Weekend Training

I'm loathed to do another 3 hour event in the garage this weekend, but alas, it's going to be a bit gooey on the road until this snow melts off.

Sunday morning - early (I want to go skiing in the afternoon). 8:30 start done by 10:00 am. A mixed bag of; big gear, endurance and a little intensity thrown in for good measure.

The Gararge - 5844 Lodge Cr. S.W.

Tom

March 11 spin for Suunto, and ?? spin for yoga instruction.

The Suunto rep is coming to our spin class on March 11th. He is going to hook everyone up to an HR 'pod' where it wirelessly transmits to a small basestation and displayed on a big LCD at the front of the room. He is going to put us through a workout and everyone can see their performance relative to everyone else. Should be neat to see.

Anyway, you have to fill out a form and send it to him with Name and Max HR and few more things, I will post that soon. If non-spinners are interested in this, let me know and we'll see what our response is.

Also, I am going to schedule Kelly Goss, yoga (almost) guru to teach us what we should actually be doing after workouts and in between. I will let you know the date soon. We'll have a short 60min hard spin that night and then set up and have the instruction from 7:35 on.

How to get automatic notification of new Speed Theory blog posts

To save you the effort of checking the blog for new posts, there are two options: get an email each time there is a new blog post, or have your newsreader automatically download posts for you. I find newreaders (typically built in to email programs) really convenient, as I can just check my email program for email and new blog posts at the same time, rather than going to the blog webpage. It's super-easy to set up:

• Scroll to the bottom of the Speed Theory blog website.
• Click on the link that says Subscribe to: Posts (Atom).
• If you get a drop-down box, you can select which newsreader you use, such as Outlook or Google Reader.

That's it. Hooray!

Clothes, ABA License, Penticton Camp, Ride leaders

Guys, the clothes have been ordered !! They indicated that getting the clothing for the second week in April will be no problem. So we should have it well in advance of any races. Hopefully not in advance of us getting outside and riding.

Re: getting outside and riding. Now is the time to apply for your ABA Race License. To participate in the group rides, you MUST be a CURRENT ABA member. This is unfortunately an 'insurance thing' and we have to be firm on it. If we call a group training ride, and someone shows up without an ABA license, everyone in the group forgoes their insurance if they end up riding together. Therefore, to be fair to the group, get your ">license here.

Ryan has put together a great and enticing document regarding our ST Cycling week in Penticton. I am going to string some wicked suggested rides together for it, and we'll post it. Should be a great time. Ryan and I are swinging this be inviting our wives and kids along, may be a good way for you to get away too!

Group training rides and acquiring ride leaders. Since I am looking forward to the spring as much as most of you, I am thinking of how to continue with our high club quality with this explosion of new members. We are going to require at least 7 riders to commit to riding at a set time and place once a week, so we can get the Cat5's out and learning how to race. If you are a Cat2,3 or 4 or a veteran Cat5, please start thinking when and how you can do this, so when I call for volunteers, you can sign up. You can work on pace lining, intervals, pack riding skills, etc... but we need to get people out and training together. We will also have a Cat 1/2/3 only training night each week this year, so we can learn to race with each other as well.

ST train arrives in Victoria

Trev, Frank and Alex and I hit the hills in Victoria with the local boys for the regular Saturday Wheelers Ride. From a first-timer's perspective, it was a bit like a disciplined Cabin Ride, with a half hour solid double pace line up until a few k to the airport sprint followed by tempo.

Now to give you a bit of background on this sprint, Frank and Trev have been out in February 5 years running with some solid dudes, and so far the sprint win has been elusive. We scoped out the sprint yesterday on our way out of town.

Today, Frank hit the round-about/traffic circle behind one dude, but shortly after ramped up and it was the Speed Theory train leading with 4km to go. Frank punched out a furious 3 km at about 45kmh, with an attack coming up on the left but unable to match Frank's sustained effort. After he pulled off, Trev then ramped it up to about 50kmh and hammered that out for a kilo. As he pulled off attacks came from both sides, but even the local track dude couldn't pass Alex punching out the last few hundred meters, and that left me to hit it for the last 75 meters and take it for Speed Theory.

