Day 55

Had planned to ride tonight, then decided I was better off studying than dodging teenagers lighting off fireworks... not really worth the risk I guess.  Haven't been on my bike in 5 days!  Partly because I've been at the gym, and partly because of school.  That's really disappointing for me, but I don't have any choice.  School's my priority right now and it's taking up too much time.

Day 54

I was planning a one hour ride today, but was all stuffed up and a slight fever... decided to play it safe and swap my ride for a nap.  Feeling much better now, so hopefully that lasts

Day 53

One hour at the gym and a reassessment of what I can do this semester... Unfortunately I've got to cut back on the training for now.  My grades are suffering and I need more time to bring them back up.  So until mid-Dec at least, I'm going to have to scale back the training.  I'm kind of bummed out about this, but I don't really have a choice... a little extra suffering in France or another year of classes to retake the ones with low grades.

Day 52

Rest day.  Big exam, so nothing but books for me.

Day 51

Big day today... in addition to the hour I spent at the gym, I got a follower!  And not just any follower, the Legendary Richie Hendo!!!!  OK, that's all.

Day 50

50 days of training for my charity ride have passed by, and the donations are not exactly pouring in... actually, there's been exactly one donation since I started this new fundraising effort.  That's a little discouraging, but there's still lots of time to go.  Donate Here

I forgot to summarize my ongoing totals last week, probably because I got caught up in the excitement of the Tour route announcement.  So here we go, 2 weeks worth added together: 215.75km in 8 hours, for an avg speed of 26.9km/h, plus 3 hours in the gym.  So that brings the total for 7 weeks to 1310.74km in 47.23 hours, for an avg speed of 27.7 km/h.  That's enough to get from Vancouver to Medicine Hat along Hwy 1.

Last night's ride was nothing special.  I had a pee break and forgot to turn the timer back on, so I just used the data from the previous night to approximate, since they were basically the same.  28.45km in 1:05:58, avg of 25.9km/h

Day 49

Went for a nice ride in the wind and rain after roughly 16 hours of studying and lectures.  Sure felt good to get outside!  After my power test a couple of days ago, I've lowered my zones a bit to adjust to the loss of fitness since the summer.  So now my low intensity rides will be even lower!  28.45km in 1:05:58, for an avg speed of 25.9km/h.  Which is actually faster than it felt at that intensity and with all that wind...

I forgot to take a picture during the ride, but figured that my post ride chocolate milk routine deserved a little attention anyways... I think it's the best recovery drink out there.  I have some after every ride and just vary the amount I have based on the my ride and how much fuel I took in on the ride.

Day 48

Another day off the bike for this beleaguered student... I was considering a ride because I feel pretty good, even though coach scheduled a rest day, but in the end it was mounting assignments that made the decision for me.  Just gives me more to look forward to tomorrow, I guess?

Day 47

Took advantage of a rare break in the rain (still very windy) for a quick ride out around UBC.  Picked up the pace a bit today, 28.97km in 55:33, avg speed 31.3km/h: ride details and map.  Because of the rolling course, and the higher intensity, the normalized power was 10% higher.  Most times around this same course it's only around 1% higher!  I was able to do about 30 min at an avg of 242W, which is down from the 265W threshold I was measuring at the end of the summer.  This doesn't really surprise me, as I lost a considerable amount of fitness transitioning into this long training schedule (it's actually not as low as I thought it would be).  With this info though, I can adjust all my training zones appropriately... I've probably been going a little too hard on my low intensity rides!  Luckily the difference won't be too much, since I'd hate to have spent 5 weeks doing the dreaded in-between rides...

Went past the Royal Van Yacht Club on the way home, surprised so many still in the marina not taking advantage of the wind!  

Day 46

Just an hour in the gym today, no ride.  Nothing strange to report.  Back to studying.

Day 45

Feeling pretty rough today, hopefully not getting sick, but I figured I'd play it safe since it's a rest week and get a little extra rest tonight (aka study time).

Day 44

Getting pumped for the Tour!  Thinking about the route all day today.  Up and over the Galibier twice!  One of those unroute to Alpe d'Huez!  That's only about 100km on that stage, but still, two pretty mean climbs back to back.   Back to reality, and today's training included an hour in the gym around noon, then a ride around midnight: 28.41km in 1:03:44, for an avg speed of 26.8km/h.  ride details and map
Very nice ride tonight, full moon, so bright out I couldn't stop thinking about it!  But I knew better than to try and take another picture of the moon with my phone camera...

When I set out the fog horns were sounding in the bay and all the ships were wrapped in for.  You could still see them, and there wasn't any fog elsewhere... looked really cool, so I figured I'd take a pic on the way back.  Then when I got back the fog was gone, even though you can't even really tell they're ships from the picture!

