Back from the TriCan AGM. It certainly felt like Christmas in Quebec City, with the snow and all the Christmas trees and lights. Given the tight, narrow, windy streets it felt as though we could have been in an Alpine village or somewhere similar. Someone said to me it sounded very Rockwellian. I think I would contend it was more Dickensian.
Some hard work was accomplished, I promise you; it wasn't all skiving off and staring slack-jawed at the scenery. Now I'm back, housework looms in more ways than one. The car definitely needs cleaning, and probably another service. Most of the houseplants seemed to have wilted big-time in few days I was away. With any luck, a couple will revive after plenty of water and Miracle Gro applied per radix (as it were).
Also, some housekeeping on the blog and Facebook. On Facebook I have added feeds to the TNS Provincial Training Centre, Triathlon New Brunswick and the ITU, so that updates on their blogs are automatically posted our wall. I encourage all of you to find and befriend the other provincial associations via Facebook; they all have sites, as do the ITU. Interestingly, Triathlon Canada does not yet have a Facebook page, we'll let you know when they do.
Over on the TurnAround, I have added a few blogs of interest (ITU, TriNB, TriNL and a Simon Whitfield guy who's apparently quite good at the sport) as well as links to all the other PSOs from BC to NL. In case you're wondering, Cycling PEI is an associate member of TriCan, in the absence of an actual Triathlon PSO. We can now stay updated with our colleagues elsewhere in the country and if you're ever travelling, well check their calendars before you go; maybe you'll find a race do do while you're out there (Ron McScotch - I'm looking at you!).
Just heading into the second, and last, day of the TriCan AGM here in QC.
Just went for another nice run in the snow with the guys, and once again the breakfast is disgustingly healthy with plenty of fruits, bagels and cream-cheese. Honestly, after an hour in the snow we need bacon - get with the programme guys! I still found a couple of croissants to satisfy the fat-urge (but if you'd seen me climbing a snow-covered Cote Gilmor you'd think I'd be steering clear of the lipids).
Had a very nice evening at the 25th Anniversary Gala dinner at the Quebec Garrison Club last night. There were many athletes fromTriCan's 25 years last night and we heard stories from the likes of Mark Bates, Sharon Donnelly, Isabelle Turcotte Baird, Dan Murray, Andrew McNaughton, Simon Cassidy, Carol Montgomery, Colin Jenkins and Simon Whitfield, allemceed by the voice of triathlon, Barry Shepley. Our friends at TriNB scored Simon and Colin's spare race-suits at the silent auction, look out for those in the future.
The latter part of yesterday and most of this morning will be taken up with the PGB meetings; I think we're making some good progress and I was able to raise some issues that were important to us as a province and a PGB. I'm confident we will get some good out of this weekend.
So, back to the meetings but it was a latenight last night and an early run so I'll need beaucoup de cafe ce matin
A snowy start to the morning, and an early one. The organising comittee put on a seven o'clock "fun run" for imterested delegates. This turned out to be a pleasant, and pleasantly slow, 9km run in the freshly fallen snow through the Plains of Abraham and some nice neighbourhoods. The run was lead by a National Long-Course champion and an U23 Elire, but it was slow and steady and everyone was able to talk! Despite only having my "summer-rated" Mizuno Presicions, I managed to keep my footing!
The breakfast was disgustingly healthy. After a >45 minite run I was looking forward to bacon, but was offered bagels and fruit instead. Is this what happens when High Performance is the goal of the AGM? At least I was able to score a croissant and a couple of mini-Danishes to satisfy my saturated fat craving.
The meetings continue apace. Past TNS President Dan Gautreau has stepped down from the Atlantic Regional Director positiom, and John Russell, past TNB pres is in his place.
New TNB Pres Scott MacKenzie is also here and we have already had a good chat! NB are very jealous of our Facebook following, and so I ask you all to go and friend them, and Tri Newfoundland, om Facebook as soon as you've finished reading here. I shall continue to schmooze heavily on your behalf, and if that schmoozing happens to take place in the hotel bar rather than the fun-run, well that is a cross I shall gladly bear for you!
