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Primes are a part of racing that I haven’t been overly interested in as of yet. Recovery isn’t really my strong suit and, as a classically pure sprinter, I tend to get one really good effort in a race, then I am cooked.

So I’m out at the Thursday nighter. My plan for the evening was to ride at the front, lifting the pace when appropriate and perhaps get into some breaks. After four laps of this, the first prime was  called. I was feeling pretty good, so my major thought was to stick near the front and if I got a clear lane, go for it. The final corner of this course is really wide and that night the front stretch had a really nice tailwind. As we rounded the corner, I was in about third place, to the back and right of the guy currently leading. He was looking solidly back over his *left* shoulder to watch someone else.

And he kept looking that way, for several seconds. I’m a pretty good sprinter and I’ve done enough of these races that I get marked now. “Well, if he’s busy watching some other dude, I’m going to make him pay for it.” I stood up and started sprinting, since he was looking the other way, I quickly got a little gap and once he wasn’t in my slipstream, I pretty much had it with 200m to go to the line. First ever prime!

Team Escape Velocity puts on a series of races every spring, the aptly named Spring Series. The first race is a nearly flat 4 corner circuit race in Langley. Specifically, this. Last year’s race was marked by sleet and snow towards the end of it. This year, the forecast called for rain ‘in the afternoon’. I don’t want to give too much away here, but the forecast lied.

Let’s start out with a quick overview of a lap of the course: Go straight with a tailwind. Turn right onto a slightly narrower road. Enjoy a crosswind from the right for a minute or so, then turn right again onto a yet narrower road. This is also dead straight, but undulates slightly with a dip down most of the way through it. Turn right yet again onto the narrowest road in the race, which is also entertainingly the worst pavement in the race. Be bumped and jostled and lose 10m or so of elevation and turn right one final time back onto the front stretch.

I should have remembered this from last year, but the C race at least plays out in such a way that positioning is very important. With the yellow line rule in effect, there consistently is only one good place to move up significantly per lap, coming out of turn 4, onto the front stretch. Generally out of the other three corners, there is the usual acceleration out of the corner, then it slows right down again. As soon as that happens, the pack bunches up and there is no room to pass. The front stretch is a bit wider and takes closer to a kilometer before this happens, so moving up pretty much needs to happen here.

As for how much? Based on the numbers I got from the race, there were consistent accelerations nearly up to 50km/h out of the corners. This slowed down to below 35km/h on much of the rest of the course. What this actually meant was that the accordion effect was somewhat mitigated. Even at the back where you slowed down for the corners, you did not need to hit it too hard to stay on as the field slowed down significantly on a regular basis.

As for my race? The plan was to tailgun for much of it, getting a decent interval workout at the back. If I could position myself well, then try attacking on the last lap or two. I couldn’t position myself and a couple of crashes in the dying moments of the race did not inspire me to take further risks on the wet roads. Finished in the middle of the pack which did break up somewhat in the final metres.

All in all? I’m somewhat happy with it. It’s pretty much the flattest road race of the year for me, which is theoretically good for me, but not terribly exciting. Next week is the Armstrong Road course, which is dominated by a fairly serious climb every lap.

Ottawa has a great series of races each fall and while I knew it was something special, I had hopes that Vancouver would offer a similar number of races. As it turns out, there are a bunch of races, unfortunately, 4 of the 6 in the Lower Mainland are on two weekends as opposed to spread out over the season. Alas.

On the plus side, it’s easier to pretend you are a Serious Bike Racer when you have back to back races, which was kind of cool for me.

Race 1: New Brighton Park

Tough, tough race – Google Earth

Start was paved and slightly downhill into a paved hairpin. Bunny hop up a curb and into a narrow, muddy climb. No need to run up this one. Some up and down twisties then a double barrier for running. Up over some more grass and into some very tight, massively off camber corners where speeds dropped to below walking. Couple more corners, then some deep sand, more grass, two very short steep climbs, if it had been wet, both would have been run-ups, but as it was, riding was possible. Down to more sand and a giant step, then a final climb onto the pavement again.

Tough for me mainly as there was effectively no place to recover. I’m a decent technical rider, but I need to have short sections to ease up for a bit and bring the heart rate under control for a bit. Otherwise, it’s a more pure form of suffering which does not bode well for me. This was the case here. The course was, despite some short punchy climbs, was relatively flat, so there were no extended downhills to ease up a bit. To use some retarded sport dude statement, I was deep in the hurt locker the entire race.

