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.

Total distance: 567.7 km

Shortest ride: 20.6 km

Longest ride: 104.0 km

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

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

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.

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

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;

• 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!

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.

Festive 500 - 2014

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 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 

2) Barry's Roubaix

I love this race. It has quickly become my favourite in my short cycling career.

Goal: Top 5 

3) Race the Ridge

Road race, time trial, and criterium.

Goal: Top 10 general classification

4) Spring Series

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.

5) World Tuesday Night Championships

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. 

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.

My late race attack in the criterium getting shutdown.

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.
 

Coasting in for 17th place in the criterium.

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/

Starting the 2013 Season

The time has finally come for me put my preseason training to the test. This Sunday marks my return to bike racing. Looking back, I haven't raced in far too long. I missed the opening races of 2013 due to work, in fact my last road race was Barry's Roubaix in April of 2012! Definitely need to focus on attending more races this year.

I finally committed to joining a cycling team this year. I'm looking forward to representing Daryl-Evans Racing this year at road and cyclocross races.

I initially learned of Daryl-Evans Racing reading the exploits of Joshua Weiss and their efforts in hosting cyclocross races at the South Surrey Bike Park, including the 2012 Canadian Cyclocross Championship. I've also met some of the other team members through Twitter and Strava.

I was attracted to the team due to the local nature of the events they host and their mission to build a Master's road and cyclocross program, plus their jersey looks pretty cool.

When you join a cycling team, you need a new bike right?

Well even if you don't, the minimum number of bikes one must own is three, I managed to find a great deal on this 2012 Opus Crescendo at Fort Langley Cyclery.

I knew that if I was going to buy a new bike, it would have to be full carbon, with at least an Ultegra groupset. I figured anything less wouldn't be enough of an upgrade over my current bike. I had looked at many bikes, a lot of them seemed to be white. Which was something I wanted to avoid, white is definitely a little harder to keep looking clean. The Crescendo fit all those requirements plus it matched my Easton wheels quite nicely.

As expected the Crescendo feels lightning fast, and is a very comfortable ride. However, as they say "It never gets easier, you just go faster."

Hopefully it helps me go a little bit faster.

Preview - 2013 Spring Series #4 - Bradner

On Sunday March 17, 2013 cyclists from around the lower mainland and beyond will descend on the Bradner-Mt. Lehman area to compete in the fourth race of the Escape Velocity Spring Series.

Although I'm pretty familiar with the area I decided to do a small pre-ride to get a feel for the course.

Bradner RR - Course Map and Elevation

My family drove me out so we could fill up on cheap Aldergrove gas. After filling up and a snack they came to collect me. I was only able to complete two full laps before they came to pick me up.

A few things I noted:

• Abundant rolling terrain
• Uphill exits on three corners
• Fast corner from McTavish to Satchell slopes slightly away from the apex
• Fresh pavement from McTavish to Ross

The uphill drag along Bradner Road from 58th to McTavish is likely to be the decisive section. Aside from a sprint finish, I think it may be possible for a winning move to be launched coming out of the Nathan Creek dip on the final lap. Although this certainly would be expected.

My lap times on the recon ride were pretty slow, well off the times recorded during previous races. Of course riding solo can be much slower than in a group during a race. The power output that Strava estimates is closer to the previous races than my lap times. Honestly, I don't know if this means I'm looking good or not. I guess we'll find out Sunday. 

I'm looking forward to having some fun and getting my racing season started. Seeing the results of my preseason training is also going to be something to look forward to.

2013 Preseason Training - One Month Results

I've made it through my first month of my training plan.

One drawback that I have realized is I don't have a reliable way to track if I'm making any progress. I only have my weight on the scale and my KOM times on Strava.

My motivation has remained high throughout the first four weeks. I've only missed one scheduled workout, helping my daughter with some of her homework. Including my exteme boot camp workouts, I'm spending close to seven hours a week training. I feel this is close to the maximum I can manage with the kids in school and my wife working. Not perfect, but a definite step up from last year.

I'm really enjoying the extreme boot camp I'm doing at the local recreation centre. The mix of strength, plyometric, and cardio exercises is perfect.

I'm sticking fairly well to my nutrition ideas. I'm spending more time eating whole foods & plant-based meals while trying my best to avoid fast food and processed foods. I'm still working on reducing coffee and soda consumption. My worst days are Mondays, when I work my graveyard shift. It just throws everything right off.