Made it safely to the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City for the Triathlon Canada AGM. It feels kinda silly having a summer-sport meeting right now; we had to drive through a full-fledged winter storm to get here (no-one say that Smart cars can't hack it in the winter!). We should be discussing winter-triathlon at least, if not cross-country ski or something!
Quebec City is in full "winter" mode. With all the pine boughs, lights and wooden soldiers covered in snow, it certainly feels like Christmas already. Will try and post some pictures later.
Anyway, going to re-equilibriate for a couple of hours before attending the first meeting of many this weekend.
I'll be sure to raise a glass of Chambly and a poutine in your name this weekend.
Triathletes are renowned for skipping around puddles so as not to get their pretty white trainers dirty. There has been a rash of opportunities to get muddy recently, and as Mark Campbell said to us once "we're on a mission to get triathletes' shoes dirty, one athlete at a time", so let's see how we got on.
Before we get to the mud, a quick mention on Laura Keefe, who was second in her age-group at IM Florida a couple of weeks ago. She also qualified for Kona, and has the advantage of havng nearly a year to train and taper properly for it. This was also her first stab at the distance, and caps off an amazing year of racing for Laura. Congratulations.
So, like so many pre-schoolers, back to the mud!
We're please to see so many of you embracing dirt in the off-season. Firstly the Cuddly Coyote Trail Race, an event which the Advertising Standards Authority may have to get involved in given the possibly misleading and ambiguous use of the word "Trail" in the title.
The triathletes present were given a send-off by Cookie McScotch, the "award" for the Tartan Tally/Cookie Counter smack-down between Mark "Cookie Monster" Campbell and Ron"McScotch" McDougal. Ron tells us that Cookie McScotch will be travelling with him on his racing adventures from now on, kinda like the Travelocity gnome but with less hat, so we look forward to seeing Cookie in exotic locations. For now, Bikes and Beans in Tantallon will have to do;
Among the TNSers at Cuddly Coyote were Darlene Chapman and Provincial Champ Heather Doucette;
Bev Richardson, Tammy Slaunwhite and Judy Allen;
Ron MacDougal (getting taxonomically confused wearing his bluenose Bunny ears to a coyote race and what appeared to be autumn tartan camouflage) and Cyclesmith Du winner Jamie Haynes;
No adventure-type race in NS would be complete without Cookie Monster himself, here with a cookie;
Mark said he wasn't a race-organiser per se, more an ad hoc technical director. We think that his duties in this regard extended to eyeballing the course and saying "nah, not technical enough";
Here are Mark and Ron together with Steve Saunders listening to the race-briefing ("if you find a trail, well done, we didn't put one in")...
...and finally, a couple more of Ron with Brigitte Saborin and iRon Allen.
Then, of course, there's the ongoing saga of Cyclesmith's Kona Kup-A-Soup Cyclocross series. After several years, we finally got our "epic" 'cross picture. Terry Tomlin says it has a touch of the Mount Suribachiis about it and Dan Utting wanted to know what the theme-music is; we're going with Just Like You imagined by Nine Inch Nails, or maybe the Johnny Cash version of Hurt ("I hurt myself today, To see if I still feel, I focus on the pain, The only thing that's real").
We're not the only muppet getting epic down Seaview Lookoff Park each Sunday morning in the name of bicycle-portage. We saw Navy Tridents Prez Harry Reddin there last week (no photo unfortunately). Then there's Tim Brooks (we're pretty sure that's Tim under that muck, it's Tim's number-plate)....
...and Gerrad Lewin, who must be wondering why there aren't barriers across the bike course hiding a mud-pit when he races Continental Cups. You've got to admit, that would certainly enliven the race a bit!
If it looks epic, it's because it is!
Speaking of epic, slightly farther away, and presumbaly somewhat warmer, Chris Waldron took on La Ruta de los Conquistadores, a 4 day, 360km MTB stage-race in Costa Rica with 14000 m of climbing. Yikes. Makes The Moose seem flat. Anyway, he finished in 108th place with a time of 32:50, far from DFL and even got his picture on Cyclingnews.com (Chris is Plate#318)!
