A few posts back I mentioned that I had potentially figured out what I want to try regarding a possible career...well here it is: custom bike frame building.
My brother Cam directed my attention to the website of Sacha White who is the framebuilder at Vanilla Bicycles and his work blew my mind, not to mention totally inspired me. I think this would be a cool thing to do for a few reasons...you're not only creating art and would get to be really creative and build literally every idea that pops into your mind, but you're also getting more people on bikes which is encouraging a healthier, fitter population and (hopefully) getting more cars off the road more often.
Check out Sacha's work here and make sure you have a drool bib handy, you'll need it:
http://vanillabicycles.com/
Enjoy and get psyched on bikes!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Crushing Snails
I raced the Cypress Hill Climb today and it was super fun! We got up there pretty early and hung out in the team tent and waited for the Cat ½ boys (Sebastian, Nieves and Steven) to get ready and take off at 10 am.
Martin and Stu dropped by to help me get psyched up and it was much appreciated to see their smilin’ faces before getting warmed up on my trainer. I spun for about 20 min before heading down to the start line.
I had checked the results from last year’s race and one of the stronger guys who I race with on Tuesday nights, Jay Brooks, had actually placed 2nd; this was cool because he was here today so I was excited to have someone strong to race with.
The lady gave her speech about this was definitely not a road race and it was an individual time trail where it wouldn’t be the first one across the line that won, but rather the best effort. The part I struggled with was that everybody was starting together so I was pretty sure that the first person across the line was definitely going win the race, even if someone else made a bigger effort!
They sent us off and we quickly spun up to about 37 km/h with some jockeying for position going on prior to getting onto the actual climb. We rounded the long corner and then we were into it. I made sure I was in about 5th wheel in order to cover any surges but also keep my nose out of the wind. As we made our way up to the first switchback we gradually changed order so that by the time we were rounding the corner it was Jay leading with me on his wheel and everyone else lined out behind us.
About a hundred meters up the road I slowly came around Jay riding a quick but still comfortable pace and being the classy guy he is, he told me I was doing a good job. We rode this way until the 2nd switchback and as we crested the rise I glanced back over my shoulder and noticed that we had ridden everyone else off our wheels! Awesome!!! I love when that happens...when you unintentionally torch your competition.
As we hit the flat on the switchback I dropped it down a few gears and put in a small acceleration just to keep the pace high and as I took one more glance back to assess the damage we’d done, I noticed I had gapped Jay. Taking advantage of the situation I punched it and by the time I swung around onto the next pitch I had a solid 50m gap. From here I rode my own race frequently checking my gap but as it happened I managed to continually increase it all the way to the line!
Final result: 1st in Men’s Cat.4 in a time of 32 min 50 sec with a gap of 1 min 10 sec on 2nd place. I was pretty psyched because my time would have won the Cat.3 race too by about 35 sec...Sweet!
Next up, Yaletown Grand Prix on Wednesday...let’s have a race fellas!Saturday, June 27, 2009
I got a fevah! and the only prescription is more...
So I'm just coming off a few lower mileage weeks that led up to the Test of Metal and I can kind of feel it in my legs that I haven't been putting in a lot of miles.
Tomorrow is the Cypress Hill Climb race and I haven't really done any road racing this year other than teh local weekly criteriums but for some reason after finishing the Test last weekend I got road racing fevah?! I checked the calender and it just happened that the only two races that really look appealing due to style and location happen to be this week: the Cypress Hill Climb and the Yaletown Grand Prix criterium on Wednesday.
I just got back from an easy spin this morning with the team so I'll post up tomorrow evening with the results...
Tomorrow is the Cypress Hill Climb race and I haven't really done any road racing this year other than teh local weekly criteriums but for some reason after finishing the Test last weekend I got road racing fevah?! I checked the calender and it just happened that the only two races that really look appealing due to style and location happen to be this week: the Cypress Hill Climb and the Yaletown Grand Prix criterium on Wednesday.
I just got back from an easy spin this morning with the team so I'll post up tomorrow evening with the results...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Fraso: 1, Test of Metal: 0
So the Test of Metal is complete for this year and in all regards it was a huge success! None of our group of friends that entered got hurt, almost all finished with times exceeding their expectations and only a few had to deal with the frustration of mechanicals and/or flats.
