CrankMasters…Bruised, Battered but no DNF!!!

Sorry for the delay in posting but I needed some time to figure out how I could put a positive spin on a dreadful weekend of Stage Racing.

The final stage was a short ride of 160km with a total of four mountain passes. I had the misfortune of getting popped on the first pass and then soloing for the remaining 120 km to the end of the race as well as having the distinction of finishing absolute last. It wasn’t all bad as I had the sweep wagon tail me the whole distance and I had my very own cheering section and shouts of encouragements as I refused to DNF and continued riding the race. Needless to say but my position on the GC plummeted to near basement status!!!

Unfortunately Mike popped on the second pass and he to soloed in the rest of the way to finish the race.

Twelve riders DNF this stage!!

It was a tough race but well organized and the people, the town and the other riders were great. I am already making plans for next year!!!

Final GC
Mike 41st at 10:35:13
James 45th at 10:52:21

Riders finishing all stages, 48. from 66 who started on Friday.

Trev CRUSHES competition

Trev, we missed hereing about your Prestige Half Ironman.

Thought the Team should know that Trev absolutely CRUSHED the field at Prestige Half Ironman.

Swim: 32:32 (I heard he hasn't been swimming much - that's awesome - 13th overall)
Bike: 2:17:29 (Fastest bike time by 10 minutes - if distance was correct 40 km/hr pace)
Run: 1:22:43 (Second fastest overall - 6:30 min/mile pace - I'm still trying to run a 10k at that pace)
Total 4:12:43.3
Next fastest guy came in at 4:33.

Sorry guys, this is my first post - still don't know how to attach the results. They are on the Winning Time website.

Ride with Trev on Thursday

Hey guys, I will be doing the exact same thing as we did last Thursday this Thursday. It was super fun and we all had great workouts. 3 X Cochrane Highway hill.

I will have a lower gear this time so I can spin with you boys !

Meet at my house at 7pm.

Trev

Three posts in quick succession.

Please read all three new posts below.

It's like Pete, Rob, and I all decided to post at the same time.

BTW: Pete, wicked pic !!

Update: Race Results:
Trev Williams: 1st Place Prestige Half-IM
Pete Lawson: Qualified for ITU Worlds in Hamburg
Mike Healy: 2:33:40 5th (50-54 Age category)

Devon Cat 5 Race Report

Ok, I want to keep this short due to Pete's Awesome ITU race report below.

This weekend I snuck up to Devon for the Devon Grand Prix hosted by Juventus. First off, Juventus did a great job and it was a riot. I only competed in the Hill Climb and Crit but this race is a must for us next year. The crit is flat, fast and wicked fun while the hill is short, steep and perfect for power climbers.

The HC was decent, I managed to finish 7th in Cat5. The Crit was good times. Without any backup I resorted to lurking for a few laps before launching a nasty acceleration to drive the pace up and help out the local favourite Austin. Austin may be the only person I have met to race in a t-shirt and aviators but he was wicked fast. After that I fell off and pulled for the chase pack until I was lapped.

I think Frank and Steve may have hammered out the ITT on Sunday but I was happily sleeping in.

Stampede Road Race..Registration

Please read Pete's race report below, I didn't mean to overpost him so quickly.

OK guys.. our next big race is the Stampede Road Race. This will be fun as we all get to race together. It is a great opportunity for the Cat5ers to experience what racing in the upper Cats is like.

I would like to lead a few rides up there so you guys aren't under the gun in terms of terrain. I will show you guys where the attacks typically occur and show you where to be and how to avoid being spit out the back. Does this sound good? Let me know.

Go to http://www.calgarycycling.com/racing/pm_stampede/pm_stampede.html and register, and then leave a comment here that you are signed up.

Don't be too intimidated, if you get dropped, it was still a good time and a great workout, and then take pictures for the rest of our crew still in the race.

Trev

Edmonton BG World Cup race report

On Sunday I competed in the Edmonton BG World Cup Triathlon (Olympic Distance).

