Ah, two excellent days of riding are now in the books. Two different bikes. Two different types of terrain. Two different effort levels. Two days of reminding myself why I love riding my bike.

Friday was “testing day”. All in all, it went pretty much okay. This was my first time doing such a test outdoors – normally I use the controlled environment of my basement and the Computrainer. But it is a new year with new methodologies. I had originally planned to do the two important efforts on Malakoff Road, but the wind was not in my favor. Well, it was – that was the problem. I find that with a strong tailwind, it is not possible to do intervals. So I changed plans and did my two intervals on Shea Road. Shea is a great road for this – a couple of stop signs, but it is pretty darn flat and not that busy with car traffic.

First up was the five minute maximum effort. Ugh, I hate this one. I started really well and then faded like a heavy rock. Suppose this is what is supposed to happen. But geez, it hurts so much! After a 20 minute recovery ride, it was time for the 20 minute threshold effort. Basically go as hard as I could for 20 minutes. Now this I don’t mind. Turn the brain off, wind up the legs, click through the gears and give it all I’ve got. This went pretty much okay. First threshold and above effort of the season so I knew it wouldn’t be exactly where I wanted/expected. But all in all, a good baseline of measurements.

Good roll home with some fine podcasts to listen to. Thanks to Andrew for the tip on the Velocast podcast. This one is top-notch. Really enjoyed it! This one and the Bicycle Podcast from the Guardian are so far my favorites. Maybe one day, I can be interviewed on these?

Once home, I could tell that I had a pretty solid effort out there. My legs were achy, tired, and immediately full of lactic acid when I walked up the stairs. All good signs of a solid ride. I made sure to eat a decent lunch and get lots of fluids in me to help my recovery.

Today was all about the mountain bike. I must admit, I was a bit nervous about this ride. I hadn’t ridden at Kanata Lakes since 2005. Yes, five years ago. In fact Kanata Lakes was the scene of my last and final mountain bike ride. I crashed hard. One of those crashes were the stem hits you in a compromising place and then the bars go into your ribs and somehow you end up landing on the top tube and scraping your legs on the chainrings. Yep, it was a bad one. I put the mountain bike in the garage and didn’t look at it again until this season. But it is time to get back on the horse.

On the schedule for today – three hours of mountain bike riding. What the coach says – I do. I loaded the trusty mountain bike into the Matrix and with some trepidation made my way to Kanata Lakes. Well, lets just say – I had so much fun. It was awesome. I forgot how refreshing it is to be surrounded by nature. I was a bit tentative at the start but after about 45 minutes, I began to find my courage and was able to test my nerve. Some basic skills came back to me. I remembered some key mantras “look up and ahead”, “keep pedaling”, “easy on the front brake”. I zoomed all over the place. At times I had to get off and walk. I’m not sure of the names of the trails but I did end up crossing the railroad tracks and bombing around on a bunch of trails on that side. At one point I was on Ridgetop (I found out the name of this trail thanks to a friendly guy I met out there) – Ridgetop is a bit beyond me right now, but it is my goal to ride this trail by the end of the season. I ended up riding some trails multiple times and it was encouraging to clean sections that on the first time through I had to dab or get off on.

All this to say, it was a great day on the bike. Sun was shining. There were a few people out but it wasn’t crowded or anything. I think that because the trail system is so vast at Kanata Lakes, you can ride for a good while without seeing anyone. As I was driving home I flashed back to 2003 – when I started riding again. It was the mountain bike that got me back into cycling. I wanted to be outside more and around nature. So I bought a mountain bike, took some lessons, and started riding. I loved it. It was from this that I moved onto road racing and now to cyclo-cross racing. And now here I am, seven years later – back to where it started so I can keep moving forward and achieve my goals. Pretty awesome how things really do come full circle. Can’t wait to see what is next.

As for tomorrow – well, I’m riding out to Almonte so I can catch the end of the famous Almonte-Roubaix race. Best of luck to my pals racing this race, those racing at Mansfield, and the others racing at G.P. Ste. Martine. Pedal hard and keep the rubber side down!

Groovy. Groving. Feeling it. Rolling along. Looking ahead.

Pretty much my state of mind right now. I’m over the three days of rest… Thank goodness. Lets just say those three days were rough. I wasn’t really prepared for the mental rollercoaster I’d be on. Turns out that my training stress was pretty intense and then combine this with force time off the bike, and I went a bit loopy. Kind of went into a bit of low mood state. Just not excited about anything and feeling kind of down. Strange. But apparently quite normal. So suffice it to say, I am so happy to be back in the full-on riding groove.

