Happy New Year !!

"A Double Dose"

As Robert De niro says in Little Fockers "A Double Dose". From the Vancouver Province their selection of the top 30 BC athletes. Ryder Hesjedal & "Fast Legs" Frankie's sister Lauren were ranked 6th & 7th respectively!

Vancouver Province

New Year's Resolutions for cyclists

OK it is that time of year, New Year's Resolutions, you know you've got them, let's hear them.

Here are a few thought starters

I will actually learn how to do a recovery ride
I will actually do some stretching this year
I will learn how to have a conversation that doesn't eventually turn to cycling (though I'm not sure why)
I will subscribe to Cycling.TV
I will follow races more races than just "Le Tour"
I will race more
I will thank volunteers
I will volunteer myself, or provide one
I will read any post that Slayer Dan puts up
I will actually practice bike handling skills
I will pin my numbers on so they don't flap in the wind and irritate other racers
I will give myself up for a team mate, and trust he/she will do the same for me
If Trev is my coach I will do what he says, not more, not less
I will make every effort to have more women racing
I will never, ever get on Godfrey's wheel, it's pointless, no draft!

http://www.localride.ca/wp/2010/12/29/resolutions-for-cyclists/

Bikes Are Outside Toys

Ride a trainer? Hate it? Hell yeah, it's stupid.

Boxing Day. Cadence Cafe. 10 AM.

Cross bikes, money, phone and nothing to get home early for.

Book Review: Bike Snob

Christmas is almost here, and some ST members might need to drop some hints to loved ones for some last-minute stocking stuffers. May I suggest a copy of Bike Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling, as an ideal choice for under the tree. In this fine volume of satire and wit, the author Eben Weiss explains to cyclist and non-cyclists where cycling and cyclists have it all together and where we have wandered off the straight path. For example:

"bicycles do not have souls. I don't care if was hand-crafted beneath the wooden boards of a velodrome by a master craftsman who was standing knee-deep in a pool of chianti while Fausto Coppi himself was doing laps overhead. That bicycle does not have a soul. Riders have souls; bicycles have wheels, and pedals, and occasionally cool paint jobs." (p. 144)

But, the most useful section of the book might be the chapter titled "A Brief Guide to Etiquette for Non-Cyclists", especially the section headed "Don't Ask Us If We're Going to Ride in the Tour de France":

Organized charity rides are a good thing. They raise money for a cause and they provide an opportunity for cyclists who might not ordinarily ride in a large group or go particularly far to do so with support and guidance. However, the negative aspect of the charity ride is that non -cyclists see them and assume that they're races~even though actual bike races involve riders in tight formation traveling at very high speeds, and charity rides are composed of people in sweatpants and pinnies scattered all over the road and barely pushing 14 mph. A charity ride has about as much in common with a bicycle race as a game of kickball has with a major league baseball game. Still, when people see lots of people on bikes they think it's a race, and no amount of arguing, insisting, or photographic evidence will convince them otherwise.

And since anybody can take part in a charity ride, and since people think charity rides are races, naturally people also think that any cyclist can take part in the most famous bike ride in the world, the Tour de France.

The Tour de France is the most elite road race in the world, and only the top professional teams are invited to attend. And even if you're on a top professional team that's been selected to ride the Tour, your director still has to select you for the Tour squad. Nonetheless, there's not a cyclist alive who hasn't been asked by a non-cyclist if they're ever going to ride the Tour de France. I was once asked by a friend if I was going to ride the Tour de France, and when I laughed and replied "No," she scolded me for my bad attitude and told to think positively or else I'd never make it.

Nobody asks their friend who plays pickup basketball if he's going to be in the NBA All-Star game. But for some reason, people don't understand that professional bike racing is like every other professional sport in that it's highly competitive and the athletes are professionals. If the person you're talking to is not highly paid to race his bike full-time he's not going to be in the Tour de France. Instead, look for him at the local criterium peeling his face off the asphalt along with the rest of us. (p. 211-212)

I actually had a conversation almost exactly like that a few weeks ago over dinner with some friends...

