Ride Sunday March 22

I will not be able to make the ride on Sunday morning anymore. I apologize to those who would have liked to work on sprinting. We will run another sprinting clinic soon.

Next Ride is on April 4th and we will be working on descending. This means that we will be climbing. I'd like to change up the ride and go somewhere else. Perhaps a ride to horseshoe bay/deep cove.

Suggestions/Request???

March 21

Since many are racing on Saturday i thought that it would be good to have two training sessions this weekend. There is going to be the regular ride this saturday morning for those who are not racing. We will do a ride and incorporate sprint training along the route. Then on Sunday we will have another training ride leaving from Calhouns at 9am and we will head out and do some sprint training as well.

Looks like the weather will be nice and it will be rather warm!!!

Good luck to everyone who is racing.

See you Sat/Sun
Claire

Race Day | Escape Velocity dEVas Spring Series | #1

I mean I’ve done triathlons and dualthlons before and I can tell you right now that I had no idea what I was doing, and that if I placed well in those events, it was only because I was a strong runner back then. hahaha

After riding group rides practicing drills with EV and the dEVas great training sessions we became a strong formation. Then we took the fabulous Learn to Race Clinic with Instructors Lisa Howard and Claire Cameron along with other members of Escape Velocity's and Cycling BC. Then we were set to...

Race Day | Escape Velocity Spring Series | #1
River Road – Langley, BC

We get there early and take the time to get a warm up ride together. A bit cloudy but no rain yet, then we go riding around the course. I think we did two laps (dEVas correct me if I’m wrong). Then we get to the starting line and then we go...


We the dEVas stayed together, well we were separated a few times but reunited at sprint corners most of the times and we stuck on each others wheels. On the second lap I got boxed in the right side and almost crashed into the ditch, I think Johanna saw it too... That was scary… It took me a while to get back in the left line and to the front behind Liisa but I did it. That was the trill of the day for me. Then the rain started... but I mean rain, pissing down, I was literally spiting the wheels water from the person in front of me of my mouth making a stupid noise, then at mid-course the snow started; big flakes... My hands and feet were frozen, I recall blowing on my fingers several times...

Jen was in the front behind the testosterone guys and drafting away while Liisa right behind also favoring the draft. I was right behind Liisa’s wheel for a couple laps then dropped behind that guy in the orange jacket. On the 500 mark no one was really sprinting, so I got out of my seat and gave I real hard, but I was not really going any faster... I wonder why? Really, I wonder why? Should I’ve shift gear? Was my position on the bike wrong? Did I have any juice left in my legs? I don’t know... It was really a blur to me that sprint. I will find out though and I will let you know when I do...

My daughter Bianca was filming the event; thanks sweety pie... Here is the video. Enjoy!

Race Report from 759

Flandrien. A Belgin friend told me that is what
they call racers who are not afraid of the snow, rain, and cobbles. So I would say the dEVa's are all Flandriens as of yesterday!

The weather conditions couldn't have been worse and our results couldn't have been better!


It looks like Jen Brummit - 760 placed 3rd and Liisa Ingimundson (yours truly) 759 placed 4th. And from what we can tell Carelle, Sigrid and Jo were very close on our wheels!

So as far as the race report...
The group stayed together as a pack for the whole race, with some jostling for position for the front throughout and then a sprint at the end. I would have like to have seen some break aways and some pursuits but I myself didn't know if I could finish what I started if I made one happen! Ha!

Jen held tight to a riders wheel who was pulling at the front the whole race and positioned her perfectly for the sprint at the end. Myself, Jo, Sigrid and Carelle were staying up front jumping wheels and working together to stay up front.
Next time I say the dEVas should pull out together and attack!!!

I think everyone would agree it was a blast and a huge success for our first race and the first race of the season. Thank you too all the EV'er who made it happen. Thanks to Lisa and Claire for the coaching and the race clinic the day before. I think the race tactics lessons helped all of us.

I also think everyone would agree that trying to change out of wet cold clothes after the race in a four door Volvo, might have been more challenging than the race itself!

Over and out from 759.

3-2-1-GO!!!

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the Learn to Race today. It was a little wet and cold but i was impressed with everyones enthusiasm and tactics in the mock race.

Good luck to everyone who is racing tomorrow.

Let us know how your race went.


Just looking at our riding schedule for next week....there is another novice race next Saturday so i was thinking that we could switch our group ride to sunday for those who wanted to race on saturday. What do you think? We could also run a ride on saturday and sunday if there are not many who want to race.

CarPool to LTRace

Is anyone driving to the Learn to Race on Saturday? If you have room for people and bikes let us know. Liisa is looking for a ride.

Learn to Race

Lisa has been organizing this years Learn to Race. Check out full details and registration here. Part of the proceeds go to dEVas so if you know anyone who is thinking of racing this year or might want to race in the future bring them along or pass on the information. The clinic takes place on the first Spring Series Course so it's a great way to prepare yourself for racing and get rid of some of the nervousness.

Group Riding Week Days

With the time change i know i will be doing more week night rides and it would be great to get the team riding together. Is there a day in particular that anyone would rather ride on? I was also thinking that instead of making a set night that we could use the blog as a way of letting others know when we are going to ride. Just a quick post with the time and place you are leaving from and then others will know that they have someone to ride with if they were planning on going out. What do you think? We can talk about this more on Saturday morning as well.

Saturday March 7th

Snow isn't going to stop us, right? Well not me anyways....tomorrow is another dEVa ride and we are going to be working on pacelines again. We will also do some echelons (pacelines for windy weather) if there are enough riders. Where do you guys want to go? We can go around Richmond or if you want to go somewhere else, please feel free to start commenting here.

I'll be at Calhouns early for coffee. Hope to see everyone out.

Climbing Question

There was a question about when to sit or stand while climbing and if it makes a difference to efficiency or power. Again i went to Pez (i don't get all my info there) and found this article. Check the bottom for a nice summary.

Climbing

Today is mass posting day. Here is another link i have found on climbing (pt 1) and (pt 2) in pez cycling. Check out the technique tips, especially if you are going to be racing in the spring series...these are race tips. Then for those of us who are allergic to climbing, the mental tips are great. I especially like #8!

Group Riding

I have found a good article on Pacelines in Pez magazine. If you need a refresher or missed our paceline days we did as a group a while ago check it out.