Ari Sarantis took this picture out at Ghost Lake on Saturday May 9th 2009. This means that in roughly 12 weeks we will be all standing around in the Ghost Lake parking lot with wet suits on only to hear the race organizers delaying the start of the race by 1 to 1.5 hours, then opt out of offering a triathlon and then stating that we will all be doing a duathlon due to frigid water temperatures. We will be further delayed by 1 to 1.5 hours as they plan a suitable running route to start the event. I say do a mass start bike race and allow everyone to race as if it was a bicycle road race where pacelines and echelons will form and allow riders to make up for lost time due to standing around in the transition area earlier. Okay, a bit far fetched and perhaps in poor taste but how can we argue with the picture Ari took??
It would seem the Driven 5 and coaching staff have been too busy lately to post so I figured I should get back on to this. Over the past month or so training has ramped up for myself and Amy Woodward. As it stands now, Amy can out swim me - not that I am a fast swimmer by any means but it is great to see Amy progress so quickly. Laurel has done a great job developing the noon hour swim sets for us in the 50m pool and it has given Amy and I the ability to begin drafting or at the very least swim in the bubbles of the feet in front. To even the widening playing field between Amy and I, I will swim with fins so she can "keep up" to myself. The intent is similar to motor pacing in cycling whereby you ride behind a motorcycle which helps cut the wind in front, simulates raceday speeds and greater, get accustomed to many micro-accelerations to keep pace, enhances concentration etc. In the pool, I can drag Amy along at a faster pace than she is accustomed to and she doesn't have to work quite as hard as when she is swimming by herself. The net effect thus far me losing between 4-5seconds per 100m to her. So quite a bit of time.
On May 2nd and 3rd we finally had some beautiful riding weather in Calgary and we were able to run our Triathlon Club's Bike Camp weekend. Day 1 was in the NW and started with a mechanics session at SpeedTheory and then some technical riding and then training! I was pleased to see how enthusiastic everyone was despite later hearing about some of the terror people had about riding outside for the first time. I have to say that I was impressed with Heather McInnis's positive attitude after her near wipe-out at the bottom of the long downhill. As we all slowed to make the turn there was some gravel on the road which made things more challenging. Heather started to slide but was able to remain upright and keep on going - with a big smile on her face!
On Sunday we rode out on the famous route known as the Road to Nepal - in short a nice hilly 18km road. As is typical with hills, they seperate and divide cyclists into smaller groups or force everyone to ride in isolation. I came out of the parking lot as last person and I saw as Amy and the fast guys took off over the early hills and dropped the majority of the group right away. We all regrouped at the end of the route and then proceeded towards Millarville where we found you can buy wine and beer at the General store. No wonder this is a popular spot to ride out to.
As we began heading back to our start point, several of us rode out another 8km pushing each other on the final climb along that stretch of road. Then on the return to Millarville I set up a sprint finish location to make things interesting. The pace was ramping up as we approached Millarville and the roadies out numbered the triathletes 3 to 2 although technically Amy and I can be considered triathletes at the moment. Our instincts were primal and focused on the one thing that mattered most - cross the finish line first. Kevin McMahon jumped early and Amy instinctively bridged up to him while Nicholas Burford verbally provoked me. In the end I took the sprint finish breaking away from a tired duo - it was a cheap victory for me as Kevin and Amy sprinted for the wrong line. Kevin learned a good lesson that day - always know where the finish line is.
We continued on as a group working well in a paceline together to try and catch back those who had ventured home earlier. I still think we would have caught the group however Alan Larter had an unfortunate accident in which he touched wheels with the rider in front of him and went down hard. In short Alan broke his collarbone that day, will require new bar tape for his bike and a new helmet. In all seriousness, Alan's helmet served it's dutiful purpose to protect his head and hence why everyone should wear a helmet whenever they throw a leg over a bike.
Since that sunny weekend, the weather has been quite a mixed bag around Calgary. I have been rained on, hailed on, blown by gusting winds, pumelled by constant head and crosswinds and enjoyed the odd sunny day. Safe to say the upcoming long weekend is looking great to get outside and play on the bike and trails.
JVD
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