Fun video of the race last Sat. ... Silver Springs XC

I had the front camera in the wrong resolution and it isn't wide angle, so the flat running looks a little high, but the rear view is totally cool to watch. The start is pretty neat!

As usual the RoadRunners continue to offer this great way to stay motivated throughout the long winter.

I am race directing the Nose Hill XC on Feb. 12th. Come out for a tough workout and all the food you can eat after all for $10. Or, simply volunteer and get all the food for free! Let me know if you want to help out with marshaling.

Silver Springs XC Dec 2010 from thedoctrine.ca on Vimeo.

Silver Springs X-Country

Speed Theory was represented at the Silver Spings X-Country race today. Trev, Marilyn & Shelley (and Brad from the Crankys!)were all out braving the cold, slippery and challenging conditions.

As usual Trev crushed it, winning the mens race, Marilyn was 2nd in the women's race and Shelley had a really solid run. The footing was quite treacherous with the combination of ice underneath new snow.

Line of the day "you've only got 400 metres to make up... in 400 metres" Trev encouraging Marliyn to try to close the gap on the 1st place women's runner.

Trev went for the double Hero Cam, front and back. Hopefully he will get a chance to post the videos, assuming the batteries didn't freeze up!

Full results should be posted in the next day or so on the Calgary Roadrunners site.

The next race in the "Grand Prix" series is on January 8th at Nose Creek. Great X-training option and a chance to scratch the competition itch in the winter!

Underground Riding Championships #3

What did you do on Saturday night? Something normal like a movie or dinner? Or maybe a night out of town? While you were relaxing, a group of slightly off kilter racers filled Trev's basement with gel, sweat and massive watts... You guessed it, another night of head-to-head computrainer racing was on!

The four heats consisted of groups of six pedaling as hard as they could over the 20.12km course, with an absolutely brutal hill at the end. The first heat and second heats were won by Chris Hooper and Jill Parnell in very convincing fashion. Mark and Wayde dueled to the very end of the third heat with Wayde winning by 3 seconds. After a 'slow' start Frank gradually pulled away and demolished the field in the big boys race.

If you're not feeling enough pain on your weekends, or you're just bored, this is definitely where you should consider spending some time.

URC #4 is tentatively scheduled for Jan 15th so keep an eye on the blog in the New Year as the spots will fill up fast! Be there or be slow in the spring!

Aryeh

"UFC will be a disappointment compared to the women's match!"

Well, I am still in the test phase of the Computrainer Race Series and the action is already starting to heat up! I am excited by the contagious atmosphere it is generating. On Sat. I have 3 heats of 6 racers at a time going toe-to-toe over a 20km course! Pretty fun. The cheering is for everyone and no one doesn't get a great workout.

The quote in the title just arrived in my Inbox and refers to our all women's heat which is super great to see.

I think I have all the bugs out and the Race Series is set to go in the New Year. This is one final test so I don't start up real racing and have issues. If you are curious to see the race action and/or want to stick around for UFC after, then fire me an email and I'll send you the info.

Trev

Club AGM, May Cycling Camp, 'Beginner/Non-Racer' Spin Class up. (UPDATED WITH DATE)

Three things guys,

1.) I hope to hold the AGM on Jan 13th once everything has settled down after Christmas. Please have some ideas and suggestions on how we can evolve. I will post a rough agenda soon and if you would like something on it let me know. Right now, roughly, it will be: 2010 wrap up, solid weekly ride from one location at same time every week (where?), Prairie-Roubaix and JayLap Memorial, rider development, rider recruitment, 2011 vision.