The anthem finished, the tape dropped and we were off. The pace was pretty fast but I had a much better start this year than last and I was keeping the leaders in sight until we hit the trails. From there I followed wheels up and down the loose doubletrack until we hit Jack's Trail and made sure to put small surge in right before entering the singletrack. It turned out to be a good decision because not too far up Jack's Trail the group of four that I was with dropped the riders behind us.
We exited at Alice Lake and quickly formed paceline along the paved roads. As we hit the short hill passing the kiosk I put the gas on and opened a gap on the other four riders. Up ahead I saw Duncan one of my team mates from the Specialized/ Dizzy Cycles road team but unfortunately his being a Cat.1 racer didn't allow me to bridge up to him and after about 5 minutes the group of four had caught up to me and we began riding together again.
We were all together through Dead End Loop, Rob's Corners, Cliff's Corners and back down to Roller Coaster with the order switching up here and there.
Blasting out of Roller Coaster onto the road we quickly formed another paceline and most of us took the time to drink and eat at that point which surprisingly I was able to accept eagerly.
We all remained together until the base of 9-mile where we came through the feed zone and Car passed me a fresh bottle. As we came through a lady wsa counting riders and I found out that I was in 25th place at that point so I got pretty psyched. Unfortunately, in our group there was a petite female named Catherine Pendrel who happened to have won a World Cup XC race and also came 4th at the Bejing Olympics in XC mtb. The cool thing ws that she slowly and methodically began to ride each and every one of us off her wheel and dropped the entire group before strting to reel in the riders up the road...it was an impressive display of power and mental tenacity!
Anyways, at that point I decided that it would be best to ride my own race and not kill myself to try and keep up with these jackrabbits on the climb.
I ended up getting passed by a few fellas on the rest of the climb but overall was happy with my pace and then wsa extremely pleased with how the Ring Creek Rip went. I always find that part of the course a bit intimidating since I get bounced around a fair bit through some of the rockier sections with being on a hard tail. The Plunge followed nd although I totally botched much of the top section, I slowly found my groove and got smoother as I descended.
Exiting onto teh dirt road, I hammered down towards Crumpit Woods and gritted my teeth as the cramp set in. It wsan't as bad as last year so I was happy about that and I wsn't forced to get off my bike and stop racing to stretch out. Although I rode Crumpit Woods horribly being so tired at that point, I got through it and eventually popped out of endo into Raven's Plateau atop the Smoke Bluffs.
I passed one guy and bridged up to the next guy on teh road and together we hammered our wy down to the Smoke Bluff sparking lot. He eneded up getting a bit of a gap on me that I couldn't close down but at least no one else caught me and I crossed the line in 2hrs 54 min 50 sec, well inside my goal of 2:59:59! I was super happy, as that time also put me 34th overall which I thought was pretty respectable.
Anyways, I didn't feel as crappy as I did last year after the race so that was a treat also.
So, another Test down and hopefully next year Cam will join the brigade and we can drive each other to a faster time again!
The anthem finished, the tape dropped and we were off. The pace was pretty fast but I had a much better start this year than last and I was keeping the leaders in sight until we hit the trails. From there I followed wheels up and down the loose doubletrack until we hit Jack's Trail and made sure to put small surge in right before entering the singletrack. It turned out to be a good decision because not too far up Jack's Trail the group of four that I was with dropped the riders behind us.
We exited at Alice Lake and quickly formed paceline along the paved roads. As we hit the short hill passing the kiosk I put the gas on and opened a gap on the other four riders. Up ahead I saw Duncan one of my team mates from the Specialized/ Dizzy Cycles road team but unfortunately his being a Cat.1 racer didn't allow me to bridge up to him and after about 5 minutes the group of four had caught up to me and we began riding together again.
We were all together through Dead End Loop, Rob's Corners, Cliff's Corners and back down to Roller Coaster with the order switching up here and there.
Blasting out of Roller Coaster onto the road we quickly formed another paceline and most of us took the time to drink and eat at that point which surprisingly I was able to accept eagerly.
We all remained together until the base of 9-mile where we came through the feed zone and Car passed me a fresh bottle. As we came through a lady wsa counting riders and I found out that I was in 25th place at that point so I got pretty psyched. Unfortunately, in our group there was a petite female named Catherine Pendrel who happened to have won a World Cup XC race and also came 4th at the Bejing Olympics in XC mtb. The cool thing ws that she slowly and methodically began to ride each and every one of us off her wheel and dropped the entire group before strting to reel in the riders up the road...it was an impressive display of power and mental tenacity!