Hope you enjoyed that mellow intro. Rather alarmingly when we searched for that we also found a Nora Jones cover of Ride On! Eek! Glamourous soul-crooner does AC/DC? As an aside if you remember the whole six degrees things there are five degrees between the TA and Nora Jones; our brother (1) once free-lanced for a bloke called David (2) who once sat next to George Harrison (3) at a Ravi Shankar concert (4), Ravi Shankar being Nora's Dad (5). Take that Kevin Bacon, ha!
We have to admit, quite a few of you have told the TA recently how you intend to ride on into the autumn and even early winter but then quietly admitting they aren't quite sure how to dress appropriately. We suspect this subtle request for information isn't quite in deference to our near quarter-century in the saddle as it is our recent propensity to hanging out in coffee shops in cycling gear looking like a superhero (it's the wearing-tights-in-public-places thing rather than the whole superpowers thing) and evidently having time on our hands.
Anyway, to cut to the chase, the good news is you already have most of what you need!
You have the basic kit; shorts, jersey, helmet, socks. You spent all summer riding in this stuff, although hopefully you have more than one of each. Especially the socks. Can't do with only having one of those; two is the accepted number.
Oh, and arm-warmers. If there is one thing we as triathletes are reviled for it is arm-warmers with a crop-top. So yes, we have arm-warmers.
Armed with these basics, we can quite easily winterise ourselves. Add to these summer basics your winter running or cross-country ski kit; long-sleeve polypropylene undershirt, long-fingered gloves, thin toque, tights, wind-proof vest.
Just layer all of this stuff a bit differently than usual and you're off to the races. Long-sleeved undershirt under the jerseys, arm-warmers on the arms over the undershirt. Tights over (notv ever, never, under) the shorts. Thicker, long-sleeve jersey/jacket over all of that. Socks in the usual place. If your gloves are of the thin "liner" variety, then put them under your track-mitts. The thin toque under your helmet. Vest over all of this.
Job done, Robert's your mother's brother (Bob's your uncle).
It might not necessarily look "cycling" but it will keep you warm as you go out, and that's what counts (unless you are inveterate Euro-bike-snob like the TA, and it's a good job you aren't). If, however, you want to get all cycling about it, then there are options.
Probably the first things you want to get are knee-warmers or full-length leg-warmers. These are like arm-warmers but for your legs (duh!). Don't go crazy, get one or the other. If you already have tights, might we suggest knee-warmers? If it's cold enough for long legs, you might as well default to tights.
Thus, for the relatively small outlay on a pair of knee-warmers you can winterise your existing kit out to at least late November.
Yay!
Nothing looks more cycling than that long-sleeve cycling jacket with the pockets in the back. However, the TA remembers being a poor student and wearing many, many jerseys instead; two or three, on top of the undershirt. Hey, with three jerseys stacked on top of each other, you get nine pockets; enough for a day-trip to Everest, even if it looks like you've got a wicked case of lordosis going on! For those trying to avoid the whole Sherpa/Quasimodo look*, our friends at Cyclesmith have some pretty cool jackets we'd gladly give our eye-teeth for.
For hands. The ole liner-glove and track-mitt combination is good down to about 5C. Below that, something thicker. We progress down through the combo to summer MTB gloves, thicker winter gloves such as Sugoi's Firewall series to their full-on lobster mitts and then finally the lobster mitts paired with a water- and windproof overmitt.
Feet are next. At the TA swear by waterproof socks and neoprene toe-covers, but we know as many people who swear by booties like these. They're light, waterproof and surprisingly warm. They're also pretty durable as long as you take the toe-studs off your MTB shoes before walking around in them (not that we've every done that!). Also, think about your shoes. Those TR50s are wonderfully vented for racing at 30C; those same vents will freeze your toes at 30F. Of course, you aren't riding your P2 on the roads in early December either so think about moutain-bike pedals on your winter bike; there are some bombproof mountain-bike shoes out there. Think about half a size larger so you can squeeze in some thick socks too.
