Centurion #1 - It's Here!

Made it to Boulder and we have settled in staying with a good friend of Paolina's, Pro Carole Sharpless.

I could go on and on about first impressions of Boulder, but it's the kind of place as a life long endurance athlete that, within 24 hours you are trying to figure out how you can move here! Went for an easy 2 hour ride this morning and we must have seen well over 100 people out riding. I lost count after a bit. There are so many serious cyclists out on the road that you feel like a bit of a fool waving at everyone passing the other way. Back home it's a bonding moment with that loan cyclist you may see in your 3 hour ride!

The legs feel good, but after a couple of hard efforts this morning, you know that you are at 5,300 ft of elevation in Boulder. The quick lesson and bottom line - I'll need to keep it aerobic as much as I can almost all the time on the Centurion 100 mile ride on Sunday. Go anaerobic too soon or too often, and it's going to come back and haunt me - particularly when we climb up to 9,000 ft. Stay calm. Keep the gears light. Stay comfortable. Repeated hard efforts early on are going to make the back half of that 100 miles very hard.

Had a good long chat this afternoon with one of the principals behind the Centurion events, Graham Fraser. He believes that these types of events are the next big thing - well organized, and well run Century rides that are what you make it. At the front, these events will have the feel of a real bike road race. Further back - people will make of it what they want/can. It's all good. The Boulder/Lyons Centurion is the first event of what is going to be an amazing series of events and I feel lucky to be able to be here for the first one. The people behind this, beyond Graham Fraser are some of the best people in this sort of event management. They are set to become, must-do, go to events for cyclists looking a challenging course and a very well run event with amazing support services.

All that support is great, but it's going to be me and me alone who is going to have to get myself over the Super James Climb on Sunday - supposedly the hardest and most challenging part of the Centurion 100 mile course. It comes up at about 75 miles and is supposedly a bit of a leg and lung buster. The good news is that it's 25 miles of downhill to the finish after that!

Almost There - Centurion CO in Less Than Two Weeks

The first ever Centurion Cycling event is coming up in less than two weeks. As usual, I had been a bit overly ambitious about my ability to get in some solid kilometers of cycling for this event, but in the last couple of weeks the legs have come around a bit more. It's been capped off by a big push over the recent four-day long holiday weekend where I was able to get in over 350K of riding - with big chunks of it in hilly terrain and at a fairly hard pace. All that being said, my 30-year aerobic and endurance base is going to be put to a supreme test over the Centurion Colorado course with two massive 25-mile climbs each topping out at over 9,000'.

It will be interesting to see how this spells out and who ends up riding with whom. Personally, I have no illusions what-so-ever of being able to hang with the front group. My wonderful Wife, Paolina Allan, should be able to give you more reports from the front as she seems to be rounding into fine form right now and should go well. For me it will be about pacing and riding well within myself on that first big climb - descending well - and then taking on the second climb and seeing what happens. I am a bit concerned about the altitude - but there is not much I can do about that. We'll just have a go at it and see. I am guessing that, with this size of event, that small groupettos will form with like-fit riders who will be able to pace each-other up the climbs - misery loves company!

The bike is all set( Cervelo R3). Still not sure what wheel-set I will run - Zipp 404 Tubulars or Bontrager Race-X-Lite Aluminum clinchers. I am leaning towards the latter, as these are the wheels that I have done most of my riding on this year and they feel very good shorn with Vittoria EVO CX tires. It's a great, all-around, reasonably light, aero and bomb-proof set of wheels. On the advice of a few, I will be going with an 11-28 cassette. The Super James climb on the second big climb does have a steeper section right near the top that may be very testing - not so much due to the grade, but for me the altitude. There is also a stretch of dirt road on this second climb as well, but I have no concerns about this at all, as we ride on dirt and gravel roads quite regularly.

My wonky lower back that has caused me a bit of concern of late has decided to come-around as well, along with my legs. It weathered the big kilometers over the weekend quite well. I must say that the R3 is very helpful in this regards as it does take the buzz out of a lot of the rear end vibrations and hits.

It's a significant first attempt at a large Gran Fondo style ride for organizers Graham Fraser and Len Pettyjohn, but I am sure that given their experience with this sort of thing, it will be exceptionally run. I am really looking forward to it.

Look for a full report here, in the week after the event.

Picture at the top was taken about mid-way up Mt. Lemmon, just outside Tucson, AZ.

Proposed Three Foot Law for Ontario Drivers

The letter below is one I wrote to my Ontario MPP - Frank Klees( Aurora-Newmarket). There has been some proposed legislation that would make it mandatory that when passing a cyclist, a motorized vehicle would have to give a minimum of a three foot wide berth. There are a number of places that this has been passed into Law, including 10 States in the U.S. Given the increasing number of serious and fatal incidents on the roads between cars and cyclists, personally I think this is a good thing.