Following the sprint, the ride does a 10 minute recovery to bunch up, and then Trev had had enough and started off the tempo in the hills. The locals hit it hard in the rollers to teach these out of town upstarts how to ride, but Trev was laying down some punishing pulls. After we hit the highway on the way back, it was Frank who laid down some solid pulls and had everyone hurting (I think me the most).

Alex came back to form in the afternoon ride and crushed it on the hills as we toured the coast around Victoria as we racked up 160km, with the ritual sushi to end a good day's riding.

Tour of California Stage 7

Today's stage ended in Pasadena with 5 laps around the Rose Bowl. Each lap was 5 miles. The break stayed away with the Astana train limiting the damage.

Nocentini, the eventual winner in the break

Frank Schleck also in the break

Astana in formation chasing the break

Svein Tuft showing the telltale signs of meeting the pavement earlier

Tour of California Stage 6 - Solvang TT

Friday was the time trial. Here are some photos from the day. Action shots are not easy with the speed there guys are going.

Tom likes all the attention :

George warming up:

Parlee with Edge wheels, fork and bars:

Logos are a little hard to read on these:

Floyd not having a great day:

Levi leaves it all on the course today:

Saturday Ride

It's on the edge if we can ride outside or are relegated to droning on the trainer in the garage.

Be at the house at 9:30. If it looks promising we'll hit the road, if it's too cold we'll turn the pedals in the garage.

I'll push my + 5 rule down to +3. If it's colder than that, I'm inside.

5844 Lodge Cr. S.W.

Tom

Team kits

Hey,

Too bad we already ordered our kits, there is always next year.

See article here

Tour of California Stage 5

Today was a sprinters stage into Paso Robles, a small town about 200 miles northwest of LA. Today was only the second sunny day of the tour and the first day we we had seen. Watched the race from about 600 metres from the finish line. Here is a shot of Renshaw leading out Cavendish with Boonen at his wheel. Where was Tom's lead out men?




Next up was Thor's lead out men:



A second later Lance charged by towing Tommy D with Levi on his wheel.














Tomorrow is the TT in Solvang.



Happy spinning!

3 Hour Garage ride

For those of you who aren't gnarly enough to head out on the roads Saturday my brother Tom, new Speed Theory member, will be hosting a ride in his garage on Saturday. Three hours, chasing Trever and the gang in Victoria. He has had a regular gang spinning there all winter, many who are now new team members. I'll be there.

Address : 5844 Lodge Crescent SW. end of Crowchild in Lakeview.
Stephen

Burned by United Airlines

Ever flown with your bike to a holiday/training camp? Would you pay $430 to do so? Read on.

I had a terrible experience flying to and from Phoenix this month. I had a booking with Air Canada, but it was a "code-share" flight, operated by United Airlines. When I arrived at the airport, they said that:
1) my first bag to check in was going to cost $15. -> It's hard to compare flight prices when you get extra charges at the airport.
2) the second check-in item was going to cost $25. -> Lame. See point #1.
3) because my second item was a bike, it was going to cost an additional $150. -> What the...?! Okay, that's ridiculous. Now my bags have cost MORE THAN MY TICKET! My bike would like an in-flight beverage, please.

Low blow, United Airlines.

I don't have another road bike, so when it was time to return from Phoenix, I couldn't wait several days for my bike to be shipped back. So when I arrived at the airport in Phoenix to return to Calgary, yes, another $190 charge for the priviledge of taking my bike with me. Oh, and that was US dollars! $240 Canadian this time!

And what do I get for my money? Well, no insurance, that's for sure...I had to sign something saying that if what came out at the other end was a mangled wreck, too bad. If they lost it, they weren't paying for it, either.