Totals so far:

Training Time: 29:14:16
Kilometres: 742.9
Weight: 168.4 lbs

Aiming for Progress in 2013

I have decided to take a more structured approach to my cycling in 2013. When I bought my first road bike and started racing two years ago, I never really put applied any sort of plan to my preparation  Although I was consistently riding my bike to work and doing random interval sessions, I knew I could do better.

I'm planning on leaving the citizen class behind and moving on up, so I think I need to focus on these four things;

• eat a healthier diet
• commit to a preseason training plan
• attend more races
• join a cycling club or team

Eat a Healthier Diet

In the past I used cycling as an excuse for eating excessive. I knew I could eat or drink pretty much anything because of the amount of calories I would burn while cycling. Needless to say that isn't the way to improve.

My wife randomly picked up some Vega One samples and a couple coupons at Douglas College in the fall. We both really enjoyed the products and decide to do some more research on vegan principles and plant-based nutrition.

I signed up for Thrive Forward, an online program to help me learn more about plant-based nutrition. It starts very basics and I have started using some of the things I learned already. I've lost some weight and generally feel better. I don't really crave all the unhealthy things I was eating before.

It seems unlikely I will switch to a complete plant-based diet, but I'm willing to keep an open mind and continue experimenting.

Commit to a Preseason Training Plan

My training has been relatively haphazard so far. I've experimented with different things and read a lot of information, but haven't really put a lot of it into practice.

I found the skeleton of a training plan on the internet that is flexible enough to work with my work schedule and family life. While it's not perfect and probably not the best, I race bikes for a hobby and personal enjoyment. I have to face the fact I'm far too old to become the next Ryder Hesjedal.

This is what my week of training will look like. I can only squeeze in about 7 - 10 hours of training time each week and this plan seems to work for a number of reasons. I work a graveyard shift Monday, from midnight to 8:00am. Generally I feel terrible, so its a good day to take off. I enjoyed the boot camp class I took before Christmas so I signed up again. It can't hurt to continue work on my core strength. Two interval sessions each week should help with my racing ability. Saturday and Sunday I work during the day, so I can squeeze in some longer rides to and from work to build my endurance. 

Hopefully this will give me a good starting point for when racing starts in the spring.

Attend More Races

This is a bit of a challenge. Most races are held on weekends, which I normally work unless I'm on holidays. I do want to try to attend some of the weekday criterium races. I have Tuesday and Wednesday off work, so there isn't really any excuses not to try and attend these. Maybe not every single one, but I could start with a couple per month.

The World Tuesday Night Championships at UBC is very popular, although pretty far from home. In the past races were held on Wednesday evenings at Mission Raceway. Hopefully those will be back for 2013.

Join a Cycling Club or Team

This could prove nearly as challenging as attending more races. My work schedule prevents me from participating in many of the group rides clubs and teams offer. It would seem strange to join a club or team and never participate in any activities.

I would like to find something local, with others interested in racing, and maybe with weeknight activities. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

I'm hoping I can improve my cycling in 2013 and have more fun and maybe even post some good results.

 

Rapha Festive 500 - 2012

Rapha Festive 500 - Ride Map

This year the Rapha Festive 500 had a bit of an extra challenge for me, I had to manage riding the 500 kilometres along with working six of the eight days. Also, my wife wanted to give the challenge a try. Add in three kids to look after and other holiday requirements, things were looking pretty daunting.

Festive 500 Planning.

I created a planning worksheet that would help us stay organized with cycling, work, and kids activities. Days off cycling would be needed due to visiting relatives and my work schedule. We would need to average 83.3 kilometres per day to complete the challenge.

The first ride of the Festive 500.

I rode my bike to work Sunday night at 11:00 pm in order to kick off the challenge after my graveyard shift on December 24th. I set off shortly after 8:00 am, tired but excited to start the challenge with a short ride home. After a short nap I was up to let my wife head out for her first ride.

The kids were excited to watch Mommy head out for the Festive 500. 

We had no commitments for Christmas Day, so I was allowed free reign for the morning. While most people were opening presents, I was swinging my leg over my bike and heading out into the cold. It turned out to be my longest ride of the challenge, 114 kilometres. The weather was quite cold and I faced some pretty tough headwinds on half the route. Unfortunately the weather got worse in the afternoon when my wife headed out to ride. Freezing rain and a bit of snow had started just after lunch. She had to modify her planned route to a drastically shorter version. Even local hard man Ted Matson was forced to shorten his ride.