Mike Healy was also at this event but I didn't see him afterwards to see how his race went. You were looking strong on the run mate!

This was a huge day of racing and not just for the Pros.

The day also consisted of The Pan Am Junior Championships, Olympic and Sprint Triathlons and a 5 mile road race all in celebration of the 10th and final year of Edmonton as the host city.

There were lots of qualifying spots available for the World Championships in both the Olympic and Sprint distances so many folks brought their "A game".

But first, on a personal training note, let me say that tapering is tough.. not so much physically but I never fully appreciated the emotional and mental aspects one "endures" when experiencing a proper taper.

I was feeling great the week leading up to the race and thought many a time "oh I'll just go for a quick spin or I want to ride with my friends tomorrow"... stick with the plan!!...

"My" plan called for no activity 4 days pre race aside from stretching... lots and lots of stretching... and some core work. I wanted to come into this event with my legs fully fresh and my body fully rested.

I've never done this before... a long taper like this... and honestly it wasn't even a "proper" taper as many training programs call for.. but I wanted to listen to my body and it was telling me to rest and stretch.

As it turned out I was very happy that I did listen.

I've never done an Olympic distance Triathlon before and honestly didn't know what to expect in the way of time so I sort of "guessed" at some time goals where I hoped to hit.

Thinking about it in the days leading up to the race I would have been extremely happy with a time of 3:15:00 'ish .

Considering my lack of swimming and questionable run fitness but my strengths on the bike, I felt this was a realistic goal.

No pressure though.. this race was really about celebrating life and my journey coming full circle.

That said, what I achieved yesterday went beyond my wildest expectations.

Pre-race:
Up at 4am, ate and spent about 60 min stretching. By 6:30am I had made my way to the venue and was setting up in transition.

The Pan Am Junior Championship went at 7am so that was a great distraction and before I knew, it was time to wriggle into my wetsuit and make my way to the beach.

Swim:
Because of my shoulder tendonitis injury I was quite worried about the swim. I hadn't done any "serious" training in the pool since February and any pool time I managed to log in the past 10 weeks was relegated to just doing TI drills and working on my balance in the water etc.

Obviously resting the shoulder paid off because aside from the typical "human washing machine" of arms and elbows to the head I enjoyed a wonderful swim, no shoulder pain and posted my fastest 1500m split ever!

Swim 1500m: 00:28:13 (PB)

T1: is teh suck!
Need to try and improve this time.. spent several min limping the 200m from the beach to transition (will need to see if I can wear sandals or something next time I have to walk this far.. my left foot was in spasm after this)

T1 : ~ 7 min :(

Bike:
I really wanted to lay the hammer down on the bike course as that's been my primary focus of training since April. I logged over 1000 km in May on the bike and know that right now I'm enjoying the best bike fitness of my life. Joining the Speed Theory Cycling Team has also helped with my confidence and handling skills and I just knew today would be a great day!

And it was...

I laid it down on the bike course and posted my fastest 40km split ever!

Bike 40 km: 1:08:00 (PB)

Mental note: I probably didn't need to carry the extra water bottle.

So a bottle of H20 and Gatorade looks to be enough for me.

T2:
no worries, off the bike and on the run course in short order

Run:
This was the leg that worried me the most.

During my LSD runs this spring I was working on taking in Gatorade and gels. Even bought a fancy schmancy fuel belt and wore it yesterday.

My run plan called for water and Gatorade at 10 min intervals respectively then a gel at the 30 min mark.

I also stuck to my 10 and 1 plan. Run 10 min, walk 1 min.. REGARDLESS of how I feel!!

Again this worked out really well as I posted my fastest (ever... even before my accident) 10km split!!

Run 10 km: 1:04:12 (PB)

At the end of the day what I achieved went beyond my wildest dreams.

2:47:44

On top of it all, I had the incredible honour of qualifying in my category (AWAD) for the National Age Group team and will be representing Canada at the Triathlon World Championships this September in Hamburg.... and (from what the ATA people were saying yesterday) the 2008 World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver next June!

