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.

Ah, it is tempo time. Tempo intervals. Can’t get enough of these. Challenging. Leg ache inducing. But not out-and-out sufferfests like threshold intervals.

I had a great training ride this morning. I think the intervals I did on Monday opened up my legs nicely and I really felt like I was flying. I was ontop of my gears and was having to hold back on the wattage. The two 10 minute intervals flew by. Even better when you’re not watching the clock.

Luckily I missed the nasty rain that hit Ottawa this afternoon. It was a tad cool, but I dressed for it with my warm gloves and hat.

Yep, a good day on the bike. I’m jetting off to yoga in a few minutes. Give the muscles and tendons a stretch and some soothing recovery with the heat. Great way to wind down for the night.

Sorry for the short post. Really nothing much new happening. Oh, well I did sign my contract today. So it is official, I start work on Monday. Wow – back in an office after two years. Plan is to commute by bike. One hour each way on the bus or one hour each way on the bike. Which would you choose? Granted, this commuting will add some wrinkles to my training. It will be interesting to see how my body reacts to the extra time on the saddle. Anyone out there who has tips on how to ensure quality training is still achieved while spending time on the bike commuting?

I’m tired. But a good tired. That kind of tired that comes from some solid work on the body. I slept in this morning and went to the gym a bit later than normal (8:45 instead of 6:45). As usual it was quiet. In fact there was only one other guy in the weights area. So nice, feels like my own personal gym.

Got in an excellent weight work-out. I have a two-day split program. Today was day 1. Day 1 features some killer leg work. I’m doing squats – but any old normal squats. Nope these are called one and one-quarter squats – squat down, come up part way, squat down, and then come up – this is one squat. Doesn’t sound like much but geez does it every fatigue the legs. I had a severe case of wobbly legs after the last set. This exercise is done in a pair with deadlifts. Not a friendly pair of exercises. What doesn’t kill me…

Anyway, a good time lifting heavy stuff. I was able to increase the weight in my upper body exercises and made it to the next level in one of my core exercises. I left the gym feeling fatigued but pumped with the strength and flexibility improvements I’ve made.

Quick refuel with chopped apple, ground flax seed and plain yogurt. Then I was out the door for fun times on the bike. Today was all about the sweet spot. Sweet spot intervals. I love these intervals. The killer component of these intervals are the seated hard accelerations that I have to do through-out the interval. Yikes, legs are screaming and then I have to accelerate and then continue with the rest of the interval.

Was a tad chilly during my ride. Somehow I managed to miss the sunshine. I’m not one to sit around and wait for the warmest part of the day. I find if I do this, I really end up wasting my day, waiting for the sun. I’ve got lots of warm Cyclery clothing so I’m good to go in any weather.

Check out this web site: Stevens/Cyclery team. This is a local Ottawa team with some pretty strong riders. Not to mention super friendly and supportive riders. The new kit looks pretty sharp – keep your eyes peeled for them this summer at the races. (I know I will be!)

In non-training/racing news… I’ve got a job! Yay! Start on Monday. Pretty happy about this. I’m super fortunate to find work in this tight market. Feeling pretty lucky I guess. It will be strange working in an office again, but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it. (I sure hope there are some office potlucks – I love potluck.)

Okay, I’m outta here. Have a good one. Remember it is early days in the season – don’t go crazy and rack up the big miles – your legs and brain won’t be too happy with you in June.