V2N and back

[steve]

Thanks for the great ride everybody, amazing to see 24 riders at 5am. We had some early mechanical difficulties and myself, Chris "Extreme" Watt and Lawrence thought we were left behind. The two of them treated me like a rented mule as we raced to try and catch up to the big group!

Good to see that Marcus made it back down after breaking his chain twice.

Stats for the ride:
http://connect.garmin.com/player/44737341

Steve

[jeremy]

I only did the "back" today, man was I ever hot!!!! I started to see unicorns and lepricons dancing around me as I was summiting the malihat, I just assumed they knew where to go so I followed them. Then came the best part of the ride, bombing down the other side of the malihat, almost make the climb worth it.......almost. Fun ride great atmosphere in the group and a nice slower pace.

I'd have to say that the highlight of the day was the way every 3shotter was looking after each other, I heard numerous times "do you need food?" or "How's your water?" Very cool club we've got going on here.

[Marcus]

Thanks for helping out on the first mechanical Steve, and to Dr. Neil who had a quick link, and to Paul C. who ordered a tow truck on the second mechanical in Nanaimo and to Cory at OBB Nanaimo who opened the shop to install a new chain. I left OBB at 10:35 about 20 minutes after Glendowyn (sp.?) who mistakenly rode past OBB before turning around to find the shop. I was hoping to catch the group but it didn't happen despite trying my first 75 km ITT. However I did hook up with Glen in Duncan and we rode to OBB Langford together. We were only about 5 minutes behind when we pulled into Serious Coffee Mill Bay but Glen offered to buy smoothies and I wasn't about to say no after I spent all my cash at OBB Nanaimo and we were both hot. Thanks for the company Glen. That definitely made the ride home better. If anyone noticed or wondered who was shouting encouragement at Shawnigan Lake Road South on the way up that was Nancy my wife who was on her way home from Shawnigan. She says the group looked awesome.

[Greg Miller]

Glad to hear Marcus and Glen connected for the ride back, we were all wondering what had happened.

We ended up running short on time and with the last flat before the start we just missed it. We realized that no one left in the group knew where OBB Nanaimo was, luckily it all worked out as the Peloton approach us as we were on the corner at Rutherford looking up the address. We had one stop light of rest before turning around and joining in.

V2N2V was quite an experience. 255K, which is over 2X the distance that I have ever rode, and about 2X the temperature The high in Duncan was 33.4C. I was hating life at the top of the Hat, but after some time in the shade I could see straight again, and the ride down in the shade and wind was reviving. The endurance folks in our group were certainly admirable (and humbling). Tripleshot is a fantastic club.

[Duane]

I put up some photos from early in the ride; I had to go to a Master's race in Cedar, so missed the grand entrance into Victoria.

http://duanebc.smugmug.com/Sports/Victo ... 3933_qXvv8

[Rolf]

Phew. That was one tough day of riding. Easily one of the hardest physical things I've ever done. I've got some photos to share and probably another short cheesevideo to put together. But right now I'm more focused on walking properly again...

Thanks very much to all the awesome TripleShotters involved in planning and assisting with the event itself (Kim, Joe, Peter, Ryan, Galen, Bill, everyone else with police tape on their helmets, etc.)

I've also got some specific thank yous (in order of appearance):

• Peter, Ryan, Shawn, Greg, and a few others: For using their amazing strength and endurance to pull us almost all the way up the Island; others had turns on the front, but these guys did the lion's share.
  
  Jeremy: For giving me a bottle after six of us had to turn around 1.5 km short of OBB Nanaimo and join the official ride with no break (I'd been dry and panicky for a while!)
  
  Mark (Marcus?): For giving me food and working hard (successfully) with jokes and general goofiness to dispel my surprisingly bad attitude after said unplanned turnaround.
  
  Dave S.: For finding me 100m short of the final Malahat summit, stopped and slumped over my bars trying to make the fuzzy black tunnel in my vision go away and then gently talking me back onto my pedals and pushing me through cramps and up the final stretch. You, my friend, are a HERO.
  
