Huge Day of Racing!

June 21^st ended up defying the weather reports and turned out to be a beautiful day. The predicted thunderstorms turned into a calm, cool summer solstice. To the disappointment of the team, June 21^st was the date of 2 major races that we were planning to all tackle. The outcome was the team splitting into two squads for the day: one competing at the 76km Tour de Waterloo and the other competing in the Toronto Triathlon Festival Olympic Distance. With conditions of both events the exact opposite from last year, it was a successful day all around.

Tour de Waterloo (Ed, Parichit, Garima, Adam, Marcel)

This event last year made for an exciting day. Amongst the team, we experienced nearly every scenario imaginable from success, to mechanicals, to crashing, to bonking, to completely missing a turn and riding off course.

At 45km in to this 76km race, Adam and Marcel were dropped from the main group. They ended up in a chase group and finished side by side in 57^th and 58^th place overall, good enough for 4^th and 5^th in the 20-29 age group.

Ed and Parichit were able to hold onto the peloton but a late solo attacker broke away for a solo victory by over a minute. In the bunch sprint for secondary positions, Ed finished 21^st overall and Parichit came in 4 spots back at 25^th. They were able to secure 1^st and 2^nd in the 20-29 age group, respectively.

Garima competed in the 46km race and held on for an amazing third place finish, barely missing out on second in the sprint final.

It was a hugely successful day for the team given that we were able to saturate the men’s 20-29 age group and achieve an overall podium!

Well deserved meal!

Toronto Triathlon Festival (Tyler, Lucas)

The 2015 TTF was a race that I had been targeting for a full year. It is my favourite race to compete in – the fast, flat course in the downtown core makes for an exciting race. The weather held off to give nearly perfect conditions, a nice contrast to last year. On the table for this event were qualifying spots for the 2016 ITU World Championships in Cozumel, Mexico. This was the main target for my race as my attempts at qualifying in the past were shrouded in bad luck.

I felt pretty good going into this race. All of my pre-season tests had me optimistic. However, lack of available pool time at my local community center and a busy week at work seemed to have weakened my form and allotted me a less than optimal taper. A 50+ hour week doesn't leave much time to relax or even stretch the muscles.

As mentioned, the day turned out to be perfect, with the water completely calm and there was little wind. The swim didn’t feel too good though. I knew my swim wasn’t on ideal form and it took me around 750m to get into my groove. 400m in, Lucas literally swam over me and took off ahead. So the chase began. On exiting the water I just felt odd and like nothing was in sync. After an unusually long T-1, I ran up the hill to the bike mount and struggled to put on my shoes, having to stop at the side of the road so get everything secure.

The calm before the storm. This is the first time I've ever spotted myself in a mass start swim. Lucas and I are 4th and 5th from the right on the bottom row.

To make matters worse, for some reason my computer wasn’t picking up any signals from my speed sensor. Once I fixed it on the go, it kept sporadically cutting in and out. I had planned a target for my power and soon realized I would have to revert to good old feel. My legs felt sluggish and all I could do was press on and hope for the best. I kept pedalling away and 500m from the turn around, I saw Lucas headed back in the opposite direction. I caught him with 30km to go and we essentially got to T-2 together.

As in the swim, it took me a while to find my legs. It just didn’t seem to be my day. I was running on track to my goal time of a sub 40-minute run until my T.A. tendinitis began to flare up at the 5km mark. My pace dropped dramatically as I stumbled to the finish. My leg felt like it had gone up in flames. 

All in all I came in at 2:14.48, which was a new PB for myself. I averaged 1:45min/100 in the swim, 37.7kph on the bike and 4:10min/km on the run. It was good enough for 32^nd overall, 2^nd in my age group and a ticket to the 2016 ITU World Championships in Cozumel, Mexico. After some review, an elite athlete won my age group, winning the entire race in fact, and I was a little confused as to why he would be in the AG division. My best guess is that since it was a WC qualifying race it was a way for him to qualify? If anyone has any suggestions please let me know, I’m not too familiar with the pro-athlete system.

