Training Baselines

On Tuesday morning at 9 am, I arrived at the Peak Center for Human Performance ready to get my VO2 max tested. The hour before my test, I ate my breakfast of eggs and toast and went over instructions and filled out the consent for the upcoming test. The instructions clearly stated to avoid intense exercise the day before which I definitely did not. The night before I rode my bike on my dad's cycle trainer for a good 30 minutes but by about the 25th minute I was dying. Says a lot about my current level of fitness. So not the best way to start the morning before taking a test to exhaustion.

As with any test, I always feel a little anxiety about how well I will perform. Once I arrived at the center a little of the anxiety was eased as I realized that this test is just to be used to set a baseline building a training program on. Rob immediately greeted me upon my arrival even as he was busy setting up other clients for a training race. Once he finished up with the set-up, he guided my into the lab where he began to set-up my bike on a trainer. After my bike was set up he took my height and weight measurements and then I was on the bike warming up. My warm-up lasted 10 minutes and included the calibration of my bike.

The most nerve wrecking part of the test was probably the thought of having my nose plugged and having to breathe through a tube. It wasn't getting pricked to draw blood to measure my blood lactate threshold, which I have to admit stung a little but that kind of stuff doesn't bother me as much as the tube. It took me a couple minutes to get used to the tubes but after that I didn't really think of them and then I was fine. Each level of the test lasted 3 minutes and then my blood lactate levels were measured right before increasing the workload. Workload was measured in watts and increased in increments of 30 at each level.

The last, I'd say 2 minutes, were very painful. I definitely felt the burning in my legs more so than my lungs. I kept going as long as I could to make sure I had reached exhaustion. Rob printed off the VO2 max results for me knowing as a Kines Major I would be able to interpret some of the numbers. After my cool down, we talked bikes, mostly about types of saddles, and then I was on my way home to shower and get class.

Rob is going to crunch the numbers and then we are going to meet up for a consultation to go over my training program for the next month or so and then build from there.

The Roadie Scholar Article

Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson AKA the Roadie Scholar was introduced to me through my dad as they ride together in a bike club run out of Bicycle Sports Pacific in Langley. The same place I bought my bike. 


We met up a few weeks back to chat about my Ride to Break the Cycle. Meeting Jeffrey is one of the reasons I am doing this ride, to meet new people and hear about their life experiences. A lot of people have such amazing stories but before signing up to do this ride I have had no reason to reach out and meet new people. 

His website is:

http://www.theroadiescholar.com/


This is the link to the article that he wrote about me and has been published in a few local papers.

http://www.thenownewspaper.com/news/Ride+Break+Cycle/4128152/story.html

A Pub Night in Review

Sorry about such a delayed post regarding my first pub night as I know everyone who was unable to attend is dying to hear how well it went. It was a very tightly scheduled last couple of days that have caused a slight decline in amount of sleep, but never the less here I am at my computer with the latest update.

Tuesday, January 18 was the night of my first fundraising event. I hosted an evening of food, hockey, and raffle ticket selling at the Dublin Crossing in Surrey. My event took over the entire upper level. There was a minor setback at the beginning of the night as they apparently had lost the remotes to change the input on the TV's to get the game on. We are able to rectify the problem by using the buttons on the TV itself to change the input. Once 6pm hit people started to arrive and of course the tables closest to the TV's were filled first as most in attendance were Canucks fans.

I sold raffle tickets throughout the night raising over $300 just from the raffle alone. I had 9 prizes, all donated, meaning all the money I raised goes directly to Global Agents instead of paying off costs.

Prizes included:

Two pairs of Vancouver Giants - Donated by the Vancouver Giants
60 Minute Tanning Package for Island Tanning - Donated by Island Tanning
Set of Six Glass Starbucks Mugs - Donated by Starbucks
Gift Basket of Kitchen/Food Items - Donated by Marion Chow
Two $50.00 Gift Certificates to Aaron's Restaurant - Donated by SBAA Ajax Selects
Gift Bag of Beauty Supplies - Donated by Shoppers Drug Mart
Quilted Micro Mink Throw - Donated by my parents

It was a very busy night for me, selling tickets, catching up with friends, explaining ride and how I got involved. I didn't get a chance to eat my burger until around 9 pm, but it was worth the wait. The burger was delicous and had a unique spice to give a wondrous flavor.

Once the game ended, sadly the Canucks lost, I drew tickets for the raffle prizes. I had my good friend Jenny pull tickets and announce the numbers as I knew her voice would be able to project a lot farther than mine. I must admit she had some pretty entertaining commentary when announcing what each prize was.

Combining raffle ticket sales and pub ticket sales I raised over $700. Not bad for one night.

Thank you to all the people that attended and to all the people who have supported me so far in my journey to raise $2500.

I look forward to seeing you all at my next event.

The First Ride

I finally got to take my sweet new ride out for a spin. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The sun was trying to peak through the clouds and there was not a drop of rain.