Day 43

Today was a rest day.  I spent most of the day booking hotels all over France after the route for the 2011 Tour was announced this morning.  I managed to find hotels in almost every town I wanted, except for the mountains and rest day towns... those were pretty much all sold out by the time I looked (within hours of the route being released).  Getting pretty damn exciting though!  Even planning to camp out after riding up Alpe d'Huez and staying at the top until the race gets there the next day!

Day 42

Pretty excited today because tomorrow brings the announcement of the 2011 Tour de France route.  It's going to finish in the Alps, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the race going through the Alps, so there should be some pretty hard and iconic climbs in this year's Alps.  To get a taste for a day in the Alps, this past July 11th, I rode an approximation of that day's route from Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz.  Two cat 4's, one cat 3, and two cat 1 climbs over 189km.  So how did this look in Vancouver?  187.58km and 9,691ft of climbing.  I tried to find a close simulation of the distances between the categorized climbs and the length and grade of the climbs themselves.  So I left Kits beach, went out towards UBC and did a couple of laps on the hill up to UBC, then out to Iona beach and back to the UBC hill for 3 more laps, then out to North Van via the Lions Gate bridge, across the North Shore, and up Seymour two and a half times, then back to Kits via Stanley Park.  The ride took just over 8.5 hours, but it was good to get a feel for what I'll be looking at each day for 3 weeks next summer.

As for tonight's ride, it was another quiet, peaceful night.  It's so crisp and fresh at night, I'm amazed I'm the only one out!  Tonight the moon was really bright and it lit up the road, silhouetting the tree line around campus (as is obvious from the stunning photo below!).  28.29km in 1:06:26, for an avg speed of 26km/h.   ride details and map

 

Day 41

Today was a somewhat disappointing day... I was planning a 3.5 hour ride out to Lions Bay and the weather was really nice, but my school work took much longer than I expected and I've only just finished at 11:30pm.  I had to cut my ride short yesterday for school too, plus a mechanical Thursday night, so I'm a little bummed that I didn't meet my planned volume for this week.  This coming week is a recovery week anyways, so I guess I just got started a little early.  A 7 hour week is gonna be so relaxing (and by that I mean that I'll be spending an extra 7 hours studying this week.

Day 40

I was planning to go for a few hours today, but decided I should cut it short and study instead (which ended up being a nap, but who's counting).   The data's a little weird because the one minute ride from 2 nights ago is on there (when my cable snapped).  Did 2 laps around Stanley Park with Ben at an easy pace, 28.08km in 1:06:10, for an avg speed of 25.5km/h: ride details and map.


Here's a shot of Ben impersonating Harry Jerome in Stanley Park

Day 39

My bike is sitting in the shop today, but should be ready for pick up when I head home from school to have a feed and costume change before work.  Went to the gym for the first time this season today instead of riding... I can feel the knots already, like golf balls in legs and ass!  Haha!  And that was just a mellow warmup to get my muscles used to the gym again.  Should loosen up on my ride tomorrow. 

Day 38

Made it to the end of my street, then a felt my shifter give out... ride cancelled!  It's a good reminder though, that it's a good idea to do your scheduled rides now, because it might be possible to make them up later, but you might also be forced not to ride.  Maybe it's equipment, or maybe you're sick, etc... forced rest days happen, so there's no need to add any more into your schedule because you feel a little tired.

See how one cable is taut and the other is sagging... it's not supposed to sag

Day 37

Note to self: bring batteries for when headlight runs out of juice.  On the bright side, I could see even more stars without a headlight!  Did 55.51km in 2:04:10 this evening, for an avg speed of 26.8km/h.  I'm going a little slower now as the duration of my rides is increasing, but otherwise it's business as usual.  ride details and map

This phenomenal shot of the downtown skyline is from just out front of my apartment.  Camera phone, you never cease to amaze me!

Day 36

Fell asleep before I could post again.  I could barely keep my eyes open by 10pm last night, then when I got back from my ride a little after midnight I was wide awake, for about 15 minutes!  Hit snooze this morning for nearly an hour before I realized I was doing it... Anyways, last night's ride: 46.24km in 1:43:20, avg speed 27.0km/h ride details and map


I forgot to take a picture while I was out... remembered part way through taking off my first shoe... 

Day 35

I've decided to change things up for this week and take a rest day today instead of Friday.  I have an organic chem midterm tomorrow and I need to focus on that tonight.  So obviously I'm blogging as a means of procrastination.  Notice that I say "blogging" because Marty gave me shit for calling this diary and took my shift last night on the condition that I refer to it as a blog.  This seems like a fair deal, since I was only calling it a diary when nobody was reading it other than me, but now I have 3 confirmed readers...

