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

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!

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.