Day 24

Had a great ride with Ben for an hour, just hiding out in his draft, then he went home and I did another hour in the dark.  It got a little cold, but it was nice to be outside, and I could see some stars too!  57.01km in 1:56:31 for an avg of 29.4km/h: ride details/map

I got a sunset pic for the second day in a row, and I'll post them just as soon as I figure out why I can't get them to upload on to my computer!  (IOU)

Day 23

Another flat tire!  Found a piece of something in the tire though, so I'm off to get some new ones.  Gonna splurge on some beefy ones to fight all the debris on the roadside in winter.  Other than the flats, had a couple of fun laps around Stanley park with Christian.  26.97km in 58:31 for an avg speed of 27.7km/h, ride details/map

(This is yesterday's post, I forgot to actually hit the post button.  Luckily it saves automatically.

Day 22

The sun came back today!  Had a great ride this evening, even though my shoes were still wet from last night.  30.34km in 1:04:46 for an avg speed of 28.1km/h.  ride details/map

Got a picture of Ben coming down the UBC hill just before sunset.  Of course this was all planned to go with the pic I took yesterday going up the hill just before sunset. 

Day 21

Had a nice ride in the rain tonight.  48.81km in 1:46:13: ride details/map

This is the hill up to UBC

Week 3 summary: 111.25km in 3.93 hours, so averaged about 28.3km/h for the week.  Pretty mellow week, blame school.

Total summary since Day 1:
533.54km in 18.77 hours, for an avg of 28.4km/h
So that'll get me as far as Sicamous

Day 20

Today was a forced rest day, falling behind in school and had an assignment due at midnight, which I just submitted.  I've seen enough blood smears today to last me for a while... pretty sure I'm gonna dream about malaria parasites...

Day 19

Great weather for a ride today.  Sunny and probably a little under 20 degrees.  Went out with Andrew and Ben, tried not to spend too much time riding behind them (too easy) and also tried to not make them wait to long on the hills (too hard).

Had my first flat in about 4500km!  Can't complain about that.  40.88km in 1:27:10: ride details.

Day 18

Another rest day, mostly because my school schedule has forced me to change my weekly rest day from Mondays to Fridays, but I could also use a chance to catch up on some school work...

Just had a look at the stats for my blog.  So far I'm averaging one view per day!  Guess who that is... yup, it's the guy talking to himself again right now! 

Day 17

First day of fall.  Wet, windy, and getting dark much earlier.  Had a couple of near misses on some wet leaves this evening, so I started going into corners a bit slower...  30.31km in 1:05:23: details and map.

Typical Vancouver in the fall: barely visible through the rain

Day 16

Rest day.  Beautiful day out, but need to rest today, partly because I'm falling behind in school.

Day 15

Week 3 starts today!  Only another 40 or so to go... So no big surprise, went for another low intensity ride around UBC today, 40.07km in 1:23:20: http://tpks.ws/Kr8a.  Still sunny in Vancouver, so I'm trying to max out my daylight rides before the inevitable cold, dark, and wet winter season.

This pic is from just out front of my apartment, on the West end of the street.  Beautiful sunny morning in Vancouver.

Day 14

Rest day (also known as study day).  Week 2 summary: 230.79km in 8.12 hours, so averaged about 28.4km/h for the week. 

Total summary since Day 1:
 422.29km in 14.84 hours, for an avg of 24.5km/h
That would get me from Vancouver to Blind Bay for a few beers on the lake.

Day 13

Went for a couple of laps of Stanley Park with Ben Smith today.  Poor guy had to keep waiting for me and my low intensity pace! 28.24km in 1:02:31: http://tpks.ws/MMxv

Day 12

Nice day of mixed weather in Vancouver.  Set out thinking I'd get rained on, then just tried to stay South West of the mountains to increase my chances of staying dry.  By the end of the ride the sun was coming out! 

Another low intensity ride for this guy today, started to feel it about 2 hours in though.  Here's the link for the ride data http://tpks.ws/nDPiJVWU.  76.92km in 2:34:47.  If the data is any interest, you might notice that this is a good example of one of the benefits of using power instead of heart rate (not to mention the benefits of using both together).  As the ride went on, my heart rate steadily rose from about 150bpm to about 165bpm, while power output stayed constant.  Had I been training based on heart rate, my power output would have steadily declined over the ride, reducing the stress of the workout. 

And today's photo, taken along the short climb up to UBC, one of the many scenic views of the ride. 

Day 11

18.90 km in 41:21.  Nice and quiet around Stanley Park this morning, saw less than a half-dozen people from when I went into the park to when I came out!  Nice fresh morning, even though it looks like Kits pool is closed for the season.  http://tpks.ws/lZmT 

Day 10

Rest day today, but I did notice today that it's been over 4000km since my last puncture! 

Day 9

Pretty easy ride today, slowed down a bit, which kept my avg heart rate to 138bpm.  Nice evening, perfect temp, and the rain held off.  40.46 km in 1:27:14: http://tpks.ws/CUGw

Pretty boring pic tonight, Spanish Banks at dusk, nobody there... 

Day 8

Rode out to Steveston today.  66.26km in 2:21:23:
 https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/V4GP2HMWFEFFJOONPUM5VZY5HQ

And I thought I'd spice things up a bit with a photo from each ride, starting today.  I don't own a camera, so these are all gonna have to be taken with my phone.  If we're lucky, there might end up being a couple of decent ones in there by July.  So here's one from Steveston:

Day 7

Rest Day.  Nothing strange to report.

Week 1 summary: 191.5km in 6.72 hours, so averaged about 28.5km/h for the week. 

Day 6

So, today it finally rained on my ride and I put my fenders to good use.  Really enjoy not having my shorts filled with muddy water (thank you rear fender).  Also really like my shoes not filling with water every time I turn or ride through a puddle (thank you front fender).

Otherwise just business as usual for a nice wet day in Van City: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/WBTFC6GPU55TANZB5ZR67YJR3M

Day 5

Went for a low intensity ride out to Iona beach and back, lots of wind today.  Somehow managed to stay dry again.  Pretty happy with the way things are going for the first week, even though it's a little hard to keep things in check after so many faster paced rides in August.

Just over 2 hours for about 60km:
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/TSK4F6QHZ63AZQY5MKTBBRR6RU 

Day 4

Rest day!  I don't really like rest days... it's only 9am and my legs are already twitchy.  The twitching makes it hard to catch up on studying, but I've got to fit that in at some point.  With a full course load this year, I'm trying to rig something up so I can read while riding my indoor trainer. 

Day Three

So far zero people are following, so this is looking like it'll be more of a personal diary... I do a lot of talking to myself anyways, so what the hell!  Lots of head wind today, really noticed the fenders being back on.  About 30km in about 1:03:00.  Itchin to ramp things up already, so for now the hardest part is holding back.

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/QBA37M7GWDUWOV77IXGUYJ2MMY

Day Two

Did a little over 40km in about 1:23:00 tonight, but my power meter seems to be acting up, so I don't have a file to share. 

I put the fenders back on today and then the sun came out, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before things get soggy out there.

Day One

Day one, training starts today.  I’ve been easing into the sport of cycling over the past 5 months and now I’m ready to crank things up a notch.  So here’s to hoping for an injury-free season and 10 months of consistent training. 

The pros seem to average something around 6 hours per stage, so my goal will be to keep my times around 8 hours.  I’ll be happy if I can keep things within about 30% of the pros, especially since I anticipate having to ride alone for most of the race. 

Today’s ride was a nice easy 1 hour/30km ride out around UBC: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/OHISKY2N247PDQFOI4TXVY3Q6Y