Lucas finished just 2 minutes behind myself, with a 2:16.59 finish in his Olympic distance debut.

Typically, I am a few races into the season by TTF so all of the kinks are worked out. With this race being pushed up to accommodate the Pan-Am Games, I don’t think I was quite prepared both mentally or physically. I wasn’t able to train due to work and I made some dumb mistakes with my race set up - things that by this point should have come second nature. It was 10 months since my last race so it wasn’t as smooth as I would have hoped. The main target of my race was to qualify for the World Championships so in that sense my day was a success. Qualification wasn’t graceful but I qualified and that was the main thing. 

Podium Shots 

One thing I should note is that I had a 9 minute buffer to the 3^rd and final qualifying spot. For years of tough competition, I was always caught out of a spot due to the high level of performance. It seems odd that on a day where I felt my worst, I was able to get in.

I am disappointed with my performance despite the huge PB. Cody Beals put it best in his 70.3 IMMT recap when he described his race referencing @Jackmott: "I was too slow and I was too dumb, but I'm not too dumb to learn from my mistakes!" I know I can do better and am hungry for improvement and that is a factor that will drive me to better myself come next September. In my 7+ years of racing I have never had a 'bad' race. The fact that I'm calling a PB race 'bad' may prove that I have a screw loose in my head, but now I'm just rambling. 

My goal for Cozumel is what I'm calling 40 up/40 down. I want to get through the swim in 20 minutes (not factored into the name), average over 40 on the bike (40 up) and run a sub-40 run (40 down). These are all goals that I believe I can strive to achieve, marks that I had planned to hit on Sunday.

As always, a huge thanks to our sponsors 3Sixty5 Cycling, DuTriAndRun, and Eagle Partners for their continued support!

Next up for the team is the Tour de Terra Cotta on August 3rd. 

Congrats again to the team on a killer weekend!

Contact:
On Your Left Cycling-

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Tyler Chuang

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• Instagram: @tdchuang

Ed Cyr

• Twitter: @EdCyr4

Alex Dos Santos

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• Twitter: @asotnassod

Adam Napiorkowski

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• Twitter: @Napior_A

Lucas Shwed

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Parichit Bagga

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• Blog: http://parigari.blogspot.ca

Pre-Season Thoughts

This winter was the first time that I really had a solid winter training program to carry over my fitness from the previous summer. In past years I would either just swim on my high school swim team (no running or cycling) or just attend a few spin classes with the University of Waterloo Cycling Club. The reason for this was because I felt that after hard summers of racing and training, I needed to let my body rest and recuperate. This led me to play a lot of catch up with my fitness in the early spring in preparation for triathlon season. As I have developed as an athlete, I feel stronger and am more in-tune with my body. I have a better understanding of my limits and can recognize the preliminary triggers that indicate when to back off to prevent injury.

My training over the winter consisted of running indoor track with the University of Waterloo as well as temporarily filling in as spin class instructor for the University of Waterloo Triathlon/Cycling Clubs. Due to scheduling conflicts, I was not able to make it into the pool as often as I would have liked but probably averaged one or two swims a week. This resulted in 2 intense track workouts, 2 spin workouts and the odd swim per week.  This was all I could really handle with my schoolwork but it has seemed to have paid off in my pre-season tests.

The last few racing seasons have started off hopping straight into either an Olympic or Half-Iron triathlon after a 7 month break from racing after XC. My performance was always a crapshoot but more often than not I was satisfied and it allowed me to make modifications to my training program. The problem with this is I feel there are only so many 'zones' you can target off of one race, especially one as long as a Half-Iron, as performance factors may start to amplify and you lose a degree of certainty on the factor you are assessing. For example if you feel bad on the run it may not be because of your running form, it could be a whole wack of factors beginning with the swim or nutrition on the bike. One may take that as a cue to kick up the running training when in actuality swimming or nutrition may be the area of interest.

