Sorry about the delay.... It's always pretty hectic when I get back from a trip like that...
The last two days of camp were spent on the track. We did a lot more motorpacing and threw in some all-out efforts. I do have some pictures but they are on my laptop and I have not switched them over yet...
The most challenging workout involved laps at 40km/h behind the motorbike interspersed with 1 or 2 lap bursts of all-out efforts.
You take your turn, alternating behind the moto until Eric Calls out, "Meyrick!! Deux tours!" or "Meyrick!! Un tours!" [Meyrick!! Two laps! or Meyrick!! One lap!]
Then you sprint off the front, accelerating as fast and as hard as you can from 40 to whatever max speed is. This also meant that recovery occurred at 40km/h and efforts were 45-55 or so.... It was pretty challenging.
We did several 20 minute sets like that and one 30 minute set.
On Friday morning we did some start practice. I did about 6-8 standing starts and got faster on each one - that was good. Below you can observe a world class standing start - since I have no video you will have to trust me that mine is relatively dissimilar at the moment...
That guy is a machine...
In general I would have benefitted a lot from riding my own bike during all of these practices - the bike I borrowed from the centre was significantly too small - especially for out of the saddle sprinting which there was a lot of.
My final thoughts on the camp were this:
Positives
- It was good to meet Eric. He is the new coach of the ParaCycling program and therefore someone I need to know and who I want to know me. He will be a great resource for me to be able to call upon as I continue to work away towards my goals.
- The riding. It is always great to focus on riding and have top-notch coaches to put you through your paces.
Negatives
- These camps are great for riding (duh) but they don't work very well with the rest of my life. As a father of three, husband of one, and a business owner it is a challenge to be away from everyone and everything this way.
Having said that I remain very excited about entering some bike races (Nationals in a few weeks) and laying down some baselines. You have to start somewhere to get anywhere....
Back Home
The first order of the day was to reconnect and spend some time with Sacha and the kids. This was achieved with a super fun day-trip to Washington State where we visited Fairhaven, Chuckanut Drive and Larrabee State Park. I am already planning the amazing ride I want to do along Chuckanut Drive, through Sudden Valley along Lake Whatcom - combine it with an open water swim at Larrabee and it will be amazing!!! Let me know if you want to join me.
Larrabee State Park
Cooked up this route on Map-my-Tri... It is an amazingly beautiful ride - especially along the lake and ocean.
Upon my return I was pumped to see a package in the mail.... a new TT helmet (just like Vince's). The kids have been modeling it for a few days now:
I was also extremely happy to be eating Sacha's cooking again - I survive cooking on my own but she is the superior chef in this family...
In other news... today was Aia's graduation from Pre-School. Next year kindergarden! Congratulations Aia!!
In other news... today was Aia's graduation from Pre-School. Next year kindergarden! Congratulations Aia!!
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13 comments:
I'll do support for that!
Glad camp was good. Can see how it could be tough being away from home. I love Fairhaven and Larrabee. That ride looks great, I'm in. Might test it out next week.
Also, do you have a good ride on the North Shore about 100km's? I'm taking a couple days off next week to put in some big days and wanted to try some new routes.
becareful... your little girl will grow up super fast. the school years will pass with a blur... trust me.
Your meal looked perfect. Can you add a chair for Scott and i to join :))
Hey runninggunner.... the North Shore is a bit small for a 100km ride UNLESS you feel like doing the Triple Crown which is described here:
http://meyrickjones.blogspot.com/2008/06/dead-legs-triple-crown-well-25-crowns.html
You'd still need to do some riding on the low roads to hit 100 but I think you'll probably be satisfied.
It's a classic.
GRGR - If you guys are ever in Vancouver let me know and we can make it happen!
DC - Support for that ride would be pretty awesome. Are you up for any open-water yet?
Relatively Dissimilar, I like that.
Glad you had a good time in Bromont, too bad about the small bike though.
That Bellingham ride looks great. Let me know when your doing it. I could hit that up.
Great pictures! Always good to be home..I don't care how great the trip was;)
Camp looks killer good.
that jerking motion he does is crazy!
The Tour de Chuckanut is awesome! I did it the weekend you stood me up (don't worry - I figured from the blog that your life turned hectic at the moment and Brian apologized for you). So just as I figured that no cycling lessons were forthcoming that weekend, I was forwarded an email by a friend who was joining a group to ride 130km from Bellingham to Deception Point and back (with a few detours) asking if I wanted to go... The email said you needed to be experienced in pack riding, self-sufficient, and have done several 80+km rides this year... I didn't meet any of the criteria. But like you said you need to start somewhere... Awesome ride. Go for it. And for the record it is 150km not 130km (making it 110km more than I'd ever done!)
110k more than you had ever done! YoWZA, thats impressive.
Name the date but my weekends are getting pretty busy. Yes. The ocean has been ignored for too long now. I hope to get to the pool next week, then after June 26 I'm free as a bird to hit the Bay. St Croix is still on for me so I'd better get busy training!
Ah congrats to your daughter!
Must be good to be home!
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