Mr Klees,

I understand that there has been a private-members bill introduced in the Ontario legislature about a new law that would require cars to give a minimum of a three-foot/one-meter berth when passing a cyclist. News item below:

http://tinyurl.com/29a5nad

Given what was said in the news article by some key people, the Premier included, there is likely going to be a lot of resistance to pass such legislation into law – we seem to have too many laws. However, when it comes to altercations between cars and cyclists, which seem to be on the rise, the outcome, regardless of the situation, is never good for the cyclist and in more than a few cases is fatal. As a member of the Newmarket Eagles Cycling club, I ride on the roads in the area of Aurora and Newmarket regularly and have for many years. What is most surprising, is the almost total lack of knowledge that motorists have regarding the rights that cyclists have to be on the road sharing the road with cars. Couple this with, what can only be described as a cavalier and careless attitude towards driving a motor vehicle, that many have to begin with, and that lack of respect for cyclists, and you have a recipe for some serious interactions and altercations, again with the cyclist always coming out on the losing end of it – with serious injuries and in the worst case scenario, dead!

On almost every ride I go on, with me following exactly the rules of the road on my bike, there is typically some interaction with a motorist that has stemmed from, either the motorists lack of knowledge of the rules of the road regarding cyclists, a total lack of respect, or completely careless driving on the part of the car driver. I sometimes wonder if I am invisible out on the road when riding – a scary thought!

It would be un fortunate if this was not passed into law. If the Three Foot law is not passed, I would hope that a full-scale PR campaign of some sort could be launched in it’s place, to try and get the message across to drivers that they need to exercise caution at all times when near or passing cyclists – that’s just common sense, I would think!

Best regards,

Steve Fleck

The Difference With Road Racing

Did my first cycling road race in two years on Sunday. Was perhaps in over my head based on where my fitness is at, but I re-learned what is a key thing with road racing. The main difference compared to what many people do with their bike riding is the unpredictability of when and how long you are going hard and how much time you have to, "recover", before you have to go hard again.

I was able to hold my own in the group for the most part, but what really caught up with me and did me in, was exactly what I stated above - there was no rhythm or reason to when we were going really hard and I was above the red-line and then the time that we were not going so hard, and I was below my red-line. It's not like I can say, "Hey, guys. I am over my heart-rate, power cap here can we back off a bit?" When there is an acceleration in the group, you don't know if you will be going hard for 20 secs, 2 minutes or maybe even 20 minutes! Furthermore on the other side, you have little control over your recovery - you have to somehow figure this out and recover on the fly - in most cases, you have to recover, while still going nearly all out.

It was a 70k race and I made it to about the 40K mark before coming off the back with three other guys on a false flat. This is when you realize, when the main group is gone, they are gone! The four of us had a go at getting back on, but 2m becomes 20m, becomes 200m, quickly in these situations! We agreed to work together and to ride it in from there. That was fine with me as I was merely looking for a good hard effort today and no heroics, so we all took our tuns with good pulls on the front and finished it up. And in another strange twist of road racing, the guy who had been clearly the strongest in our quartet, and I figured would take the sprint amongst the four of us, was not a factor at all when we had a go of it at the end! Appearances are never what they seem, at many levels in road racing.

There really is no substitute for racing in terms of gaining the key and specific fitness needed for bike road racing. You can do all the interval training you like, but when matched with riders of similar ability and fitness, it is that specific race fitness that is key. In particular, being able to handle the randomness of when you are going really hard and not so hard and being able to recover quickly and be ready to go hard again!

I need a few more weeks and a few more races to get that back.

Birthday Thoughts

49 today.

Four good friends and acquaintances passed away in the last year. It's been a bit of a rough stretch on that front. Men all younger than I am. In that context, I feel lucky and grateful to make it to this day. Sorry for kicking this post off on a somber note, but I think of these men often and wonder a lot about the luck and lottery of life.

However, as I lay in bed last night before I fell asleep, I thought of all the wonderful rich experiences that I have had and the many good friends that I have around me. They say, these are the most important, things in our lives, not how much money we have or the job we work at or the material things we own.

I have heard it said a lot recently, that 50, is the new 40. If I look around me at my friends and the people that I know, in particular the really active people and athletes that I know, I would have to agree with this statement. Staying physically active is important at many different levels. It's always been important to me and I hope that I will be able to be this way for years to come.

On that note, 49 is really just one of those passing-through Birthdays. Next year, the 50th is always looked upon as a bit of a landmark and much more of a milestone. I have some special plans for next year, Saturday, April 23, 2011 - please stay tuned. Yes it will involve something physically active and fun.