I attached the cleats to my new shoes and spent a good five minutes at the beginning of my ride trying to clip in and out of my pedals. I didn't want to be stuck clipped in at an intersection or heaven forbid I need to stop suddenly and not be able to unclip to put my foot down, that would be embarrassing, lying on the side of the ride feet stuck to the bike. I must admit it is an odd sensation to be stuck to your pedal and not be able to put your foot on the ground in a split second. Once I was somewhat comfortable to the pedals, I ventured out of the safety of my building complex and hit the open road. I live on a mountain the start of my trip was downhill. That bike picks up speed quite fast and the brakes, thankfully, work very well. I cruised down Burnaby Mountain Parkway and then down Duthie to get onto Francis which is a designated bike street. Again, most of it is sloped down. I headed towards my work so I could figure out how early I would have to leave in the morning to get to work on time. It will take me just under 45 minutes, could easily be faster if I pushed the pace. The ride home is a different story. When one way is downhill, of course the return trip must be uphill. This is where I noticed the biggest difference between my touring bike and my mountain bike.  The low gears on my bike AKA "granny" gears are amazing.

I didn't ride very long or very far. No where near the 100km that I will be riding everyday in Europe but it is a start. The saddle will take some getting used to, I am debating on a leather saddle or gel. My fitness definitely needs work and I will have to add some weighted packs to my bike to simulate all the gear I will have to carry with me. I can officially say my road training has begun! Being on the road is way more fun than being stuck inside on a stationary bike.

Next thing on the training schedule: tackle the Burnaby Mountain without the help of my UPass.

Better get on with my night, big night tomorrow:

Dublin Crossing Pub Fundraiser
Fraser Hwy and 188 Street
6PM, Food Canucks Game, Raffle

Trek 520 - The Bike

After much debate, I have finally purchased my touring bike for the trip. Luckily there are not a whole lot of options for touring bikes for it was narrowed down to two quite quickly. The Surly LHT aka Long Haul Trucker and the bike of choice the Trek 520. Firstly I considered the names, I mean Long Haul Trucker, that's justs fantastic, whoever came up with that is a genius. It's such a perfect name for a touring bike especially compared to the 520, so plain. Next came the color. The LHT comes in a matte beige color while the 520 is a shiny copper/brown which obviously looks way flashier. The first time I went bike shopping, my dads first comment about the bikes was something about how he didn't like the colors. I was not expecting my dad to have an opinion about color, I was thinking more about durability or safety. But that man can always surprise. So after all the superficial details I moved on to price. Both were similar in price so then price was removed from the decision making. Then I looked into shifter types, frame material, brake type and components. Becuase of shifter type and frame material, my options decreased down to two quite quickly. I decided on bar end shifters because they are much simpler. If they decide to malfunction somewhere in Europe I will be more likely be able to repair them or at least be able to make some kind of adjustment to get me to the nearest bike shop. It was steel or aluminum frame. I decided to stick with a steel frame due to my body weight, although it is slightly heavier it will be more of a comfortable ride. The rest of the components were very similiar.

I found the staff at the BSP in Langley to be very helpful and they only carried the Trek 520 so that was the deciding factor. I am the proud owner of the Trek 520! Now to start the training. I'm looking to get a cycling trainer so I can train indoors for weeks like this one when the weatherman is predicting snow.

Crunch Time

The school semester is about to start up and that means more studying, less free time, better time management and a whole lot of unnecessary stress.

Since the beginning of December when I first decided to do this ride I was working 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday. So I had my evenings and weekends free to do whatever I pleased. I decided to be proactive knowing that this school semester was coming. I have done a lot of planning, organizing and researching things for this ride over the last month. I planned my first pub night, did some research into other pubs for future pub nights, and researched how pub nights usually run and what happens at them. I started planning my end of funding, moving money around accounts, and plan how much I need to work to pay rent, buy groceries and save for my time in Europe. I researched the easiest and cheapest way to get t-shirts made, sketched the beginning of my logo, organized sponsors, met up with my t-shirt designer to discuss details, and decided on t-shirt and graphic colors. I researched a bunch of other potential fundraisers and talked to so many people about their experiences with fundraising and their travels to Europe. I have done the bike shopping, researched the gear, planned what I need to buy, and have already made a few purchases.

Training is still a bit of an issue. First, I have to meet up with Mike at the Peak Center for Human Performance to set up my training program. Second, I have to find time to schedule in training time. This is where my time management skill will hopefully come through for me. School, work, soccer, study time, training, and sleep are all the necessities. Plus time to just relax, wind down and to socialize with friends and family.

I am hoping all of my work in December will pay off in the next few months as time will now be very limited.

My t-shirt are very close to being sent off to the printers and the countdown until the first day of the trip will officially begin January 18 which will mark 150 days until June 19. It's strange how that worked out. The day of my pub night marks exactly 150 days until my journey in Amsterdam begins!!!