Tour de Victoria Training

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 %

Lat Tuesday I hit the pool for another swim workout. I am feeling pretty good in the pool, but now I want to work on my leg strength, so I think for my next swim I will grab a board and just kick for a few hundred metres. This particular swim though I manged 800.

After the swim I felt the delicious drained feeling. My body certainly got a workout. I've decided that I also want to learn how to do the flip turns. Of course, after seeing Rick Mercer try them, maybe I will hold off a bit

On Friday I managed to get onto the trainer for a hard workout. After a five minute warmup, I alternated pushing a hard gear at slow RPM's with a 1 minute recovery window. That sure got the heart rate up, but at the end of it, I didn't feel like I had done much work. I should have ridden longer, but unfortunately that was all the time I could squeeze in.

Yesterday, while in Nanaimo, Sue and I got out for a nice ride. We took the parkway trail from Mom's house and headed south. I pushed a pretty hard gear as much as I could. My goal is to build up my legs strength in training, then when the Tour de Victoria is on, I can run in a lower gear with higher RPM. We'll see how that plays out.

As we went through Colliery Dam Park, I thought my bike felt a little off. I glanced at the rear wheel and thought it looked a little low. Sure enough, it was going flat. We emerged from the park, and I set about fixing it. With no spare tube (I had to put the spare on my bike earlier), I patched the hole, and used my CO2 to fill the tire.

Thankfully the patch job held or I would have had to call someone for help. The weather for the ride was pretty nice too. I was glad the rain held off, and we even had some sun along the way.

Some time when in Nanaimo, I'd love to figure out some nice roads to ride on so we can get off the parkway trail. It's OK, but there are some brutally steep sections, and isn't really that scenic.

Yesterday I headed out for a ride with D. He brought his fast bike out, which had me a little intimidated. Sure enough, he outrode me pretty much everywhere. This could have been demoralizing, but instead I am taking it as a cue that I need to get better prepared for the Tour de Victoria. I have three months to get ready. I have to step up my training.

The ride was just over 60KM. On the return trip my legs were starting to feel a little fried. I did not managed my nutrition while riding very well, which may have played a part in this. Instead of following the water all the way back, I parted ways with D, and tried to find a quicker, and flatter, way home.

It was at this point that I really started slowing down. I just had no power left in my legs to really keep rolling. Here is the route.

Last night I went swimming for the first time in a

while. The plans was for a family swim. One parent does a workout, while the other plays with the kids, then we switched.

The plan worked out well. The kids had fun, and both Sox and I got our swim in.

My problem was that I ate dinner too close to when I swam, and I didn't feel very good for most of the swim. Still, it felt good to be in the water, and I managed 700m.

Post swim, while sitting on the couch, the whole body tired began to settle in. It is a good feeling that I get from swimming, and from mountain biking (sometimes). I still feel some muscles this morning.

This is the start of my Tour de Victoria training for 2012. Woohoo!

Sunday was my last training ride for the Tour de Victoria. I was supposed to go Saturday, but since I got back from Vegas I had been battling some weird cold that had me feeling pretty drained. I didn't especially feel like getting out on Sunday either, but I forced myself to go for two hours.

My main goal was to hit Prospect Lake Road again. I had only ridden it once and it seemed like I should do it again. I felt gross most of the time, but I did my two hours. My legs felt pretty dead, like there was nothing in them, much like when I rode in Vegas. I'm on the mend now though, and I know that the training I have done to date will sever me well for the ride.

Only a few more days until the big event.

View Tour de Victoria, May 22, 2011 in a larger map

Total Distance: 44.82 km (27.8 mi)
Total Time: 1:56:07
Moving Time: 1:50:18
Average Speed: 23.16 km/h (14.4 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 24.38 km/h (15.1 mi/h)
Max Speed: 55.02 km/h (34.2 mi/h)
Min Elevation: -6 m (-20 ft)
Max Elevation: 95 m (310 ft)
Elevation Gain: 628 m (2062 ft)
Max Grade: 20 %
Min Grade: -11 %