The weekend is here. Yes. For most of us this means cyclo-cross racing. A great little escape from the day-to-day of Monday to Friday. We load up our cars with bikes, gear, and hit the road to join the crowd heading to a ‘cross race. What a way to spend a weekend. Kind of like a mini-vacation. Different people, different location, never really know what is going to happen, and smile all around.

This weekend, I’m not traveling. Staying local here in Ottawa and I’ll be racing in the madison at Brittania Beach on Sunday. The madison is a classic race in the Ottawa Bicycle Club cyclo-cross series. In fact I think my very first race way back in 1994 on my Specialized Rockhopper might have been the madison. I find the madison one of the hardest races. It is a pure interval work-out. It is also one of the most fun races – on the “off” lap you have a chance to hang out and cheer on the other racers. Pretty smooth. So if you’re in town, why not come out and race the madison. All skill levels welcome and encouraged to come out.

I came across this article on Velonews the other day. Monique Ryan discusses nutrition requirements for cyclo-cross. Worth a read. Nutrition for bike racing is always a struggle. Every rider has different requirements. I know for me for cyclo-cross, I need to have my last meal 2.5 hours before the race. Typically this last meal is three english muffins with natural peanut butter and banana and I also eat one bowl of Ezekiel cereal. About an hour before the race I drink one bottle of eLoad. Then if I remember, 15 minutes before the race I have a gel. During my warm-up, I’m constantly sipping water. This works for me. If I eat any closer to the race start, I get a very upset stomach before the race. You’ll notice that my pre-race meal is combination of carbs and protein. I’ve found I need a lot of protein in my diet – not only to keep me full but also to help me keep my weight down. I rarely eat “bread” products such as english muffins – only on race days. The night before a cyclo-cross race, I’ll probably eat some “extra” carbs as well. Especially on a double weekend.

After the race I drink a recovery drink mixed with glutamine and powdered calcium. Then I do a little cool-down ride. If it is the first day of a double-weekend, I try to eat pretty much right after the cool-down. Last weekend this was a whole-wheat tortilla with turkey, spinach, cheese and hummus and then I ate an apple.

This is just an example of how I handle my nutrition needs for cyclo-cross racing. Of course the key to effective nutrition is flexibility. You never know what will be available at the grocery store, what will happen after the race, etc.

As for riding today. Just a little 90 minute recovery ride. Smooth. Yesterday I did the ‘cross ride in the morning and then a 2.5 hour ride in the evening with a 45 minute temp block. Wow – it is cold outside! Will be a chilly one today. Okay – gotta ride. Have a good one. Have fun racing.

As I was training this morning with my ever-patient and supportive training partners (Marc and Steve), I realized I was having a lot of fun. The air was crisp. The wind was strong. But still, I was having fun. Can’t beat it really.

Good training session last night with the Ride with Rendall crew. We’ve got a new location that offers a lot of skill/drill options. I pick up a couple nuggets of information that really pay off. Last night it was the reminder about weighting the outside foot and how to improve my running. I spent some extra time on the running technique last night. Definitely an area of weakness for me. As usual a good supportive group out last night.

This morning the three of us hit up our “secret” training park (mainly because we forgot our flags) and worked on high speed/loose terrain corners. This was cool. I couldn’t figure out why I was struggling with the corner. Then I learned that it is okay to use the front brake on straight sections… Once I learned this, my cornering improved a lot. Thanks guys for the help. One more nugget to put in the bank. We also spent time talking about the bikes – things to keep an eye on between the two bikes, etc. Steve made a good point about having the brakes set up the same on both bikes. Oh, and I’m running 4ZA brakes not TRPs…

I received an email last week from a long-ago Ottawa resident now residing in Edmonton – Mike, sent this course description for the big race next Saturday:

Here is a pre-race (Nationals) report from Alberta; I’ve raced variations of this year’s Nationals course a few times. If the weather is dry, it will be a fast course since Alberta grass is sparse and the ground will be hard. If the weather is wet, most of the water will drain into the ravine – there might be some mud before the second run up. The first part of the course is on a soccer field, so it will be smooth with no roots (not like Moonies BayJ). A couple of turns before the stair run up, there is a decent on asphalt with a sharp 90 degree turn at the bottom – warning; this can be slippery if wet. The decent just before the second run up is on a dirt/pea gravel path – the corner is a little off camber and is usually ridden slowly (at least by me). There will be some small logs on the second run up to prevent people riding it – it’s not too steep and has same elevation gain as the stair run up. After this, there is a bunch of 180’s. At the far end of the course there is a bit of straight off camber riding – slippery when wet. The last run up is short and steep. The next two 180’s are on a slope – so it’s a small gear grind around the corners with little momentum. After that you’re on pavement headed towards the finish with a few grassy corners before reaching the line.