In retrospect, I had not planned for any pre-season racing this year. My family decided to compete in the Mississauga 5k so I figured that I would join in and I registered for the Grey County Time Trial one day before registration cut-off in a spur of the moment decision. Reflecting on the past few weeks, I am happy with my decision to race and plan on making it a yearly routine.

I cannot recall the last time I competed in a running road race. My take on the shorter races was if I wanted to run 5k or 10k, I would just go out running on any given day. That would give me a pretty good indication of my times right?

Mississauga Marathon 5k

The Mississauga 5k took place the day after our #TTFU OYL Cycling Collingwood Training Camp. I felt pretty fatigued, and hadn’t run in nearly 2 weeks. I hadn’t run a speed workout in over a month. My plan going into the race was to at least break 20 minutes and, being optimistic, hope to crack the top 10. At the start line, I was in the middle of the mass corral. At 5 minutes to start, the announcer requested that all “elite” runners enter the box at the line. He described the elite runners as “they know who they are”. Four runners moved up and my dad gave me a shove. I had my reservations about moving up because I doubted my form. Slowly after I arrived, about a dozen boys about a foot shorter than me joined us. I was nervous in the box but it was a risk that paid off.

I’m sure it was due to the pressure of the elites, but as soon as the gun went off I found myself sticking to the front. A few guys sprinted the first kilometer but soon died off. After everyone settled in, I found myself move from around 15^th to 6^th overall from kilometer 1 to 4.5. I was sort of in no mans land as I was ahead of the main bunch, but far behind the leaders who would end up besting me by 2 minutes. It was a very flat course with hardly a bump in the road. In the last 500 meters, to my surprise, I found one more gear to pass the 2 running just in front of me. I finished in 17:39, finishing my last kilometer in 3:12. That was good enough for 4^th overall and 3^rd in my age group. As primarily a triathlete, this race changed my views on running road races. There is no way I could have run a sub-18 5k on my own. It was a good training session and a great way to assess my fitness in a race scenario. I plan to incorporate more running races into my training schedule in the future.

Happy at the finish line

Grey County TT (29.1km)

My second pre-season test was the Grey County Time Trial. It was a totally last minute decision to sign up and by the time I made the call, it was too late to return to my flat in Waterloo to grab my 3Sixty5 Legacy wheels or any warm clothes (which I would end up paying for later). All of my warmer clothes are in Waterloo because that was where I was when I was training in the winter. My set up was less than ideal but given the circumstances I made do with what I had on hand. 

As shown on the map, it is an out and back course starting on top of a hill with a pancake flat middle section followed by the return climb. One reason I was excited about this course was it ran right along where we rode many times during our #TTFU training camp. I knew the road fairly well.

One of my biggest challenges and worries leading up to the race was the legality of my bike. Since it was a UWCT qualifying race for the World Amateur Championships in Denmark, in order to be in contention, you must have had a UCI legal set up. After much research and measuring, I finally figured out the most optimal set up with the gear that I had. I ended up switching from my Pinarello to my Trek and completely changing my aero bar extensions and riding position. I even had to make some last minute adjustments 5 minutes before my start time to comply. 

A little perspective for you triathletes - I'm not sure if it was just my set up, but the right was my normal bar length and the left is the UCI maximum length for TT bikes. This drastically changed the geometry of my set up and forced me to adapt a different riding position. I may keep it for a while to see how it feels - I have long forearms so I keep kicking my elbows, however.

The weather had been solid all week, and the rest of the weekend was looking beautiful. Unfortunately, the Friday of the race was an outlier with a high of 8 degrees and 25km/h winds. My start time was 17h51 so just before dusk on the start line it was 4 degrees. With the wind and at speed it felt like 0. Trying to keep aerodynamics in mind and my lack of preparation, I only had arm warmers, shorts, and a jersey.

