So there is the other stage race going on right now. It is in Spain. It is called the Volta Catalayuna. There are two Canadians from Garmin racing in this race. Christian Maier and Svein Tuft. There are also two Canadian superfans in Spain watching the Volta Catalayuna. Sheri Jay and Kevin Field.

Here is a video they posted yesterday. Gives you a first hand taste of what it is like to watch the biking bros come ripping by.

Also, congrats to Sandy F for a fine ride in France yesterday.

That would be the “bike” office. Kicked off the day with a solid weight work-out. I’m in an intense phase of the lifting program now. So this means four sets instead of three for a lot of the exercises. Got to say after four sets of split squats followed by four sets of one-legged deadlifts, I was feeling it a bit. But in a really good way.

The big debate this morning was should I ride to work in the rain or take the car? I elected to ride to work since I wanted to ride home from the Gatineau Park tonight. In the end it was an excellent call. I got a bit soggy on the way to work but I was prepared and packed extra cycling clothes to ensure I had dry training clothes.

Hooked up with Skip at the Kingsbridge headquarters and set off on our ride. We took the O-Train from South Keys to Bayview. Very cool. Smart way to dodge the crazy traffic and it made it easy to hop on the bicycle path. We hooked up with Jay at the gates and set off for a loop. I really wasn’t sure what to expect since this was my first time riding in the park.

Happy to say, my legs felt excellent. Lots of snap and the pedals turned over nicely. The ride was most excellent. It was refreshing to ride and chat and then go hard on the climbs. All in all it was a great ride. Definitely up for more like it. I rode home from the park, making it a good solid training ride.

It was a beautiful night and apart from the crazy bugs at Champlain Look-Out, the ride was picture perfect.

I did have grand plans to go to the grocery store tonight… Didn’t happen. Got home at 8:00 and offered to take Marc out for supper. Some spicy eggplant and beef satay followed by chai latte and I’m feeling totally recovered from my ride. I’ll just have to hit the grocery store tomorrow… (Mind you, that’s what I said yesterday!)

So as you know, I don’t typically comment on the professional cycling scene. There are plenty of excellent web sites out there, that do a good job of this. But I do have to make a comment about the Giro coverage. More specifically the Giro coverage by CBC Radio. Imagine my surprise when I heard the words Giro d’Italia on the 7:55 sportscast this morning on the way to the gym. Basically the report was: Danillo won yesterday, Armstrong was xxx seconds/minutes down and Michael Barry the lone Canadian is two hours down. That’s it! To a casual cycling fan, this would sound like the lone Canadian wasn’t doing very well… Which is completely wrong and an incorrect assumption. But imagine if you hear, two hours down. I guess the point I’m trying to make is – it doesn’t help the sport to “half-cover” it. Maybe an extra 20 seconds could have been added to the report, pointing out that Barry has spent this race working for his teammates and basically pulling the peleton all over Italy? And really, lets face it, the only reason the Giro even garnered CBC Radio news coverage was because of Armstrong. Sigh. I’m not a Lance fan but I’m not a Lance hater either. But I’m tired of constantly hearing about how he is doing, while overlooking the “real stars” of the sport…

Okay, end of the rant. Sorry about that. I may have got off track there, but hopefully I made some sense.

All right, time to go. Gotta go write on my other web site. Have a good one. Thanks for reading.

Tonight was the “A” crit at the NRC complex. Massive thanks to Ross for once again providing this awesome racing opportunity for us Ottawa riders. These local training crits are the best place to get comfortable racing in a pack and learning how to race.

For me perhaps one of the best aspects of these races are the other racers. It is a pretty familiar crowd that comes out to race and I find that the guys are super friendly and very supportive. Each race I pick up a new tip and learn from simply watching the other guys.

Tonight was a super fun race. I felt like I was totally in the zone and my bike was floating underneath me. Don’t get me wrong there were a few moments where my bike might have been floating but my legs were screaming! But a good kind of screaming. A little bit of a smaller pack tonight – suppose this was due to the overcast sky.

This year Marc and I are trying to ride to the crit. This way we can get in a better cool down afterwards. But tonight we elected to bring the car (fear of rain). In the end it drizzled a bit but nothing too major.

So back to the race. Well, I simply had a super fun time. I even tried to bridge up to a break today! First time I’ve ever tried this at the “A” crit. I didn’t make it – but at least I tried it. I’ll be trying again next race. I’m determined to make it across at least once this summer. The other thing I did tonight was ride in my drops. Typically, I ride crits on my tops. But I’ve learned from watching the experienced guys around me that the drops are where the action is at. So my second goal was to ride in the drops. Success – mission accomplished. I was so more comfortable in the race. I felt like I was more compact and could fit in the holes/gaps more easily. I also felt the bike was more snappy under me coming out of the corners.

