top of Mount Seymour and checking out playgrounds in Deep Cove so the kids had something to do while I was turning myself inside out up the mountain. Then they could drive up in the car and meet for lunch.
The climb up Mount Seymour was certainly a challenge. According to Strava's classification, the Mount Seymour climb was rated an HC, the hardest climb possible. I had never rode my bike up anything close before. I found my rhythm early and just kept churning along around 12-13 km/h. I am inexperienced when it comes to long climbs like these, so I wasn't really willing to go too hard. Mount Seymour Road has markers every kilometre with the elevation on them. It was nice to see how far and how high I had ridden as I went along. Yet they were useless at the the same time because I didn't know what the end point was.
After a nice picnic lunch and some brief exploring the kids were loaded back in the car. Of course I could have loaded the bike on the car at this point, but you know that wasn't going to happen!
The descent was awesome of course. My wife managed to take a picture out the front window of the car as she was following me down the hill.
Next stop Cypress!
I had learned from the Festive 500 in December that family support is crucial for me to complete these challenges. I can't imagine completing the challenge without the support of my wife and our three kids.
I had spent some time planning a picnic lunch at the top of Mount Seymour and checking out playgrounds in Deep Cove so the kids had something to do while I was turning myself inside out up the mountain. Then they could drive up in the car and meet for lunch.
The climb up Mount Seymour was certainly a challenge. According to Strava's classification, the Mount Seymour climb was rated an HC, the hardest climb possible. I had never rode my bike up anything close before. I found my rhythm early and just kept churning along around 12-13 km/h. I am inexperienced when it comes to long climbs like these, so I wasn't really willing to go too hard. Mount Seymour Road has markers every kilometre with the elevation on them. It was nice to see how far and how high I had ridden as I went along. Yet they were useless at the the same time because I didn't know what the end point was.
After a nice picnic lunch and some brief exploring the kids were loaded back in the car. Of course I could have loaded the bike on the car at this point, but you know that wasn't going to happen!
The descent was awesome of course. My wife managed to take a picture out the front window of the car as she was following me down the hill.
Next stop Cypress!
Monday, 16 July 2012
Rapha Rising Ride #1 - Burnaby Mountain
I chose Burnaby Mountain for my first big climb of the Rapha Rising challenge. It's the closest "mountain" that I can ride to in a decent amount of time. It's still nearly an hour of riding before I hit the base of Burnaby Mountain.
The climb up is fairly straight forward. The road has wide shoulders and a fairly consistent gradient of 7-8%. I rode in the later part of the afternoon, so it was awfully hot. The sun was beating on me almost the entire way up. I didn't feel the greatest on the way up and it was reflected in my time. I knew I would be tired having worked overnight Sunday and only catching a few hours of sleep Monday morning.
The descent is a lot of fun, although as always far to short for the amount of effort required to get to the top.
Tomorrow I'm planning to head over to the North Shore to find some of the really big climbs.
The climb up is fairly straight forward. The road has wide shoulders and a fairly consistent gradient of 7-8%. I rode in the later part of the afternoon, so it was awfully hot. The sun was beating on me almost the entire way up. I didn't feel the greatest on the way up and it was reflected in my time. I knew I would be tired having worked overnight Sunday and only catching a few hours of sleep Monday morning.
The descent is a lot of fun, although as always far to short for the amount of effort required to get to the top.
Tomorrow I'm planning to head over to the North Shore to find some of the really big climbs.
Saturday, 14 July 2012
The Circle of Death
The Circle of Death
Burnaby Mountain is a big part of my plan. It's not spectacular when compared to Pyrenees, but it's close to home. It would nice to tackle more big mountains, but it's tough to find the time for that.
Monday (July 16)
I work from midnight until 8:00 am Monday, so it's a tough start to the challenge. I hope to be up in the early afternoon, and I'll start things off with a ride up Burnaby Mountain to SFU.
Elevation gain: ~1000m
Tuesday or Wednesday (July 17/18)
Tuesday or Wednesday is going to be the big mountain day. I'm going to try to work in a ride up Cypress, Seymour, or Baker. I'll likely only have a chance to ride one of them and I'm still trying to work out the details. I'll likely do a smaller ride on the other day to gain a few hundred metres extra.
Elevation gain: ~2000m
Thursday (July 19)
On the ride in to work I'll make the detour to climb Burnaby Mountain.
Elevation gain: ~1000m
Friday (July 20)
I like rest days and Friday is a pretty good day to take one because of how my work schedule is.
Saturday (July 21)
A glorious Saturday at work should feature ascents of Burnaby Mountain before and after work.
Elevation gain: ~2000m
Sunday (July 22)
The final day of the challenge I'm volunteering for the Valley GranFondo as a Ride Ambassador. I have to ride the 160 km route on my bike and provide directions or minor mechanical help to the participants.
Elevation gain: ~900m
The Execution
If my estimates prove correct, I should have no trouble completing the challenge. Stay tuned for updates! I could win a patch or maybe even a Trek Madone 6.9.
It sounds kind of macabre for a cycling blog. However it only refers to the next challenge on Strava, Rapha Rising.
Rapha Rising challenges users to climb 6,881 metres, which happens to be the same amount of climbing the professionals riding the Tour de France will cover on Stage 16, The Circle of Death.
 |
| Stage 16 - 2012 Tour de France |
The Circle of Death contains for extremely difficult climbs in the Pyrenees. The Col d'Aubisque (1,709m), Col du Tourmalet (2,114m), Col d'Aspin (1,489m), and Col de Peyresourde (1,569m) are all tackled in one day during the last week of the Tour de France.
Luckily, Rapha has given mere mortals like you and I eight days (Jul 16 - 22) to complete the challenge.
The Plan
I have to balance the requirements of the challenge with my work schedule and family life so it could get tricky.
Monday (July 16)
I work from midnight until 8:00 am Monday, so it's a tough start to the challenge. I hope to be up in the early afternoon, and I'll start things off with a ride up Burnaby Mountain to SFU.
Elevation gain: ~1000m
Tuesday or Wednesday (July 17/18)
Tuesday or Wednesday is going to be the big mountain day. I'm going to try to work in a ride up Cypress, Seymour, or Baker. I'll likely only have a chance to ride one of them and I'm still trying to work out the details. I'll likely do a smaller ride on the other day to gain a few hundred metres extra.
Elevation gain: ~2000m
Thursday (July 19)
On the ride in to work I'll make the detour to climb Burnaby Mountain.
Elevation gain: ~1000m
Friday (July 20)
I like rest days and Friday is a pretty good day to take one because of how my work schedule is.
Saturday (July 21)
A glorious Saturday at work should feature ascents of Burnaby Mountain before and after work.
Elevation gain: ~2000m
Sunday (July 22)
The final day of the challenge I'm volunteering for the Valley GranFondo as a Ride Ambassador. I have to ride the 160 km route on my bike and provide directions or minor mechanical help to the participants.
Elevation gain: ~900m
The Execution
If my estimates prove correct, I should have no trouble completing the challenge. Stay tuned for updates! I could win a patch or maybe even a Trek Madone 6.9.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)