Headed out on Thursday for a 90 minute opening ride. Nice to get out there and put a bit of ache in my legs. It was chilly though, and I was a little under-dressed. Didn’t think of the headwind I’d face on the way home and how this would make my hands feel. Yep, they were cold. Bright red and with limited dexterity in my fingers when I got in. Another lesson learned….

Today is measurement day. A chance for me to see where I’m at regarding my fitness. Normally I do these tests on my Computrainer, but we’re changing things and I’m doing the test outside. Bit nervous about doing it outside but I know it will be okay. Besides if things are a bit off, I’ve got another test in four weeks.

Got my new training program for the month ahead. It is awesome. Lots of long rides. Lots of time on the mountain bike. Lots of yoga. Really enjoying this phase of training. Only bummer is that I still have to hold off on the NRC training crits. Ah well, I understand why. Makes sense. I’m looking far ahead to September and ultimately Jan. 30, 2011, so the training crits will have to wait for a couple of more weeks. Good news is that I’ll be out doing the mountain bike series this summer.

Tomorrow I’m hitting up Kanata Lakes for a smooth mountain bike ride. It has been a long time since I’ve ridden at Kanata Lakes. Totally looking forward to it. Soon enough I’ll be hooking up with Ottawa’s fast young mountain bike guns for some rides and lesson. Also going to be doing some training out at the Creative Wheel Center. Loving this forward momentum right now.

Had a great talk with my coach yesterday. One big thing that came out of this talk is my on-bike nutrition. Turns out that I’m not eating enough during my rides… Funny because I thought I was eating enough (Friday’s bonking session notwithstanding). So now I’m aiming for 200-300 calories per hour on rides longer than two hours – and if there are intensity components to the ride, I’ll be eating even more. Lucky me.

Things are looking good for the summer ahead. Going to do a bit of road racing and crit racing. Double days will start soon. Running shoes might even come out of the closet soon as well. Running is one of the weakest aspects of my cyclo-cross skillset. For now, it is all about the base phase. I’ve got lots of four hour rides on the schedule and even a five hour ride. Can’t hardly wait.

Well, I’m off. I’ve got a warm mug of chai tea here and a bit of writing to do before I head out for my ride. I’m sure I’ll be posting tomorrow about my test and how it went. Best of luck to the Ottawa crew racing this weekend in Mansfield. As for Almonte-Roubaix – I won’t be racing but I plan to ride out to the race and watch the finish – I’ll be cheering for you!

I’m on day three of recovery. Sigh. I know this recovery is needed to make the gains and see the effects of the training I did the past four weeks. But still, I don’t really enjoy recovery days. I like being out riding my bike. Sure, I got out for 90 minutes today and yesterday. But 90 minutes really doesn’t do it for me after the long rides I’ve been doing.

Ah well, it all starts again tomorrow with a bit longer ride with some intensity thrown in. Then the truth really hits the fan on Friday with the almighty critical power test. This is when I’ll find it out what the power numbers are really like. Haven’t done such a test in a while – it will be hard, but it will be a good hard.

Some excellent riding on deck for the weekend. Mountain biking one day and a long ride the next. Can’t ask for much more. Hoping to hit up Kanata Lakes for a ride on Saturday – haven’t ridden there in a long time (2005 I think). I know it has changed a lot since then, should be fun to take the bike out and see what the body and brain remember. I had a blast at Lime Kiln so I’m looking forward to taking things up a notch and testing myself.

Fun time out at the NRC training crit last night. Great to see lots of friendly faces and to watch the racing action. New short course this year. Makes for some fast laps and positioning is super key. Soon enough I’ll be out there trying to stay on the wheels of Ottawa’s fast guys and girls. Can’t hardly wait.

Talking to coach Steve tomorrow. Cool. Catch up on all that has gone on and talk about what is next. I’m really feeling the bike vibes these days. This is when I feel my best. My brain is happy. My legs are happy. I feel free when I’m out there zooming along taking in the fresh air and blue sky. Even the rain isn’t a problem these days. I’ll take a ride in the rain over my cubicle days anytime.

A lot of people have asked me recently if I’m working these days. Yes, I’m working – but I’m not going into an office and I don’t have a steady paycheque. I’m working as a freelance writer. So this means that sometimes I’m rather busy with interviews, research, writing and editing and other times not so busy. It is a strange existence really. One that is hard to get used to. But it is coming and with each deadline met and article written, I get further ahead. You can check out some of my writing in the recent issue of Canadian Cycling Magazine and online as well. I’ve got a few other irons in the fire that will keep my busy soon enough, so things are good.

Well, it is a beautiful day, time for you to step away from the computer and get out for a ride.