Anyways, at that point I decided that it would be best to ride my own race and not kill myself to try and keep up with these jackrabbits on the climb.
I ended up getting passed by a few fellas on the rest of the climb but overall was happy with my pace and then wsa extremely pleased with how the Ring Creek Rip went. I always find that part of the course a bit intimidating since I get bounced around a fair bit through some of the rockier sections with being on a hard tail. The Plunge followed nd although I totally botched much of the top section, I slowly found my groove and got smoother as I descended.
Exiting onto teh dirt road, I hammered down towards Crumpit Woods and gritted my teeth as the cramp set in. It wsan't as bad as last year so I was happy about that and I wsn't forced to get off my bike and stop racing to stretch out. Although I rode Crumpit Woods horribly being so tired at that point, I got through it and eventually popped out of endo into Raven's Plateau atop the Smoke Bluffs.
I passed one guy and bridged up to the next guy on teh road and together we hammered our wy down to the Smoke Bluff sparking lot. He eneded up getting a bit of a gap on me that I couldn't close down but at least no one else caught me and I crossed the line in 2hrs 54 min 50 sec, well inside my goal of 2:59:59! I was super happy, as that time also put me 34th overall which I thought was pretty respectable.
Anyways, I didn't feel as crappy as I did last year after the race so that was a treat also.
So, another Test down and hopefully next year Cam will join the brigade and we can drive each other to a faster time again!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Test of Metal...incoming
The Test of Metal is finally here...I haven't blogged much lately partly due to lack of content since over the past week and a bit I've been trying to rid myself of a nagging chest cold and come into the big event tomorrow with full energy; this has necessitated taking lots of rest and doing nothing...not a routine I'm fond of.
Anyways, it's mostly worked I think as I'm feeling better than earlier in the week and during a short spin this evening to wake my legs up again, I felt pretty spry.
I'll post up the results tomorrow after we get back or Sunday...here's to breaking the 3 hr barrier and placing top 40 over all.
Anyways, it's mostly worked I think as I'm feeling better than earlier in the week and during a short spin this evening to wake my legs up again, I felt pretty spry.
I'll post up the results tomorrow after we get back or Sunday...here's to breaking the 3 hr barrier and placing top 40 over all.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Eureka
Ok, sorry I haven't updated in a few days but I sure have a lot to tell about. The weekend was fun and featured a superb jaunt along the Test of Metal course with Markez, Martin, Simon and Steph on Saturday.
I won't go into details but I was extremely happy with how I rode, especially compared to the previous weekend so it was nice to have a confidence boost with only two weeks to go until the race.
Sunday Car and I helped out with our Specialized/Dizzy Cycles Team up at the Westside Classic road race where the boys put in stellar performances with Brandon winning the KOM category (actually more like utterly demolishing any would be competitors by winning every single point up for grabs) and coming in 7th, and Sebastian with a strong 6th place finish. Good job boys...this grass roots effort my not be so grass roots by the end of the season!
Monday was a rest day and then Tuesday rolled around and by now you should be waiting for the crit updates on the edge of your seat, while salivating copiously for the results...har har har. Well, I wouldn't say I'm much for foreshadowing, but if you harken back to my last post about the Tuesday Nighter, I dare say I called it by letting you all know of my intentions to forget about the primes and race for top spot again. Chi-chick.....BABOOM!!! (That was a shotgun cocking followed by shooting in case you were wondering. It was also ment to signify tht I won the crit again this week.)
So, flying the new colours in the newly arrived Specialized/Dizzy Cycles kits, I was able to show them a clean set of wheels at the line this week.
A brief synopsis: Gruppo Compato until the prime...the sprint goes and I wsa glued onto the wheel of one of the stronger guys but he sat up and didn't contest. With the winners up the road, I swung around and charged up to grab another wheel and we were off! With three other compadres, we stormed away from the group with every intention of winning the race. I was surprised that almost immediately we organized very effectively into an echelon on the downhill and a paceline for the rest of the course with each member taking fairly equal pulls. However, with about two laps to go, a few quick glances over my shoulder told me tht we were quickly getting reeled in by the pack of chasing wolves who were clearly hungry for victory! As we got belled for the last lap, a new joiner bridged up and his fresh legs and enthusiasm lit a fire under our butts; we pinned it again knowing it was either now or get caught and have wasted the entire effort. Coming down the downhill we had opened the gap again and into teh last corner it ws clear that one of our group would snatch the win. I led into the last corner but purposely slowed a touch on the exit to encourage someone else to pull through. It worked and as we flew through the last chicane and onto the finishing straight it was balls to the wall as I opened fire first but held the hard chargers off to the line! OH that's NOICE!
