After doing two laps today at Ziggy Knarly Canada Cup course out at the Nordic center in Canmore. I have come to realize that the hills aren't any smaller, and my memory for directions aren't as good as I had thought. Oh well! I guess it comes with age..... The Georgetown ascent to me is way easier than the "OVEN". It was in the +30's today and you could really feel the heat when climbing the "oven". Wowsers!!! I sure hope it is a little cooler when it is race day. I am not the best when it comes to exercising in the extreme heat. I probably use about twice as much fluids as the average person.
Was quite surprised with myself when riding the humps and roots. I was using a hardtail and was doing not to badly. (knocking on wood so I don't jinx myself) As for my riding partner he quite enjoyed himself today. We both have our weaknesses, and strengths when it comes to riding. My one strength for a big guy is I can climb not to badly when I put the effort into it. I can just imagine if I was 20lbs lighter what would happen. My riding partner is a good climber as well, but we both need to improve on the rooty sections and humps. I can see where I might lose some time on there. Planning on going out tomorrow and riding again to see if I can get the hang of it. It would be nice to follow a seasoned rider to see how everything is done. If I can see someone do something, I can usually duplicate it.
Also on a short note it is good to see Mical get 7th at her race in Park City, Utah, and it is good to see Dallas get out and give it a try. Even though Dallas did not win, I bet he sure learned a few things today.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The BONK!!!!
“Suffer8r”, would be a way to describe yesterday’s events for me. Not sure what the heck happened to me, but I hope I never go through that again. Body bread down, or whatever it was, it was painful. The first snotty climb one of the other riders had fallen sideways and his handlebar nailed me right in the “Charlie horse”. Like WTF, my bike is finally working fine and this happens. When starting the first ascent, it felt like my legs weighed 100lbs each.
The day before the race I had pre rode the course and I felt fine. Lots of snap in my legs, and I also felt strong. So what gives for race day, I have no idea. Maybe I had too much breakfast, or I had just over trained for the week. At one point I was in last place in the race. All my category had passed me at this point, and I thought they might be taking off the course on a stretcher. I have never felt like this before. Every little root and rock seemed like a huge obstacle for me. I took a gel, and then took four “shot bloks”, and by the time I was at the ¾ mark I started to feel better, and was able to ride. Now I had to decide if I was going to do another lap.
By the time I had started going down the last descent I was feeling stronger, and did well on the flat section before the transition area. The second lap was a totally different story than the first lap. I was able to ride everything, and I paced myself because I was worried that my body shut down again.
After all of this I have to realize that I had encountered my first BONK!!!! What a horrible feeling. I am glad that I was able to continue and work through the obstacles that comes with having a BONK. But it does show that I was able to work hard enough to run out of fuel.
The day before the race I had pre rode the course and I felt fine. Lots of snap in my legs, and I also felt strong. So what gives for race day, I have no idea. Maybe I had too much breakfast, or I had just over trained for the week. At one point I was in last place in the race. All my category had passed me at this point, and I thought they might be taking off the course on a stretcher. I have never felt like this before. Every little root and rock seemed like a huge obstacle for me. I took a gel, and then took four “shot bloks”, and by the time I was at the ¾ mark I started to feel better, and was able to ride. Now I had to decide if I was going to do another lap.
By the time I had started going down the last descent I was feeling stronger, and did well on the flat section before the transition area. The second lap was a totally different story than the first lap. I was able to ride everything, and I paced myself because I was worried that my body shut down again.
After all of this I have to realize that I had encountered my first BONK!!!! What a horrible feeling. I am glad that I was able to continue and work through the obstacles that comes with having a BONK. But it does show that I was able to work hard enough to run out of fuel.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Taking pictures
Seems my success at taking pictures is far greater than my success at mountain biking. But the thing is I put a hell of a lot more energy into cycling than I do into photography. Having no education background in photography or any kind of lessons, I think I am doing pretty good.
This past weekend our mountain bike club put on a race called the "Giver8r" 8 hour Enduro. It was 8 hours of pain, suffering and good times all at the Calgary Olympic Park. I did not race in this race, but I sure did take some photos that day. The photo that I have posted here is one of my favorites, and I am kind of proud of it. I don't care what anyone else thinks of it, because opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one! LOL. I also know that my taste is not in the majority, and that my artistic and general tastes are not in the norm. So most people might not like this photo, but it sure does catch your eye, even if you don't really like it.
I am going to try to take a photograph at least once a day so that I am able to keep sharp, and so I can learn some more things about photography. I have also started to read a bit more on the topic as well.
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