Stay slim or stay in the hole...

Here's some motivation to keep the weight off.

Sloth and Gluttony Hard to Shake Even For the Healthy

Yikes, this article is a bit scary, though I don't recall in my past, nor do I anticipate in my future, a month long period where I don't do any exercise and eat 5753 calories a day (that's one long Christmas celebration).

New CX Bike Regulations

As cyclocross matures in Manitoba some of the UCI rules that have been overlooked in the past will be adhered to at least a little more strictly. To that end Gary Sewell, our new road/cross MCA board rep, has put together a concise chart that outlines the cx bike regulations for this year and next. I think he's done a good job. Here's a link to the chart, and below is a brief explanation from Gary:

In the past we have conveniently looked the other way when it came to cyclocross bike regulations. Over the last couple years there has been increasing discussion on moving towards harmonization with the UCI regulations. Some Canadian jurisdictions (for example BC and Alberta) have disallowed mountain bikes in their A categories for many years on the basis that they are an unfair competitive advantage. The cyclocross committee has adopted the following regulations for the upcoming seasons - see attached table. To ease the transition the harmonization of rules will take place in a step-wise fashion. The red entries signify a change.

The most significant change this year is the need for narrower tires on mountain bikes. We have widened the 26" tire width to 1.5" to allow the Continental CrossCountry which is 26 x 1.5" to allow more options. It has a pretty aggressive tread. The Schwalbe CX Pro is a cross tire that is available in 26 x 1.35" (as well as 700c). It is cheap and gets consistently good reviews. The local shops should be able to get them. If not, they are widely available online.

CX Race Info is posted

Our race info is posted. There will be a little more info to come, but most of the info is now available on our cx race site (click the cyclocross race link in the top menu of this page).

Mark your calendar now - it should be a good event!

Baring It All

I've seen these things around. Interesting article. Anyone have any thoughts / experience with them?

More CX coming soon

Just a quick note to point out that:

(a) You can get most of your local cyclocross info at this blogspot. It also contains links to individual local race sites and other pertinent places on the web. More info on the cyclocross season will be posted there very soon, we almost promise.

(b) TheTrainingCoop will have all of its race info for the event we're hosting online this week! We have a few fun new things in store, some good food, a great new venue that's just a short ride from our venue of the last few years, and we're looking forward to a day of fun and bikes. CX is coming sooner than you think!...

If you need any motivation to participate or spectate here's a video just for you:

Cross Labs

Cross labs begin very soon - the 1st one is next Wednesday, August 25 at 7:00 pm at Omand's Park.

The main purpose of the labs (or at least my interpretation) is to practice cyclocross specific skills and reacquaint riders with cyclocross riding as the cx season quickly approaches.

Different local racers will lead the various labs, and location will change. More info should be posted soon, but to start to get the word out we wanted to post info on the 1st date now.

No, the labs aren't quite as pro as pictured here (oh to have that many sponsors, or any for that matter) but it's still a good learning experience, and good fun.

Day at the Beach

Strength training is going well, but it's always nice to get out in the sun for some riding or paddling, and with the blazing temps this weekend paddling seemed like the thing to do, so Deanna and I packed up the surf kayak and headed to the beach. The conditions were perfect when we got there - moderate white caps on the lake and nice and warm. I played in the boat for a bit, pretty much just paddling straight out into the surf and then rocketing back to shore before turning around and doing it again.

The boat is suprisingly stable in these conditions, though turning cross-wave is always a bit difficult. As the day progressed the wind got stronger but the white caps actually subsided and the swells grew - not as much fun so I dragged the boat to shore to relax for a bit (and to play with a dog that was swimming close by). The wind then quickly dropped to almost nothing and the lake calmed down almost completely. It's almost scary how quickly things can change on Lake Winnipeg.

I meant to get some pics and even some video (I have a camera mount on the boat) but never got around to it while I was out there. Instead I spent time looking for my not-inexpensive sunglasses that dropped in the water while I was paddling, never to be seen again. Oh well, it's a good excuse to buy a new pair.

Dean's Ironman Calgary 70.3

Deanna, Moka, and I enjoyed a weekend in Calgary watching Dean complete the Ironman Calgary 70.3. I'm sure Dean will eventually post a full recap here (he's currently enjoying a vacation in Banff with Kara, his mom, and kids) but I thought I should get a few pics up right away (click 'read more' below to view the rest).

Overall I think Dean was pleased with the results, and he should be. He finished with an approximate time of 5:24:00 (for some reason I can't find his official results listed on the official Ironman site) and he completed every leg of the event at or better than his 'medium' target times.

The swim (which we didn't get to watch because it was a point to point race and the swim wasn't very accessible for us) was apparently pretty cold - temps were about 14 C that morning and the lake water is glacial fed), and there was a lot of knocking around at the start, but it went well and was followed by a good bike ride on slightly slippery, and hilly, roads. The run looked good until the final 5 km or so when a pre existing IT Band issue flared up and make the last stretch of running pretty painful. When Dean approached the finish line he looked bad. His form was okay, but his face looked pretty unhappy. It was good to see soon after that overall he was doing fine, except for a pretty significant hobble.

Overall though it was a great performance. Congratulations Dean!

Artur, Michelle and Naomi sprint in (?) to cheat death!

WELL, THEY DID IT - THEY CHEATED DEATH!!!

IT LOOKS LIKE OUR RRR WINNIPEGGERS (ARTUR P. AND MICHELLE A.) AND EX-WINNIPEGGER (NAOMI H.) FINISHED THIS YEAR'S DEATH RACE IN SOME SORT OF A SPRINT OFF!?!?

"Preliminary" Results Here:

WOW! CONGRATS TO YOU ALL!!!

*Btw: When Lori and I saw Naomi last weekend out at the 24 Hrs of Falcon Ridge (where her Paddy confirmed again that he really is a solo racing machine sent back from the future to humble the rest of us! ... not that I was racing - this year), she was really excited about her upcoming Death Race solo attempt and seemed super ready to go. Obviously she was - well done Naomi!