Anyone doing the "Moment of Truth" on Sunday?

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Dear Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

I wanted to write to express my displeasure in the ongoing cold weather and snow that has been a constant this spring. Yes, I know it is the time of year that you want to provide moisture from your loving bosom to provide growth to all of the plants that are waiting to sprout in the coming months. I really do love when the trees start to bud and the flowers bloom, but you also know that process requires warm weather ... right!?

While I understand that you are not Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny and therefore usually don't give a crap about the needs of people, I would still like to think that you fondly remember that night we had together a few years ago. Come on, you know the night that I am talking about. The one where we sat together under the starlit sky, talked all night and cuddled in the soft grass while listening to the babbling creek. Remember when that rabbit came frolicking through the meadow. It was so cute. We laughed hard when that hawk came down and grabbed it. Just wanted to make sure that you cherish the memories that we have had together, because I would sure like to have some more.

Any how, if you happen to read this blog (because we all know that you have an infatuation with the Speed Theory Team), I would love if you might do me a favour and send us a little bit of warm weather. I am certain that I am not asking too much.

In advance thanks on behalf of Speed Theory members and all summer sport enthusiasts in Calgary!

Yours truly,

Mark

P.S. You also owe me for the last lap of the Tour de Bowness RR when the Cat 5 peloton missed all of the rain and you made me ride right through it. Yeah it was a funny joke ... but I am still not laughing.

Saturday ride

Sounds like Saturday is going to be the sweetest day of the weekend and I am thinking that it would be a great day to get a ride in. Unsure of where I will head, but thinking of making it a longer one. Planning to leave from the Rocky Ridge Co-op at 11 am.

Let me know if you are interested in joining.

Sunday Ride

Anyone in for a Sunday ride? Matt and I were thinking Cochrane route if the weather is half decent.

The intent of the ride is to get some base miles in - no drops - just an enjoyable Sunday.

Leave a comment if you're in.

This just in.

SpeedTheory will be receiving a P4 framset that that will build up and put on display at the Outdoor Show this weekend. You are encouraged to come and check it out. To make it easier, Darcy will be giving out a limited amount of free tickets he received for the show. So drop by and pick up a free ticket and then hit the Outdoor Show this weekend. It will probably be snowing anyway.

UofC study participation.

Hello,

My name is Neal Austin, I am a mechanic and sales dude at SpeedTheory and I’m currently working on my Master’s of Science at University of Calgary. I’m conducting a research project in the area of muscle performance during cycling and I’m currently looking for subjects to participate starting in about 2 weeks.

 The goals of the project are to investigate muscle contractile properties during cycling and relate these properties back to contractile relationships. We hope to gain information on both muscle contraction velocity and muscle length which will respectively relate back to optimal cadence and optimal crank torque during cycling for extended periods of time.

 The subject population which we are interested in testing is healthy male road cyclists over the age of 18 years that currently train 6 or more hours on their bicycle per week. Prior to testing the subjects will be asked to measure their seat position relative to their bottom bracket (both height and seat set back), and to bring in their shoes and pedals. Also the subject should be aware of the average cadence they cycle at for a hard 1hr ride or race. If the subject knows the power output in which they cycle at for a 1hr hard ride or race this is even better. The testing will start with a series of maximal contractions at various knee angles to establish which muscle length the rider produces the maximal force at. Then the subject will be required to perform maximal knee extensions throughout a range of motion at various speeds to determine optimal muscle contraction velocity. The subjects will then be asked to cycle at various pedaling conditions where we will measure muscle length and muscle contraction velocity. These measurements will then be related to the optimal lengths and velocities previously measured to see if the subject is cycling at optimal conditions.

 Again information relating to optimal cadence for extended hard rides (1hr)will hopefully gathered from the testing information. If you are interested in potentially volunteering for this study please contact me, Neal Austin, via email (naustin@kin.ucalgary.ca), or phone (403-465-4670).

 Thank you for your time, Neal Austin

Great stuff.

I am pumped with all the action here lately.  Also note, Scott filled in the Google Calendar to the right. It has all the ABA races and highlights which ones are 'focus races' for the club. Also, remember you are expected to be or provide a volunteer for the SpeedTheory Hosted races on June 6th, Aug. 22nd, Aug. 23rd, and Oct. 17th.

Keep it rolling guys!

TT CANCELLED... come to a spin instead

The word from our fearless leader is that we wont be racing tomorrow. Boo! Stupid weather!