Centurion Cycling Courses - Some Thoughts

The good news is that they have released the courses and the profiles of the first two Centurion Cycling events. If you have a look at the profiles - that's also the bad news. Both the Colorado and the Wisconsin 100 mile routes put a huge premium on being able to climb well, but two different kinds of climbing. The Colorado route if you have a closer look at the profile, is pretty straight-forward: 25 miles up/25miles down/25miles up/25 miles down! There are only two climbs on the course, but they are both massively long at about 25 miles each topping out at over 9,000 ft. The second issue here in the Rocky Mountains is going to be the altitude. The Madison profile, is the polar opposite in the world of climbing - there is lots of going up, but the climbs are all short and steep and they just keep coming at you over and over and over, for the full 100 miles. The profile looks like a cross-cut saw blade!

Centurion Colorado - Route and Profile

Centurion Wisconsin - Route and Profile

If you live in an area with big climbs, and you are considering either of these events. Consider yourself lucky. Unfortunately I don't, so I am going to have to be a bit creative with the training to get the climbing legs in shape. Fortunate for me, historically, I have fared not too bad on big long climbs like the Centurion Colorado course. I am fairly light. Have a good pedaling rhythm. And know how to dose my effort well, to keep me in there for the long haul. I fare less well with the type of profile in Madison which is more of a power climbers course for those who can just muscle over the darn thing, recover quick, and then get ready for the next one.

It should be interesting to see how the Colorado Centurion unfolds at or near the front. The climbing starts almost right away. They'll be little opportunity to just sit-in the group. I suspect that it will string out, and thin out, in short order, based on who the best pure climbers are. I have been advised, that if you know you will be overwhelmed by the "normal" small gearing of 39-25, you had best opt for a compact crank and chain-ring set-up, that will give you more options at the low end of the gear range for climbing. Having never yet met a climb that I could not handle with a 39-25, I am considering taking the advice to heart for the Colorado Centurion - not so much for the first 25 mile climb, but the second one. By that point, those extra gear options, will be welcome!

Madison, will be a bit different as the brevity of the pure power climbing will allow more people to hang in there for longer in the early going, but I am sure that more than a few will grossly under-estimate the toll, that this will take on them and by 60 miles, they may be completely toasted. Patience will be key in Madison and knowing your limits. Again, the compact crank may come in handy later on, as the legs start to go and you need some lower gears to get you up and over those short steep climbs in the last 25 miles

Training: If you don't live in a mountainous area, or where there are lots of hills, you'll need to work with what you have. Where I live and ride in southern Ontario, we have a reasonable number of hills, but there is nothing like what we'll encounter at Colorado Centurion. It is a bit like what we may find at Centurion Wisconsin. What, I'll be doing is seeking out the hilliest routes that I can when going out for longer rides, and always seeking out hills on every ride for that matter, and every time I am going up a hill I am going to be focused on working as hard as I can to get up it. Once a get a bit fitter, I will start to do some big-gear work - doing climbs in a gear or two bigger than I really should be - this will build extra strength to keep the gear turning over no matter what. For Wisconsin the key will be hard 5 - 10 minute efforts, with a shorter recovery, and then repeat. The indoor trainer, is not a bad option for this sort of thing.

The Centurion Canada route in Collingwood, Ontario is set to be released shortly. This course I will have more confidence in as I live in the area and train on very similar terrain, all the time. Once it is released I will chime in again with some further thoughts.

Picture at the top is me climbing Mt Lemmon in Tucson, AZ - it's about a 25 mile climb, so similar to what we'll see at Centurion Colorado.

Whitfield Chooses Nineteen Wetsuits

Nineteen Wetsuits is pleased to announce a multi-year agreement to supply wetsuits to two time Olympic triathlon medal winner Simon Whitfield. The announcement coincides with the tenth anniversary of Nineteen, and Whitfield’s return to Sydney, Australia for the 2010 ITU World Championship Series opener, nearly ten years after the race that changed everything for Whitfield and the sport of triathlon, when the up-start Canadian won the gold medal in the first ever men’s Olympic triathlon competition at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Simon came through this weekend with a fifth place finish in the Sydney World Championship Series race. Simon exited the swim in the lead pack, which is critical to success in ITU races. Every second counts and ITU athletes take their choice of wetsuit very seriously. Whitfield, in particular, has a reputation for being very selective in choosing equipment providers.

In choosing Nineteen, Whitfield said, “I have known the guys at Nineteen, for a long time. We have kind of grown up in the sport together. They know wetsuits and most simply, they know wetsuit fit, and with wetsuits simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

“Simon Whitfield is one of the few athletes who is well known and respected across the full spectrum of the sport of triathlon. He even transcends the sport itself,” says, Nineteen’s Sales & Marketing Manager, Steve Fleck. “As a Canadian company in particular, we are very happy to have Simon swimming in our wetsuits and fortunate to have him assisting us in developing our next generation Frequency for 2011,” Fleck adds.

Whitfield is fully committed to being at his best for the London Olympic Games in 2012, his fourth Olympic Games appearance, where he feels strongly that he will be a contender for his third Olympic medal. Nineteen Wetsuits is proud to be part of Simon Whitfield’s team.