Big day out at Argyll Park in Edmonton today. Lots of people. Lots of bikes. Lots of thermal underwear and warming cream. A little bit of Michael Jackson on the loud speakers. Some tasty banana chocolate chip muffins and powerful drinks in the clubhouse. Throw in a bit of cyclo-cross racing, and it all makes for a fun way to spend a Saturday in October. Yes, it was cold. But it was cold for everyone. At least it wasn’t raining…

Day started off with Marc’s race at 10 a.m. Many thanks to my dad for ferrying all the gear over to the race site for us today. Marc set off pretty early to warm-up and pre-ride. I got there at around 9:30 and the place was whirling with racers and supporters. Very nice to see. Caught a bit of the Masters Women’s race (good ride – Rachael – you’ll get it back on Sunday). Chatted with a few people and then before I knew it, it was race time! Marc had a great ride today. For a while he was in the lead and then a solid group of four formed off the front. As is typical of racing in such conditions, the crashing and slipperyness were a factor. Marc rode in a group of three with the winner off the front. In the end, Marc finished off fourth. A good ride for him today. Looking forward to cheering him on again on Sunday.

During Marc’s race I hung out with my mom and we zoomed all over the course to catch the race action. The bowl was definitely the best place to watch the race. My mom snapped a bunch of pics and we cheered on Marc. My dad was all over the place as well, taking pictures and cheering. A good Saturday morning.

I zipped off pretty quickly after Marc’s race to get back to the hotel to warm-up and get some food. I chilled out. Typical pre-race activities: reading the newspaper, watching the Food Network, and catching up on the WWW. Marc and I rolled over to the course to pre-ride for my race. It was a massive help to me to have Marc pre-ride with me. He showed me some lines and gave me lots of positive feedback on how I was riding. Chilled out in the Juventus club house and chatted with lots of people. Silly me, I thought the race was at 2… It was at 2:30…. No biggie – just gave me some extra time to relax.

My race went pretty good. I didn’t get the exact result I wanted. But, all in all, I did have a good ride. Made a few mistakes that cost me. But this is bike racing. No race is going to be perfect. I finished 7th. This is good. Really good. I wouldn’t have got this result on this course last year. I felt good. Leg were snappy. My brain was pretty good. But I made some technical mistakes that cost me a few spots. Then a combination of panic and caution set in. Lots of great race lessons learned (ones that I’m planning on applying tomorrow). Check out the race report.

Jetted back to the hotel pretty quickly after the race with my folks. I was a bit too cold to stay and watch the elite race. Heard it was a pretty good race. Congrats to Shaun for his 8th place. Congrats to DSJ for his podium. As well congrats to NSE for her podium today.

Really just flaked out here and then went out for a nice dinner. I must admit, I’m wiped out. Pretty darn tired. Guess it is the cold combine with the racing that sucks the energy. Think I’ll hit the hay pretty quickly. Have another big day of racing on Sunday – Marc is off at 10 and I’m off at 1.

Many thanks for the cheering and encouragement today. It really does help. Big thanks to my parents for driving up from Saskatchewan to come out to the races, drive us around, take photos and basically be super-fans. Couldn’t have made it through today without Marc’s support – thanks so much Marc. Also big shout out to Alex of Soigneur Race Services for his amazing help and pit work today.

Have a great Saturday. Looking forward to a pretty fast and smooth Thanksgiving Sunday. (Maybe even some pumpkin pie…)

Cool and blowy day definitely reminded me why Canadian cyclo-cross nationals are held so early in the season…

Rolled over to the course in the late afternoon to get in a few laps and get a sense of the course. I have pretty firm rules/boundaries for my pre-ride days: four laps – nothing more as tempting as it is to keep riding, check out the course first in the small ring – just roll around and get a sense for it, practice the “key” or “challenging” sections a few times, one lap in the big ring – to get a sense of how things feel with a bit of speed. That’s it. That’s all I do. So today, that is what I did.

My feeling is that the course was getting rather icy as more and more people rode it so tomorrow it will be even more slick and things will have changed by 2 p.m. I stuck to my rules to the point where I didn’t even ride the metal fly-over. I watched a few people hit it. Tomorrow during my race pre-ride, I’ll be sure to get in the fly-over a few times to get comfortable with my gearing for it and the feeling of speed descending it.

The race course itself has a mix of everything (except single track). Pretty similar to last year. Most of the key sections are in the “bowl” with some fun corners, tight drops into steep climbs, and some faster descents. Pretty cool really. There is a nice long road section. A quick run through a sandbox. More longish grassy/snowy sections, turns, twists. Don’t know if there will be any barriers (weren’t any out today…).