The starting ramp was awesome, felt like I was in the Giro!

As soon as I pushed off the starting ramp (which I was stoked about having), I knew something was wrong. For some reason I was seeing double and felt incredible light headed. I felt drunk and everything looked like a cheap movie effect. I thought the wind was making my eyes water but it was the cold. Pushing so hard in such cold conditions really took its toll on me. Right from the gun I was in a battle to keep on a straight path, avoid road obstacles and not fall over. It was surreal and like nothing I had ever prepared for. In the last 100m push my vision completely disappeared. Luckily I managed to roll to a stop before lowering myself to the floor.

My jersey all pinned up

This race had fabric numbers - not paper, which was a first for me. 
No more annoying flapping in the wind!

I finished 13th out of 22 starters in the 19-34 AG with a time of 47:01 over the 29.1km. It wasn't a stellar performance relative to the other competitors but it was a decent effort for myself. I didn't end up qualifying for worlds in Denmark, as the top 25% in each age group got a ticket. It will definitely be a target of mine in the future though. 

Final kick to the line

Take Aways

I am happy with my current running and cycling form - I am already far ahead of where I was last year at this time. My first true test of my swimming will come at my first triathlon of the season. I feel I have a good base in all 3 disciplines; from here it’s time to do some race-specific training to tie everything together. After analyzing my data and performances, I have a few changes to make to my training program to be fully prepared for my "A" races. 

So far, my season schedule is as follows:

June 13-14 TBN Niagara Ride

June 21 Toronto Triathlon Festival – Olympic Distance

August 3 Tour De Terra Cotta

August 8 MSC Bracebridge – Sprint/International Duathlon

September 5 Somersault Canadian Iron 226

In addition, OYL Cycling is planning on sending athletes to the following events:

June 14 Cambridge Tour de Grand

June 21 Tour de Waterloo

August 3 Tour de Terra Cotta

Spetember 27 Tour de Hans

I hope to see many of you out there on the roads and at races! If you plan on attending any of these events shoot us a message!

Contact:
On Your Left Cycling-

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onyourleftcycling?fref=ts
• Twitter: @OYL_Cycling
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• Email: ride4oyl@gmail.com
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Tyler Chuang

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• Twitter: @Tyler_Chuang
• Instagram: @tdchuang

Ed Cyr

• Twitter: @EdCyr4

Alex Dos Santos

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• Twitter: @asotnassod

Adam Napiorkowski

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• Twitter: @Napior_A

Lucas Shwed

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#TTFU OYL Training Camp 2015

From April 28^th to May 1^st, we rode longer, farther and harder than any of us had ever ridden before. To kick off our sophomore year, we decided to get the ball rolling with a team training camp to Collingwood. I thought it would be a good idea to get the legs moving after another long winter and get the new recruits into the groove of group cycling. Before this week, the farthest some of our riders had ever ridden was 60km. Boy, were they in for a shock to the system! I am extremely proud of all of the boys for sticking through and pushing on. We all had our bonking points (who wouldn’t have a bad kilometer or two in a 20+ hour week?) and it was great to see the drive and perseverance to continue on. It really gave me the chance to evaluate the motivations and mindsets of this year’s squad. None of us had ever really ridden together before this week but I now know they are some of the toughest roadies out there.  The development that I saw in those 4 days alone has me very optimistic for the rest of the season. 

Hillside view from our balcony was awesome, spent some time just watching the slopes

Over the course of 4 days, we rode ~625km in 21 hours of total rolling time through the beautiful roads of Collingwood.

