Surviving the Triple Crown

There is no doubt that the biggest challenge on Saturday is going to be the HEAT! With the forecast being for 28-30*C (humidex 33-35*C), while this isn't too scary for the rest of Canada, I know a lot of people in Vancouver are sweating figurative and literal bullets at the potential of a hot day in the saddle. When the thermometer passes 20*C that is usually considered "hot".

1) Heat: The first tip for surviving the Triple Crown battling the heat. Hydration will be key. We have 4 planned stops en route: Horseshoe Bay (36km), Cypress (60km), Seymour (111/139km). I would expect everyone to try and go through 2 bottles between each of these stations. If you are concerned that this is not enough, bring a 3rd bottle and keep it in the back pocket of your bike jersey. This will sound ridiculous, going through 11L of liquid in a day, but believe me, it won't be hard to get through it.

As a little pre-emptive strike, freezing your first bottles isn't a bad idea either.

2) Sun protection: The sun will be out and we will probably have a clear blue day. Sunscreen on your ears and face is a smart ideal. A tan looks great, but a big red nose isn't exactly sexy.

3) Nutrition. In addition to hydration, this is going to be a 180km ride. Burning a conservative 600 calories an hour, be prepared to be hungry. Everyone should have a plan for a minimum of 2000 calories to be consumed during the ride. It will be next to impossible to carry all of this, so bring money to buy food from a bakery or gas station. In addition to this, carb load. That isn't just for races. So starting today, you should be upping the carb intake to make sure all your fuelling needs are met.

4) Endurance: The last is more just common sense. This is going to be a really long ride, anyone thinking of hammering up the first climb is going to get taught a lesson come the end of the day. Pace yourself and don't be shy if you need to sit on someones wheel.

Triple Crown: Saturday July 10th 2010

Leave at 8AM from Team Office at UBC outside the SUB.

That Time of Year Again

Workout soundtrack anyone?

Tour de France Pool 2010!

As winner of the Tour de France Pool 2009 held by Meyrick Jones, I decided to step up and copy all of his questions from last year and apply them to this years tour! Very original I know.

How to play:

1. Answer the 18 questions below in an EMAIL. They are mostly multiple choice... easy peasy...

2. Send the e-mail to me at the address below:

vlavallee @ gmail.com

3. Lay your smack talk down in the comments section below if you wish....

4. Watch the Tour and enjoy!

5. Winner is the respondent with the most points after the final stage on the Champs-Élysées.

6. Have your votes in before the first racer starts on Saturday.

7. Anyone who tells me the results of a stage before I have been able to watch it, is automatically disqualified.

The PRIZE:

Bragging Rights.

Spoils of Victory - The winner will also receive a soon to be prestigious (and highly sought after) custom "TdF Pool 2010 Winner" image to display on blogs or websites - if you don't have a blog you can print it and put it on your refrigerator. Your friends will all be jealous!

Since I am not very good at photoshop. It will be last years image with some shotty altering to say 2010!

Also, local prize. We will go to All you can eat Sushi at BC Sushi sometime and winner gets paid for by the rest of the attendees. If I am the only person who shows up with the winner, well then it could also be a romantic date.

Without further ado...

The Questions

1. Lance is getting old, he just announced his retirement will be official after this years Tour. Predict Lance Armstrong's final placing in this year's two individual TTs. Add the numbers together. What is the sum? (ex: finished 1st and 3rd = 4)

(1 point)

A. 2-5

B. 6-9

C. 10-14

D. 15-20

E. 20+

2. Will Lance end up ahead of Frank Schleck in the GC? (1 point)

A. Ahead

B. Behind

3. How many stages will Cavendish win? (1 point)

A. 0-1

B. 2-3

C. 4-5

D. 5+

4. What will the winning individuals avg speed be in the Individual time trial Stage 19 in km/h?

(ITT Stage details areHERE)

-Within 1 km/h = 5 points

-Within 2 km/h = 3 points

-Within 3 km/h = 2 points

-Within 4 km/h = 1 point

-off by >4 km/h = deduct a point

5. Who will win the polka dot jersey for King of the Mountains? (1 point)

6. How many riders will be banned, fired for suspicion, or otherwise ejected due to doping related issues? (1 point)

Only during the race are riders counted (July 4th to Finish in Paris)

A. 0-2

B. 2-4

C. 4-6

D. 6+

7. Which team will finish the tour with the most riders? (1 point)

8. What will the average speed bein km/h for Stage 17 finishing on the Col du Tourmalet.

-within 1 km/h = 5 points

-within 3 km/h = 3 points

-within 4 km/h = 1 point

-off by 4+ = deduct a point

9. What will the margin of victory be in the GC? (The margin in minutes and seconds between winner and runner-up.)

(1 point)

A. 0-1 minute

B. 1:01 - 2:10

C. 2:11 - 3:20

D. 3:21 - 4:30

E. 4:30 - 5:40

F. 5:41 +

10. Who will win the GC? (1 point)

11. Who will win the Green Jersey? (1 point)

12. Which OLN broadcaster will win the competition they have each year to predict winners? (1 point)

A. Paul Sherwen

B. Craig Hummer

C. Phil Ligget

D. Bob Roll

13. Will it rain during any of the TTs? There are 2... (1 point)

A. YES

B. NO

14. Who will end up being the team leader for Saxo Bank? (1 point)

A) Frank Schleck

B) Andy Schleck

15. What is the second longest stage of this year's tour? (1 point)

16) Will Fabian Cancellara ride away from the competition again for a stage victory. (1 point)

17) Will Jens Voigt bring the pain? (1 point)

18) How many useless full day escapes will Sylvain Chavanel from Quick Step be involved in?