So all in all, a pretty good course. Looking forward to watching the Masters race it tomorrow and hearing from Marc what he thinks of it at race pace. I find that during pre-ride you can hit things with some speed but really it is nothing like the speed you’ll be taking during the race nor do you have the “race brain” happening during pre-ride…

Got the numbers all pinned up. Lucky number 41. I wistfully looked at my short sleeve skinsuit, but it is not to be. Looks like it will be long sleeve skinsuit, leg warmers, cap, and I’m undecided – sleeveless base layer or one with sleeves? (This will be a race day decision.)

As for tires? Well, I tested out the whie pippis today. They are nice but not so helpful with the ice. So looks like they’ll be a no go for tomorrow. Again, we’ll have to wait and see what happens to the course as more people ride it and depending on if the sun comes out.

Marc is racing at 10 so I’ll head over to Argyll Park for his race. Then back to the hotel for a bit. Then back at noon to do some pre-race pre-ride/warm-up laps. Then into the clubhouse to get warm and changed. Then I’ll get back out to roll around, keep the legs loose and figure out what I’m going to wear during the race as well as make a decision on tires and pressure.

Looking forward to it. Racing is the fun part. Makes all the training and travel worth it. Thanks for the emails and messages of support. I’m feeling good. Rested. Confident. Looking forward to a solid ride. I’ll post up a race report and day report tomorrow night.

Where was I? Where am I? Did I take the trail on left or right? Or did I come from the other direction on the bicycle path?

Uh, yeah – I got a little bit lost on my 90 minute ride this morning… Sigh, this happens to me a lot. I typically chalk it up to the bike riding adventure. Often when I’m training in Belgium, my route is determined by taking the first left, riding for a bit, and then deciding to take the next right, riding for a bit, and then taking another left, and so on. Eventually I end up rather far from the house in Blauberg and then try really desperately to find my way back. These can be some of the best and worst training rides.

Today, here in Edmonton wasn’t that different. I rolled on down to Argyle Park and rode around on the snowy grass for a while. Then I discovered this pretty cool trail network that I followed around the “lower” part of the park. Up. Down. Across bridges. Around blind corners. Steep inclines. It was awesome. Then I found Mill Creek Park. Wow – cyclo-cross nirvana. What a park. And as I came to quickly realize, it is a massive park. With a combination of paved bicycle paths, gravel trails, and singletrack – it has something for every type of rider. Only problem (well, for me) is that it is truly massive. So hence, I got lost. Really lost. I popped out of the park on a street I had never heard of.

Uh, oh. I was getting close to my 90 minutes. Was feeling a tad cold. Had to pee (need to rethink the 2 liters of water before training rides…). And I really didn’t know where I was. I tried to retrace my pedal strokes through Mill Creek Park. Impossible. Too many options combined with a bad memory resulted in my getting even more lost.

I started riding down a residential street and found a friendly citizen of Edmonton. He set me on the correct track. And within 10 minutes I had found the entrance to Argyll Park. Uh, yeah, I was pretty darn relieved. A little more zooming around Argyll Park and then time to get back to the warmth of the hotel. As I was leaving the park, the CX Edmonton crew was out staking the race course. I didn’t really take much of a look at it (still had to pee..) – lots of time for that tomorrow during the “official” pre-riding.

So all in all, a great little adventure on the bike this morning. I really didn’t mind the cold. In fact apart from slightly red fingers, I was super toasty. All thanks to my super full-zip Vermarc tights combined with the super MEC pants. So relieved I packed my winter cycling jacket – didn’t need it in Treviso but definitely need it here. And lucky for me, Marc remembered to pack my skull cap and winter cycling gloves. So I’m good to go with this weather.

As I was riding, the surroundings really reinforced why are ‘cross Nationals are so early. Snow in October. Only in Canada. Lucky us. Really, anything after these conditions doesn’t really compare. Well, okay I suppose riding through ankle-deep mud in Belgium is up there with the cold and snow. But it is Belgian mud so it makes everything so much better.

Just chilling out here this afternoon. Marc is out riding. My parents arrive a little bit later today. I’m just hanging in the hotel. Strange. I really have nothing to do. Sure, I’ve got a book to read (The Road) and I can always surf the WWW. But I don’t have anything I “have” to do (i.e. work, laundry, house stuff, etc.). This is cool. But slightly unnerving as well. Guess I have no choice but to relax. Maybe I’ll nap. Guess this is what it will be like when I’m in Belgium this winter. I’m pretty confident I’ll get used to it!

Speaking of Belgium…. Are you thinking of coming over for some mad ‘cross racing action and waffle eating? If so, definitely drop me an email. Ask any questions you may have. No question is too big, too small, or too crazy. It can be daunting traveling to a new country to race (believe me, I know). So if I can help you out, I definitely will.

