I’m in the build phase right now. Building fitness. Building skills. Building mental strength and confidence. Build. Build. Progress. Progress.

To help with this I got to sit behind a motorbike for a while last night. Motor pacing. For those of you that have done it – you know the pain I’m talking about it. If you haven’t tried it – you’re missing out. Motor pacing helps build leg speed, tests your limits of suffering, teaches you quickly how to find shelter from the wind, and lets you go fast. I don’t really “like” motor pacing. But I appreciate it when I’ve done it. Last night was no exception. We hit it out for a 45 minute tempo session. Felt pretty good. The kickers and rollers are a real challenge. I spent most of the time staring at the back of the bike – willing myself not to loose contact. All in all, an excellent session. Thanks Kris!

So, I missed the training session at Britannia Park last night. By all accounts it sounds like there was an excellent turn out with lots of new faces. Marc also said they did some pretty nifty drills. I hope to be there next week. Remember, the sessions are open to anyone – regardless of skill level, club affiliation, etc. Just come out and have some fun.

So we are currently debating the US Gran Prix races in Kentucky. Do we go? It is a long drive. But the racing will be top-notch. I’ve checked the race calendar at Cyclocross Magazine, but there is not much else going on that weekend (that is closer for us). So what do you think? We need to decide soon, as Marc’s category fills up pretty quickly. Ah, I don’t know what to do…

Got in a great training session this morning with Marc and Steve (the fabulous designer of the Ottawa Cross kit). After some follow the leader we got down to some drills. This time it was all about cornering with speed. To get the free speed we set up two corners – on the side of a hill. I think we all progressed nicely testing our cornering speed limits and trying out different techniques. Things got a bit hairy when we decided to turn our loop into a figure 8. Lets just say, we had some near crashes! Thanks guys for the help – much appreciated. The best part of this session, was a very salient comment that Steve made as we were packing up. Initially I had been struggling with the drill – moving slowly, creeping up the hill, and generally just not moving very fast. Then something clicked and I started getting faster and smoother.

About this Steve said: “I thought it was your gearing – maybe you weren’t in the right gear at the beginning – but you used the same gear through out. Really, you just weren’t trying hard enough.”

Wow – this was perfect. I needed to hear this from Steve. Having someone other than Marc point this out is important. I realized he was correct. I wasn’t trying hard enough. I noticed this on Monday as well – I was creeping up a hill. Then something clicked and I started actually pedaling hard and fast. Yeesh – funny how I have this “lazy” trend in my cycling. This revelation made the training session totally worth it.

I’m loving the Ottawa Cross kit. I wore the long sleeve skinsuit this morning. Love it. Fast. Sleek. Awesome.

Okay, here is a video trailer for you to enjoy. Can’t wait to get my hands on this:
9 Ball Diaries.