The Highway of Headwinds, otherwise known as Zero Avenue. 

Boxing Day was our first day off. After the first three days I had only totaled 141 kilometres and Noriko had 117.6 kilometres. Both of us were way off our expected distances. We both had our doubts about completing the challenge. However, we both wanted to keep going.

Thursday morning Noriko headed out for a ride in the morning and covered an impressive 85 kilometres. It seemed like we did a high-five at the door and I was heading off for a 90 kilometre commute to work. I got to see Burnaby Mountain, Science World, UBC, and, the always interesting, south Vancouver in just one ride.

There was still snow at the top of Burnaby Mountain. 

The volume of riding was taking it's toll on Noriko, but she managed to head over to Pitt Meadows and explore some of that area on Friday morning. My commute to work Friday afternoon was going to be shorter than Thursday's effort, but would include some gravel trails through the Delta's Watershed Park. I had time for a quick loop in Richmond before heading to work. 60 kilometres left me off the pace a little and I was beginning to worry that I wasn't going to finish.

Gravel trails in Delta's Watershed Park

Noriko decide Friday evening that she was going to abandon the challenge. There was simply too much distance to cover in the remaining time and it wasn't going to work with the commitment to the family and letting me finish the challenge. She still managed to cover 251.1 kilometres in four rides including her longest ride ever at 92.5 kilometres. I'm proud she was able to finish 50% of the Festive 500; not bad considering she hadn't been on her bike for about seven years and only started riding again earlier in the year.

I hatched a scheme that might get me back on track Saturday. After getting home from work at 1:00 am I was back up at 5:00 am to cover 50 kilometres on the way to work and then another 27 kilometres on the way home. I think this saved my Festive 500. Without this, I was never going to make it.

Cycling at 5:30 am in the cold rain.

Sunday I had switched to the afternoon shift, so we were able to have a relaxing family breakfast Sunday morning. It wasn't long before it was lunch time and I was on my way to work again. After a dry but cold 76 kilometre loop through Richmond, I only had 34.9 kilometres left to finish the Festive 500.

After 465.1 kilometres of solo riding, I would finally get some shelter on my final ride of the Festive 500. Fort Langley Cyclery traditionally hosts a New Year's Eve ride. They close up shop early and head out for a victory lap of sorts around Fort Langley and Glen Valley. We covered some of my favourite roads - Armstrong hill, Telegraph Trail, Myrtle Avenue, and the cranberry loop. It was the perfect ending to 2012 and a perfect ending to the Festive 500. 

Tail-gunning the Fort Langley Cyclery New Years Eve Ride

Another Festive 500 in the record books!

See you in 2013!

Rapha Festive 500 Planning

Planning is in full swing for the Rapha Festive 500. Only 7 days to go!

I love planning. Luckily I get to do quite a bit of planning as a rail traffic controller. I do enjoy just getting out and going for a ride sometimes, but for these Strava challenges I like to have a pretty good plan in place.

I don't often upload my rides to Garmin Connect, Strava is number one in that department. The best parts of Garmin Connect are the course and workout creation features. You can plan your rides or stationary trainer workouts ahead of time and then upload them to you Garmin device. An average speed or pace can be entered so you'll finish your ride on time and it will tell you if you've strayed off course. 



This 84 kilometre loop covers some of my favourite territory. Lots of opportunities to stop and grab a coffee and warm up.



An expansion of the previous route, this 116 kilometre ride heads further east and down into Glen Valley.

I'm tempted to try out this route. Originally it was my plan for the BMC 79 Mile Challenge, which I had to abandon at the last minute. I'd probaby cut out the little detour over the Alex Fraser bridge which I added to to boost the distance over 79 miles. The route is quite urban in some sections, I'm not sure how much effect that would have on my average speed.

I still have to balance these rides with my work schedule, so more planning is in store!

The Rapha Festive 500 – 2012

The time has come again for the Rapha Festive 500.

The challenge is as simple as last year, ride 500 kilometres between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. While the distance isn't much of a problem, it isn't the most convenient time to spend riding your bike. Also the weather is often less than ideal for cycling in the greater Vancouver area.