So, no ride to report, just a summary of last week:  291.43km in 10.63 hours, for an avg speed of 27.4km/h.  That brings the 35 day total to 1094.99km in 39.23 hours, for an avg of 27.9km/h.  That's enough to get me over 100km past Calgary.

Day 34

I passed out before I could post my ride from last night... got in just after midnight.  I had some chocolate milk and nachos, then went straight to bed.  Pretty uneventful ride anyways, 28.11km in 1:02:33, for an avg speed of 27km/h, ride details and map.

On top of that, I forgot to take a picture while I was out, so I took one on my street just before getting home.  I know, pretty impressive shot...

Day 33

Soggy!  My toes and fingers were prunes by the end of my ride today.  Did a lap of Lulu island, 94.51km in 3:29:13, avg speed was 27.1km/h  ride details and map.  That's faster than I thought it was... lots of wind and massive puddles... felt like I was riding in mud for the last hour and half or so, pretty tired, and only brought one cliff bar.

Richmond, obviously:

Day 32

Rest day today, which really means school all day and work all night.  But while I sit here procrastinating on my school work, I thought it would be neat to see a comparison of my rides from back in March when I was just getting started and a similar one last week:

The route was about 40km, out SW Marine and back to Kits beach.  In March, my average speed was 25.6km/h, avg power was 137W, and avg heart rate was 156bpm.  For the same course last week, my avg speed was 28.3km/h, avg power was 164W, and avg heart rate was 150bpm.  That's about a 10% increase in speed and about a 20% increase in power, at a lower level of exertion based on hr.  That's faster than you would expect for a 20% increase in power, so it seems efficiency has improved too!

That's all pretty motivating for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks in 6 months.

Day 31

You guessed it, another ride at night.  It seems to be working for me.  I get my school work done, then go for a ride once my brain is too tired to focus.  28.38km in 1:00:46 for an avg of 28.0km/h. ride details and map Just a slight drizzle, but the clouds kept things warmer overall.

I tried to take a cool picture going down the hill, with all the lights streaming by, but my camera phone didn't get the memo.

Day 30

Went for another night ride.  Kind of liking these late night rides, it's so quiet out.  Only trouble is the last couple late night rides I've realized about an hour in that I haven't had enough to eat today...

63.94km in 2:18:11 for a speed of 27.8km/h: ride map and details

The funny thing about riding at night is you lose your bearings in the dark, and every now and then I only realize I'm going up a hill by the data on my computer!  So I thought a pic of my computer would be cool, but it didn't turn out that well...

Day 29

Went for a nice low intensity ride with Ben, who was kind enough to wait for me on the hills again... Getting a little chilly around dusk these days.  30.16km in 1:05:10, for an average of 27.8km/h, ride details and map

Here's a pic of Ben, riding out by UBC near sunset.


Week 4 summary: 270.02km in 9.83 hours, so averaged about 27.5km/h for the week.  Goal was 10 hours... gradually ramping things up.

Total summary since Day 1:
803.56km in 28.6 hours, for an avg of 28.1km/h
The pace is gradually slowing, but that's enough to get me past Golden... next stop Calgary, to watch the Canucks beat the Flames

Day 28

Went out at 10pm tonight for 46.33km in 1:41:45, for an average speed of 27.3km/h: ride details and map

Great night, cool, crisp air, lots of stars and almost nobody around.  Tried to take a pic of the little bit of light I had from my "headlight"... as you can see, reaction time is a little limited

Also, I'm really happy Thor Hushovd won the World Championships... seems like a really classy guy

Day 27

Went for a nice easy ride out and around UBC.  Just a slight fall drizzle, kind of refreshing.  28.07km in 58:16, for an average speed of 28.9km/h.  ride details and map

Fall on campus, UBC:

Day 26

Another diary entry for me.  Never thought growing up that I would keep a diary, ever.  But, until anybody bothers to look at this, I can't see how this is any different than a little girl's diary...

Went for a mellow ride out to Lions Bay today for a coffee.  78.82km in 3:05:35, avg speed of 25.7km/h: ride details/map


View from the Lions Gate Bridge, looking West, lots of boats out fishing.

The fellas, enjoying a coffee break in Lions Bay

Day 25

Rest day!  I've moved my rest days to Fridays because it's the only day of the week that I have to attend lectures and work.  It's so nice outside, but I need at least one rest day per week.  I really want to get outside!  "need a rest day... need a rest day... need a rest day..."