Pretty much sums up the Easter long weekend. Lots of training with a bike race thrown in for good measure.

First off – massive shout out to Marc for his impressive ride on Friday in Hamilton and in capturing third place in the M1 race. Awesome ride Marc!

I had a fine seat course side next to the start/finish area and had quite a pleasant afternoon sitting and cheering. Luckily there were lots of people to chat with and I had packed a bag full lunch, drinks and reading material. (This helped me block out some of the terrible music being played. Lets just say Zamfir/flute music is not appropriate music for a bike race…)

Saturday the plan was 2.5 hours with a 30 minute block of tempo… Well, 3.5 hours I made it home. A culmination of two factors – ridiculous wind and a dog resulted in the ride being a bit longer than planned. The tailwind was super nice during my tempo interval but also caused me to ride a bit further along Dwyer Hill Road than I intended. Once I realized I was out a bit further I decided to keep exploring and see where I’d end up (thanks to the tailwind..). This is where the dog entered the picture. Got chased by a dog. In fact the dog got quite friendly with my right foot – no I didn’t kick the dog. Rather the dog sniffed my foot. So now, I’m rather far from home, have been riding for 2 hours and I’ve just been chased by a dog. The only solution in my fatigue-addled brain was to keep riding further away from home – I didn’t want to get chased by the dog again and besides I was still enjoying the tailwind. If you rode in or around Ottawa on Saturday you know which wind I’m talking about. So you can imagine the gory details of the final 1.5 hours of my ride – yep directly into a headwind or cross/headwind.

The plan for Sunday was 3.5 hours. This time I did a better job and only ended up going 30 minutes over. Excellent ride exploring some new roads and reacquainting myself with some old favorites. Love riding on Fernbank Road – quiet and very smooth.

To get me through these rides I loaded up the iPod with lots of quality podcasts. Listened to some excellent NPR Fresh Air podcasts, CBC Radio Q, CBC Radio Inside Track and my all-time favorite music podcast – Studio Brussels de Afrekening. (This is a countdown radio program from Studio Brussels that we discovered two winters ago. Definitely a must listen.)

Today I did an easy 90 minute recovery ride. At least it wasn’t as windy today. I’ll be super happy when the spring winds have settled down.

Had planned to start riding into work this week, but have decided to push this out one more week. Yep, I’m a wimp – it is still below zero at 6 a.m. in the mornings. Don’t feel like starting my day in the cold and dark. So hopefully next week, things will be a bit warmer and I can start commuting by bike.

Got in some excellent time in the gym this weekend. I’m really starting to see some progress in my strength and my pythons are making a comeback!

Okay, well I’m out of here. Sitting outside on the back step with Murphy the cat right now. Unfortunately we aren’t in the sun and my fingers are getting a little bit cold. Oh if you haven’t watched Running the Sahara, I suggest you do so. This movie got me through some weak moments during my training this weekend. The wind was starting to get to me and then I remembered watching Ray Zahab and his team mates running through blinding sandstorms in the Sahara Dessert. Kinda put my “suffering” into perspective…

Suppose we are deserving of this weather. Granted I was away for the bulk of the winter, but the winter I experienced was not that harsh. The warmish weather and lighter snowfalls we had in February and March are coming back to haunt us with April rain.

It is always a tough call – ride in the rain or ride the trainer? I for one, lean towards the rain, particularly if I have a long ride to do. Yes, I know there are risks with getting sick/cold, etc. But I race in the rain – so why not train in the rain? This being said I did ride the trainer today…

Primarily because I had a short ride to do and I needed to do some calibration stuff with my SRM. (Those are my excuses anyway…)

First day on the new job today. This has added a new wrinkle to my training. Gone are the mid-morning and early afternoon rides. When I was working from home I had an easy little system that allowed me to get a full work day in and my training done – all by 6:00. This system won’t work so well now. But once I get in the groove of commuting and the sun stays out longer, I’ll be back in a comfortable groove.

Race action on Friday. The Good Friday Road Race is on in Hamilton, ON. I won’t be racing, but Marc will. So we’ll be loading up the trusty Matrix on Thursday night and making the big drive to have some fun on two wheels. Nothing like the first race of the season. Lots of expectations, lots of disappointment, lots to learn.

Happy training. One more week of the wet stuff is okay. Then we need some fresh dry roads. Don’t forget May 17.

Even though I’ve changed out of my soggy clothes, gulped some glutamine, rolled out my legs, had lunch, lounged in the bath and am now wearing normal street clothes – I still feel wet. My skin is wrinkly and I just feel “not quite dry”.