I got some great tips from Hans before the race. These tips really made a big difference in my ride tonight. Thanks Hans! Much appreciated.

Definitely a fun time. It is strange I really like the warm-up before these races – chance to talk to people I don’t normally get to talk with and just get in the groove. I used to get super nervous before these races. Now I feel like I belong and my nerves have pretty much disappeared.

All right, it is almost 10:00. Time to hit the sack. Gym work-out tomorrow morning. I’ve got a big set to do tomorrow with many sets of split squats and one-legged deadlifts. Thank goodness I can sit at my desk and recover! Then in the afternoon I’m hitting up the Gatineau Park with Skip from Kingsbridge. This will be my first time riding in the Gats this summer… Looking forward to the ride and catching up with Skip. Skip was a big supporter of Ottawa Cross last year – so go check out his company.

Hope you had a solid ride today and had some fun on your bike. There is nothing quite like the high from an excellent ride.

Big shout out to Fearless Leader for his awesome racing this past weekend at Syracuse. Super happy for you.

Also big congrats to the Stevens Racing team and to super fast Sue for her impressive racing. Sounds like some decent teamwork.

Was browsing my RSS feeds today and came across an interesting article on Sportsminded.

Sportsminded is currently running a series of articles on elite athletes and the methods they use to copy psychologically.

Here is the first article in the series: Elites Do You?

Currently the web site is on to the third article in the series. Anyway, some interesting reading. Food for the mind.

Have a good weekend!

Hmm, not sure what to write today. Perhaps I’ll just start typing and see what comes out. Lots of racing going on this weekend. Locally we have the Ride With Rendall Team Time Trial on Sunday. There is a stage race in St. Raymond, Quebec and one in Syracuse, NY. Seems like every bike racer in the city will be off racing somewhere this weekend. This is excellent. Lots of racing options for all types of bike racers.

This is the first time for the Ride With Rendall Team Time Trial. I think this is a pretty cool event. The team time trial is a very cool discipline. The precision, team work an effort required is most impressive. This local event gives bike racers a chance to try something different and really get a taste of team work. While I’m not racing in this event, I will be at the registration table. (My first time doing registration, so if I’m a bit slow – please be patient…) I’m looking forward to catching a part of this race and feeling the excitement from the racers. It is not often that I’m at a race and not racing.

Best of luck to the Ottawa racers who are racing down in Syracuse (Stevens Racing team) and in St. Raymond. We’ll all be cheering you on and look forward to reading your race reports.

So, no racing for me this weekend. But I will be out on my bike. Saturday is a busy day with a weight work-out chased by a solid tempo ride. These tempo rides are awesome. I get to go hard, but not so hard that I’m half-baked. Just hard enough to get the fitness benefit and the feeling of speed. Sunday I’m heading out for a long ride after my registration obligations are over. I’m hoping the rain holds off and I can get in a some days of dry riding. The extra bonus for this long weekend is that my dad is in town. So we’ll get some good downtime chilling out with him – might go check out the Tulip Festival or the Byward Market.

I am racing next weekend. There is a criterium in Montreal: Pere Sablon. Marc and I went to this crit last year. Good course with a challenging hill and pretty smooth corners. Perhaps one of the best things about this crit is the location – the race course basically goes around a park and the surrounding neighbourhood is very happening with lots of cafes and interesting shops.

Getting out on the trusty cyclo-cross bike next week. Yay! Totally looking forward to getting the bike out and taking it for a spin. No time like the present to get started on fine-tuning my technical skills. The trails at the Gatineau Park open this weekend so pretty soon you’ll be seeing me out there on my mountain bike and cyclo-cross bike working on my skills and having fun in the dirt. Definitely let me know if you want to hook up for a ride.

Okay, I suppose I should get back at it. I am back in the office now. No more working from home for me. Sigh. Lets just say some bean counters here got their knickers in a knot. Rules are rules. Whatever. Makes me wonder why I have a laptop and VPN token so I can work from home… Whatever. I’m making the best of the situation. I’ll repeat what I wrote on Victoria’s Island – I got handed lemons and now I’m making lemonade (and this lemonade is still pretty darn sweet).

Have a great weekend. Good luck if you’re racing. If you’re out on the roads this weekend, be careful as it is the long weekend and motorists can be a bit nutty sometimes. Hopefully you can get some downtime and chill out. (Maybe catch a bit of the Giro.)