Tripleshot Cycling

COLD, WET, WINDY

you forgot foggy.

Oh, and did we mention COLD? Jaw clenching COLD??!!

Did I mention a few days ago that I was disappointed that I couldn't race today? I'll take everything back. Today's race was for the hard-core! I have respect for everyone who even started it! I think most riders ended up with at least mild hypothermia.
I got a few shots from today here to show everyone what it looked like, but it's up to our racers to describe what it felt like (obviously, it was COLD, WET, WINDY and FOGGY).
Rolf approaching km 23.


Jeremy at km 23.

Jen approaching km 23.


Alan and Roland at km 69.

Rolf at km 69.


Well done Tripleshotters! I hope you have warmed up by now.

A challenging first race experience in some pretty ugly conditions. My computer tells me I went 97.4K in 3:16, max 69 and avg. 29.7 km/h.

At the start, I'd planned to try to stick with Al, Allen, Dave and Barton and we all agreed to soft pedal after hills and stick together. Sitting around in the cold, waiting for what turned out to be a 20-minute late start didn't help the muscles much.

Starting in the pack, things were very amoebic, to use Lister's term. Lots of grabbing the brakes and then surging forward, over and over. The first hill came and went and all seemed well, everyone still together.

The second big hill (going up to the Shirley community centre, I think) was another story. I started strong, and then I don't know if it was the goofy fit of my loaner bike, the cold and driving rain, or just lack of conditioning, but both my calf muscles started to seize up. And this was at 15K! Dave hung back and pulled me through the crest, uttering kind words. But as he tried to pull me back to the peloton, my body told me something was wrong. I released him with a gasp and watched the pack pull away. I then rode about 5K alone and miserable, both legs seizing up, convinced I was going to have to call it quits at Jordan River.

Then along came first one, then two other stragglers. I sat on one guy's wheel until the cramps subsided and things started to brighten up. By Jordan River I was feeling warmer and like I could continue. We all stopped and bonded while whizzing in the bushes. Men are such simple creatures.

We rode together in a pretty efficient pace line, picking up another guy around China Beach. Maybe 5K short of the turnaround, the elite women passed us. I tried to hide amongst their warm air currents - but some fella in a pickup said that wasn't kosher.

This turned out to be a good thing, because within 5K after the turnaround, we came across a very fresh crash which looked like it happened at the back of the women's peloton. There were only two riders down and writhing - wrecked bikes strewn about. A support vehicle was already there so we cruised past.

Shortly after this I came across Jen, huddled next to a stanchion, fixing a flat. I dropped out of my little team of 3 (we'd dropped the slowest guy a while back) and circled back to make sure she had what she needed. She seemed fine, if kind of in shock. But I was no better, so I continued on, hooking up with the guy we'd dropped.

He and I basically finished the final 35K together. He has a kid who's only 9 days younger than mine, so we amused each other with irritating songs from kids' shows.

The final 5K we were joined by 3 women and a guy. We all kicked it up a notch and it was the only portion of the day that I felt I was really racing. I think one of the women was Katie Ross. She was fast.

The elite men finished about 10 min. after me. Hats off to those superstars/freaks!

While waiting in the elementary school for Jen (my ride) to finish, I was so wet and cold I resorted to wearing a couple of hoodies out of the Lost & Found. There was lots to choose from. Who knew Sooke Gr. 6's are as big as a 35 year-old?

Things I learned today:

Always, always wear bib-shorts when racing in rain. The combination of scooting back on the saddle for a hill and wet, sticky fabric can make for some unfortunate crack-vision.

Jen's one tough chick. Not only did she solo 80K, she changed a flat with frozen fingers and, just after cresting a hill, got attacked by a dog (jumping on her front wheel and snapping at her headset). Sooke's so exciting, eh?

It's better not to race on a bike you first tried the day before; no matter how much lighter, cooler-looking and sexy it is. Unless you get a professional fit, the chances of injury and the bike working against your body are high. I was very happy to have a light, fast bike to ride. But my muscles were used to a pretty different layout. Three separate times (usually when upshifting at the top of a hill) I had brutal baseball-in-the-calf cramps. I'm sure the cold contributed, too.

Good times!

Wow. Congats to everyone who toughed it out. Doesn't look like there are any results up yet, but Duane has lots of pics loaded. Bugger, I have three AMB timing systems and 425 chips with me this weekend and didn't have much to do today - I coulda done results to 1/1000 of a second and had 'em live on the web . Looks like Shawn may have snagged 6th place, which would be mega. My favourite pics are probably of Erinne Willock. She's sitting right at the back as the women's race was rolling out. Next pic she's outsprinting THREE Total Restoration teammates for the win. Ouch. How many attacks did she have to cover on the way in? Getting beat like that would sting, but whatcha gonna do? She's good.

http://duanebc.smugmug.com/Sports/Camer ... ing-Series

Hmmm, where to begin… I guess I tried to view this as a “learning opportunity” from the start more than anything else, otherwise I just paid $$ to ride alone in the wind and rain (with no fenders!). First off, the weather was miserable. Dylan commented at the hill climb last night that it was cold, and said its like “May-uary”. Or maybe May-vember, or May-cember… Needless to say, I was horribly underdressed for the conditions. 1st lesson learned.