(P.S. check out the right sidebar, I’ve added a couple of new links.)

Dudes, I’m just feeling so good these days. Another excellent week of training is in the books. I’m over Friday’s bonk. Had a couple of days of great riding. Today is a rest day and then a few more easy days before I ramp up again.

Saturday I put my mountain bike in the car and made my way over to Swamp Trail on Hunt Club. This was my first mountain bike ride of the season (and in many years) so I wanted to ease into it a bit. Swamp Trail is a great way to get rolling on the mountain bike and then move onto more technical trails. This is exactly what I did. I pedaled and enjoyed nature and was well protected from the rain with the trees and greenery. I ended up making my way to Lime Kiln. I had attempted to ride Lime Kiln last year on my cyclo-cross bike, but found it to be too technical for me. New year, new training, so perfect time to get back out there. I had a fantastic ride. I was tested on all levels. Some of the sections at Lime Kiln are rather technical, others less so. The slippery rocks and roots added to the intensity of the ride. I had a blast. A few slide outs, a couple of loud gasps but more than anything – massive ear-to-ear grins loving being on my bike. Even the flat tire wasn’t a big deal. I had so much fun. Such a refreshing change to be out surrounded by nature and moving forward.

Sunday I was back on my road bike. Marc was racing at Calabogie and I had a four hour ride on my schedule. Perfect. So I rode to Calabogie. Well, lets just say, it was windy on Sunday. Really windy. I felt like I had the headwind in my face for the entire ride. There are also some steep winding climbs on County Rd 511. I was super conscious of my caloric intake after Friday’s disaster, so I ate and ate frequently. I think this helped a lot – I finished the ride feeling tired but not spent. I was able to keep my wattage high and the hills didn’t beat me down. My only problem was liquids – I had only two bottles and with the rising temperatures, I was starting to run low on liquid. I made it on two bottles but could have done with three bottles. A great ride indeed.

I felt a massive sense of accomplishment to do such a ride alone. It took a bit longer than planned (just under 4.5 hours) but it was worth it. I find that when I do hard/long rides, I feel so confident. These kinds of rides give me a boost. I feel powerful. I feel confident. I love looking at my power meter data and seeing how far I’ve come.

Cloud nine indeed. Great way to start another week of training.

Finally figured out why I feel so rough today. Plain and simple – I was dumb. I went out for my three hour ride with little to no carbohydrates in my system and only water in my bottles. To top it off, it was cold and raining. At about two hours into my ride, my power was jumping all over the place, my cadence was erratic and my stomach was grumbling. But like an idiot, I ignored the body signals.

“I only have an hour left, I don’t need to eat. I’ll just drink some water.” Well, when it came to the for the 30 minute tempo block, I was useless. I couldn’t keep the power numbers where I wanted, I was grinding away at 83 rpm. I was a slug on the bike. Of course by now, the hunger sensations were gone – guess my body was focusing on just getting me home.

Now, I had food. My jersey was loaded with Clif Shot Bloks and Clif Shot Gel. But I didn’t eat them. Nope. Just slugged back more water and berated myself for riding so poorly. I was convinced there was a problem with my power meter or maybe with the cadence magnet. That 175 watts felt like 400 watts and I just couldn’t understand why. I rested on Thursday. I concluded that I was just having a bad day on the bike.

I should have clued in when I got home and couldn’t decide on my lunch. Normally during my rides I’m planning my next meal. Assembling super salads, power smoothies, and crazy yogurt/fruit/nut bowls. Not this time. Food didn’t really enter my head. So I went for something simple: 6 stalks of celery with almond butter spread on them and then a bowl of All Bran with raspberries and chocolate protein powder. Yep, pretty darn dumb. After eating I really started to feel worse. Wicked headache. Wobbly legs. My eyesight was kind of funny. Just a general malaise. I slugged back more water (note by this time it was 1:00 and I hadn’t gone to the bathroom since 9:00…).

I guess I was in bonk city. I chatted with Marc and he informed me that celery and All Bran were not adequate carbohydrate sources after a three hour ride. Suppose he had a point… A two hour nap ensued and I just devoured two Luna Chocolate Peppermint Stick bars. I’m slowly feeling better.

I learned a hard lesson today. Eat when you feel hungry. Actually, eat before you feel hungry. Listen to your body. Don’t be a dummy about food. Sometimes I get caught in that “weight loss” syndrome of so many endurance athletes – trying to closely control my intake and cutting it very close with the carbohydrate intake. I suppose in a week where every ride (with the exception of Thursday’s recovery ride) was a minimum of three hours, I should have loosened my “rules” a bit.

Not the best day on the bike. But a valuable one.