Having access to one vehicle, the transportation arrangements were pretty tricky to sort out. This left Ed and myself to ride up from Waterloo to Collingwood, while Lucas, Alex and Adam drove. The expedition to Collingwood was a tough one. It was uphill 95% of the way (as shown in the graphic below) into a killer headwind. To make matters worse, when we embarked on our journey at 6:30 am, the temperature was teasing the negatives. With the weatherman calling for a high of 17degrees later in the day, I thought I would rough it out with shorts and fingerless gloves. This turned out to be a mistake as the weather stayed frigid for the first 3 hours of our trek. 30 km in, we had to pull into the Fergus Timmies to warm up. Great start to the camp. Toeing the line between frostbite and hypothermia, we carried on to meet up with the car in Shelburne.

After a hearty refuel, Alex joined us and we continued into the home stretch. When Adam and Lucas got to the hotel, they unpacked their bikes and rode the reverse route to meet up with us 30km out and we rode to base camp as a group. On day 1, due to the hectic transportation, we each rode between 60km and 175km.

Day 2 saw our first real ride together and we broke it into 2 sessions: a morning easy ride and an afternoon hill climb workout.

The morning ride was more to get the legs moving, especially for Ed and myself after a long 7-hour day before. The route was a recon of the Grey County RR some of are planning to compete in.

The later ride was short and not so sweet. We began with the Scenic Caves HC (from the centurion hill climb), a sprint down Route 2 before climbing the back of 19 and bombing down it. It was a shorter, fast paced workout type ride, simulating our spin classes that we had run over the winter. 

Our big hitter was on day 3, where we planned a century ride. Somehow that turned into an 180km Iron distance ride; including lunch and snack breaks, we were out for over 8 hours. Looking back on it now, the elevation shows an absurd amount of climbing!

Someone was out at 120k

The ride back to Waterloo, surprisingly enough seemed like the easiest. Despite the 15 hours of riding of the last 3 days, we made it back in 5 hours of rolling time (2 hours quicker than the ride out). Maybe it was that my body had become numb or the massive tailwind or the downhill profile that helped us. We paced the first 90km at half-Iron pace and the back 80km at Iron pace effort. 

Timmies Pit Stop on the Return Trip

All in all I think for our first camp, it went as well as it could have been. With over 100 hours of combined riding between the 5 of us, we surprisingly had no flats or serious mechanicals (a few dropped chains and flying bottles are nothing to complain about). It also seemed we chose the perfect 4-day gap to hold the camp, as the weather was great with seemingly no wind so complain of. Aside from the first morning, the weather was consistently in the high teens and it literally rained for 20 seconds (I timed it) during our descent into Creemore on the third day. 

A little candid shot

A banana and twizzlers - definitely Pro Tour musette material

The posthumously named “#TTFU Training Camp” was some of the best cycling I have ever done, made even better by great company. I definitely want to plan another trip for next spring. It was a great way to jump into cycling after the winter and a great break after a tough exam period. 

A huge thank you to our sponsors who helped to make this camp possible: Eagle Partners Financial Solutions, 3Sixty5 Cycling and Du Tri and Run. 3Sixty5 delivered a pair of their Lunar 58 wheel sets to Lucas just in time for the camp (picked up enroute), and according to the happy new owner "they're so slick, they make a waterslide feel tacky!" 

Some of our fuel for the week provided by Du Tri and Run & Endless Endurance

Looking forward to the season, we plan to send a team to the Grey County RR (May 24), the Tour De Waterloo (June 22), the Tour De Terra Cotta (Aug 3), as well as an assortment of triathlons. 

As a side, if anyone has any recommendations for free video editing software, please shoot me a note. The native app that came with the camera is very rudimentary and tough to navigate (which is why this blog took so long to upload). I have around 30GB of footage from the trip that I want to do stuff with. I'll upload a better video when I can make one.

Contact:
On Your Left Cycling-

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onyourleftcycling?fref=ts
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• Email: ride4oyl@gmail.com
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Tyler Chuang

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• Twitter: @Tyler_Chuang
• Instagram: @tdchuang

Ed Cyr

• Twitter: @EdCyr4

Alex Dos Santos

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• Twitter: @asotnassod

Adam Napiorkowski

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• Twitter: @Napior_A

Lucas Shwed

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