Okay, so the other news is that through much delibertion (not really actually) I think I my have realized what I want to dedicate my innumerable skills and talents to for my life's work...Eureka! Just to be a dork (a real dork since no one even reads this...har har har) you'll have to wait for my next post. Duh, duh, duhhhhhhhh....
I won't go into details but I was extremely happy with how I rode, especially compared to the previous weekend so it was nice to have a confidence boost with only two weeks to go until the race.
Sunday Car and I helped out with our Specialized/Dizzy Cycles Team up at the Westside Classic road race where the boys put in stellar performances with Brandon winning the KOM category (actually more like utterly demolishing any would be competitors by winning every single point up for grabs) and coming in 7th, and Sebastian with a strong 6th place finish. Good job boys...this grass roots effort my not be so grass roots by the end of the season!
Monday was a rest day and then Tuesday rolled around and by now you should be waiting for the crit updates on the edge of your seat, while salivating copiously for the results...har har har. Well, I wouldn't say I'm much for foreshadowing, but if you harken back to my last post about the Tuesday Nighter, I dare say I called it by letting you all know of my intentions to forget about the primes and race for top spot again. Chi-chick.....BABOOM!!! (That was a shotgun cocking followed by shooting in case you were wondering. It was also ment to signify tht I won the crit again this week.)
So, flying the new colours in the newly arrived Specialized/Dizzy Cycles kits, I was able to show them a clean set of wheels at the line this week.
A brief synopsis: Gruppo Compato until the prime...the sprint goes and I wsa glued onto the wheel of one of the stronger guys but he sat up and didn't contest. With the winners up the road, I swung around and charged up to grab another wheel and we were off! With three other compadres, we stormed away from the group with every intention of winning the race. I was surprised that almost immediately we organized very effectively into an echelon on the downhill and a paceline for the rest of the course with each member taking fairly equal pulls. However, with about two laps to go, a few quick glances over my shoulder told me tht we were quickly getting reeled in by the pack of chasing wolves who were clearly hungry for victory! As we got belled for the last lap, a new joiner bridged up and his fresh legs and enthusiasm lit a fire under our butts; we pinned it again knowing it was either now or get caught and have wasted the entire effort. Coming down the downhill we had opened the gap again and into teh last corner it ws clear that one of our group would snatch the win. I led into the last corner but purposely slowed a touch on the exit to encourage someone else to pull through. It worked and as we flew through the last chicane and onto the finishing straight it was balls to the wall as I opened fire first but held the hard chargers off to the line! OH that's NOICE!
Okay, so the other news is that through much delibertion (not really actually) I think I my have realized what I want to dedicate my innumerable skills and talents to for my life's work...Eureka! Just to be a dork (a real dork since no one even reads this...har har har) you'll have to wait for my next post. Duh, duh, duhhhhhhhh....
Friday, June 5, 2009
Witness the Fitness
Yesterday as I pedalled home from work along Burrard St. through traffic, I knew that our ride that evening was going to be a hot one. The wether in Vancouver has been off the hook for what feels like many weeks now. It almost seems as though it's been sunny and 25C straight since last summer and it never even rained all winter. Interesting how quickly you forget the damp, dreary days of winter when you have sunshine and bluebird skies to enjoy for over two weeks straight...
I picked Stuey up at 4:15 at his place and we were off like a fart in a windstorm. We chatted out to West Van and when we hit Marine Dr at 31st, the chit chat pretty well ceased as the heart rate kicked up a notch. We rode really hard out to Whytecliff and stopped briefly to enjoy the view from "Stu's patio"and have a quick bite to eat.
From there it was up to the highway and heading for Cypress. As we neared Cypress I realized that this was going to be a tough one a) because of the temperatures, b) how gassed my legs felt and we hadn't even started the climb yet, and c) because Stu was steadily crushing the life out of my legs with the pace he kept setting.
