So it is the day before a race. Well, the day before a double-header weekend. I’ve just gone through my “the day before the race” rituals.

In short order they are: do an opening work-out, pack race bag, pack other stuff needed, shave legs. That’s it. Pretty simple stuff. I basically do this before every race weekend. Simple. Safe. No surprises here and I pretty much always pack the same things. Yes, right down to the same t-shirts and pants. This way, I know I’ve got everything and don’t really need to think. Keeps the error ratio down. Shave legs – I like to do this the day before a race (obviously I won’t do this again on Saturday…). Not sure where I got this habit. Probably from racing on the road for a couple of months in Belgium. I heard an old-wives tale that one should never shave their legs on race day – something about draining much needed energy.

So, I comprise – the day before. Oh yah, one more thing I do – pull on the compression socks. Especially for car and plane travel. These nylon stockings may not look pretty but they keep my legs from puffing up and prevent that dead feeling.

Just about to dash out the door. Sorry for the short post. I’ll most likely see some of you in Toronto. Safe travel. If you’re racing in Almonte this weekend – have fun and pedal hard. Okay, I’m out. Thanks for reading.

Trying to keep thing simple…

Nothing like Thursday. Especially when it follows a tough day on Wednesday. I admit it – that ride yesterday beat me up. I was tired. I dragged myself through yoga. Oh and ‘cross practice – I skipped it. But don’t worry I was out at the crack of dawn with Marc and Steve – ripping up some mad skillz.

We set up a pretty tricky off-camber turning section complete with a high-speed uphill dismount. Gee – what were we simulating (perhaps the stair run-up from the day one race at Toronto last year?). So a good session. Got lots of great tips from the boys. They are super helpful and are constantly pointing out large and small changes I can make to improve my racing. Today it was about body language. Use my upper body. I ride in a rather stiff position – basically not using my upper body to muscle and accelerate my bike. So I thought about integrating my upper body during the drill and staying relaxed – definitely made a difference. Especially on the steep climb. (Now the trick is to remember to do this when my heart and lungs are in my throat and my legs are screaming.)

Then for my second ride of the day, I hit up the trusty road bike. Nice and easy recovery ride. The sun was shining. Slight wind. Leg warmers. No hat. Ipod tuned to some perfect tunes. A very pleasant ride. Just what I needed to digest the morning, clear the head and get set for the busy day.

Lots going on right now. We are getting the final plans in place for our upcoming trip to Belgium. It is amazing how much planning has to go into such a trip. Even though we did the same trip last year, there are still lots of little things to get sorted. Bike bags. Transport to the airport. Cat sitting. Packing considerations. Oh, and the day before we leave I have to return the car (the lease is up). Because we are maniacs we’ve decided to race in Rhode Island, drive home on Sunday and then leave for Belgium on Tuesday. Hence the planning.

The pre-registration list is finally available for the Toronto races this weekend. You can download it from the forums on Cyclocross Ontario. Looks like a pretty strong elite men’s field. Should be some fun racing to watch. The elite women’s field is small but still very powerful. Excellent racing to come. And the bonus to this weekend is being able to hook up with my little brother (the one and only Hubert of Whiskas fame) and his wife. Gregory and Liz are awesome fans and super excellent at cheering – it will help to hear my name shouted all over the course.

Hmm, what else is going one? Oh the medium jersey is sold. Thanks so much for the emails – wish I had more medium jerseys to sell. I have three large jerseys left. Stumbled across this pretty interesting web site the other day: Culinary Competitor. Check it out – some super tasty looking recipes there.

Okay, I best jet. I have to get myself down to The Cyclery to pick up some recovery drink, a new lid, and to talk road bikes (yep time to start thinking about what I’m going to ride next year – I’ll miss my Isaac). Check out the ‘cross bikes and accessories available at The Cyclery – some super good deals and not to mention sweet bikes available.

Lots going on these days. We are in the thick of the November ‘cross racing scene. Seems like we spend a lot of time packing, unpacking, laundry, packing, etc. Guess we should really count ourselves lucky that we have the luxury of being able to race and travel every weekend. I really love the racing and the travel isn’t that bad, but I must admit it will be nice to be in Belgium where the travel involves an hour long car drive as opposed to eight hours in a car.

We’ve finally recovered from the weekend of racing and traveling and are getting ready for this weekend. This weekend we are just heading up the 401 to Toronto. A couple of UCI races at Centennial Park in Etobicoke (suburb of Toronto). Really looking forward to the weekend. (I think I write this before every race!) This weekend I want to build on the things I learned from last week and keep improving. I had a few rough moments during my race on Saturday, but the bonus was I was able to recover from this and get a decent race in. Sunday was better but an early decision cost me a slightly better finish. So this weekend I want to keep these lessons in the back of my brain. Most importantly, I’m all about the start this weekend. Time to start like I know I can. I need to be more aggressive and not just “settle” for a weak start and then play the catch and pass game. My day on the bike would be much smoother if I could just get the start I know I have in my legs and not have to worry about getting caught in traffic.

Suppose this is why I race – to accomplish these small goals and to keep seeing progress.

Got out for an excellent ride yesterday on the road bike. I really wanted to open things up but, the day called for recovery. So that’s what I did. Today I’ve got some sweet spot intervals on deck – these ones leave me on the side of the road begging for mercy. Just what I want – I’ll be able to summon the feeling in my legs on the weekend. Then later tonight I’m off to ‘cross practice and then because I’m a maniac I’ll blast from ‘cross practice to my hot power yoga class. Jam-packed. In a good way.