I was on the “accelerated” learning program as I only had the time pre-race before showing up to the start line, and within the first 11km of the race that I lasted with the women’s pack. So if you’re looking for “race strategy”, don’t bother reading too much further on my post. Show up early, if you want a prime parking spot. And this is the first time I’ve ever seen a longer que for the men’s bathroom than the women’s! Bananas are good (and easy to peel when you can’t feel your fingers compared to ripping open wrappers, more on that later…). Find a friend at the start line, or bring some teammates along – it’s nice to have somebody to chat with to stay calm and kill time with a late start. Once the race starts, try to find a “moose” in the pack to draft – seems like not a lot of women fit the requirements for this though. I wasn’t aggressive and sat at the back, a prime spot for watching what Lister termed the “amoeba”. Also keep an eye out for people dropping chains when starting up hill and changing gears. I didn’t last long once we hit the uphills, made it through the first one, and fell off on the second. Alone. For the next 84k… I might as well be in a triathlon.

Another consideration to hanging on for as long as possible is avoiding having to battle the traffic backed up behind the pack. I leapfrogged with the vehicles, my favorite being a truck/camper pulling the “Fishin’ Magician” boat up the hill by Shirley. With no shoulder either. I held my ground as I was still thinking I was “racing” and managed to come out unscathed.

Soon I started seeing guys coming back in the other direction, and was flabbergasted. Wow, they are FAST! Then I finally realized that actually they were just smart. They probably fell off the pack, and were heading back to Sooke to rest up for the crit tomorrow rather than riding solo out to Sombrio in wet coast conditions…

The junior pack passed me eventually. I saw one of them who had dropped off from the rest wearing white shorts with “Interior Grasslands” cycling club, and thought “This ain’t the prairies now, is it boy?!”. Ok, so my mind was pretty much “porridge” to use Rolf’s term. But you do what you have to to entertain yourself when you’re solo.

As I was around the 40k mark, I could hear something weird from my front tire… uh-oh. Sure enough, it was going soft in a hurry. I pulled off the road and had a look. The one positive about the pouring rain was that it made it really easy to spot the bubbles coming out from around a piece of glass on my wet tire. And I had just seen my baby blue teammates swoosh past in the opposite direction. I knew I wasn’t going to be setting any records for fixing a flat on a day like today and just about as far from Sooke as possible. I was just about finished when Rolf came by and turned around to check on me – much appreciated! He asked if I had everything I needed – I should have replied that I didn’t and could use any spare fingers or brain he had, as I then proceeded to botch up my CO2 cartridge minutes after he left. Another lesson – bring a spare cartridge, especially when you have one back in the car! I thought it was game over until a blue pickup with the race pulled over. A very kind man filled my tire with his CO2 cartridge and even gave me a banana! Thank you whoever you are! He even offered me a sweatshirt as I looked cold but I declined as I figured that piece of cotton would weigh about 50 pounds in 5 minutes in these weather conditions. Once I got rolling, I was pretty chilly but was hoping to “warm up”, and figured that it couldn’t get any worse on the ride back.

Another positive of the race for me happened when I was getting passed by a men’s pack hitting the hill out of Jordan River. Sure enough, there was Cory Wallace comfortably leading them up and away. As he passed, he said “good work”. I mustered up a “thanks” in return and was amazed by this offering of encouragement from a high level athlete who wasn’t completely wrapped up in his own race.

Another lesson - fuel. I hadn’t felt hungry for the first part of the ride so hadn’t really been eating much or at regular intervals. So I ended up eating most of what I had in the 2nd half of the race as extreme hunger & hallucinations set in (did anyone else see the unicorn prancing along the road?). By this point, my hands were also pretty much useless, and I found I’m not ambidextrous at all when cold. All I could access was gels in my right jersey pocket and that was just not going to cut it any more. So I pulled over for a few minutes around the 80k mark to get a bar and extra chewy sharkies out of my middle pocket. I proceeded to stuff my face, and I think I’m still digesting that consolidated gunk in the pit of my stomach. Amateur error.

Finally, I’m coming up the hill at Otter Point at the 85k mark, and am staring down a bulldog in the middle of my side of the road…



A lady had pulled over in her car, and was shouting and honking at her horn to get him off the road. I was hoping he was friendly… well, he stood his ground, and as I went crawling by him cresting the hill, he started running with me, and jumping at my wheel, and my handlebars, and my calves. Maybe he wanted to play? But I wasn’t interested. I told him to go away but that wasn’t enough. I tried F*CK OFF but that didn’t work either. I was starting to recover a bit, and maybe with some help from adrenaline kicking in, tried pedaling a bit faster. He matched my pace. This could easily be game over with only 10k to go… Eventually, I pulled away, or maybe he just lost interest? There was a semi-trailer coming up behind me, so maybe he thought he wanted something bigger to take on? Regardless, I was happy to be on my way intact.

