Monday night at 6:30pm.

If any of you guys are around your computers at 6:30pm on Monday, please go to this website:

This one

and leave a comment if it is working for you. If you can hear the music and me talking. I want to get several different people trying this out to see if it is stable.

We are hoping to start streaming our spins for satellite groups like Tom Kenny's Garage Gang and such.

Trev

Standing Start

Our teammates in recent races.

Well, it seems we had a string of triathlons dominate our recent race coverage. So, as a brief interlude to pure bike racing, here are a few shots of our teammates adding some odd events to bookend cycling.

Broadcasting and recording spin classes.

Does anyone have any experience with a good freeware program and web cam to record and host our spin classes online? As an experiment, I would like to set up a web cam and stream it to Tom Kenny's garage gang (so team members in the south can make it easier to spin) but would like some recommendations on a good web cam (hardware) and a good program to do this (software). Also, any help for implementation would be great.

Study at the UofC HPL

Basically we're interested in looking at the effect of lower body
compression clothing on short duration power performance and sustainability.
Since the testing requires completion of 6 Wingate session over the course
of 2 weeks, we're looking for males fit enough / experienced with high
intensity sprints to complete the whole 2 weeks; sprint/power type athletes
would be preferred but this certainly isn't a requirement. Also, due to
limited sizes of clothing they need to be 5'7-6'1 and weigh >80-85kg.

Contact Graeme Challis if you want to participate in this study.

In response to who? (UPDATED)

[Edit Update] I was sent a 'clarification' email last night that was really insightful and pointed out that my team propaganda post was vacant of some of the facts that prompted this news story as well as some of the history of Alberta Cycling. While my post was meant basically to pump up our team members and get us all excited for another successful race season, I in no way wanted that to be at the expense of other teams. I believe the formation and support of more teams regardless of level and ability only leads to better racing in Alberta and should be encouraged. It also leads to more cyclists on the roads which will also hopefully lead to increased cyclist awareness from traffic. What I failed to include in my original post was the development of young cyclists, of which clubs with funding have had a very active role in for significant periods of time, and of which ST Cycling has been almost non-existent. We have done a good job in getting people racing that may not have had they not had a team like ST Cycling to join, and we have done a great job in teaching them to train and race and act like a race team, regardless of ability. Because we are a team that relies on its own funding, we tend to be predominately a team of racers that have their own means to afford racing, so our grassroots approach starts with riders that are usually not U23. I think having both types of clubs in the province is very important since it targets to distinctly different demographics and gets their butts in the saddle. My original post mainly was meant to state that once we HAVE these riders in the saddle, and because we are primarily a road racing club and can focus on road racing, I think we do the best job of getting our racers training and racing like a team. It has been apparent other clubs have had to start thinking more this way and that can only be good for Alberta Cycling. [Finish Update]

Here is the latest news feed from the ABA. This is great for Alberta cycling. The more teams training and racing AS A TEAM the better.

Personally I hope that Cyclemeisters who are looking to take Cat1/2 riders from existing clubs would spend the same amount of time getting their grassroots program training and racing as a team as well and develop a feeder network for themselves and other high level outfits. Recently Amy Woodward (Bow Cycle Pres) attended one of our team spins to see first hand the value in gathering the team together through the long winter. They are looking to start their own sessions. So it indicates to me that the grassroots development of team and race skills is catching on.

I wonder which team (in recent history) got the ball rolling and the momentum going from the ground up? :) This was the plan from the outset. Our cohesive approach to grassroots cycling and producing great racers within a tight team environment has forced other Albertan teams to respond. Great. The more competition, the better the competition. Let's race!

http://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/cyclemeisters-looking-for-riders/?id=921

.

Rick, the LCD, and a race series.

Guys, have a look at the great work Rick M. did for the club and the store!! In very short order, we will have 2 full-time Computrainers and sometimes 4 set up at the store and will be hosting racing events to keep up our motivation over the long winter. The software allows drafting, pack racing, and head/tail winds, so we can simulate any conditions.

Thanks Rick for doing such a pro job.

The LCD and computer are owned by the club, so if we can get some people interested in learning the software (not just me) and helping me put on a race series or something fun over the winter, that would be super cool. Leave a comment if you are interested in helping out and we will discuss over beers one night how to set up something fun the club can take advantage of.

Dan in Tempe

Dan did the swim in 1 hour 16:45, and the bike in 5 hours 5 mins 8 seconds (roughly 35.5kph for roughly 180 km). And the run in 4:32:57, finishing up at 11:04:48, knocking just shy of an hour off his previous PB!

Great work Slayer!

God Bless Everyone

Team,

Funny experience yesterday.