Last year I clocked a respectable 512.1 kilometres spread over seven rides in just over 21 hours. Throw in 3216 metres of elevation gain and things are looking good. I was one of only nine Canadians to complete the challenge, and ranked 636 worldwide.



Rapha Festive 500 - 2011 Canadian Leaderboard



The top two Canadians were from Quebec and the rest from BC. I guess it was a mild winter back east last year? Strava is even more popular than ever before in the cycling community. I'm expecting a big increase in the number of participants and finishers.

The big personal challenge for me this year is trying to ride 500 kilometres while working my regular swing shift at the railway. Last year I was on holidays over Christmas and this year Christmas and Boxing Day fall on my regular days off. So no extra time is available. Also, my wife is considering taking a crack at the challenge. Time management and planning are going to be key.

I've considered trying to challenge myself while completing the 500 kilometeres. Some things I've thought of;

a) Distance - Ride farther is the simplest way to add difficulty. Aim for 600 km? 750 km?

b) Speed - Complete the 500 km faster. This might be too easy as I'm probably already faster than last year.

c) Elevation Gain - Attempting big climbs in winter could prove too hard. Cypress and Seymour could be treacherous. However a Boxing Day Triple Crown has epic written all over it.

Regardless of the path I take to the finish, I'm excited by the thought of the challenge. Who in there right mind cycles 500 kilometres in about a week over the Christmas holidays?

Stay tuned to find out how it goes...

Cycling the South Fraser Perimeter Road

A new cycling option is now available for cyclists in the Metro Vancouver area. The first section of the South Fraser Perimeter road opened on December 1, 2012. The 10 kilometre section of new highway in Surrey runs east from 136th Street out to 176th Street, where it joins Highway 15.

Background

The South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) is part of the Province of British Columbia's Gateway Program, which aims to "improve the movement of people, goods and transit throughout Metro Vancouver..."

The SFPR is a 40 kilometre expressway linking Deltaport to major commercial and industrial facilities along the south shore of the Fraser River. When complete, it will have connections to many other major Provincial highways including Highway 1, 15, 91, and 99.

South Fraser Perimeter Road (Wikipedia)

The project has had its share of opponents; mainly environmental and neighbourhood groups concerned about increased noise, greenhouse gas emissions, and the impact on nearby Burns Bog.

While many of these concerns are valid, it appears the project is going ahead as planned.

Cycling the SFPR

The SFPR is an excellent alternative for cyclists travelling or commuting to or from the eastern parts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. There is easy access from the west end of the SFPR to the Scott Road SkyTrain station. The east end has a variety of cycling routes to chose from -- Maple Ridge, Fort Langley, south Surrey, and Langley are all easily accessible.

Here is a time lapse video from http://www.1truecanadian.ca/

As you can see in the time lapse, the road itself is signed as a bike route and has very nice wide shoulders with few manhole covers or drainage grates to get in the way. Transitions onto the Centre Creek Crossing are quite smooth.  Aside from the hill up to Highway #1 at the eastern end, the gradients are very low. A large portion of the road is paved with a "quiet" pavement. It has less sand and more stone than regular pavement, which reduces noise. I was worried, at first, that this would make for an uncomfortable bike ride.  Luckily, that wasn't the case. I found the "quiet" pavement offered better drainage than on regular roads. There was almost no standing water and traction was good.

One thing to be aware of is the speed of the passing cars. The speed limit is 80 km/h for the majority of the route, but with the wide shoulders it doesn't pose much of a problem as there is lots of room. The noise from approaching cars is reduced due to the style of pavement, so certain cars could sneak up on you. The west end of the route is still under construction, so watch out for the safety cones that cause the road to narrow.

There are only two traffic intersections to navigate and both are at the start and end of the route. No need to worry about cars pulling out in front of you.

Conclusions

After only three rides over the SFPR, I'm ready to make the permanent switch. My usual route included Fraser Highway and King George Boulevard. Although it takes me about 15 minutes longer to use the SFPR, the lack of wide shoulders and a heavy traffic volume on my regular commute, makes the switch an easy decision.

I hope you will choose the SFPR the next time you commute to work by bike, or if you want to access the wonderful cycling the the Fraser Valley has to offer.

Rapha Rising Ride #6 - Valley GranFondo

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.

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.

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. 

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 lower slopes of 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.

Climbing into the clouds on the upper slopes of Cypress

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.

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!