It would appear that its another rainy season. It hasn't stopped raining since may, and before that it rained solid from October on. Give or take a few days of snow. One way or another riding in the rain is un avoidable. I have a one speed bike built just for rain rides but a lot of the time certain workouts require the ability to change gears. Ultimately its meant wearing out break pads and chains a bit more frequent than Id like. So far the biggest up set has been the lack of racing because of the rain. We have already missed a complete night of racing in Seattle due to the 88% chance of rain their forcast listed.
This past weekend was no diferant. Victoria's West Shores Velodrome hosted Track Fest 2012 Saturday. I knew heading over that It was probably going to rain. Along with having a great place to stay I had friends I haven't seen in ages to hang out with if it did rain. The big thing I was excited for was going to watch a real life Triathlon. I've never been to see one witch is supprising since half of the worst bikes I fix all week are Tri bikes. My good friend Laura was racing the Olympic distance. Worked out perfectly so I had a navigator, even if she fell asleep in the car a few times and someone to socialize with on the ferry.
They put me in the hold with the big boys. Parked next to a Timmie's truck, Dream some true!
The plan once we got off the boat was to head right to the track and get a few efforts in. Its been a while sine I've raced there and wanted to sharpen up and remember how to hit the 200m line just right. From there is off to Matt and Cindy's house downtown to settle in, shower up and then grab some grub and a pint. Apres dinner we all went to watch the Harbor Sprints by the water. That was some of the best entertainment I have ever watched. It was a great time! I was stoked to watch "Crazy" Eric race. He's been up in Fort Mac working steady, training hard but not on a track at all. Did pretty well considering.
The next morning was a toss up if going to the track was worth it or not. I was out of the house before anyone else was up, stopped for breakfast and to grab the daily nessesities: Red bull, Gatoraid power, water blah blah blah, and then hit the highway. At the track it was grey but not raining so we all kinda figured what the hell, why not. Because of the pending rain the time table was a bit rushed at times I thought, but we warmed up and got ready as best we could.
Takes me back to training in Melbourne's D.I.S.C, lawn bowls on the infield.
I ended up using my 200m qualifier as pretty much a warm up effort, not ideal but still put me on top with the only rider to go under 12 seconds. What a blisteringly fast day! haha. The surprise of the day was in the scratch race. I was only going to race the first half but ended up really riding it well I thought. In the last five laps three of us got off the front somehow. To be honest I think the bunch let us go! Going into the last lap I ended up on front witch I really did not want but at the same time It gave me a really un fair advantage. Going into turn three I jumped hard and basicly held it to the line. So not only did a sprinter race the Scratch, he won.
The Keirin was the event I was expected to win, my plan was to try and execute a few things I had learnt or wanted to see how it would work. It ended up being a one ride final, no heats so I pretty much had to get it right, or hang my head in shame. It ended up being fairly interesting actually. Right off the start, the most amped rider in the bunch pulled his wheel in the dropouts. Normally there would have been a restart but they did'nt call us off. Bonus! I hate re starts! The two riders I had ahead of me in the wind up decided to flick up track when the motor bike pulled off. Kinda like if they were in front of a scratch race or something. Out side of the fact it would have been a pending relegation it threw me for a loop. I was more worried about who might have taken a leap off the back of the bunch and was now about to crash into them and then me. The pace actually slowed down and everyone seemed to get above the blue line where the waiting game took place. Up until that point I had set myself up with a lot of room ahead of me in case someone came off the back so I could rush into it and get it. It looked more like an 8 man match sprint I think where in the last 100meters I decided I'd better make a go of it.
I stayed out of the Miss and Out. Its kinda like red wine to me, its not my thing. And besides that I wanted to save my high octane for the match sprinting coming up after the lunch break. Too bad during the lunch break it started to pour rain and the event was called off. At least in the end of it all we got to race, and that's way more fun that sitting on the couch after doing a roller workout instead!