But I'm sure you've all be ramping up for this: your muscles are wound up like a slingshot, ready to unleash hell on the road! Right? Don't deprive them of pedal-mashing time: spin!

6:30pm at my house

I can fit about 15-20 spinners in my basement, so don't give yourself that excuse.

Music will again be brought to you by DJ Sparls...I'm pumped to check out his latest two mixes, OFF and ON. If you can't wait for Wednesday, grab them for yourself from his blog.

Thanks Trev

Trev!

Thanks for organizing another great year of spin classes! Without you, we would be sluggish and weak, because let's be honest, we have zero discipline to put ourselves through the hours of pain and treachery on our own.

Without a doubt Rui and Mark might actually have a chance to keep up with the last guy in the peloton this year, Rob has learned the in's and out's of windtrainer maintenance and Dianna has shown us all that playlists CAN be upbeat and motivating at the same time.

We're looking forward to the upcoming season of great racing!!

Dreaming of nicer weather. Ride Schedule

Here is a rough draft of a training group schedule. This will be lead by either one or two ride leaders that will really try to be present for the ride. If they aren't going to be there, they will post on the blog they won't be there at least 2 hours before the ride.

This is for when this damn weather starts cooperating.

Tues night (1):  Trev, Extreme Bean at 6:00pm, roughly 2.5hours. Intervals. No dropping.

Tues night (2):  Midweek Mayhem.

Wed night (1):  Harley, (Harley, let me know)

Wed night (2):  C4 Midweek Race Series (practice team tactics and attacking)

Wed night (3):  Cabin Ride (practice team tactics and attacking)

Thurs night (1): Darcy/Rob, Extreme Bean, at 6:30pm. Hill work. No dropping.

Thurs night (2): ??? (Need to fill this in)

Sat and Sun people will post ride times and locations. Or trash talk for upcoming races!

Post spin get together.

Diana has her house all prepped like Studio 54 in New York... should be a good night,

I'll try to make the spin 1hour. Expect it to be a hard 60min. Then stumble over here.

If you can't make the spin, be at Diana's around 7:45pm.

I told Diana that Me and Simon like Guiness and that Mark is probably a Coors Light type of dude, that Rui is probably a Pilsner guy, Ryan will only drink Spritzers, and that Bonnie and Tracy will drink anything as long as they have exactly the same thing.  Hopefully I am right.

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Wed. night not looking good.

Stay posted for Wed. night.

Trev

SOMEBODY MENTION MY NAME?

AWESOME Finish Today !!

Also, Ryder finished 31st today, which is amazing.

Sun ride.

Hey everyone, once again i will be going out at 11:00am on Sun from Royal Oak Co-Op for a ride. Just a nice ride to get some base miles in, so it will be kinda easy. Thinking of going West past Cochrane on 1A, north on Horse Creek Rd., and the back east on Big Hill Springs road. Should be about 70 km, if cooler then maybe we can shorten it. I usually go if it is above 0 degrees. Not much for stops out there so if we go the distance bring some food and lots of water. Anyone interested???

Saturday Ride

I know that a few of us had expressed interest in doing a ride tomorrow morning. I was thinking of leaving around 10 am. We can start at the Extreme Bean, work our way up Edworthy and Signal Hill and then head out to Bragg Creek via Springbank. If we are really motivated, we can ride back through Cochrane and hit the hill. The more people that we can get out the better, that way we can make sure to meet the needs of a variety of riding levels. I am excited to get back outdoors after taking the training tire off my bike last night and cleaning the drivetrain up. This will not be a crazy hammerfest for me. If you are interested, respond in the comments and we can finalize details.

Announcements ... Announcements ... Anounce ... ments (you must sing it)

Hey all, so there are a couple items that you should all be excited about:

Monday/Wednesday Spin Celebration - Monday, March 23rd - After spin

Who: All Monday/Wednesday spin participants

Location: Diana's house - Somewhere in Silver Springs ???

After spin class on Monday, Diana will be hosting a celebration at her place. Don't worry about bringing food or drink, as some of our spin fees will be used to purchase snacks and BEvERages. Come out and remenisce about Mark and Rui's constant bantering about who is the better cyclist, how Mitsy's flywheel almost killed people when it came flying off, when Andy showed his true power by destroying his derailer, how Trev would always make it seem like the workout was almost over and then would add on another killer set, the countless times that Diana asked for the music to be cranked or whatever else was your favourite experience. Trev ... Diana will be providing the playlist for the evening.

Please RSVP by posting a comment so we can figure out how much supplies are needed.