So, I have some extra Ottawa Cross jerseys sitting here in a box. I feel a bit awkward writing about this, but I’d like to sell them. They are Champion Systems short sleeve full-zip European cut jerseys. I have three men’s large jerseys and one men’s medium jerseys. For sizing reference – I wear the men’s medium. If you would like to buy a jersey, drop me an email (I’m not setup on PayPal but I can do this). The cost per jersey is $45. (This ends the advertisement…)

I posted some links to photos from the Northampton weekend on the Photos page. Some pretty smooth pics there – thanks Paul Weiss and Martin Valiquette. If you have pics from the weekend – let me know an I’ll post a link to your site. Alright, I best blast. I’ve got a lot of training to do today – not to mention some paid writing.

See you in Toronto!

The Ride with Rendall training is on tonight. Starting at around 5:15. Use the following link to get a better idea of the training location:

Ride with Rendall ‘cross training location

Meet in the Northern area of the park, just across from the Rogers Wireless on Carling Ave. Parking is available on the side streets in and around Bayswater and Sherwood just of Carling.

Wow, where to start with how much Cycle-Smart and coach Steve Weller have shaped me as an athlete. Lets flashback to three years ago. My first Cycle-Smart cyclo-cross camp. I had just returned to bike racing and was starting to get the ‘cross bug again. I wanted to get better. Didn’t really have any goals or ideas – I just knew I wanted to improve. Enter Cycle-Smart and Steve – now here I am. Three years ago I was a back-of-the-pack masters cyclo-cross racer. Now thanks to the smart coaching and guidance – I’m racing with the elite women – in the front of the race. Over the last three years, my goals have gotten higher and bigger – Steve doesn’t flinch – he just says “Yep, we can do it. And this is how we’re going to do it.” Now we’re doing it – aiming higher and setting the goal to Tabor, Czech Republic in 2010 – thanks Steve and Cycle-Smart – you guys have given me the legs, lungs, and technical skills.

Why Cycle-Smart?

With so many coaches and option out there these days, why choose a Cycle-Smart coach or program over any other?

Price is always an issue, and in many cases Cycle-Smart is a bit less expensive than companies with similar offerings. For our competitors, their ability to make money is by volume, and that means loading up coaches with a lot of clients and giving them a substantial supply of “pre-made” training programs and nutritional information. They essentially have built up an automated knowledge base of pre-fabricated responses, articles, and schedules that may or may not fit who you are and how much time you have. We also offer the flexibility of month-to-month coaching after the first 3 months, and no start-up fees, rather than a big up front cost and long-term commitment. We mostly ask for 3 months commitment because we think it takes that long for a client to show real improvement, not because it makes financial sense to do so.

We take the approach of tailoring training plans and schedules for each individual client. While we have some tools and a knowledge base that we use to try to streamline our coaching, the focus is always on the individual with us. While other companies will likely be a more profitable business model than Cycle-Smart, we prefer to work more closely with our clients.

To us the goal isn’t to get rich, it’s to share the experience of a sport we all love and to which are deeply committed.

We often get clients who previously worked with other companies, and the most common reaction is their surprise in the level of personalization and responsiveness we offer. Our approach of helping people keep their lives in balance makes for more success whether you have a full-time job, or cycling is your full-time job.

About Cycle-Smart

This page had been left blank for quite some time, and for good reason. Talking about Cycle-Smart – what it is, what it stands for, what it’s goals are – would be the equivalent of defining who I am, what I stand for, and what my goals are as a person. Naturally, I feared such an undertaking.

Three years on, Cycle-Smart isn’t just a part of me, but has made me a part of it, taking on a life of it’s own, and defining itself along the way. At the start, Cycle-Smart began simply as a way to try and turn all the activities I was involved in on a volunteer basis into something I could do for a living: coaching riders, organizing and promoting races, and managing teams. As I came to the end of the period I spent racing my bike as my sole source of income, I wanted to find a way to give that time and the experience I had acquired more value and importance. I had always done that through volunteerism, but I felt that now I had an opportunity to dedicate myself to those things full time and improve the quality of the work I did.

In pursuing that end, Cycle-Smart has filled many roles. It’s become a business, yes, but business is perhaps the least important part of the whole. Cycle-Smart has become a community, a congregation, and a collective, depending on a large group of people sharing an experience. It’s a place to exchange ideas and to build things. It’s a creative outlet, it’s therapy, insanity, activism, and social construction. Most of the time, it leaves me with more questions than answers.

What is the role of sports in modern society? Is it business? Is it escapism? Is it an opportunity for self-fulfillment and actualization that we can carry over in the other aspects of our lives? Is it a cure for the pain and depression many of us struggle with daily? Cycle-Smart is a sociological experiment in some ways, exploring these issues, and allowing people to cope with them.

Most importantly, Cycle-Smart is a place to do good work. I feel this is the biggest struggle of all in life: to find fulfilling, sustaining work that contributes to the common good. Our mission at Cycle-Smart is to promote and improve the enjoyment and quality of and opportunities for bicycle racing locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, in that order of priority, through rider coaching, event organization, and team management. In doing so, Cycle-Smart seeks to promote cycling as a whole not just as a passive activity, but as a metaphor for life that teaches skills for survival, fulfillment, and happiness.

Adam Hodges Myerson
June 30th, 2002

Thanks Cycle-Smart – your advice, guidance, knowledge, experience, and patience are unmatched. Looking forward to seeing how much higher we can go.