Head? The same principle as shoes; that light-as-air super-vented Volt that works a bomb at 30C is going to freeze your brain faster than a scoop of ice-cream at 30F. The old roadies stand-by of the racing-cap-under-the-helmet is perfect down to about zero. After that, one's pinnas become optional extras. The lightweight technical beanie does the job for most and fits under most helmets. The TA, with it's predilection for cyclocross, frites and insanely-strengthened Belgian beers (not to mention insanely strengthened bottom-brackets; a phenom' not entirely unrelated to the whole frites/beer thing) has a peaked wool cap with fold-down ears which works down to temperatures beyond which even we can't get the enthusiasm to ride. Plus it's suitably retrogrouchy and matches our high-spike count. The Cannondale wool caps at Cyclesmith have a pleasing green racing stripe; just because it's cold doesn't mean you can't look "racing"!
Alternatively (or as well, you can go for a helmet cover. You can still get the big ones with a rain0flap down the back, if you want to go for the stormtrooper look.
If not, you can get a form-fitting one which, in the absence of a helmet doubles as a very Gallic beret. Ooh la la!
The rules for the core (several jerseys, vest, the whole appendage-warmer thing) seem to work well for most. The head, hands and feet however are intimately personal. We've given you an insight into what works for us, what works for you might be (almost certainly is) different. The TA can put up with cold feet but we have an almost immediate sense-of-humour failure when our hands get cold. Others we know have cold-impervious hands but are martyrs to their feet. Or ears.
We thought about making a funky graphic for this, showing the temperature ranges in which these work and the potential overlaps, and in fact we were having a geeky old time doing it, but then we remembered the Jens Factor, which is less useful (space-suit?) but infinitely funnier.
As a learned man is reputed to have once said; a wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Generations of cyclists have endured frozen toes, fingers, ears and worse to lead us to this point. Yet, you'll still need to do some experimenting to dial things in. Just remember, no capes dahling!
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*Yes, we know Quasimodo had kyphosis not lordosis but did you ever know us to let a fact get in the way of a perfectly good line?!
Many thanks to the 60 or so who braved the weather and made it to the Awards Banquet last Saturday.
Our guest speakers were Julie Rivard and Peter Giles; both former international paddlers and Olympians. In their post-paddling lives they still maintain close ties with Olympic sport; Peter was the assistant chef de mission for Team Canada at the Beijing Games and Julie was a Team Services Officer for Team Canada at the Games. In this role one of Julie's tasks was to "look after" the Canadian Triathlon team; everything from picking them up from the airport to doing their groceries. They gave a truly excellent talk and for many of us more used to hearing stories from the Olympic Triathlon from the point-of-view of the blue vests, it was wonderful to hear the stories from Team Canada's side as well. There is a possibility that following on from this talk there will be some great bling on offer to TNS members in the near future; stay tuned...
In addition to giving out age-group and overall classement awards, there were the usual assortment of other prizes. The TNS Community Award was given to Bridgetown RD Mike Parker, in recognition of his development of the Bridgetown race. The Crash Trophy was awarded to Matt Piggott for his astounding low-speed effort at the Coteau de Lac Continental Cup where at a 180 turnaround he managed to straddle the turnaround cone with his bike. Unfortunately Matt was at a swim-meet in Acadia and not able to collect his prize in person; a cone with which to practice his 180s and a handy top-tube guide to navigating the peloton in French; nous travaillons ensemble?, a gauche, a droite, allez allez nous jouons a l'accordeon and ce n'etait pas moi, c'etait mon frere.
The highlight for us was the first (and possibly last) award of the Tartan Tally/Cookie Counter. The competition was decided in favour of Ron McKilt, whose 41 events since Jan out competed the Cookie Monster's 22. The "prize" was a tickle-me Cookie Monster, adorned with a kilt of MacDougall tartan.
The absolute number of races did not tell the full story. Ron's racing odyssey over and through the Maritimes and North America took in some 1400 kms of racing, whilst Mark's similar journey was about 1000km. Given the number of events, the average distance travelled with a bib-number by Ron was a shade over 43 kms (a full marathon) whilst Mark's average distance was a shade over 53km (a decent-length Ultra). We couldn't let such a feat (feet?) go unrecognised, and so Mark was awarded a Cookie Monster woolly hat...
