Test of Metal. Tour de France.

So it's mid January and already people are stopping in at the shop and talking about the Test of Metal. Now don't get me wrong the Test is an amazing race put on by amazing people in this amazing town......however I have always been at odds with the event. I have done it many a time and have always finished but I always have a hard time out there and can't seem to pull it together for race day. I'm going to take another swing at it this year and see if I can make it happen....glutton for punishment that I am.

I am a raging addict to all things related to bicycle racing and it occupies my mind when I should be doing other things (such as right now!). I often think about the riders at the back of the professional peloton, the domestiques. These are the guys that get little to no glory and all of the pain. They spend their days fetching bottles, snacks, extra layers as well as setting the pace for the majority of the day on the front of the pack. Generally these are riders that are professional in the true sense of the word. It is their job to ride and suffer with very little if any hope of climbing onto a podium. By now I would think you are understanding what these guys are all about, hard as nails workers just trying to get through the day so they can go back to work the next day (sound familial?). What do they have to do to make it to the next day you ask? Simple, according to the rules of the sports largest race (Le tour De France) they simply have to finish within 18% of the winners time on any given stage of the event. Sounds simple enough right? It's only for 3 weeks after all. Forget about the rest of the season and the fact that some of these guys compete (or work) in all three major tours of the season!

This is where I started thinking about the Test of Metal. What if the same rules applied? (This is a simple what if not any sort of suggestion). It's an event most are familiar with in these parts. Often when two riders meet for the first time the following question can be overheard: "What's your time in the test?". For some just finishing the race is a victory for others there is a goal usually based on time and also from time to time based on beating a certain person. Some riders shoot for under 5hrs some under 4hrs. Do you know anyone that has gone under 3hrs? I had a look at the 2010 results and then it all came together. Just how fast is the last rider in the Tour using the Test of Metal for reference? With Geoff Kabush's winning time of 2:29 (!?!?!? wow!) if you did not finish in under 3hrs game over. That would put you in the top 30 of the Test. Those dudes are fast. Hell finishing under 4 hrs makes you pretty quick in my books!

So as we enter a new season on road and dirt think about all those guys that look like pack filler as the Cavendish's and Greipel's battle for the wins the dudes rolling in behind them are straight up hard men. Take it upon yourself to learn about at least one of these guys. They are the sport just as the riders finishing over 3hrs are the Test.

Late night ranting of a crazed bike geek!

Surly riders are tough as...

Just when I was feeling all tough about putting the time on the trainer I come across this:



Tougher than me that's for sure.

Only in Brackendale

On Saturday I decided i needed to get out on the bike. It just needed doing. Just before I left the shop I had heard the power was out in some parts of the 'hood. I thought nothing of it as it was snowing and these things happen some times when it snows around these parts. About two minutes into our ride we came across this:


So yeah....this poor bugger fried himself on the power lines near Barr's pond. Something to add to the list of things that cause power outages in Brackendale!

Music for the Holidays

What I can understand of this I like. I will need to take my Irish friend Pete up on his offer to translate further........not really very PG fair warning.




Instant classic!

BC Boy across the pond

BC boy Craig Richey is in Belgium racing World Cup Cyclocross. This is his first trip over and he sent this update the other day:

From: craig_bike@hotmail.com

Subject: The Belgium Report Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010

Howdy,

I have been in Belgium for close to two weeks now and things as going pretty well. The house where I am staying (The Chainstay) is great and the quaint town of Oudenaarde is surrounded by some great riding.

A few days after arriving in Belgium I decided to do my first race, the Superprestige Hamme-Zogge. It had rained steadily since my arrival and there was widespread flooding the weekend of the race. I actually found this a little bit encouraging because it meant that this huge amount of rain was not normal. It did however mean that the race was going to be a mud fest. The major cross races here are held in little towns and a huge number of spectators (10,000+) come out the big races like the Superprestige series. Pretty much Cyclocross in Belgium is the equivalent of Hockey in Canada. I have 37 UCI points and am ranking 104 which got me called to the start line around 35th out of the 45 starters. The course was pretty cool with three huge flyovers and tons of mud. There was so much deep mud that all the riders were forced to run major sections of the course. Of the nine minute lap I probably spent four minutes running. Under the 80% rule I was pulled with three laps to go and finished 28th. The news paper title the next days was “Sven Nys Swims to Victory.” It was an eye opening experience and was most shocked by how many kids were at the race cheering. Watching the live coverage after the race was also a great learning experience because it allowed me to compare my techniques and decisions with the best riders in the world. Turns out some of my decision making needs some work as I was riding (trying to ride) a few mud sections that the front guys were riding. One of mud bog attempts was shown on TV. The weekday between the weekend races was spent training with my house mates Rene Birkenfeld, Gabby Day and Shaun Adamson. Rene and I did some great cyclocross skills practice at the nearby lake. After the ride when I was trying to get my bike clean I realized that my equipment is taking some heavy abuse here. On Saturday I opted to do a local pro race for riders not ranked in the top fifty in the world. The race was in the town of Laarne and turned out to be one of the bigger “B” races. Based on my world rank I was called to the line first but was not able to hold that position for long. The course was through a corn field and not a North American style course. It was flat, and bumpy with a bunch of man-made ditches that were hard to ride. I rode ok and finished 14^th out of the fifty or so elite racers. For just a little local race it was comparable to a UCI pro race in the US with 500+ spectators. Sunday was the Superprestige Gavere. It is a cyclocross classic and is considered the Paris-Roubaix of cyclocross. The promise of crashes and lack of rain brought out hoards of fans. The technical course was hilly with lots of slippery rutted descents, preriding I was able to ride everything and loved it. At the start line I was optimistic that I could have a good ride. Unfortunately it was not my day and I was plagued with problems from the start. A huge pedal slip at the start left me standing with both feet on the ground as the field rode away. I was able to catch up and move up a bit but ended up in no mans land, chasing a good group in front of me with stragglers losing ground behind. On the 4^th lap my derailleur hanger broke off and I had to run to the pit zone. I have two matching Blue Norcross SL bikes which are super nice bikes but I only have one pair of Dugast Rhino tubular tires, the gold standard for mud tires. So in the pit I had to take my other bike which had mix condition tire, they packed up with mud and the descents were like trying to steer a truck with bald tires down a hill in a snow storm. I had a pretty good crash, glancing off a crash pad into a tree. The crash unhooked my rear brake making the next descent even more sketchy. I finished the lap but all the issues cost me a lot of time and was I pulled, finishing 27^th. The crash was apparently the best one of the day because it was replayed in slow-motion on TV a few times. http://bit.ly/aq9NwN @ 8:40 At a bike shop today someone recognized me from the crash on TV yesterday. Publicity is publicity I guess. Now I just need to rest up, work on bikes, and find some more mud tires. Next up is the Koksijde World Cup on Saturday. Hope everyone is doing well. If you are not interested in these ramblings just reply with "Unsubscribe" in the title and I will pull you off the list. Craig Richey CyclocrossRacing.com p/b Blue

The video is worth a watch. I have huge respect for the leap of faith it must have taken to go over there and have a go with those guys! Follow his results on your favorite Cycling site and drop him a line if you want to get his updates.

Burnt out on bike videos

I have come to realize I am burnt out on bike videos, or rather I thought I was until I saw this:



Shout out to the folks at drunkcyclist for bringing this fine piece of film to my attention.

Survived my one and only cross race of the year yesterday in Port Alberni. Huge thanks to all that made the race happen. The course was sick and we all tasted some glorious pain. Here is a clip of my friend Justin on one of my favorite sections. Enjoy.



Can you feel the pain?