Placed near the back of the pack. On the lead lap though.

Race 2: Vanier Park

More my style and possibly one of the most fun courses I’ve ever raced on – Google Earth

The start on this one was across a flat, hard packed and very bumpy grass field. Quick dismount to get up 6ish stairs and back on to climb up alongside the Planetarium. Winding climb up through the trees, not too steep, but in some thickish grass so it was somewhat of a power climb. Off camber hairpin at the top to drop down to the main part of the course again. Over a bridge and then continue the descent through some fast sweeping corners. Deep gravel hairpin, then some more twisty grass stuff and a couple of barriers on a steep uphill. From there, into what was called the maze. 4 back to back tight hairpins, 2 very off camber. The last part of the course was a hard packed mud out and back and a fun steep downhill into a right/left/right before the finish line.

The nice thing about this course, aside from the lack of places where running was required, was that there were places to recover. The relatively long downhill beside the Planetarium allowed for a few seconds of respite, which I need badly in a ‘cross race. It showed. I finished just behind someone who was nearly 3 minutes ahead of me at New Brighton. I was 2:30 behind the winner at Vanier and more like 6:00 behind the winner at New Brighton. Ended up 14th out of about 40, so not terrible I suppose.

What did I learn here? Not much. I don’t do well in road races that have lots of climbs as I am not terribly good at them. That said, climbing in a ‘cross race seems to be good for me. It means there will be recovery time later. Still, was well above the halfway through the field point at Vanier, so I’m taking that as a good sign.

This probably isn’t a surprise. I also like working and earning money so I can do fun things like eat and ride bikes. When you do not live in the same place that you work, there is a certain class of individual who enjoys bikes and feels that one of the better ways to travel from home to work and vice versa is with said bicycle.

This is the subject of today’s chat.

When I moved to White Rock, I knew that I would most likely be riding my bike to work on a regular basis. I did the usual searching via google and came to the conclusion that not too many people commuted by bike from my neck of the woods to Vancouver. The distance was mildly intimidating, from my work location in Gastown, I was looking at somewhere in the ballpark of a 60km ride one way to get to work. This isn’t an everyday ride for someone like me.

Fortunately, the bus system in the Lower Mainland is pretty good. Bike racks that can take two bikes are found on all buses, which is a great shortcut. My commuting career started by taking the bus to just over the Oak Street Bridge and riding from there. Later I expanded to routes through UBC but knew I was just delaying the inevitable and had to make the attempt to ride the whole way. I have now done the White Rock to Gastown ride enough times that I can make some recommendations to anyone who is interested in doing the same thing.

First, some links:

Cycling Route Planner

White Rock -> South West Vancouver

The Cycling Route Planner is a great resource for general cycling routes. However, I would note that it is far better suited to getting around Vancouver itself. The suggested route it comes up with from White Rock is a bit questionable, though certainly plausible.  The second link is my usual route to get from here to there. Once I hit Vancouver, depending on how I’m feeling I will go through UBC or directly up the Cypress bike route and over the Burrard Street Bridge. There is lots of information on riding around Vancouver, so I won’t talk much about that right now.

This is my getting to work route, coming back would be mildly different to avoid some of the left turns. Starting off, going down 152nd Street to 40th Avenue and turning left, while slightly further than going down King George, allows you to skip the King George/Hwy 99 overpass, which is not the most entertaining of options. The right lane does turn off, which means that a merge across is needed. Not a problem, but sometimes it’s a bit more stressful than I really need at the start of the ride. On 40th, once you hit King George, take a right to the Colebrook road offramp thing just before the overpass and then a left on Colebrook itself to go under the bridge. Colebrook goes along the flats and ends with a right turn and then up the hill. Stay on this road until it ends at 56th Ave and take a left there. Down the hill, take a right on Scott Road and the first leg is done.

I should note that the Colebrook route does involve a 500m long climb at something like 12%. This is a much less busy route than taking King George up to Hwy 10, but it’s worth pointing out. If that kind of hill does not appeal to your knees, continue straight on King George, go through Hwy 10 and use the crosswalk button to cross King George. The left turn lights do not turn for a lone biker, so it can be frustrating if there is traffic, but no cars turning left with you. Take Hwy 10 to Scott Road and take a right. There is a pretty big shoulder along here.