The Retreat Road Rumble 16 km ITT - Wednesday, March 25th - 6:00 pm (weather dependent)

Who: All Cat 4/5 Gents and Women who plan to race this summer

Location: Intersection of Hwy 1A (Crowchild Trail if you have never left the city) and Glen Eagles Drive/Retreat Road. There is lots of room for parking when you turn north on to Retreat Road.

Yes, you read it right ... are you ready to rumble? While a little competition is always fun, the key purpose of this "race" is to figure out groups for the training camp that the Stephen Kenny will be providing and to make sure that we can optimize our future training rides. With such a diverse group of Cat 4/5 and Women, it is important to ensure that we are grouping people together in a way that will challenge everyone but also help so people don't get frustrated by being dropped because they are riding with individuals who are at a different level (I remember my first ride with Jared, Steve G and Dan ... not a great experience).

You can either drive out and warm-up on-site (trainer or the hill) or a bunch of us can meet at the Rocky Ridge Co-op (Crowchild Tr and 12 Mile Coulee Rd) at 5:15 and then ride out to warm up. If you are planning on riding out from Co-op, make sure to be there and ready to go right at 5:15.

Even if you are not in Cat 4/5 or one of our talented female racers, come out and cheer on our grassroots contigent and get them excited about the delicious smorgasboard know as our racing schedule. Hmmmmmm ....

Stay tuned for updates as we get a more accurate weather forecast for the evening.

Kudos

Finally, I want to say a big thank you to Trev for putting together some monstrous spins this winter. While I may complain about the music, I am certain that everyone can agree that we are going to hit the road much stronger and faster this spring. Thanks to Alex and Simon for being scape goats and stepping up to lead us when Trev was not able to make it out. Finally, thanks to everyone who put together the many amazing playlists and the group for the laughs to balance out the pain.

Casual Friday Ride

The weather's supposed to be quite nice on Friday, so I'm putting in a little overtime this week and ducking out of the office early for a ride. If anyone else is interested, meet at the Rocky Ridge Co-op (Crowchild Trail and 12 Mile Coulee Road) at 3:30. The plan is for a nice spin out to Cochrane and back, probably using Retreat Road and the Gleneagles hill, stopping at Cochrane Coffee Traders. No drops, no crazy attacks, just a nice ride.

Book the dates.

Mark is going to make a formal post about these things soon, but I wanted people to start planning.

1.) This Monday, March 23rd, is our last indoor spin. Diana is hosting a post-spin get together at her house which is a few doors down from ST. We'll do a short hard workout, then head over to her house and toast to a great consistent winter. All spinners are welcome! The spin money will pay for snacks, beer, and chocolate milk. I may even bring some of my music since I know you guys have been missing it.

2.) We are super excited about our Cat4/5 contingent this year and want to build this into a sustainable grassroots affair. One of our first steps will be: Stephen Kenny is going to host a Cat4/5/Women training camp on a weekend coming up (TBA) and we are also interested in getting some functional training groups together that can be lead by our veteran racers. Because of the wide variety of abilities, we have devised this method to divide people into training groups....  On Wed. March 25th, at 6:00pm, weather pending. All Cat4 and Cat5 and Women who plan to race and train this year will meet at the top of Cochrane hill on Retreat Rd. (there is a parking lot there) for a 16km Club ITT. No aero gear. Just a steely resolve to suffer for 16km. We will collect all times and place everyone in functional training groups. It will be the same course from our Sept race last year, from this document.

3.)  I need 4 volunteers from our Cat2/3 pool to help me put on this ITT for our Grassroots dudes. It will be from 6pm - 8pm March 25th. Please comment if you can help.

SUNNTO offer....UPDATED

From Darcy at the store:

"I would like to extend a further discount to any of your Wednesday spin class members that participated in the Suunto demo day that we did. If they commit to buying any Suunto product from Speed Theory BEFORE FRIDAY MARCH 20^th they will receive 25% off retail. If there are any takers for this can you please get them to email me with what they want at darcy@speedtheory.ca and I will put it an order for them."

UPDATE:  Darcy just updated me that  they now have SUUNTO stock at the store so you can go in and try the stuff out.

Tonight's workout, and my non-cycling weekend.

Tonight at spin we make the switch to quality work primarily. So the workouts will get shorter and the intensity will go up. We only have a few more spins left, so I want to give people a sense of what to do outside once we get on the road and start getting ready for Bici GP and Velocity RR.