Yup, one of those days
I headed back to my friends place where Matt, who makes amazing dinners by the way, worked on the best spaghetti and meat sauce I have ever consumed. Not only was I already tired but I was now in a food coma from all the pasta I usually stay away from. This made watching Kill Bill 1 and 2 back to back tough to do! haha. I think the moment it ended I started snoring. Mind you all four of us were the same.
Sunday was the highlight of my trip over. Other than the fact I was out of bed at 5:30 am to get Laura to the Tri at a decent time I thought it was really cool. Triathlon is defiantly not my cup of tea. I don't have the attention span or will to suffer for that long on end. But I defiantly have a lot more respect for everyone that participates weather its for fun, or to win. It really is a lifestyle not just an activity! Mega props to all! It was neat to see how some people do it for the fun of it so much that they are willing to use it as a fundraiser and wear a green tu tu. I shook hands with a guy at the start area who was lining up wearing board shorts and his swim cap, while everyone else had wet suites on. I was pumped when he was one of the first guys out of the water!
That's a lot of pink swim caps, wet suits, and definatly urin.
Granted the cycling end of it really wasn't that exciting compared to what I live on these people came in from a decent hard ride, laced up their shoes and then ran! Now that is just crazy to me! The top finisher in the half Iron distance finished in just over 4 hours. He crossed the line holding what I would assume is his baby, if it wasn't his If your missing a baby Id maybe ask him. He crossed the line running his he only ran a couple of kilometers. Ridiculous! I was pleased to see Laura made it to the line in decent time too! Tough as nails!
This guy was watching the start with me. What up dog.
Bit windy, don't cha think? If you look closly you can see the white caps on the lake they had to swim in
The car dork in me has prevailed. By far next to my car this was the coolest thing here! Datsun pick up with newer Nissan wheels
The trip was coming to an end un fortunatly. We stopped at Floyd Diner, downtown for the biggest burger I have ever seen or consumed. But soon after shot back up to the ferry. For once I was ok with paying the over height charge as it meant I didn't have to sit in a waiting line and miss the boat that was loading as we arrived! So much win! There were whales on the way home, I think I saw a fin of one but was more impressed at how if you look at the waves long enough and then look at the floor it looks like the floor is moving.
check out the exhaust tip on that one!
Once I got Laura back to her place in Van it was time to blast back home to Langley and get some sleep. A couple long days back to back really takes it out of me. And I defiantly wanted to be back training as normal by Tuesday. With any luck I'll make it back over to the island to race one or two more times this year to race. We hope the sun comes out. Its defiantly not the fastest track with its sand paper like surface but racing is fun no matter where it is or what you're on.
Its been a slice, of whatever kinda pie you like!
They put me in the hold with the big boys. Parked next to a Timmie's truck, Dream some true!
The plan once we got off the boat was to head right to the track and get a few efforts in. Its been a while sine I've raced there and wanted to sharpen up and remember how to hit the 200m line just right. From there is off to Matt and Cindy's house downtown to settle in, shower up and then grab some grub and a pint. Apres dinner we all went to watch the Harbor Sprints by the water. That was some of the best entertainment I have ever watched. It was a great time! I was stoked to watch "Crazy" Eric race. He's been up in Fort Mac working steady, training hard but not on a track at all. Did pretty well considering.
The next morning was a toss up if going to the track was worth it or not. I was out of the house before anyone else was up, stopped for breakfast and to grab the daily nessesities: Red bull, Gatoraid power, water blah blah blah, and then hit the highway. At the track it was grey but not raining so we all kinda figured what the hell, why not. Because of the pending rain the time table was a bit rushed at times I thought, but we warmed up and got ready as best we could.
Takes me back to training in Melbourne's D.I.S.C, lawn bowls on the infield.
I ended up using my 200m qualifier as pretty much a warm up effort, not ideal but still put me on top with the only rider to go under 12 seconds. What a blisteringly fast day! haha. The surprise of the day was in the scratch race. I was only going to race the first half but ended up really riding it well I thought. In the last five laps three of us got off the front somehow. To be honest I think the bunch let us go! Going into the last lap I ended up on front witch I really did not want but at the same time It gave me a really un fair advantage. Going into turn three I jumped hard and basicly held it to the line. So not only did a sprinter race the Scratch, he won.