Please sign up for the club soon as it gives us an idea of returning riders and those going pro (Lachlan). Those are the only two choices :)

2.) Ryan and I are starting to formulate May's Team Cycling Camp. I am excited since this has been evolving every year. I have had a great time with the team the last two years and look forward to this. We are thinking May 15 - 21st ISH time frame. TENTATIVE. Campers are welcome to stay for the long weekend and many do, however the hotel I hope to book at doesn't have all the rooms available at that time, so you will have to individually book after the 21st. However, we would like to get an idea of who is interested this year. Please comment if you are interested as I am looking into booking a bank of rooms for the club this year, since I think it would be WAY more fun if we are all located close to each other and hanging out during the small amount of time we are not on the bikes.

I am hoping to host a 'Doctrine' training camp the week prior to our team training camp. May 8 - 13th ISH. TENTATIVE. This will be a fully coached and supported camp that will include evening seminars and be directed at athletes that want to learn the sport in greater detail and how to train and race more effectively.

I will be attending the Team Cycling Camp as a participant who wants to ride his bike LOTS. Not as a coach.

3.) I have opened up registration for the Spin Class I am designing that will be directed toward people who may be fairly new to cycling or have signed up for a charity ride in the summer like the Ride to Conquer Cancer, MS Bike Tour or a Granfondo. If you know of anyone that fits this criteria, then please direct them to this link. The plan is to help people make the decision to actually register for one of these charity rides, and make the prep much less stressful by providing all the info and fitness that will ensure success.

Thanks guys, ensure to leave a comment on the AGM or the cycling camps.

Trev

Pictures are in and ready to pick up.

If you ordered a picture from Mark Kay, they are in and now at Speed Theory. Just ask at the front and then look through the pile. There are some great shots !

Trev

Up, up and away!

I'm super stoked to finally be able to share that I have been picked up by Team H&R BLOCK for the 2011 race year!! It's so exciting to be moving up to race at this new level, with a bunch of crazy-strong dudes. A bitter-sweet part of the deal is that I will be racing out of Montreal: awesome racing, but I'm moving away from a lot of friends.

It has been a totally amazing experience to race with Speed Theory here in Calgary. From my first bike race ever, the Crankmasters' Moment Of Truth, when I met Trev and decided to join the team, to now, has been an awesome experience, and I want to thank every one of you with whom I raced, trained, got pumped up with, and hung out with...all that has been a huge part of why it's been so fun.

So many memories from the last three seasons of racing. A few standouts:
- Definitely seeing the ST crew for the first time at that Crankmasters TT, all cheering each other on, and thinking, I want to be part of that!
- Meeting Stephen on a cool-down ride after my second race. I was nervously riding in a double-paceline and he said "Buddy, you have to get used to riding close in a group" and he put his arm around my shoulders. I freaked out! haha He and I got in a three-man breakaway in the next race.
- Learning new pain thresholds at many Tuesday night crits and cross with German, Bayly, Carson, and lots of others
- C4 Wednesday night series races with Trev, Stephen and Alex (OMG, I'm in a break with cat 2 racers!)
- Lots of KOM battles with Wooley and Welchie, and the associated trash talk
- 300km randonneuring ride/race with Stephen and Trev in Tucson, and bonking with 100km to go
- Training camps in Victoria and Penticton (IMC course followed by Apex! Mt Baldy! Wheelers ride!)
- Epic rides with Stappie, Keith and other hard men...always involving at least 6 hours in the saddle and lots of gravel
- Banff bike fest - living and racing like a pro for 4 days, every year
- Nationals! with Trev, Godfrey, et al

And so many others.

Of course a big thanks to the Speed Theory gents, Jared and Paul, for both the direct support, and indirectly by providing the foundation for the team.

Far out - can't believe I'm trading the desk for the saddle next year! A solid winter of training, then off to Montreal late winter some time. Hopefully I'll learn French before I starve to death - although regardless, without my fat IT paycheck, I foresee lots of canned beans in my future... Lots of time to see you all before I leave, but after that, hopefully I'll catch up with a bunch of you at Nationals, or any time you're out east. And I'll be sure to get in touch when I am back in town down the road.