  Simon: For detecting my again deteriorating attitude after this near-fainting experience and filling my ear with a whole shitload of runners' physiology claptrap as we finished off the Malahat. "If your body says you're done, then you've still got 50% left." By the time we hit the big descent, we'd switched to rattling off Monty Python. It was hilarious and very helpful.

If I learned one thing, it's that this kind of riding is 75% mental and 25% physical. There were many other small kindnesses and examples of TripleShot goodwill and excellence; but I notice that my effort-addled brain is already rapidly deleting much of the day, reducing it to a big, hot blur of pavement and satisfaction.

[John D]

Hi all;

As a relatively new club member, I just wanted to thank the TSers on the N2V for all the encouragement and camaraderie that helped get me through the day. It was a great feeling rolling in together at the end as a group.

Cheers,
John

P.S. Some of you may have noticed the red bandana I was wearing - it contains absorbent crystals that, when soaked in cold water, slowly release water all day, thereby keeping your neck (and the rest of you) feeling cool. In that respect, it worked like charm.

See: http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page ... at=2,42407

Unfortunately, it also bled pink dye all over the collar of my brand new TS jersey!

[jeremy]

Jeremy: For giving me a bottle after six of us had to turn around 1.5 km short of OBB Nanaimo and join the official ride with no break (I'd been dry and panicky for a while!)
.

Any time Brother, I only wish I would have had some pickle juice to give you

[Rolf]

Seems the Malahat was a parking lot later yesterday. But I'm sure "Kyle" Ullrich is right and we had nothing to do with it:

http://www.timescolonist.com/Heavy+Sund ... story.html

I love how journalists these days get their quotes from Twitter. I guess it's just so much easier to enter a search term than conduct an interview...

[Paul C.]

Thanks to a lot of you Tripleshotters I had a great 258km in 33 degree heat!! I also got there as it started with no time to check in or fill 2 almost empty water bottles. From my past marathons and dabbling in Ironman I knew I would be in trouble soon. Thanks to a triple shot person I didn't know and also a TRIgal [with four bottles , probably in carbon fiber cages] I ended up with 2 big bottles> A big thank you. Also it was great having the ride guides including our leader"chief domestique Peter" who offered me water and words of encouragement. Lots of good vibes from all the club members and friends, And riding down Douglas with our baby blue team at the front with a police escort is something I will proudly remember. Where do I enter for 2011? Paul C. p.s. A special congrats to "the chainman"....Marcus ,who appeared at the finish in good spirits.....and with a new chain.

[Rolf]

Photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rolf.warbur ... directlink

Video coming soon.

Edit: two vids are up on the above link: the Malahat descent and Clover Point. The rest will be part of a compilation.

[wonger]

I'd have to say that the highlight of the day was the way every 3shotter was looking after each other, I heard numerous times "do you need food?" or "How's your water?" Very cool club we've got going on here.

That was definitely my hilight too. 260 km's is a long way to travel and never feel as though you're alone. Well, except for the second time up the Malahat when Simon was chatting to me and I really just wanted to put my head down and get on with it. Later he told me that it was the look on my face - either I was pretty focused on what I was doing or I was about to keel over and he was trying to figure out which one. Thanks for that.

It was a long, hot day but it was really enjoyable. The most I've done is our Saturday morning peninsula rides which are about 90 K, so I knew it would be a test. I was one of the lucky ones that got to OBB Nanaimo with four minutes to go before the start. Time to grab more water, four bananas and half a muffin and get back at it. From about the 100 K mark I was on the verge of cramping until we got to stop, feed and stretch at Cobble Hill. Every little popper that required a bit more push would result in a nasty knot in my hamstring or quad or muscles that I didn't know existed. I was seriously doubting that I would be able to spin slow enough to get over the 'hat. But, that was before I discovered the wonders of coke. As in coca-cola. That stuff is like rocket fuel. I don't know if it was the coke or the watermelon, four of Liz's brownies or what, but that stretch to the summit was the best I felt all day.