The Keirin was the event I was expected to win, my plan was to try and execute a few things I had learnt or wanted to see how it would work. It ended up being a one ride final, no heats so I pretty much had to get it right, or hang my head in shame. It ended up being fairly interesting actually. Right off the start, the most amped rider in the bunch pulled his wheel in the dropouts. Normally there would have been a restart but they did'nt call us off. Bonus! I hate re starts! The two riders I had ahead of me in the wind up decided to flick up track when the motor bike pulled off. Kinda like if they were in front of a scratch race or something. Out side of the fact it would have been a pending relegation it threw me for a loop. I was more worried about who might have taken a leap off the back of the bunch and was now about to crash into them and then me. The pace actually slowed down and everyone seemed to get above the blue line where the waiting game took place. Up until that point I had set myself up with a lot of room ahead of me in case someone came off the back so I could rush into it and get it. It looked more like an 8 man match sprint I think where in the last 100meters I decided I'd better make a go of it.
I stayed out of the Miss and Out. Its kinda like red wine to me, its not my thing. And besides that I wanted to save my high octane for the match sprinting coming up after the lunch break. Too bad during the lunch break it started to pour rain and the event was called off. At least in the end of it all we got to race, and that's way more fun that sitting on the couch after doing a roller workout instead!
Yup, one of those days
I headed back to my friends place where Matt, who makes amazing dinners by the way, worked on the best spaghetti and meat sauce I have ever consumed. Not only was I already tired but I was now in a food coma from all the pasta I usually stay away from. This made watching Kill Bill 1 and 2 back to back tough to do! haha. I think the moment it ended I started snoring. Mind you all four of us were the same.
Sunday was the highlight of my trip over. Other than the fact I was out of bed at 5:30 am to get Laura to the Tri at a decent time I thought it was really cool. Triathlon is defiantly not my cup of tea. I don't have the attention span or will to suffer for that long on end. But I defiantly have a lot more respect for everyone that participates weather its for fun, or to win. It really is a lifestyle not just an activity! Mega props to all! It was neat to see how some people do it for the fun of it so much that they are willing to use it as a fundraiser and wear a green tu tu. I shook hands with a guy at the start area who was lining up wearing board shorts and his swim cap, while everyone else had wet suites on. I was pumped when he was one of the first guys out of the water!
That's a lot of pink swim caps, wet suits, and definatly urin.
Granted the cycling end of it really wasn't that exciting compared to what I live on these people came in from a decent hard ride, laced up their shoes and then ran! Now that is just crazy to me! The top finisher in the half Iron distance finished in just over 4 hours. He crossed the line holding what I would assume is his baby, if it wasn't his If your missing a baby Id maybe ask him. He crossed the line running his he only ran a couple of kilometers. Ridiculous! I was pleased to see Laura made it to the line in decent time too! Tough as nails!
This guy was watching the start with me. What up dog.
Bit windy, don't cha think? If you look closly you can see the white caps on the lake they had to swim in
The car dork in me has prevailed. By far next to my car this was the coolest thing here! Datsun pick up with newer Nissan wheels
The trip was coming to an end un fortunatly. We stopped at Floyd Diner, downtown for the biggest burger I have ever seen or consumed. But soon after shot back up to the ferry. For once I was ok with paying the over height charge as it meant I didn't have to sit in a waiting line and miss the boat that was loading as we arrived! So much win! There were whales on the way home, I think I saw a fin of one but was more impressed at how if you look at the waves long enough and then look at the floor it looks like the floor is moving.
check out the exhaust tip on that one!
Once I got Laura back to her place in Van it was time to blast back home to Langley and get some sleep. A couple long days back to back really takes it out of me. And I defiantly wanted to be back training as normal by Tuesday. With any luck I'll make it back over to the island to race one or two more times this year to race. We hope the sun comes out. Its defiantly not the fastest track with its sand paper like surface but racing is fun no matter where it is or what you're on.
Its been a slice, of whatever kinda pie you like!
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