We ditched our helmets, set the timer at the chain-up shed and went to work. We slowly wound our way up the 12 km, thankful for any shade we found and especially the cold air pockets hovering around the small waterfalls we climbed past. We came around the last switchback surprised at the time on the clock, and gave one final push to the big yellow cedar on the summit. We hit the line at 39 min 45 sec! We were stoked...
On the way down we saw a small black bear munching some dandelions and so we stopped to visit with him briefly. When the car with the pumping techno beats reversed down the road to join the party, Mr. Bear scuttled off into the woods leaving Mr. Techno bewildered that he had missed the sighting...perhaps Mr. Bear preferred pubs to clubs?
Anyways, we descended the rest of the mountain like Paolo "Il Falco" Salvodelli and were soon back on the highway heading to Taylor Way. Stu was just mashing the pedals at this point pulling a steady 45 km/h and coming really close to dropping me even though I was fully in his draft. Mr. Fitness ended up pulling me the entire way back from Cypress to Kits and would start gapping me if I thought about easing off a touch. That was a performance that would have provoked Eddy Merckx to point at his biceps and with a stern face, say "strong!". Nice work Stu!
The ride ended on an interesting note with a passing SUV loaded with girls yelling some expletives at us right after I snuck in front of them on Burrard. Unfortunately for our friendly femmes, they didn't look ahead to see the red traffic light 100 m up the road. What was very puzzling was that when we approached, all of the sudden the window was fully rolled up?! I wonder if all of a sudden they had found 29C a bit chilly and didn't want the windows down anymore? Then when Bookie bellowed out "PARDON?!!!" the girl in the passenger seat looked about to pee her pants and the driver had all of a sudden become extremely interested in something on the opposite side of the car and seemingly didn't notice Stu and I at all now that we were inquiring what the problem was...har har har.
Anyways, a good ride with a good friend on a great evening...tonight I rest in preparation for an awesome XC MTB ride in Squamish on Saturday!
I picked Stuey up at 4:15 at his place and we were off like a fart in a windstorm. We chatted out to West Van and when we hit Marine Dr at 31st, the chit chat pretty well ceased as the heart rate kicked up a notch. We rode really hard out to Whytecliff and stopped briefly to enjoy the view from "Stu's patio"and have a quick bite to eat.
From there it was up to the highway and heading for Cypress. As we neared Cypress I realized that this was going to be a tough one a) because of the temperatures, b) how gassed my legs felt and we hadn't even started the climb yet, and c) because Stu was steadily crushing the life out of my legs with the pace he kept setting.
We ditched our helmets, set the timer at the chain-up shed and went to work. We slowly wound our way up the 12 km, thankful for any shade we found and especially the cold air pockets hovering around the small waterfalls we climbed past. We came around the last switchback surprised at the time on the clock, and gave one final push to the big yellow cedar on the summit. We hit the line at 39 min 45 sec! We were stoked...
On the way down we saw a small black bear munching some dandelions and so we stopped to visit with him briefly. When the car with the pumping techno beats reversed down the road to join the party, Mr. Bear scuttled off into the woods leaving Mr. Techno bewildered that he had missed the sighting...perhaps Mr. Bear preferred pubs to clubs?
Anyways, we descended the rest of the mountain like Paolo "Il Falco" Salvodelli and were soon back on the highway heading to Taylor Way. Stu was just mashing the pedals at this point pulling a steady 45 km/h and coming really close to dropping me even though I was fully in his draft. Mr. Fitness ended up pulling me the entire way back from Cypress to Kits and would start gapping me if I thought about easing off a touch. That was a performance that would have provoked Eddy Merckx to point at his biceps and with a stern face, say "strong!". Nice work Stu!
The ride ended on an interesting note with a passing SUV loaded with girls yelling some expletives at us right after I snuck in front of them on Burrard. Unfortunately for our friendly femmes, they didn't look ahead to see the red traffic light 100 m up the road. What was very puzzling was that when we approached, all of the sudden the window was fully rolled up?! I wonder if all of a sudden they had found 29C a bit chilly and didn't want the windows down anymore? Then when Bookie bellowed out "PARDON?!!!" the girl in the passenger seat looked about to pee her pants and the driver had all of a sudden become extremely interested in something on the opposite side of the car and seemingly didn't notice Stu and I at all now that we were inquiring what the problem was...har har har.
Anyways, a good ride with a good friend on a great evening...tonight I rest in preparation for an awesome XC MTB ride in Squamish on Saturday!
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