Well, all the hard work is done. No additional fitness can be gained. No new technical skills can be learned. It is simply time to go out and race. Have fun. Race hard and enjoy the experience. After all, this is why we train so hard and stay focused – to get out there on race day and shine.

Had chillaxed day. We went over to the course at around 3:00 this afternoon. This worked out well as the course was set and it was not super busy. Pretty wide open course. With lots of sections to really open it up. These are sections are broken up a bit by some twist and turns. There is a bit of a tight descent with a sharp turn onto some bumpy grass and then down into the woods before turning on the gravel to cross a bridge. Then the soft climb has been turned into a run. After some more wide open sections with a few twists and turns we are onto the really cool and challenging section of the course. Basically traversing a “bowl-like” section of terrain with some tight turns, fast descents, a challenging short climb, a run/ride up and another tricky corner. This leads into another wide open section and back to the start/finish.

The course is pretty cool. I like it. Right now the ground is dry, fast, and hard. The grass is super short. Some of the corners are sure to get quite soft due to the short grass being scrubbed away. The course is not super demanding technically but there are enough corners and linked sections that you do need to be a decent technical rider. Speed – getting it, maintaining it, and getting back up to speed will be key (in my opinion). The other key is to not get rattled if something goes wrong – such as blowing a corner or struggling on a climb – this course gives you time to recover from your mistakes – if you stay calm.

I did probably four laps in total today. I spent a lot of time drilling the bowl-like section. Many thanks to Marc, Steve, Rob, Dave, Keirnan, and Shaun for giving me lots of tips and advice on how to best ride this section. Spent a little more time hitting the other tricky descent and run into the woods. I was able to open up quite nicely and got a feel for gearing (though this always seems to change on race day).

Tomorrow I’ll get over for the pre-ride from 12:00 to 12:45. I’ll get in two to three laps and check out how the course has changed after a few racers have ripped it up in the morning.

Marc, Steve, and Rob are racing at 10:00 a.m. So I’ll go over to work the pits for them and to do some cheering. My dad will be on photographer duty and is transporting the spare bikes and gear bags over to the race. Once the guys have finished racing, I’ll be coming back to the hotel to put my legs up and get ready for my race. Some food. Then off to the course to do the pre-ride and pre-race stuff.

I’ve got my race plan written. Have a good sense of the course. Where I’ll need to dig that little extra, where I can recover, and where I might have some issues. It is all good. Nothing like race day.

Had a good meal this evening with my dad while Marc and Steve were at the riders meeting. Nothing special – just some pasta and salad at Boston Pizza. Pretty chilled out evening. My head is feeling good. So far, I’m pretty calm. No crazy pre-race nerves yet.

I’m looking forward to watching the guys race. It helps me race when I’ve seen the guys go at it super hard. Okay, I’m out. Have a good Saturday. Best of luck to everyone racing in Gloucester and in Almonte.

Check back tomorrow for a race report. So stoked.

Wow, today is a real “glimpse” of the life I would love to lead full-time. Wake-up. Chill. Eat. Hit the computer for a bit. Stretch. Chill. Get ready to ride. Ride. Eat. Chill. Eat. Sleep. Not bad.

Of course my day hasn’t been exactly like this – I’m currently taking a little break from work. This is the beauty of a telecommute job – my office is everywhere.

But really, not much happening. We’re going to Argyle Park this afternoon to check out the course. My plan is to get five laps in. This will involve sessioning various sections until I’m comfortable with them and some “hot” laps to open the legs and take key sections at speed. I’ve promised myself and coach Steve that I won’t spend “too” much time on the course.

Tonight will be very relaxed. Write the race plan. Prepare food for Saturday. Get race bag ready. Read. Relax. Nothing special. Typical night before the race stuff to do. Got word from Robbie O that there is an Sbucks nearby – so I anticipate a quick trip there to get some chai.

I’m feeling good. Head is on straight. No nerves. No crazy brain. Just stoked to race. Totally appreciative that I can be here and race. This is thanks to my sponsors. Thanks for all the support and encouragement – means a lot when you’re trying to live the dream and reach a big goal.

Looking ahead to Belgium, I’ve started contacting race organizers to get added to start lists for races. Every once in a while I open my Belgian race schedule to review and I get goose bumps – so stoked to be going back. (I haven’t updated my race calendar with my full European calendar yet – I’ll do this soon.)

Okay, I’m out. Have a good one. Best of luck to everyone in Ottawa racing in Almonte on Sunday. Race hard – this means more pumpkin pie!

I’ll post later tonight with some course impressions.

Very uneventful flight and travel today. This is a good thing. Flight was smooth. Everything made it on (thanks Dave M.). We were well-equipped with food for the flight so we didn’t get sucked into the bad and expensive plane food.

Loaded up my dad’s truck with seven bikes and some assorted bags. All was good – it was a tight squeeze but this probably saved the bikes from flying out of the back on one tight corner! Grabbed some lunch and then the boys built bikes. I offered to help, but…

Anyway, we rode over to Argyle Park – dug up a course map and rode around what we “think” is the course. Hard to know. Nothing is marked and these things change over night. Anyway, it was good to get the legs moving – test out some tires and just be out in the fresh air.