I plan to vote with my feet, and take my business elsewhere. But I figured I'd at least let them know that $430 for taking a bike on a plane is outrageous...so I called customer service. I don't plan on ripping into some poor soul working at the United customer service centre in India, I just want to let them know I'm unhappy with the outcome and wont be flying with them anymore. But apparently they have an array of time-wasting measures to avoid actually dealing with anybody...tranferring from department to department, putting me on hold to "verify information", even saying they'd refund one of my charges and never actually doing so...wow, if I had to actually negotiate through that maze to find lost luggage or anything else, I'd be worried. Luckily I wont be risking that, I'll be flying with another airline, of which there are many.

So be warned, and if you think that gouging cyclists with exobitant fees and charges is wrong, or if you just think that airlines should act in a responsible manner with half-way decent customer service, don't fly United.

Clothing.

We have the proofs for the leg and arm warmers and vests and jackets and skinsuits now. I will collate all the PDF's from Champ-Sys sometime Tues (probably at lunch) and post them for you guys.

We have met the minimums for all the pieces of clothing except a few accesories. We are close on the 'Lycra Leg Warmers' and the 'Winter Gloves', we need 6 more orders of each. Other than that, we are made in the shade. If you would be interested in either of these items, put a post in the comments and we'll see if we can end up getting to the minimum. (NOTE: we HAVE the minimum on the 'Lycra Knee Warmers', so if you ordered these, you are made in the shade.)

Also, we decided to keep the leg and arm warmers 'toned down' a bit so we don't have red and black everywhere. Have a look, but I think they are good since you could still wear them with another jersey and not have them clash. That is why we didn't put red on them.

Let me know what you think.

Trev

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Tour of California - Adobe Tour Tracker

The TOC starts today. I don't have cable TV so I'm not sure if its being televised here. I think Versus is covering it which I believe is not available in Alberta. Either way there is a better option if you are like me with no tele and bandwidth to spare....the Adobe Tour Tracker:

http://tracker.amgentourofcalifornia.com/



I watched the TOC on this little gem of an application last year and it is really cool. Live GPS feeds from all the riders show their location on a satellite imaged map along with rider stats, stage profile and a live video feed with commentary for the race all dynamically displayed; it's better than TV!

Requires Flash 10 - Get it here

Prologue starts at 1:30 Pacific time, 2:30 local time.

No Spin Class on Monday Feb 16 (Family Day)

Just a reminder, the general consensus of those in attendance on Wednesday this week was that we would not have spin class on Monday Feb 16, Family Day.

Today is the day....THE DEADLINE.

OK, after today.. all current members better forever hold your peace regarding race clothing for early season racing. Have your spreadsheet emailed to me and your cheque to ST by closing time tonight.

Because our roster has exploded, this has turned into a significant amount of work for me. Therefore, I will appreciate no one asking to be an exception after today. If you miss this deadline, it doesn't mean you don't get clothes.. it just means you miss this initial order. We will probably do another order at the end of April, since we typically get another run of sign-ups when the weather gets nice out.

NOTE: if you honestly CANNOT make it to the store by closing time tonight, then you can interac me the money to the same email address on the spreadsheet. This will work but just means extra bookkeeping work for me.

NOTE: Have a look at the 2009 Current Roster.  WOW.

Trev

300KM Brevet Video

I take no responsibility for the cast of characters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTloU9Iirok

[Editors note:  Please note that some comments made near the end of the video were from an individual that was in extreme nutritional deficit and crazy tired. People tend to talk like they are still living in the trailer park where they grew up under these circumstances]

Women's shorts and bibs for this order.

I don't have a specific 'women's' option for the shorts in the spreadsheet like I do for the jerseys. But if you are a women, I will make your short or bib order in women's cut and in women's sizes. Sorry for the confusion.

So, just to be clear:  If you are a women ordering shorts or bibs, order them using the sizing chart for womens apparel.

Svein Tuft at Tour of California

There's an interesting article on Svein Tuft in Sunday's New York Times available here.