All told it was an incredible experience and I'm looking forward to firing it up on the bike with the team the rest of this summer!

cheers

edit added:

Thanks for the worlds of encouragement guys!

Last week, in lieu of the race, the Edmonton Journal did a story on some of the disabled athletes competing including my friend Kim Wedgerfield (Last year she instilled in me the idea that I could "tri" again) and myself.

Please click on the link to view the article.


http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/story.html?id=89e98291-9df9-4d41-81de-119fb3031b0f&k=82698

CrankMasters bounce back...just a little!!!

Well another hard day of racing but we did better today than yesterday.

The TT came first. Strong head winds and a rolling coarse made the 16.5km route challenging.
I ended up in 18th place and Mike was 28th out of 66 riders.

The Crit....so fast...with the wide streets we were hitting the turns in the low 40's!!!
I finished with the bunch and Mike was popped off the back with three laps to go. We both stayed up-right so the race was a success.

GC
James in 36th place
Mike in 37th place

Thanks for the support guys it really helps.
James

The big one tomorrow....160km of pain.

CrankMasters POP under pressure!!!!!

After what started as a great race with perfect positioning and stealth like riding both Mike and I popped just after the feed zone. The heat (90 degrees+) just took it's toll as well as the surprize attack through the feed zone that we were unable to counter. We picked up people on our way back and made a vain attempt to rejoin the group but it soon became appearant that wasn't going to work and our small group fell apart. We did our best to limit our losses but any hopes of the GC are out the window as Mike finished in 37th place 17:39 down and I finished in 39th place 20:52 back. We are baffled as to how a race could fall apart so fast when everything was going so well in the beginning!!

So now we are on the hunt for stage wins, the TT and Crit are being held tomorrow.

TdF Pool

Guys, this is the coolest thing to happen to Calgary since our last pool. Get in on it. Do it.

It's for a good cause and is super fun. Drop your 20 spot down at SpeedTheory and hop on the pool train.

For the record: I will probably win.

http://calgarytriandbike.blogspot.com/2007/06/tour-de-france-pool-contest-details.html

Go to the link and do it.

Trev

Thursday's Ride with Trev.

I am prepping for the Prestige Half Iron on Sat, but this would be a perfect workout for anyone racing on Sunday.

Meet me at my place at 7pm. This isn't much later than meeting at Extreme Bean at 6pm, since we leave so close to Cochrane.

Plan:
EASY small chainring spin to Cochrane.
3 X ( Highway Hill from Cochrane Pursuit style, 10min rest)
Easy ride home.

Please tell me if I should wait around for you.

Trev

Tuesday Night Training Ride

Alright Team. Something a wee bit different this evening. Meet at the Bean for 6:30. Mosey over to Edworthy Hill where we can practice some 1000m Hill-o-rama. Now, with people heading out for Triathlons this weekend, stay on your plans! We want you to kick ass on the weekend.

Devon Stage Race and Training Rides

Well Team, the Devon stage race is upon us. With a Hill Climb and Crit on Saturday and a TT on Sunday this should be a good chance for some of our crew to pick up points. At this point, post a comment if you're racing this weekend so we can set up some strategy (via encrypted email). As well, I'd like open the door to some training ride suggestions for the week. I think some hills and perhaps a TT ride would be good (we also have the Team Time Trial on the horizon so we should start picking our race partners)

Lastly, a huge props to the Ryan and Alex for representing at the Crit this weekend. Also, a mad thanks to Mike and Ernie for cheering on the team. It's good to see the E-train out and about.

Elbow Falls HC pictures (a few anyway)

This is my fist time to try posting pictures, we'll see how it goes.

Everyone ready to suffer?

Rob at the line

Lining up

The A-train arriving

Feeling Fine!
Rob rolls in to the line

Post race discussion about loose gravel, rough pavement, false flats, bear attacks, yada yada yada.

Thanks to the Crankies for putting it on!

Matt.