So with a bunch of food in my gut, adrenaline coursing through my body, and the rain letting up, the last 10k seemed to disappear. I was sure happy to see Katie & Jeremy at the finish – although Katie described it as dazed. I was surprised to see they even still had the finish line up.

Rolf talked about “mental gymnastics” on the ride out to the race this morning so here are some other things that got me through today. Rolf talked about getting a song stuck in his head on the Monday pre-ride of the route. Unfortunately I think it was something from a kids’ show? So I thought I’d better choose something appropriate to keep me going – it ended up being “Break my Stride”, which I only know the chorus of, but it helped to keep saying “I’ve got to keep on moving, nobody going to slow me down, nothing going to break my stride” or I guess pedal stroke… Reading all the signs by the side of the road: did you know it was Honeybee Awareness Day? And that you can take Yoga Tues nights at the Shirley Community Hall? And finally, I really must send an email to Norm about how much I’m looking forward to cyclocross season this fall, and how much fun races with flaming trenches and a 10 pack of barriers are.

Some post race lessons. Bring a separate bag for sopping wet gear. I would have weighed it for Josh’s benefit but don’t have a scale at home. And it’s fun to carpool and swap stories. I was jealous to find out on the drive home that Rolf had company the whole time, and even made a new friend! And that he stopped to whiz twice on the side of the road! Although I’m glad I don’t have to go to a co-op pre-school fundraiser tonight.

Anyways, that’s way more than two cents from me!

Kudos to those of you doing all 3 races this weekend! You are very brave, and must have lots of costumes! I’m more than happy to cheer for you from Corner 4 tomorrow.

Good Luck in the Crit!

results finally in and up - http://duanebc.com/raceresults.html

I'm really glad Rita posted those photos, because the ones at the start/finish line are totally misleading! I find that after a while of riding in those conditions, I'm so thoroughly soaked that it doesn't faze me anymore.

I am pretty happy overall with how the race went. I tried to stay fairly close to the front of the pack, in case a group of guys took off. One guy did and soloed for most of the course, but we caught him in the end. Despite a few attempts no one could make a break stick, so after the initial split into two groups those of us up front rode as a big pack for most of it.

The end seemed to come up pretty quickly, but I was able to get in a good position. As we rounded the corner for the final sprint I was in fourth, but my legs were pretty numb from being soaked and having cold air blast them for two and a half hours, so they didn't do what I wanted them to and two guys passed me right near the finish line. I think I need to work on my sprinting endurance.

On the plus side, I didn't get a flat tire, beaver fever from the road spray I ingested, or go over a concrete barricade and down a ravine on a descent (a guy in front of me almost did).

That's also the first time I've seen a lineup for the men's washroom; I feel sorry for the janitor.

Thanks to all who came out to cheer or help set up! Thanks also to Jenn and Rolf for their great posts.

Have to agree with Shawn regarding Rita's pictures. Unlike the finish photos, they show what the conditions were like for the majority of the day. If you want to experience what it was like, get on your trainer and ride while someone sprays you with the hose and sporadically throws dirt in your face. Repeat for 3 hours.

I thought it went well otherwise. I got dumped from the main pack for good on the descent into Jordan River then joined a chase group with Dave, Barton and 5-6 others. The climbs out of Jordan River, French Beach and Shirley were brutal, but I managed to stay with that group, all the while muttering "don't get dropped, don't get dropped" to myself like some kind of crazed lunatic. The pack started to break up 10km from the finish as fatigue and cramps started to set in. I popped about 2 or 3km from the finish and rode in alone. Thankfully, the rain had stopped and Jen's soon-to-be friend was otherwise occupied so it was surprisingly pleasant.

Congrats to Shawn for a great result and the rest of the Tripleshotters for braving the elements.

Lessons learned:

- Jen is tough. If there are any gloating points up for grabs, I think she deserves them all.
- Barton is a machine.
- Have to find a better way to eat. Getting food out of my pockets, opening packages and eating without getting dropped proved to be difficult.

way to go everyone your courage amazes me!!! Very cool to be a part of a club that can do this!!!! chapeau all

The hardest part for me was the descent back into Jordan River coming back towards Sooke. That's when the rain was whipping extra hard, and the front group who I rode with most of the way, really put the hammer down. I braked hard coming down that long hill into Jordan River, slowing down more than most for the corner thinking that a crash at 60 km per hour would be the worst way to end the race. Seems like when I looked up, the lead group, and Shawn's Tripleshot jacket, were fading into the distance. Finishing a mere 4 minutes behind Shawn was am ample reward for my efforts, and I was pretty proud to be able to mostly keep the lead group in sight for most of the race. The last 15 minutes was spent chasing with a pretty energetic chase group of four of us who managed to sucker me into doing more than my share of pulling until the last hill climb to the finish when the F$@%#ers then dropped me like a bad smell. Thanks guys.... All in all, a fun, gruelling, , wet'n'cold fearful ride that offered brief spells of exhilaration amid long stretches of pain, rain and dicing with death--closest thing to boot camp I've experienced in the last 20 years.... Can't wait for more.