Team Clothing...the deadline is approaching.

Guys, the Feb. 13th deadline is quickly approaching. Darcy has collected quite a few cheques so far, and a few people have given them to me directly, but we definately don't have 55 (our current team numbers).

Here are the proofs Champion-Sys sent to us while I was away. Other than a couple tiny little tweaks, this is what we'll be going with. On Tues morning, when Darcy gets in, we'll tell Champion-Sys our changes and then ask them to make up PDFs of the arm warmers and leg warmers, etc. We'll post that as soon as possible.

Remember, if you don't get your spreadsheet to me and your cheque in by Friday evening, you will have to wait for the second round of clothing ordering.

You can see large versions of the jersey and short here.

A young Kucera and Jay

A young John Kucera with Jay. A coach with his future World Champion friend.

Jason's prodigy is World Champion....wow

Jason would talk non-stop about John during training rides and runs. And now he is a world champion. 

This is great news.

Congratulations John.

.

Size Kit for Team Wear?

Is there any chance that the size kit for the team wear will make it to the shop by Friday? I'd really like to try on a small and a medium race cut before making the final decision. I suspect I can get away with a small due to my massive 5' 6", 122 lb frame. The only guy in the province I can't draft behind is Michael Godfrey. I tried once: it didn't work.

Darcy

300KM Arizona Brevet Update

-Up at 4:30 AM for a 6:00 AM start

-Watched Trev eat a Zillion calories at breakfast and get on his bike and ride to the start - amazing

-25- 30 riders at the start

-After the car leading us out of town pulled over the group took off hard. I have never seen a Randonneur event start off so hard.

-Things settled down by the first check point 70km into the ride and the Speed Theory team settled into a rhythm working with two other riders (Paul and Mike) to the next check point

-We hit our stride in the hills and stayed out front relying on the GPS to keep us on the course. Paul (Entered in solo RAAM this year) and Mike were constantly in the background behind us.

-Lockie had his 1st crash of the year before the first check point, nothing serious and with a soft landing. (He can tell the story)

- We grabbed a great tail wind as we headed back north which shifted around to a head and cross wind for the backend of the ride. Trev did long pulls for a part of this as Lockie and I dealt with bonking and general suffering. We recovered, and all three of us were back in the game for the push home.

-We came off the course losing some time but found our way back on to the course and into Casa Grande.

-Total riding time was 9 hours 20 minutes; total ride time was 9:55.

-Average speed while riding, 33km per hour.

-My normalized watts for the whole ride, 225 (Short of Alex’s 370)

- Trev looked like he could run a fast 10k today and Lockie was feeling so good that he said he might even consider doing another Randonneur event (Last night this was his first and last)

-I’m cooked, that was a very fast 300km event for any time of the year let alone early February

-Well organized event, good hospitality and strong Arizona riders

- Toatsed Dianna's birthday with our water bottles on the ride. Not sure of her age but does great play lists for the spin classes

-Video to follow

- Next year we should bring down 10 riders

Stephen

SpeedTheory Chicks & Dudes in the News!

Kelly Doody - Calgary Sun Page 6 Columnist and triathlete had this to say about Ironman Calgary 70.3: Half-Iron, huge success!

She also visited SpeedTheory during a recent spin class and took this picture of some pretty awesome people (thanks everyone!!)....

Wednesday night spin class at Speed Theory – a haven for those striving for this summer's 70.3, includingTracy Laussier, Andy Hill, Olympic triathlete Lisa Mensink, Mitzy Metzger, Rick Metzger and Murray Stewart, with Speed Theory team leader Trev Williams leading the team in front

2 goals done, 1 to go.

Well, we got in our two 100+ km preliminary rides yesterday and today, tomorrow is the 'big show'.

Near the end of each ride, Lachlan can't stop saying stuff like, "Crikey guys, I'm fairdinkum bushed. I just waltzed my Matilda through the outback and off a cliff." But if you look into his eyes, you get the sense he is just playing his cards close to his chest. He is ready.