Debby and I have been doing the regular Ironman village stuff and hanging out, driving around and checking out the local scenes. We went to the Arizona Mills yesterday. I must be the Arizona version of the new mall in Balzac. Anyways, stimulation overload. It is like Disneyland inside a mall. Music blaring from every store and different music in the corridors. Nothing that I can recognize at all though. I am sure the Dave Mustaine lyrics and Kerry King guitar riffs are counter productive for producing commercial spending behaviours.

The central booths are loaded with high pressure sales people. I have not done any world travelling but it must be like markets in Egypt or Turkey. You can't walk anywhere without someone wanting in your pockets. So I was walking down the walkway and I was approached by a guy that was selling protectors for iphones. Very cool scratch resistant stuff. I got suckered in and gave over the phone and was told to come back in 30 minutes. The following is the dialogue of the conversation when I came back to retrieve my phone.

"Here is your phone, all ready to go." (salesperson)

"Cool, I like how you did that, it looks like a good product." (Slayer Dan)

"Your not from around here are you?" (sales dude)

"No, why." (Slayer)

"Your actually nice, your not trying to steal my cash drawer." (sales dude)

"The guys on my cycling team are nice to you. This one time at band camp, I got into an argument with a hockey player and, ....... nevermind" (slayer dan)

"Hey whats with the tattoos, are you like an athlete. Are you an ironman?" (sales dude)

"check this out, this guy is here for ironman" he says to other sales associates.

"What the f#$k is that." says the now approaching sales not dude.

Picture the look of shock on my face now.

"It is a race, with a swim bike and run." says the sales dude who worked on my phone.

I'm standing there in the mall looking at this guy as if he just climbed out from under a rock.

"Are you shape, do you exercise lots?" says the barely functioning adult sales dude.

"Dude, look at my calves. These are so solid they can repel bullets. Look at my quads, this is Hans and this is Franz, they can tear the roof off of your car if your in an accident while you smoking, texting, injecting and whatever else you do when you drive your car! Dude, my body fat is lower then your parents mortgage rate, oh wait, they don't have one and you live on the streets!" (slayer dan)

The mall cops were really nice as they escorted Debby and I to our rental car.

have a great day.

Dan

Racing in the heat question

Team,

Does anyone on the team have experience using salt tabs? I have only used them once in Ironman Canada and have real no experience to draw from.

Yesterday in my training ride my face was covered in salt from the sweat and I am just wondering if it is worth picking up some electrolyte tablets for the race.

If anyone could provide some comments or direction that would be awesome.

Not sure if there is a better way from the prostate cancer foundation to raise money, but I think I have seen the absolute worst collection of mustaches on guys ever. Who thought it was a good idea to raise money by sticking an ugly caterpillar under your nose anyways!

Take care,

Slayer Dan

A little more humor

I found this via a friend on facebook and had to share it with you guys. Hope you laugh as hard as I did.



triplec.ca

Hipsters Discuss Cyclocross

There's been all kinds of bad crash stories on the blog lately, so here's some humour to cheer everyone up. Snagged from the Bike Snob NYC blog.

Slayer in Tempe

While most of us are starting to train again, doing spin classes, cross training, thinking about training again, dogging cars, or if you are Dallas doing epic rides. Our team mate Slayer Dan is still hard at it. He will be doing the Tempe Ironman this Sunday. The weather forecast is 73 and sunny so perfect conditions.

Dan has been training hard right through the end of the race season and is in great shape and ready to go. I am sure there will be an amazing post some time next week.

In the meantime you can follow the race at IronManArizona.com. Slayer is number 720, go time is 7am.

Photo Credit Bing from Saskatoon, great guy who takes pictures every year at Bikes on Broadway

Dude, you should see the other guy...

I am going to consider myself very lucky. You know the classic "car turns left in front of cyclist as cyclist is going straight through the intersection"? Well that happened to me on the way home from work today, but instead of just a close call, I ended up on the windshield, pretty well shattering it and rolling over the car. Now somehow I landed on my feet off to the left side of the car. I was so amazed that I was okay I couldn't believe it. My bike is another story, the wheel no longer being true is just where that begins.

It reminded me of the story last week about the guy from Ridleys and how it's just dumb luck that mine ended up this way.

And all I have to show for it is a little red mark on my knee! Oh and a broken bike.


Edit: Thanks everyone for the comments. I was kind of still reeling from the whole experience last night and I think it still hasn't really hit home yet. I've had a pretty killer headache all day and my neck and upper back are starting to hurt, so I will definitely take your advice about waiting a few weeks for symptoms to show up Trev.