A) 1

B) 2

C) 3

D) 4

E) 5+

Good Luck!

UBC Triathlon 2010

In preparation for the much anticipated triple crown many members took a break from their work and studies to do a bit of light cross training in what has long been considered the inaugural triathlon race of the season. Despite the shifting of the race past the end of spring semester UBC triathlon club had a strong showing both among the participants as well as those who failed to register and came as supporters.

Leading off the club for the day Jesse Chao and Derrick Lee were reported to have dominated their sprint heat flying past many a swift swimmer on their bikes. A special congrats to Jesse for finishing his first of many triathlons in such fine form! Not much is know about Tigers race other than he also had a fantastic bike time, and required several yoga classes to recover the next day.

Jesse Chao looking classy post race

In the female division of the sprint Rachel Scholer, Karin Olafson and Amy Kirkham battled it out together in the pool going on to have very respectable races. Both Rachel and Amy managed to win their age categories with Amy's stunning (yet not unexpected) performance proving it's possible to 'chick' 99.12% of the field! Karen in a philanthropic move decided to leave her Cervelo at home for her first triathlon but still managed to put down a great great first race on her trusty mountain bike.Rachel, Karen & Amy respectively ready for the swim

Jared Penner selflessly gave up his Olympic spot to a friend so he was left to settle for a mere 5th overall and first in age category in the short course, how sweet was the taste of podium was below his tired feet.

Jared declaring peace on the finish line

As the day drew to a close the Olympic distance athletes took to the starting gate. The first of these mighty athletes into the water was none other than Mel Van Soeren, slayer of generally good looking men. Showing impressive stats right across the board Mel finishing quote was "I feel GREAT!" Sounds like a fantastic impression from her first Olympic.

All smiles if a little tired crossing the finish line

"Who needs tapper?" These words could only come from one man: the breeze that you feel on the nape of your neck, the wind that rattles your soul; Winstorm Guo! With a wealth of science to back him the smile never left his face as he ran his way home to a new PB improving across all events despite a 11okm ride up Seymour the day prior.

Winston's secret weapon: Never stop smiling

Finally racing under the category of 'Elite' dubbed onto them by UBC Rec Vincent Lavallee, Michael Duncan and Nathaniel Janzen tied a ribbon around the whole event with Hallmark performances all round. Despite brain damage, lack of training, a recently sprained ankle and a bag of excuses weighing him down Vince placed 12th overall. Nathaniel aka Flipper finished shortly behind with a 18th overall placement and a ridiculous 22min 1500m reaffirming his nickname once again. Michael having only recently discovered both the UBC triathlon club and triathlons in general learned the pain of the bike-run transition in a very real way. In spite of this he couldn't help grinning crossing the finish line his first triathlon left burning in his heart and lungs.

Left to right: Vince, Nathaniel and Michael stoked for the swim

And so the season begins! How will those fresh into the field fare? Will old lions continue to claw up the rankings or fall victim to the young cubs? Congratulations to all those that competed and thanks to those who came to watch/cheer/photograph.

A small part of the cheering squad

Olympic
Winstorm Guo - 2:32:09
Mel Van Soeren - 2:44:39
Vince Lavallee - 2:17:44
Nathaniel Janzen - 2:23:31
Michael Duncan - 2:51:55

Sprint
Rachel Schoeler - 1:21:44
Karen Olafson - 1:28:35
Amy Kirkham - 1:08:47
Derrick Lee - 1:16:05
Tiger Ye - 1:24:58
Jesse Chao - 1:22:13

Short
Jared Penner - 55:21

News Flash

Winston Guo just returned home from a hard training session. Upon an interview request he simply stated he needed to go have his recovery meal but come the Triple Crown, he would be ready.

Get Your Legs Ready

Suffering

This morning Andrew Wight and I went for an early morning ride. Although it turned into a beautiful day in Vancouver, it started out pretty cold (1-2*C). Seeing the sunshine I was unprepared for this which resulted in some painful fingers. While out on the ride I just had to keep reminding myself of a quote that I jokingly mocked a friend with a few weeks back:

"There is no bad weather, only soft people"

With that in mind, I just plugged along trying my best not to complain. As I arrived home despite the 8 minutes it took me to get my keys out of my back pocket and the following 4 minutes to open my front door, it was a good ride. I was satisfied with having gotten out of bed early (6:15) and accomplished my ride before work.

Sure enough I got home and checked my e-mail and google reader, and this was the first listing to pop up.

I've quoted the best part below:

After the finish all the suffering turns to memories of pleasure, and the greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. That is Nature’s pay back to riders for the homage they pay her by suffering. Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses; people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one hour bicycle ride. ‘Good for you.’ Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few suitors these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms she rewards passionately.

-Tim Krabbe (excerpt from The Rider, 1978)

Good timing.