Some of the hilights for me included:
Seeing 24 of us ready to go at 5:00 a.m.
The incredible sunrise over the Malahat
Watching Mike L. position himself and Rita so that he could give her a push on the little climbs all the way into Nanaimo so she didn't get dropped.
Watching Shawn, Ryan, Peter and Greg work so hard to get us to Nanaimo as quickly as possible.
Riding my bike down the Malahat hanging onto the double Lawless train and reaching 68 km/hr.
Going faster on the return trip down the Malahat.
Exercising long enough to outlast the battery on my garmin.
Watching the hot rod show going by as we cruised the highway. Have you ever noticed how many hot rods are out driving around in the summer?

What I ate throughout the day:
Water - about 16 bottles of it, 2 cokes, 5 bananas, about a quarter of a watermelon, half a ham sandwich, three lara bars, four shot block packages, six brownies, four cookies, handful of tomatoes, carrots, huge bowl of fruit/nuts/yogurt to start the day. But no pickle juice! So I cramped up anyway. What did everyone else eat?

Thanks everyone for a great day, and thanks to OBB for organizing a great event.

Stats here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44888663

[Stéphane Tran]

First off, thanks to all the organisers and volunteers for making this an OUTSTANDING event. I had been looking forward to this ride since the day I signed up and I was not disappointed. Despite leaving Victoria before sunrise and despite Shawn, Peter and others heroically pulling us up the highway, our little group did not make it to the start on time and we had to hop into the peleton at Rutherford Road in Nanaimo as it was coming down the highway. At that point, I, like several others, had run out of water and food and knew that if I didn't get some fluids pronto I was going to be in trouble. Now normally I don't fraternize with triathletes, but out of desperation I mooched a drink off Graham who was actually kind enough to give me an entire bottle of Gatorade which probably saved my ride. Graham, you're awesome and good luck with Ironman Canada! The mooching continued with a banana from Geoff Wong which staved off an imminent bonk. Thank you Geoff.
As we were going through Ladysmith, Ian and I were both out of liquids again so we quickly pulled into a Petro-Can to buy some Gatorade, but of course when we hit the road again we were about 5 mins behind the peleton, so we had to gun it for 15 mins or so to try and catch up. I was a little worried as we couldn't even see the peleton. Luckily they stopped just south of Ladysmith and we were able to rejoin.
From that point on, I had to drink constantly and keep an icepack on my neck to keep my core temperature down to prevent overheating. Other than that the ride was fantastic, and it felt great to finally finish the final Malahat climb and then bomb down to Goldstream.
When we got to Clover Point and laughing and taking photos I thought to myself what a truly great group Tripleshot is and how I love every minute riding with all of you. Can't wait for the next ride.
Oh yeah, in addition to all the good times I also got the wickedest tanline ever:

[shawnc]

Great ride on Sunday. I'm the jerk who got the flat tire in Nanaimo, causing most of us to miss the start. Sorry everyone!

I was out of water by the time we got to Nanaimo, so a big thank you to Ryan for giving me a full water bottle. I would have been in major trouble without it. On a happier note, my whole-wheat, chocolate-chip banana pancakes kept me going until lunchtime. I'm telling you, baking is where it's at! If you bring food that you'd want to eat at home, imagine how good it tastes when you're riding!

Carly and I managed to meet up at the weigh scale stop and I rode the tandem from there. That was a cool experience, and a lot of people seemed to find the tandem pretty novel. Climbing the Malahat was tough, and we watched a bunch of people pass us, but we kept up our pace and started picking off people who had blown up

I was getting pretty impatient by the end of the ride, mostly because the tandem saddle was killing my butt! There was also an insane amount of yo-yoing at the front of the peloton, but oh well.

All in all it was a great time. It's amazing how much faster time goes by riding when you're in a group compared to when you're by yourself. Thanks to everyone who helped out by organizing, giving water or food, or lending a word of encouragement.

[Rolf]

I'm the jerk who got the flat tire in Nanaimo, causing most of us to miss the start. Sorry everyone!

If, by apologizing, you suggest you had some sort of control over whether or not your tire went flat, then you should indeed hide your face in shame. But as I actually saw your tire blow and know you were doing nothing but busting your ass to pull us all to the start, fuggeddaboutit!!

By joining a group ride, we consign ourselves to mutual inconvenience. The corollary is mutual aid -- as amply demonstrated about 20 minutes later by a slew of good people with extra bottles and food.

