cycling

Saturday the weather wasn't supposed to be that great, but I wanted to get out on my bike any way. Thankfully the weather cooperated and I didn't get rained on.

My plan was to get out for 2 hours, and I had hoped to get to Cadboro Bay Village. I hit the time mark, but ended up going past where I thought I was going to get to. Bonus!

My kneed felt pretty good for most of the ride, though for a small section on the return trip I started to feel something that had me worried. I stretched a bit, and it seemed to go away.

It is lovely to be out on my bike these days, and I hope that I can keep it up. I am looking forward to getting on the the hills and doing some hard workouts!

The only downside was that I saw a car turn in front of a cyclist, and the cyclist struck the passenger side of the car. Down the rider went. Yikes. Thankfully she was ok.

View TDV 2013 Training May 11, 2013 in a larger map
Total distance: 52.22 km (32.4 mi)
Total time: 2:04:59
Moving time: 2:03:11
Average speed: 25.07 km/h (15.6 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 25.44 km/h (15.8 mi/h)
Max speed: 61.70 km/h (38.3 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.39 min/km (3.9 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.36 min/km (3.8 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0.97 min/km (1.6 min/mile)
Max elevation: 328 m (1075 ft)
Min elevation: -46 m (-150 ft)
Elevation gain: 1745 m (5727 ft)
Max grade: 102 %
Min grade: -31 %

Last Wednesday I rode to work. Wow, not a lot of riding has happened since the Tour de Victoria and I sure noticed it. Hills were harder and I felt very slow.

View Sept 26 Commute To Work in a larger map

Name: Sept 26 Commute To Work
Activity type: cycling
Description: -
Total distance: 12.83 km (8.0 mi)
Total time: 36:41
Moving time: 32:55
Average speed: 20.98 km/h (13.0 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 23.38 km/h (14.5 mi/h)
Max speed: 55.17 km/h (34.3 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.86 min/km (4.6 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.57 min/km (4.1 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.09 min/km (1.8 min/mile)
Max elevation: 67 m (219 ft)
Min elevation: -7 m (-22 ft)
Elevation gain: 166 m (543 ft)

Name: Sept 26 Commute Commute Home
Activity type: cycling
Description: -
Total distance: 13.05 km (8.1 mi)
Total time: 34:07
Moving time: 31:07
Average speed: 22.95 km/h (14.3 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 25.17 km/h (15.6 mi/h)
Max speed: 57.42 km/h (35.7 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.61 min/km (4.2 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.38 min/km (3.8 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.04 min/km (1.7 min/mile)
Max elevation: 86 m (283 ft)
Min elevation: -7 m (-23 ft)
Elevation gain: 188 m (616 ft)

Looking at the stats, this is definitely slower than my previous rides when I was training.

As the weekend approached, I set up a ride with a friend who is training for Ironman. He was going for a slow ride, and I could join him for as long as I wanted.

We met at the Selkirk trestle then rode along the water to Mitchell Farm. It was a pretty slow pace, and flat, which was nice. I had planned on a 2 hour ride, but as we neared Mitchell, I was feeling pretty good, and I felt like completing a loop instead of an out and back. My friend turned around, and I kept going. I got over to Keating, then came back along Oldfield Rd, Interurban, and Tillicum. I was pretty proud of my ride which ended up being around three hours.

View 29/09/2012 8:31am in a larger map

Total distance: 69.19 km (43.0 mi)
Total time: 3:00:14
Moving time: 2:52:52
Average speed: 23.03 km/h (14.3 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 24.02 km/h (14.9 mi/h)
Max speed: 61.70 km/h (38.3 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.60 min/km (4.2 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.50 min/km (4.0 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 0.97 min/km (1.6 min/mile)
Max elevation: 125 m (411 ft)
Min elevation: -23 m (-76 ft)
Elevation gain: 1347 m (4419 ft)

After looking at the stats I was shocked to see I had gone 70km. Not bad!

Saturday was my last training ride before the event. I had wanted to keep it short, just to keep my legs loose, but a buddy wanted to go for about 100KM as a test to see if he would join the Tour de Victoria. He ended up having to bail on the ride, but I still went along the same route.

What a ride it was too. Slight misty rain falling in a couple places, but otherwise perfect conditions. No rain, not too warm, no wind. My route followed the TdV route for a long way, and I have to admit I felt great. The big hills didn't feel so bad anymore, and the flats I was flying along. In total I did a little over 110KM solo, and my average speed was slightly higher than normal too.

By the end of my ride I was feeling awesome. I didn't feel drained at the end either, which was good. I can say with some certainty now that I feel ready for the big day.