Thanks Mike – much appreciated. We’ll see you next weekend.

Okay, gotta go. I’ve got another ride to do today. There are new photos up on Paul Weiss’s site – I’ll try to get some up here later this evening…

It is the middle of the training week. For me this means I’ve had a couple of days to recover (since I raced twice and traveled on the weekend) and now today is the day I rip my legs off again. Had scheduled a motor pacing work-out but plans changed and I ended up doing a very brutal work-out. 2 x 15 sweet spot tempo intervals with seated accelerations every 3 minutes. Yes, it is as nasty as it sounds. But nasty in a good way. I get a great deal of satisfaction from hard work-outs.

Tonight I’m heading out to the Ride with Rendall ‘cross clinic. Should be good. Rain or shine I’ll be there. You should come as well. Fun will be had. Remember the clinic is at Laroche Park.

Posted a few photos from the weekend of racing in Vermont. Thanks to Paul Weiss for the pictures. Check out the photos page. I’ll post more as they are available.

Going to take out my spare bike tonight. Trying to break in a new saddle. And Marc put on some new TRP brakes for me yesterday that I want to test out. Thanks Marc! I’d be lost without Marc.

So, I have to update my Race Calendar. This is on the list of “to dos” for tonight. Looks like we are going to go to Granogue, Delaware for a race the weekend after ‘cross Nationals. Cool – never been to Delaware. The drive is 8.5 hours – not bad. We’re leaning towards this rather than driving to Kentucky. I’d love to do the US GP races in Kentucky but 13 hours of driving is a bit much.

Getting myself on the registration lists for some World Cups. Crazy! If you had told me two years ago – heck last year that I was going to be racing in a cyclo-cross World Cup I would have laughed out loud! Well, I’m not laughing now. Nope – I’m grinning from ear to ear.

Well, dudes, I best motor. Have my day job to get back to. Thanks for reading. Cheers.

Good to be home and back in the groove. This being said, I’m stoked to be traveling again next week. We are heading out next Thursday for Edmonton, Alb – host of the 2008 Canadian National Cyclo-Cross Championships. Fun stuff. My dad is making the trip out so this will be even more sweet – I don’t think he’s ever seen a cyclo-cross race.

This weekend we are staying home and racing the madison on Sunday at Britannia Beach. Crossing our fingers that Marc and I can race together. It will be fun to race a more relaxed race and hang out with the solid Ottawa cyclo-cross fanatics. The madison is always fun because people really get into the race and start really cheering on one another. Perfect way to spend a Sunday morning. Plus there is the option of brunch after the race….

Today I went out on the road bike for a couple hours. Just an endurance ride to shake the legs out and get my groove back after racing and traveling. My road rash is slowly healing. Though my left hip is not looking to pretty. Ah well, could always be worse – at least nothing happened to the bike. Yesterday I hit up the trails at Slack. Went out with nothing really in mind – just wanted to ride the spare bike and get a feel for it. My spare bike is very similar to my main bike so I really just wanted to ride it and find out what the kinks are.

I posted a link on the photos page to Joel Sidhu’s photo web site. Check it out – some excellent race photos from the race on Sunday. As soon as photos are available from the weekend in Vermont, I’ll post these as well.

Any more race reports floating around in cyberspace? Feel free to write one and send it to me – I’ll post it for you.

Belgium. Belgium. Belgium. Come on – you know you want to. You only live once. Why not spend a week, a couple of weeks, or even a month in Belgium. Race your bike. Meet some cool people. Learn some Flemish. Sample some fine baked goods. Push your limits. Go to bed every night with a big muddy smile on your face. Marc and I are heading over on Dec. 9 and staying in Blauberg, Belgium. If you are interested and need a place to stay or just have some questions about racing ‘cross in Belgium – drop me an email.

Remember, the cyclo-cross clinic has moved to a new location – Laroche Park. See the Ride with Rendall forums for a map. Training starts at 5:30. I’ll see you there.

Loving this time of year. Get out and ride – soon enough you’ll be grumbling about the snow.

The Wednesday night Ride with Rendall cyclo-cross clinic will not be at Britannia Beach.

The clinic will be at: Laroche Park. Meet at Bayview and Slidell St. at the ball diamonds. 5:30 start time.

See the Ride with Rendall forums for a map of the training area.

Thanks to Glen for hosting these training sessions. See you out tomorrow night for some more quality training and fun on the bike.