November Training Diary – Ken

Well, on a bike-specific front if I had to categorize my performance over November into one word, that word would be FAIL!

I really got a sense this month for how much “real life” can get in the way of things… I was in Costa Rica until the 12th, where no cycling occurred, and upon my return home my body promptly decided to get sick. Really it was just a blown out cold, but I honestly don’t think I had been that sick since junior high. Since bouncing back was my main concern, I kept off the bike for a few days until I started feeling better. As my snowballing month would have it, things got pretty overwhelming at work – early mornings, late nights, carrying computers back and forth – frustrating to say the least.

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November Training Diary – Sheldon

Illness is just insult to injury

That’s what I’ve decided. Though I won’t say I’m really that injured, I pulled something in my right shoulder during a sparring match at my dojo at the beginning of the month. It’s still genuinely sore. Thankfully, this doesn’t impact my riding that much. Illness on the other hand, does. I rarely get sick. By that I mean, I get sick like once a year and it’s never that bad: cough, sneezing, runny nose, for like a day and that’s it. This November though, I was hit with something downright nasty!

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Khakis, with a purpose

Though this may not be a racing-specific gear entry per-se, I ran across these pants on the Cordarounds site and thought it was a pretty smart idea – especially in latitudes like Calgary where this time of year, we’re all pretty much in the dark of night both on the way to work and on the way home.

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Urban Flow

First crack at building a film using the new iMovie. Footage is from summer of 2008 and shot here in the Edmonton river valley. Lots of good trails down there, and you do spend a lot of time grinding your way out of the valley if you want to enjoy any downhill action. Good for training though.

The Bow 80 – Back from Rehab

It’s been over 10 years since my last *real* mountain bike race, and while the last one was a tight loop on a 2km course, this one was a completely different beast.

For the uninitiated, the Bow 80 is an 80km loop around Moose Mountain in Kananaskis Country (Alberta). It claims to include some of the best mountain biking around – and they aren’t lying. Whatever your heart desires, this course delivered. Winding single track, sincere climbs, and brake shredding descents – not to mention some nice scenery along the way.

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Good Times in E-town

Headed up to Edmonton and did some riding over the weekend. It was fun being back in Edmonton, ripping through the river valley and all my old trails. Sheldon and I did some hack-job-filming, comprised mainly of his Canon Elph, a ‘Gorilla’ tripod, and lots of duct tape.

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Ridin’ the ridge

Sheldon came down to Calgary a few months ago and we took our first stab at doing some video recording during the ride. We headed up to Jumpingpound Ridge near Bragg Creek for the day. A truly great ride for anybody in that neck of the woods.

I thought I’d dust off the video and share it with y’all.

October Training Diary – Sheldon

One of the biggest things weighing on my mind going into this, is how much ground I need to cover, not just to get ready for TR, but to catch up to my teammate Ken. Since he moved to Calgary, he grew a set of legs like a Clydesdale. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but there’s no getting around the fact that he’s in much better shape going into the off-season.

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October Training Diary – Ken

I wouldn’t say that this was a model month for me – between two holidays (one to Vegas and one to Costa Rica), one business trip (to New York), Thanksgiving, and the mercury steadily dropping all month I only managed to get about 14 hours on the bike. It’s not the type of performance I want to continue, but this month is more of an anomaly since generally I don’t go anywhere, and these were the first vacations I’ve taken in years.

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