View Tour de Victoria June 16, 2012 in a larger map

View Tour de Victoria June 16, 2012 in a larger map

Total distance: 112.97 km (70.2 mi)
Total time: 4:13:22
Moving time: 4:09:46
Average speed: 26.75 km/h (16.6 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 27.14 km/h (16.9 mi/h)
Max speed: 71.16 km/h (44.2 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.24 min/km (3.6 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.21 min/km (3.6 min/mi)
Min pace: 0.84 min/km (1.4 min/mi)
Max elevation: 237 m (778 ft)
Min elevation: -26 m (-85 ft)
Elevation gain: 2748 m (9014 ft)
Max grade: 101 %
Min grade: -44 %

Today was a good day for commuting. Not too windy, sort of sunny, warm. The only thing I could have used more of was time. I would have loved to have ridden for another hour or more. Alas, I had dinner to get home to, and my route home took a lot less time than I thought it would.

My ride to work was straight there, with no detours. Right out the Goose to Wale Rd, then over to work. Coming home I thought I would do Munns Rd backward from the way I normally do it. The climb to the highest point was pretty hard, and I ended up taking a quick breather at one point. I should have kept pushing, but I wimped out. I didn't exactly have a good nutrition day at work, and I was huffing pretty hard coming up the hill.

The descent was a lot of fun though. Wow. Makes the hard work worth it for sure.

At one point I was approaching a guy who was standing beside a truck. At first I thought he was breaking into it, then I realized he was watching something. When I looked over to the other side of the road, there was a turkey vulture standing there watching me zip by. Boy, those are big birds!

After Munns I got onto the Goose and zipped home at a pretty good clip.

View Commuting June 13, 2012 in a larger map

Commute to work:
Total distance: 13.20 km (8.2 mi)
Total time: 38:12
Moving time: 33:17
Average speed: 20.73 km/h (12.9 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 23.80 km/h (14.8 mi/h)
Max speed: 51.79 km/h (32.2 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.89 min/km (4.7 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.52 min/km (4.1 min/mi)
Min pace: 1.16 min/km (1.9 min/mi)
Max elevation: 83 m (272 ft)
Min elevation: -8 m (-26 ft)
Elevation gain: 206 m (677 ft)
Max grade: 13 %
Min grade: -14 %
Recorded: 13/06/2012 8:07 AM

Commute home from work:
Total distance: 32.70 km (20.3 mi)
Total time: 1:23:41
Moving time: 1:16:01
Average speed: 23.44 km/h (14.6 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 25.81 km/h (16.0 mi/h)
Max speed: 55.39 km/h (34.4 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.56 min/km (4.1 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.32 min/km (3.7 min/mi)
Min pace: 1.08 min/km (1.7 min/mi)
Max elevation: 253 m (829 ft)
Min elevation: -17 m (-56 ft)
Elevation gain: 724 m (2375 ft)
Max grade: 46 %
Min grade: -34 %

Today's ride was all kinds of awesome. The weather was pretty warm, but not sunny, and there was no wind. I think I ate well before my ride, and drank enough water to hydrate well.

For the ride itself I followed the Tour de Victoria course starting from pretty close to the start, out to Metchosin, back over to Munn's, then out the peninsula. I turned onto Mount Newton Cross Rd, then made my way over to the other side for the return trip. I did all this solo too.

I paid attention to my nutrition while riding, and was careful with that. I also paid attention to how my legs were feeling, and back off part way through the ride to try and save something for the end. The other thing I did was try to drink more water. This resulted in me having to stop for a pee break, which is a rare occurrence for me.

I think it paid off though. My goal was 4.5 hours, and I was out there for 5 hours and ten minutes in total. I rode a distance of 125 km, and took in around 1000 calories.

Wow, that felt good to get that distance in. I am now confident that I can do 140km on ride day (which is 2 weeks away). During the ride there will be times I can draft off others to rest and recoup. I have ridden all sections of the course now, and there aren't any surprises hill-wise for me. I was pretty tired at the end of the ride, but not sore, not cramping, and still walking

The only surprises I had were a scrawny fawn that almost bolted in front of me (if it had I would have collided with it), and a dog in the bed of a truck that barked rather loudly when it was right beside my head.

View Tour de Victoria June 10, 2012 in a larger map

View Tour de Victoria June 10, 2012 in a larger map
Total distance: 125.56 km (78.0 mi)
Total time: 5:10:47
Moving time: 5:00:31
Average speed: 24.24 km/h (15.1 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 25.07 km/h (15.6 mi/h)
Max speed: 82.42 km/h (51.2 mi/h)
Average pace: 2.48 min/km (4.0 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 2.39 min/km (3.9 min/mi)
Min pace: 0.73 min/km (1.2 min/mi)
Max elevation: 376 m (1233 ft)
Min elevation: -24 m (-79 ft)
Elevation gain: 3250 m (10664 ft)
Max grade: 118 %
Min grade: -64 %