Scott Road, when I ride to work on it at around 7AM is not terribly busy. Your mileage may vary. Take Scott Road to 72nd, up and over the hill and left on 72nd. 72nd -> 116th Street and right. 116th Street is a bike route and is fairly pleasant. Up to 84th and left, finally down to Brooke Road and a right. Take Brooke down to River road and when traffic finally breaks, hang a left.

Depending on how you do this, this next little stretch can be a bit nerve wrecking. There is a lot of truck traffic along this road, though it is wide enough, it does get tight from time to time. If you are a confident rider, as you go under the alex fraser bridge, merge into the car lane to take a left on Nordel. If you’re a bit more timid, there is a crosswalk that I have used on particularly busy days.

From here, get yourself over to the parking lot of Planet Ice through the industrial park. From there, the walkway up to the bridge goes from behind the building. Stay to the right as you enter the parking lot and you can’t miss it.

The Alex Fraser Bridge itself is pretty self explanatory. You can’t really take a wrong turn up there. Once you have come down the other side, you will end up on a sidewalk with an off ramp to your left. The easiest way to do this next bit is cross the off ramp over to the lights, then take a right across the crosswalk. The little path continues on the other side and takes you over another bridge and then down some entertaining switchbacks.

At the bottom of the pedestrian walkway, you want to follow the little bike path away from the road that you are now beside. This bike path puts you into a dead end beside an off leash dog park. Start cycling down the street while keeping an eye open to your left. There is a bike path that goes over Highway 91 and you want to take that. Coming down from that bike overpass, take it really easy as you are going to take a very tight turn at the bottom and go in the opposite direction. This path spits you out on Westminster Highway.

Take a left on Westminster and the first right onto River Road. Enjoy.

Once you’re on River Road, there isn’t much else to say. Essentially the next 15km or so is straight with a couple of right turns. (And one left at a T intersection, but right is an obvious dead end, so it’s not hard to get). The new bridge over the Fraser River, accessible from Van Horne way is not something you will miss as you continue, take that over and you are into Vancouver.

Well done.

A few last points, unless you really have to, I’d suggest staying away from the Heather Street bike route during the school year if you commute in the mornings. There are several schools and associated dangers with parents randomly stopping to drop kids off. Fun times.

Lengthy, hopefully useful for some of you. Cheers.

The cycling season is going pretty well if I do say so myself. I’ve done a grand total of 8 races as of now this season, which pretty close to matches my lifetime road race total. I’ve even actually placed in a couple of the races, which was pretty much unheard of for me in the past. My goals for this year is to win a race and I can certainly see that happening.

I ended up only doing one other race in the EV Spring Series, the Bradner Road race. Held on a hilly course, it was relatively tough, but ended up being a rather uneventful race. Anything remotely resembling an attack was quickly chased down. I made one go at it about halfway through the race, but after about 2km out front with a small group it was clear that it wasn’t going anywhere. I attacked on the last climb, was out front for about 1km and was passed by the pack with less than 200m to go. Ah well.

The Campbell Heights cat 5 road race ended up being the fastest race I had been in to date with an average speed of just over 39km/h for somewhat over 50km. Not much to note there other than I made it up the 184th avenue climb and only got spat out the back on the last ascent. Caught up before the next climb and finished 11th in the bunch.

My Thursday nights have been spent in Richmond, with the Team Coastal Cycling criterium series. These are massively fun little races. Short, cat 5 is only something like 15km, but pretty intense. The circuit has wide, shallow corners, so it’s nice and safe and the cat 5 guys all seem pretty relaxed, which is nice. I’ve had two pack finishes in this series, one 4th and a 2nd.

The fourth came in my first real attempt at a sprint finish and the 2nd came out of a two man breakaway with 2.5 laps to go. Lost that race by something like a foot. Still though, it basically means that this year I have finished with the pack or in the break with every race I have done. The only race I haven’t finished is one where I crashed and that was when I was sitting in 10th in a large field going into an important corner.