Also, I raced a 5km running race around Stanley Park on Sat. morning in the rain, while most of you were outside in the sun on your bikes. Whew... I felt like a cyclist trying to run, that is for sure. I made the decision this year to focus on the bike so I could be useful for our bolstered Cat2 team this year. I look forward to doing everything I can to get my teammates some wins. I hope the focus has paid off, because it sure took my running legs away!

Ring Road ITT?

I wonder if we can hold an ITT on the NW and/or NE ring road sections before they open this fall?

I rode the NW section today on my mountain bike, only because I noticed there was no active work being done and the snowdrifts are manageable (otherwise it's not a good idea and I assume it is somewhat illegal). It's paved and it's billiard-table smooth. The distance from the Country Hills interchange to the Harvest Hills interchange is about 11 km, so good enough for a 20 km out and back with some interesting elevation gains. You can even use the same side for both directions as it's 3 lanes wide so lots of turnaround space. You can't extend the course further east from Harvest Hills Blvd because that is (and will be) a level crossing with Harvest Hills Blvd.

The Northeast section from Deerfoot to 17 Ave SE is supposed to be 21 km with no level crossings, so good enough for a 40km ITT.

I guess it would need cooperation from the Province of Alberta (who is building the NW section) and the Stony Trail Group (who is building the NE section), plus a sanction from the ABA to run a race on a "closed" road.

It would be great to have an ITT where you can concentrate on your race and not being hit by cars while riding on the shoulder or at the turnaround... even if it was just this once. Maybe it has media possibilities?

Saturday Ride

Who: You
What: Riding bikes out to Bragg Creek
Where: Meet at the bottom of Edworthy Hill
When: 12:00 noon sharp like Ginsu
Why: Why not?

No Drop and Lots of fun.

Map:
There is parking on the North side of the river from Edworthy park along Montgomery View. Just cross the pedestrian bridge to access Edworthy. "A" marks the bottom of Edworthy Hill.


View Larger Map

Sun social ride.

Hey everyone, I am new to the team and hoping to get some people together for a ride on Sun afternoon.  I am thinking of leaving the Royal Oak Co-Op parking lot at 12:00 noon.  Ride length depending on weather of course, maybe out to Cochrane and back on Old Retreat Road (RR 262).  If some wish to ride further, possible ride to Cochrane with the group and depart from there?  I would like the no drop rule to be in effect, does not mean cannot go hard... just wait up at the next intersection or at the top of the hill.  This way everyone can stay together.  Any takers?

Harley.

2008 56cm Cervelo R3 for sale

For Sale: 56cm 2008 Cervelo R3 with Dura Race groupo. This bike was used for 4 months and is in basically new condition.

Contact: dukyle at yahoo dot ca

Asking $3,500

Part: DuraAce Team kit
Fork: 3T Funda
Seatpost: FSA SLK 32.4mm
Shift/Brake Levers: Shimano DuraAce STI
Front Derailleur: Shimano DuraAce
Rear Derailleur: Shimano DuraAce
Cassette: Shimano Ultegra 12-25
Chain: Shimano Ultegra
Brake Calipers: Shimano DuraAce
Crankset: FSA SLK Light MegaExo Carbon
Bottom Bracke:t FSA SLK MegaExo
Headset: FSA / Cane Creek
Stem: 3T ARX Team
Handlebars: 3T Ergosum TEAM
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Gel Flow
Wheels: Shimano RS20
Tires: Vittoria Rubino Pro Slick

Admin stuff

Here is a link to the final version of the jacket. All the clothes have a similar theme. I am really happy with these.

Make sure to send in your spreadsheet for the SUUNTO night tomorrow night.

Make sure to let Lachlan know you are coming on Thursday night.

If the weather forecast is right, get the hell outside on the weekend. However, if you want to do a group ride, you better get your race license in order. Most of you should have applied by now. If you haven't, you may be behind the eight ball if the weather turns in our favour. GET ON IT!  (Edit) Harley had me check with Kipp about this and indeed, we only need to be registered club members to be covered by insurance. However, I would recommend you get on getting your race license as soon as possible anyway.

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Banff Bike Race

Although this race isn't until June, race registration is quite early. Schedule your calendars for for the Banff Bike Festival. Registration info to come soon.


http://www.banfflakelouise.com/index.php//events-and-festivals/bike-fest

Sprinting and Strategy Workshop #1

I'm going to run what will hopefully be a multi-evening workshop on sprinting and associated strategies. It'll be aimed at those new to racing, but all Speed Theorists are welcome.