One thing to say about the terrain – dry, short grass. If it stays dry (please no snow!) then it will be a super fast day. The course is open for riding on Friday at 4:00 so we’ll roll over then to check it out.

I’m sticking to coach Steve’s advice and I vow not to do too much tomorrow. Five laps maximum. I’m also staying mindful of Nick’s advice to not get to wrapped up in the course discussions. Just need to wait – ride it, fine-tune sections then do a good pre-ride on Saturday. A lot will change between Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon.

For some interesting reading, check out Zone of Excellence. Some good reading. Thanks Nick for the pointer.

Okay, stomachs are rumbling – time for some food and then a trip to the grocery store. I’ll post up tomorrow night with more. Thanks very much for the emails and support – it is really appreciated.

Hope you are getting into a good Thanksgiving weekend. Have some pumpkin pie for me.

Massive shout out to Ross for driving us to the airport this morning. Thanks so much Ross.

Thanks for the kind comments and emails regarding my bike incident on Monday. I’ve been out for two rides since and I’m relieved to say that the knee is doing just fine. No pain while riding. There is some pain when it gets stiff and as well the bruising is starting to come out. But really, there is no issue.

Got in a solid interval work-out yesterday. One of my fave work-outs – really gets the legs and lungs acheing. Today I went out bright and early for an easy two hour endurance ride. Nice way to spin out the legs and feel some recovery time. Certainly was a bit brisk. Ah well, soon enough there will be snow on the ground! (Hopefully we’ll have left for Belgium before seeing snow here in Ottawa!)

Thought you might find this article interesting. Thanks to Sheri for sending it to me. Cyclocross Racing Tips

Reminer about the Ride with Rendall training session this evening. Same time and place. I won’t be out – got some bikes and clothes to pack up. Have fun. Learn lots.

The living room is a shambles right now with the “to take pile”, the “might take pile”, the “to be folded pile”, and the “what the heck is this pile”… Sigh. Ah well, I’ve got a bunch of lists so we are organized (at leat on paper).

The three of us: myslef, Marc and Fearless Leader fly out tomorrow morning to Edmonton. Lucky for us, my dad is coming out to Edmonton so he is going to pick us up with his super truck. Thanks dad! Looking forward to the trip. Psyched to be racing. Bonus is we get to hang out with Shaun – a super guy we met in Belgium last year. Maybe even a trip to the West Edmonton Mall – I was last there in the ’80s – suppose it isn’t as fantastic as I remember it.

Okay, I best be off. I’ve got some work to do. Some appointments. And the packing…

Send me some speedy vibes 2:00 Edmonton, Alberta time on Saturday. I’ll post while in Edmonton – let you know about the race course, etc. Thanks for the encouragement and suppot. Can’t do this alone.

Yep, unfortunately as the title reads – that is what happened to me yesterday… Sucks. I was 13 minutes into my 90 minute recovery ride when an eighteen wheeler decided to occupy the same space as me. And if there is one thing that I remembered from high school physics – two objects cannot occupy the same space…

To make a long story short: I turned right on the just-turned green light, the truck ran his red – ostensibly because he was going too fast and didn’t see a car…. So now we are both in the same lane – I have no where to go – the truck has squeezed me out of my lane – problem is there is a very high curb running along this section of Strandherd Rd. And no I couldn’t bunny-hop it – I don’t know how to bunny-hop my bike onto an object I’m running parallel to. (Not that there was time to even try this trick.)

So I got squeezed into the curb. Horrible sounds from the carbon hitting the cement. Then even worse sounds as I went flying – crashing right knee first onto the sidewalk and bike collapsing in the middle of the road. Stunned I picked up my bike pretty quickly – had to since not one motorist stopped. No the truck driver didn’t stop – I doubt he even saw me. (And if you’re not going to stop for a red light…)

Gave the bike a quick check. Picked up my water bottle. Noted the massive rip in my favorite tights. Rode home. Darn. After some consideration I went to a walk-in clinic to get the gash on my knee cleaned out – lots of road/sidewalk in my knee.

So the doctor was super nice. Until she poured about 250 ml of hydrogen peroxide on the open bleeding knee! Yikes. But surprisingly it didn’t sting that badly. I think I was in shock from the events. Crazy.

So yesterday’s training leading up to the race this weekend did not go as planned… Well, it could have been worse. Luckily for me I came out of things okay. I’m just about to head out for my last intensity work-out before cyclo-cross nationals.

The timing on this is not great. But such is life when you live an active life. Last year I crashed the day before ‘cross nationals and badly sprained my thumb. I felt no pain on race day. I fully expect to have the same experience on Saturday.

(Honestly I wasn’t even sure if I should tell you about this incident. I don’t want it to sound like I’m making up an excuse. But then I thought, well I write about all the positive stuff that happens so this should get the same exposure.) Lucky for me I’m meeting with Nick from Summit Consulting tonight – perfect timing.

Okay, best go. Sorry for being such a downer so early on a Tuesday morning. Good news is the photos from the race on Sunday are up.