In other words, I think my positioning is decent as are the legs, so I’m pretty happy. Going for the win is my next goal, then just attacking and attacking until the season is done. Hopefully I’ll find a team for next year and then up to category 4!

The first race of the year was a flat, four corner circuit race weighing in at about 6.3km per lap. 9 laps in total for a grand total of  just under 57km of racing for my category, the lowly ‘C’. I had actually been somewhat worried about this as I haven’t been able to get much riding in yet this year, so I was definitely relying on riding intelligently as much as any semblance of strength that I actually had. My main goal was to see how fast the thing was and sit in for the first half of the race. After about halfway if things were going well, I was going to try to get to the front, see if I could get into a break for at least a little while, then attempt to have a good last few km. I also intended to not crash and stay away from anything remotely resembling a sprint.

The day started off cold. It got colder and rainier. It actually started snowing just as my race finished, so that about sums up the environment. It wasn’t a drizzle either, it was a driving rain, I was completely soaked. That said though, I was riding with enough effort that I wasn’t cold until after the race was over, though I wouldn’t have enjoyed an extra couple of laps.

My race was punctuated with two particularly hard efforts that were worth noting, but other than that, I probably took it a bit easier than I should have. The first one was roughly on lap 4, two guys went down just in front of me and basically brought me to a complete stop. At that point it was chase time, which is never fun. It was pretty chaotic getting back on with lots of single riders stretched out. Unfortunately by the time I caught most of the people trying to catch up, they had blown and I wasn’t able to help them at all. I eased up slightly as I overtook each rider trying to let them latch on, but once I had a gap, I figured it was more important to get back on the back.  The chase took me about a quarter of a lap and I didn’t really let up until I was in the front half of the pack so I could relax a bit more. 

The second ‘major’, quoted for reasons that will become clear, effort was with approximately three laps to go. Two guys had gone off the front and had a bit of a gap. I probably went too early, but I felt that a break might be kind of fun. I jumped across and was followed by about three other riders. So there were five of us up there and we were pretty quickly reeled in by the group. Nothing was getting away, probably because none of us is fast… Anyhow, my turn on the front came around and before I knew it I had about a 20m gap, which was not where I wanted to be with 18km or so to go. A bit far for me to go it alone. I kept the pressure up for a bit, viewing this as a chance for a bit of a harder effort for some fitness but I never committed. 

The last couple of laps were pretty uneventful for me. I sat in the pack, tried to move up a couple of times but messed up. I put in a hard last kilometer and while staying out of the real sprint kept in touch with the leaders and came across in 20th or so I think. All in all, pretty solid considering I was very worried about being shelled in the first few minutes.

Lessons learned? Next race I’m going to spend more effort trying to get into a break and keep it going. The racing seems to be of  a ‘chase it all down’ variety. Since we’re all pretty weak, a ‘counter attack’ wasn’t going to happen, though I could see it being an effective tactic. So that’s my goal next week. And if that completely fails? Fabian from 5km to go.

I’ve been on the bike about three times since the last race, all inside on the trainer. While riding on the trainer isn’t too terrible, it does get old fast. Still though, it only generally takes me a week or two without riding before I’m feeling that I need to get back in the saddle. I find that planning out the next season during period of low intensity or no intensity is often the best time. Energy is up, I’ve forgotten the pain of training and am only looking forward to the next set of races.

Next season is going to be a different one for me. Hillary and I will be moving to Vancouver in the next couple of months, so I am going to have to find entirely new series of races to keep me busy. My long term goal is to do the BC Bike Race in 2010, so next year is going to be my return to mountain biking to start getting ready for it. It sounds like my season is going to start out with The Salty Dog and, if I can get myself registered (sells out quickly I am told), the Test of Metal. It will be fun to get back into mountain biking more seriously again. My technical skills will be pretty rusty I think, but I’m hoping those will come back as the season progresses.

I’ve already been told that I will have to spend a weekend or two in the Rossland area and ride the Seven Summits as well as several other trails in the area that are best described as epic.

I’m fairly excited about road racing as well. There is a pretty impressive March series of road races put on by Team Escape Velocity that I’m planning on doing my best to attend most of. That and I fully intend on riding several of the major mountain passes that I did in 2007 in the cross Canada trip again. Hope-Princeton is definitely a doable ride and if I can talk some people into it, there are lots of good day trips in and around the Okanagan.