Pedal hard, and keep the rubber side down.

Ironman Canada Ripoff

Hey guys,

Today I got the following email from Ironman Canada (I'm sure many of you got, or will get it as well).

2011 Subaru Ironman Canada HST ADJUSTMENT Dear Subaru Ironman Canada Entrant, As many of you may be aware, effective July 1, 2010 British Columbia moved to a harmonized provincial and federal sales tax at a combined rate of 12%. This has been a controversial and confusing tax change but it is the law and therefore must be collected on all sale of goods and services. Unfortunately when your entry to the 2011 Subaru Ironman Canada was processed through Active, HST was not collected on the entry fee. This has recently been brought to our attention and we are obligated to collect that tax. To that end, the credit card that you used to enter the race will be charged $69, the amount of the HST on the entry fee. We will begin processing the charges on Monday, November 29th and these will be complete by December 10th. Should you wish to have this charge applied to a different credit card or if the one you used to enter has expired, please contact our athlete services center atadmin@nasports.com or 877-377-2373. We apologize for this error and any inconvenience it may cause. Ironman Canada Triathlon

My initial reaction to this was, WTF?!?!

These guys screw up and then 3 months later inform their customers that they will be charging their credit cards for the screw up? Imagine if Walmart made the same mistake. Does anyone believe that they would be hunting down their customers and telling them, "oops we screwed up, but since we have your credit card info we're going to fix it by charging your card"? All of this is beside the fact that they've already charged GST. We paid $603.75 entry fee. That includes $575 which included GST for the actual entry fee plus a $28.75 convenience fee (don't get me started on that boondoggle). HST is a tax that combines the GST and PST. By any rights, they should only be charging PST which works out to something like $38.50ish.

I've already sent them an email complaining about this and demanding explanations on both how they justify this from a "good business" perspective, as well as how their crack team of accountants came up with the $69 figure.

I encourage everyone who gets the above email from them, or anyone else who's interested, to reply with a complaint and let them know that this terrible business decision of theirs is losing them their customers.

Rant over,

Simon.

2011 Team Membership is up!

Guys, I have opened up Team Membership for 2011. Remember that your current membership ends as of Dec. 31st 2010, and with that any ABA insurance. By registering before the new year, you ensure there are no hiccups in coverage. Also, it gives us a good indication of our team numbers for next year. We will try to get in a clothing order very early this year, as Thomas has a much more efficient way of doing it up his sleeve. I am looking forward to this!

This year we are making sure to return to our roots and focus on grass roots rider development and TEAM development. I hope to host several clinics on training/racing safety and etiquette. I would like to see the women's team evolve into a cohesive unit that can draw on each other for support and motivation. I also plan on introducing a weekly ride similar to the 'Wheelers Ride' in Victoria, that starts every week at the same place, follows the same route, and has a dedicated warm up section, fun section, then spin-it-home section. This ride would be open to all those with ABA licenses and we can use this as a launching pad for experienced racers to help up-and-comers (regardless of team). I learned to ride and race by showing up for the Wheeler's Ride in Victoria every weekend until a year later I completed it with the group !! It was a great resource and was constructive for all those involved, from experienced racer right down to novice. I would like the team to contribute to a resource like that in Calgary.

We are successful because of our unique team atmosphere, I want to continue to foster that while we adapt with the growing numbers. I am confident this can be accomplished with the amazing people we already have in our club.

We are currently applying to host the Prairie-Roubaix and the JayLap Memorial. These will be our only big races. The PR will not be sanctioned and I hope will have the same 'Pure Race' feel as last year. We will contribute to the Wednesday night race series as I see these as another super resource for all levels of cyclist.

The link to sign up for your 2011 membership is here. You do not need to be a current team member or have to get a hold of me to sign up. But you DO need to be motivated to get on your bike!

Thanks, Trev