When: 6:30pm to around 8pm, Thursday, March 12th

Where: My house, 1432 29 St SW. Depending on numbers and weather, we'll either be in the garage or basement. Plenty of street parking.

Bring you usual spinning gear: road bike, trainer, post-spin food and drink

For this first round, we'll talk about the theory during a half-hour warmup, then do a few drills. Don't worry if you're not "a sprinter" (take a look at me!), this workshop should be useful for anyone doing crits or road races this year. Try to avoid getting beat-down in the 24 hours prior, so your muscles can handle some big-gear mashing. Hopefully next time we can start thinking about getting on the road.

Leave a comment if you're in.

Lockie

[Editor's (Trev's) note]: I really hope the Cat5 and Women contigent of our membership take advantage of these workshops and support them with their attendance.

Penticton Training Camp.

Ryan has put together a great document explaining the camp and I filled out the rides. It is ambitious, but if we hammer as hard as we can all the time, we may JUST have enough sunlight :)

Here is a link to the document.


NOTE: If other club's members want to join us, that would be great. But all must be valid ABA license holders.
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Spin Class Suunto Demo Night

Here is the spread sheet that you need to fill out and send back to get ready for the suunto demo night.

Download spreadsheet http://tinyurl.com/acqwb7
Fill it out
Save it
And send it as an attachment to suuntodemo@kaagency.ca with 'March 11th DEMO' as the subject.

Here is a video showing you what is going to happen.

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Time Trial Warm Up

This is from Jason McCartney's bike at Solvang - his warm up sequence for the 15 mile TT. Use with caution.

Photo is borrowed from Weight Weenies. Not mine.

Tucson Bicycle Classic

Hi everyone.

Some of you know I've been here in Tucson for the last ten days or so. I've been putting in some miles, enjoying the sunshine and doing a little racing.

Since I've been flying the ST colours down here I thought I'd update you all with a brief race report.

I didn't bring a proper TT bike for the prologue so I started the weekend at a serious disadvantage. The road race the next day was my best chance to jump forward in the GC but a moment of inattention caused me to lose contact with what ended up being the winning break.
Today in the circuit race, however, there was no mistake. I initiated the break. Took the time bonus at the midway prime and drove the breakaway to the final strait where I out sprinted my break-mates for the win.

In the end I didn't quite make back all the time I needed for a money spot on the GC podium but it sure was nice to have a good race so early in the season. Usually I have to wait for Cyclocross.

Anyway. I'll be home midweek and I'll be bringing the warm weather with me. It's time to put those trainers away and get outside for some real riding.

Keith Bayly

Sunday Morning Spin

I am covering Scott Curry's spin class again this Sunday, March 8th. The class starts at 9am (NOTE: We change our clocks this weekend!).

All SpeedTheorists are welcome, since he only had like 6 of his spinners there last time. I will have the first stage of Paris-Nice streaming live if it is broadcast at the same time. I think the first stage is a TT.

Leave a quick comment if you plan on attending so I get a general feeling of numbers.

UPDATE:  Unlike last time where Scott just gave me vague guidelines. This morning he actually gave me a workout. Looks like it will be a fairly straight forward set for us. But it will slot in nicely between a hard Sat. and a hard Mon.   Here is the workout:

15min warm-up

15min (single leg drill, 3x1min on/30both; 2x 30sec build cadence with SLD/1min both normal cadence)

10min HR1-2

2x(15min of alternating 2min HR2/1min HR3,...followed by 5min HR1 standing every even minute - goal is to recover even while standing)

2x(15min of alternating 1min HR2/2min HR3, followed by 5min HR1, standing every even minute)

5-10min cooldown

His group then does some core and then a transition run.

Tom:  It would be great to meet some of your garage gang. I know we can fit a lot of dudes in there if we have to. We will put Alex and Rob up on the mechanic bench if we have to. Rob has been asking to workout up there for months anyway.

LOOK for sale

My friend Kevin is selling a 2007 LOOK 586 (L). He says:

"Frame colour is black the seat mast and steerer tube have not been cut. This bike has not been ridden.
Looking for $3200 CAN obo for the frame.


dimensions: http://www.lookcycle.com/products/


I will part with the full bike if I can not sell the frame @ $5400 obo: Full SRAM red: 53/39 front & 11-26 rear, w/ 175mm cranks, Easton EA70 bars (42cm) and 110mm stem, Easton EA90sl wheels, Fizik Aliante seat.

It's getting listed on PinkBike on Monday."