[Rolf]

Okay, video's done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt9eY_0JeyQ

It's more targeted at my donors and the fundraising side of things -- but you guys might enjoy it (depending on your tolerance for Swiss culture).

[Rita]

Love the video, Rolf! (Maybe because I'm Austrian?!)

Sunday was a tough day and I wouldn't have been able to do it without you guys! I experienced the power of the Lawless Brothers' (and Ian's) godly hands on numerous occasions and it ensured that I made it up to Nanaimo. Peter and Michael really looked after me - A BIG THANK YOU for you two!
I also wanted to thank everyone who waited with Shawn when he had the flat and then ran into the problem of being food and waterless. I was so desperate for water that I just jumped on Peter's wheel, which at least meant that I got a refill and didn't need to find some water from somebody else. So, maybe it wasn't too egotistical to get to the start area.

The ride up was pretty tough for me, but I expected that. It took me probably an hour into the ride back before I started to recover from that effort. Food helped, but it also made me feel really nauseous. I am amazed to read about Geoff's list of food that he got down on Sunday. I probably managed half of that if at all, which probably contributed that I felt close to delirium for part of the ride. On the Malahat #2, the heat was pretty brutal and any bit of shade was a relief. I'm very pleased that everyone who was riding, made it over the Malahat. I was really worried when I saw Rolf bent over his handlebars, looking like he'd puke or pass out. I didn't have enough left in me to even shout an encouragement so I was very glad that Dave S was there, helping Rolf back on his bike.
I am also amazed by Ryan, who was one of the 5 people doing a lot of pulling on the way up and then played pusher on the way down. He told me that he felt like he wouldn't get up any more after he reached the top of the Malahat. Good for you, to keep going, Ryan and amazing work!
Overall, I am super pleased that I did and finished the ride. As for many others, it was by far the furthest I had cycled and it probably was the toughest challenge I've faced. (You ironman people, you cycle 180km AND then run a marathon , not to forget the little swim to start with??? You are crazy!!)
Thanks to everyone for making this club the best cycling club ever!

[Lister Farrar]

Okay, video's done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt9eY_0JeyQ

It's more targeted at my donors and the fundraising side of things -- but you guys might enjoy it (depending on your tolerance for Swiss culture).

Great Rolf. What's the song about?

L

[Rolf]

Great Rolf. What's the song about?

L

It's about a little baby or kid who's just like his Dad: has the same big ears, likes to suck on his bottle, doesn't like to wash, comb his hair or cut his fingernails, but does like to complain and whine a lot. And when he's done complaining, he likes to go to sleep.

A couple of deliberate timing points in the video, which you won't get if you don't speak Schwiizertüütsch: the line about not washing or combing hair comes with the first still of me on the bike, looking hairy; the line about liking his bottle comes with the Ladysmith water break; the bit about bitching and whining comes with the second Malahat summit, followed by the line about sleeping when it shows me "overcooked"; and finally, there's a line where the Mom says "It's just unbelievable" as the camera shows my (modest) speed going down the 'Hat.

While I'm sharing my geekiness: the Enya song was selected for its title, as much as its sappy atmospherics.

You asked, Lister! Yes, I had a lot of fun making this... and yes, I have too much time on my hands. Here's the album cover to the song (when I was 6 I used to bop around my living room to this particular tune):

Trio Eugster - Ganz de Bappe

trio_eugster-ganz_de_bappe_s.jpg (36.18 KiB) Viewed 11978 times

[Brian @ OBB]

a) Glad to hear everything went well (ish) for you guys. It was hellishly hot and all I had to do was sit in a chafey cop car and shoot video; can't even imagine the ride.

b) Great video Rolf, mind if I spread it around?

c) We put up some more photos and a video here: http://oakbaybikes.com/nanaimo-2-victoria-wrap-up/

d) We got a few small, generally insane complaints about us causing hell on the Malahat. AFAIK nobody actually ended up stuck behind us for more than 25-30 minutes, and according to the police it was some overheated cars around 5pm on the Malahat that caused the gigantic gridlock. Hopefully misguided backlash doesn't hurt the event or the shop too much.