Alright, I’m out. Guess I’ll go nap or read or surf the WWW or just sit here and watch the Food Network. Definitely feeling lucky to be able to do this right now. Many many thanks to my sponsors and of course Marc for making a lot of sacrifices for me.

I’m fully in the non-working just-bike-riding groove. It is nice. Really nice. Though I do feel a bit spoiled to be in this groove right now. Funny how when all I have to do is ride, the day can still seem pretty darn full. I think because I end up doing everything a bit more slowly… Ah well, it will be back to reality next Tuesday anyway.

Have to say this: it is darn cold out here in Edmonton. Where last week I was bemoaning the 26 celsius, I could definitely appreciate some of this warmth. Today I rode in 1 celsius with some kind of wind chill that cut right to the bone. Definitely relieved I packed my thermal bib tights and super warm Kingsbridge winter jacket. At least it was dry.

I hit up Red Willow Park again and then found a really decent long straight stretch of road for my intervals. Ended up in a little town/suburb called Oxford. A good little 90 minute ride to open the legs a bit and to get some of the speed/power sensations implanted on the brain and legs.

Really looking forward to racing this weekend. Excellent venue at Argyle Park. As well it is always cool to race in a Nationals championships. My thoughts feelings on the race? Don’t really have any expectations. I’m really working on listening to the words that Marc has been telling me for so long. Worry about performance and the outcomes will happen. So this is what I’ve been doing. Break down the course into sections – think about how I want to ride each section and during the race try to improve on each section. This could range from riding a flat stretch faster, taking a turn more smoothly and accelerating faster out of it, attacking the base of a climb, taking as much speed as possible into the barriers, or maintaining a high leg cadence through the sand. The other thing I do during races is talk to myself. Yes, I talk to myself. My lips don’t really move but I’m talking to myself inside my head. (Honest, I’m not crazy….) Anyway, I say things such as “Good job! Keep it up.” or “Next time try to take the corner a bit wider.”, or “Eyes up. Keep pedaling.”, or “Awesome race. You’re doing it. Nice one”. Really just positive self-talk to keep me focused and in a good racing mood.

Marc arrives tonight so this will be great. It has only been a week but it feels like much longer. Tomorrow we’ll get out for a light spin. Then Friday we’ll be out pre-riding. Then Saturday it is race day. Nice. Then Sunday we get to race again. Even better. Great way to spend Thanksgiving. Extra bonus is that my parents will be here to watch, cheer, and hang out with. Extra bonus is that next weekend in Toronto, my little bro and sister-in-law will be out to watch the races and hang out.

See you this weekend at the races. Travel safe.

It is only now hitting me what a day I had on Sunday. I must admit it was quite the whirlwind. From checking out of one hotel, warming up, racing, packing up the bikes, returning the rental car, checking into a new hotel and then collapsing for the night – I was on one big adrenaline rush. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep that well on Sunday. Kind of felt like my body was still racing. It took a long time for my body and brain to slow down from the action of the day.

Suppose this is a sign of a really good day. After thinking more about the race, I’m content with the race. Of course, I still want to do better. But it is early days yet in the season and I know I’ll do better in the subsequent World Cup races.

All in all, it was a most excellent trip. I’m sure some people were shaking their heads, thinking I was crazy to go so far for one race. But the trip was worth it. I gained some valuable race experience. I got to race with some of the best racers in the world and definitely the deepest field I’ve raced against this season. Extra bonus are the UCI and World Cup points. Cool.

Many thanks for all the kind emails that appeared in my inbox this morning. What a feeling to read you words of support and encouragement. Definitely nice to read after a long travel day today.

So now I’m in St. Albert, Alberta (a suburb of Edmonton). My bikes arrived, so this is good news. I have not put them together yet. I decided to listen to Marc’s advice and wait until tomorrow morning when I’m not so wiped out to put them together. I lucked out and I’m staying with friends of a friend for a few days. Definitely a very welcoming environment and it is super refreshing to not be in a hotel alone again. On Wednesday I’ll move over to the race hotel, since Marc arrives then. So for now I’m going to get a good night of sleep and then get out for a spin tomorrow.

Definitely a bit chilly here. But that’s okay. In a way I don’t mind after racing in the ridiculous heat on the weekend. Let me tell you, 26 celsius is not pleasant for a cyclo-cross race! But this being said, I have no interest in seeing snow flakes this week…

Alright, I’m going to sign off. I haven’t had a chance to look for photos from the race on Sunday yet… When I find some, I’ll post up some links here. (If you find photos, feel free to post the link in the comments section.) Okay, must get some sleep.