On the ride today, Stephen told us a story about how he told a wicked story on a ride once. It took him about 30min to tell us about how he told that story. I kind of wish he had just told us the story.

Today we rode into Saguaro National Park, which has an 8 mile one way, perfectly paved lane that loops through this great hilly desert area. It was like riding for 8 miles on a race circuit made for motorbikes.

I hope to post some videos soon. The first one is of Stephen starting the 8 mile loop in the park. The second showcases Lachlan's devastating sprint while we were heading back to Stephen's place in town.

Live updates for the big show

Stephen is on the cutting edge when it comes to technology. He's doing a video of the trip, which we're hoping will be picked up by a major Hollywood studio. He's also got a gizmo that sends out his location every 10 minutes, that we're expecting will help the television commentators during the ride. In the event that they don't air the race in Canada, you can track Stephen's progress at the big show by going to this website:

SPOT web site

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Slacking off in Tuscon

Hello Speed Theory team mates. I joined the team the other day and thought I should post something.... just 'cause.
Some of you know my brother Stephen who is currently lounging about in Tuscon. Yes, he'll have you believe that he is working and racing his a$$ off in horrific temperatures, suffering immeasurable pain and enduring all sorts of indignities. When in fact, I have a satellite pointed at his house and he and the rest of these "racers" are actually sitting by the pool with girly drinks, complete with umbrellas, watching the cactus grow.

If the weather holds here, I am outside riding this Saturday. Leaving my house at 11:00 am if anyone is interested. Maybe do 50 or 60km easy tempo. We can meet at Westhills Second cup at 11:15.

Let me know if anyone is coming so I don't leave without you. Looking forward to riding with you this years.

Tom

Playlist from Monday, Feb 2, 2009

Hey Team,

In an effort to be geekier that usual, I have finally got my playlist from monday up on iTunes.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=304491933

Enjoy,

Rob

300km of Stephen's event.

As most of you know, Stephen, Lachlan, and I are headed down this week to compete in a 300km event between Tucson and Pheonix. We hope to lead Lachlan out for a sprint victory. Stephen has brought a little 'Spot' transponder that updates a website with his GPS location every 10min, and shows a route taken. I will figure out a link to that here as soon as I get it. This will maybe help you get through a long trainer ride knowing that we only have 260km left in our ride or something.

A link to the event is here. Check out the elevation profile.

See you at Monday's spin. I will be walking around encouraging that night, so if you have any 'fit' questions, bring them along.

Trev

Sneek Peek

As it turns out, Thomas is an amazing graphic artist! As soon as I saw his handy work below, I emailed him and asked if he could help get the ball rolling on the new RACE TEAM jersey design since Champ-SYS won't do anything until they receive our deposit (which is on the way). Anyway, he said sure. So I told him basically what I had in mind and he created these upgrades. Alex and I think the best kit in Alberta just got a wicked upgrade.

So, disclaimer:  This is just an 'artists rendering' of what we want the jersey/bibs kit to look like. What Champ-Sys can do with this is still to be determined. I will be posting the official version as soon as Champ-Sys takes this design and makes it realizable. I am just so excited about this upgrade I wanted to share it with everyone. We haven't done ANYTHING with the rest of the clothing, this is all we have right now.

Jersey design

Bib design

Thanks Thomas, I think these came together really really well.

Champion Sys Detailed Jersey/Bib Specs

*Updated with Bib specs*

According to the Champion Sys website my hulking 37" chest would be a size small race cut jersey. I found this a bit suspect and I didn't want to order a small and end up with a belly button shirt. So I emailed them to inquire. They sent me this PDF with detailed measurements of all aspects of the mens race cut jersey. According to this doc my massive chest may warrant a small jersey but the length of the small would reveal my middrift like a khazak fashionista. I think I better go with the medium.


Download the Jersey pdf here and the Bib Shorts pdf here


They also said if you are ordering jacket or vest to order the same size as your race cut jersey.