Small trade-off I suppose for 3 plus hours in the rain today. Boy was it raining. During my ride the rain was steady, accentuated by the driving wind. At times I wasn’t sure if it was raining, snowing, hailing or all of the above. At least I was well-dressed for the ride. I wore my trusty MEC rain pants – these pants are often scorned by traditionalists… They are not tight and sleek. The are baggy with wonderful three-way zippers on the legs and taped seams. The water cannot penetrate these pants. Fashion takes a back seat to these wonder-pants. I wore shorts and leg warmers under these pants and was super comfy during my ride.

My toes and hands started to get really cold with about twenty minutes to go in the ride. Partly due to the dropping temperatures and to the fact that I was close to home – things I feel became less bearable the closer one is to the ultimate destination.

So the ride was pretty uneventful. Ride at an endurance pace for 60 minutes and then three 10 minute tempo intervals. In a three hour block. A great way to add some variety to a long ride and to get some good recovery into the legs.

I loaded up my iPod with lots of podcasts so I had something interesting to listen to. Really enjoy the NPR Fresh Air podcasts, though I don’t think that the host is a very good interviewer. She seems to stick to her list of questions and doesn’t really pay attention to what her guests are saying. She also fawns over her guests a bit. But all in all, her guests are intelligent and add a new perspective to my day.

We watched Running The Sahara last night. An excellent movie. I recommend this movie to any athlete. The three guys and support crew are amazing. Imagine running across the Sahara dessert? It certainly puts a 3 hour ride in the rain in perspective.

Alright, I’m out. Time to read my third newspaper of the day and then perhaps a nap.

A big component of being a successful bike racer is the brain. Legs and lungs don’t mean much if there is empty space between the ears. Yes, you can get along just fine for a couple of years by simply using the “put the head down and pedal” approach. But this doesn’t serve you very well in the elite categories of racing.

Last night Marc and I were out for dinner and naturally our conversation drifted to bike racing. In particular, what races I wanted to do this summer. Then we started talking about “race craft”. This is where I’m lacking. I realized last night that I’ve now got some very good fitness but I don’t really know what to do with it. We talked about how I should be approaching racing this summer – that I needed to learn to look for opportunities, to be willing to take risks/chances, and most importantly to look at each race as a learning opportunity.

Marc pointed out that there are very few bike racers who can actually change/impact the outcome of a bike race. Bike racers who can do this are the ones with the true race sense/knowledge and skill. As examples of how to impact a bike race, Marc pointed out things like – starting a break, creating a gap, bridging to a break, knowing when to counterattack, etc.

Most importantly, these skills are really individual. Each racer needs to learn how to do this for him/herself. I might need to start a bit further back in the pack when launching an attack or deciding to bridge to a break. You on the other hand, might be able to jump off the pack pretty close to the front.

So much to learn. Guess this is what keeps this sport so challenging and why we all know people who have been racing their bikes for over 20 years and never seem to tire from it. So many factors to consider.

One thing Marc has stressed in the past which I think is quite relevant – is the fallacy of the “race plan”. Too many teams/riders formulate a race plan for each race (often creating this plan weeks before the race). They stick to their plan. For example, at kilometer 7: so and so will attack, a break will be established, etc. Well, this just doesn’t work. Bike racing is a fluid sport. One must remember the ebbs and flows of the bike race. What happens to such a rigid plan, if I attack at kilometer 5 – do you still stick to your plan? Rather what is important is to have some “race rules”. This is what the successful teams have – a set of rules that can be universally applied to each race.

Also important to remember the key rules (thanks to Glen for drilling these into my brain): number 1: don’t panic, number 2: don’t panic, and number 3: if you’re on the front – ask yourself why you’re on the front – if you don’t know – get off the front!

So all this to say, I need to learn. I need to learn how to use my legs and lungs. I don’t want to be one of those “strong but dumb” bike racers. To do the things I want to do on a bike, I need to take the chances and learn “race craft” and race skills.

All this to say, your input/help is appreciated. If you see me doing something dumb in a race – tell me. If you think that you can help me out with some advice – give it. If I’m in a bad spot and you think a little push on the bum might help me a bit – give me a push. I’m all ears and want to learn. The time is now to go from being a participant to actually being a bike racer.

(P.S. Don’t know if you’ve seen Embrocation Cycling, but there is a fantastic article in the most recent issue by Matt Kraus about choosing lines in a cyclo-cross race. So good. So good that I read the article out loud to Marc last night. Definitely worth a read.)

Just read this interesting article on the Wall Street Journal web site about a less-than-traditional approach to training for basketball. Even in a game that appears to be based on a defined skillset, a different approach to skills training can work.

Anyway, take a break from you workday and give this article a read.

Heading out on the bike in a few minutes. Nice 2 hour ride on deck. Looks like a leg warmer day today. Nice – a break from the bib tights. Have a good one. Might be more later. Might not.