We know the original Cookie may get cold in the snow during one of Mark's epic cross-country marathons, not to mention being deficient in the whole (hole?) ear-warming category, so may this Cookie bring Cookie luck (and warm ears).
Thanks to all the sponsors for the banquet; Cyclesmith, A1, Avis, Two If By Sea, Helly Hansen and Maritime Campus, not to mention the Banook Canoe Club for putting us up (putting up with us). A huge tip pf th hat to Ed Sarah Wood, without whom the banquet could not have happened (nor would you have got your TNS car window sticker or TNS blinky red light)
It was not all not all fun and games last weekend, louging around the Banook Canoe Club with three helpings of lasagna and a beer or two warming your innards whilst getting the inside scoop on Simon Whitfield's Olympics. For some, it was business as usual;
Laura Keefe posted 10:16 at IM Florida, to place 2nd in her AG and qualified for Kona to boot. We're trying to think if she's ever placed lower this year than this in either the overall or AG classements this year at any race from Sprint Tris to Ironman via 70.3 and half-marathons. Stacey Jucket-Chestnutt ran a 3:11:07 at NYC, and Jason Murphy 3:55:02 in the same event. Closer to home, McKilt did the St Andrew's Half seemingly unaware he wasn't going to get another kilted Cookie Monster from TNS this side of next years banquet, but unable nevertheless to stop running!. Even closer than that, Gerrad Lewin and the TA took on Cyclesmith'sPsychocross which took place, quite literally, in six inches of mud.
Coming up, more Psychocross as long as the municipality doesn't go all Ottawa on us! Speaking of YUL, ED Sarah Wood will be heading to Ottawa next week at Triathlon Canada's invite for the Sport Leaders conference whilst the Pres will be heading to Quebec City for the TriCan AGM in a couple of weeks. if you have any issues you want raised give us a shout.
Imagine the honor for a youth to receive a pair of sneakers that have competed at World's, or that were used for a 100 km (miles?) run by Mr Cookie Monster himself! And Mr McTartan probably has a few dozen running shoes, to race in so many events in a year!
We are lucky to be healthy and able to swim, bike and run (even if "able to swim" does not really apply to me!). Please be generous!
Remember that old cavalry adage "Saddle, Horse, Man"? This is the order in which any good cavalry trooper looked after his kit; firstly all his tack, then the horse and then, and only then, himself.
We may not use horses any more (but some people's bikes are so big the seat-tubes seem to be measured in hands not inches!) but the same goes for your bike. When you come back after a ride, especially a wet, grimy one then it's saddle, horse, (wo)man. Clean your bike first, chuck your kit in the wash and then, and only then, look after yourself. On a dull and dreary day like today we might make an exception to "looking after yourself last" and say maybe have a cup of tea and a biscuit first, but don't leave it too long or the lure of a shower, clean clothes and the couch will become too strong and your bike will oxidise slowly.
Cleaning your bike doesn't take that much time. Get a bucket of soapy water, clean all the tubes and rinse it off. Ta-da! Pretty much done! Don't forget to get under the down-tube and bottom-bracket! If you use a hose, don't fire it on "mental" at the bearing-races; hub, head-set, bottom-bracket, as it will wash all the lubricating grease out.
Clean the chain with one of those chain-cleaner gadgets; they are very efficient at getting all the crap and crud out from between the links. Dry it off and lightly lube the chain with your slippery stuff of choice, just don't use WD40!
While you're at it, you can check the bike for damage; frayed cables, split tyres, damage to the rims, brake-block depth. You don't really "look" at any of this stuff, generally you just notice something doesn't "look right". Noticing it while standing still in the shed beats noticing it when it fails catastrophically at the mid-point of an imperial century.
Put it back in the shed and go indoors and enjoy that cup of tea and that biscuit.
Next time, we promise, we'll do that autumn riding gear article (we don't say 'fall', it has negative connotations for a cyclist!)