I guess that even though we have the right of way in some situations, it's still important to watch out for drivers for them since they're not expecting to see cyclists. Hopefully we can come to a time where cyclists are common enough in colder and darker weather and we don't have to worry so much about that.

Great Article In The National Post

Speed Theory team member Peter Verburg rode in Levi Leipheimer's Gran Fondo this fall in California. Here is the article in the National Post that he wrote. Sounds like an amazing ride and a great story by Peter. http://www.nationalpost.com/life/travel/story.html?id=2221950

Cross-Country Skiing: Stay Tuned

As Lockie mentioned below, cross-country skiing is great cross-training, and a good break from the boredom of indoor training. I know several Speed Theory folks (including me) ski in the winter, and some others may want to try it out this year. So, once the snow really starts to fly, I propose a Speed Theory ski trip to the Canmore Nordic Centre. Although the snow cover can be a little sketchy, CNC has a few advantages:

1. A nice lodge for warming up and eating lunch.
2. Trails that are groomed for both classic and skate skiing.
3. A good variety of trails for both beginners and more advanced skiers.
4. Lessons available right on site.
5. Lots of good restaurants in Canmore for after-ski food and beverages.

Disadvantages? CNC does charge trail fees.

Anyone out there interested?

Cyclist commuter hit by SUV last night in NW

Does anyone have a name or any info on this. I hate when these things get reported and there is no name associated with it.

Trev

What's your cross-training going to be?

Take it from me...you can't ride hard year-round, and not burn out. Trev is the exception that proves the rule. So what are you going to do for cross-training, to keep fit while you're off the bike?

Cross-country skiing is a good option: a solid leg workout and good cardio for damn sure. We can try organizing something once the snow gets good.

Another option is speed skating. Calgary Speed Skating has introductory lessons for very cheap ($50 total I think?). It's called the Absolute Speed Program, and it runs for 4 sessions. One round of sessions start this weekend. Dates are November 14, 17, 21 and 24. Last year they also did a December program, but my advice is to start early, because the speed skating season is short! You can email calspeed@ucalgary.ca for more info, or go to www.calgaryspeedskating.com.

Edit: here are a couple of pics of my instructor from last year, Alexandra Ianculescu. She's fast.
.

CROSS PROVINCIALS !! (updated with results)

Well, Keith and Sandra and their army of volunteers put on a top notch event to cap the Alberta CX season yesterday. I got to the venue to watch the entire MasterA/B men's race. The field zoomed through the extremely challenging circuit. Thomas, Jared, and Lachlan represented well while Craig Stappler dominated. Then it was up to me and Dallas to fly the colours for the Open event. Both of us had good races, considering neither of us are cross superstars like Schooler and Bunnin. I made it 8 out of 10 laps until I was getting pretty beat down and screwed up an easy corner and fell over. Unfortunately the shift and brake lever caught on a hump or something and snapped the hood in two and the shifter came off in my hand.

Thanks to all the teammates that came out to cheer and heckle. Cross is such a spectator friendly event, it is no wonder they draw huge crowds in Europe.

Let's see some pictures and hear some more stories !!

Results!

KeithStudios was out taking shots, here are his pics. Thank you very much!

Tour de Suisse avec Speed Theory

Last week I rode 500 km over 5 days in the Swiss alps, over many mountain cols. I rented a brand-new Trek Alpha in Geneva, complete with Look Keo pedals (they ask you what cleats you use and they put the pedals on) I had many positive comments about the team kit, and being the end of October the roads were quiet. In Switzerland the roads are billiard-table smooth with nary a pebble, and the motorists are very accommodating. As Ferris Bueller would say, if you have the means I highly recommend it.

Here was the approximate route.

Cyclocross Provincials

Alright,

Just a few days to go. Thank you to those of you who are helping me out this weekend.

RACE REGISTRATION HERE !

I know the tech guide mentions that lapped riders will be pulled from the afternoon men's races.
But after talking to Jim Smith, he feels that he can keep track of the race well enough to allow lapped riders to continue. So, if you or anyone you know was hesitant to register because they didn't like the idea of having their race cut short by the speedy guys at the front, that should not be a problem now. Sign up, race, have fun. This is the last start line of the 2009 season you'll see.

Anyone unable to volunteer or race but still want to make a contribution? Drop off a plate of home baked goodies at the school on Sunday morning.

After this it's four months of easy riding. Yay, winter.

Keith

Winter Tires - What do you use

I've been riding to work for nearly 15 years. I've tried piles of tires for the winter but have yet to find the ultimate tire. I tend to put the bike away if it's too slipper (ice) but try to make it through if it just snow.

So, what do you use? What do you like?