Jen Voigt Again: Calculate Your Jens Factor

Here is a great graphic courtesy of Cyclocosm.com.  After all, there in nothing harder than Jens in the Known Universe.

Unfortunately, for those of us riding to work in Canada at this time of year the scale doesn't really work since we pretty well never get out of Jens Factor 5 or Jens Factor HC.  A temperature of 4C with no wind constitutes early summer here.  Perhaps it could be seasonally adjusted?  And points should be given for riding through ice and slush.  In any event, I appear to have an impressive Jens Factor as my coldest ride this season was with a temperature of -22C and a sustained windspeed of 30 km/h.

Roller Racing in Ottawa!

West Quebec Wheelers Retro Flyer

Another weekend has passed quickly and still no sign of warmer weather, although Spring is officially here. Suffering from a lousy cold on Friday, I felt much better on Saturday. Not only did I do an hour of spinning at the athletic club and an additional hour of weight training, but I got back on the Ancient but Honourable Bianchi and went out on the Eastern Parkway for some more on-the-road training. Compared to my last ride there this was actually pretty unpleasant as the claimed 6C (42F) was nowhere near that and the wind was gusting at around 30 km/h (18.6 mph). I did manage two circuits but that was quite enough for me and I was happy to at least have an extra hour of training to my credit. In spite of shoe covers (admittedly the lightweight aero versions and not the neoprene Frankenboots), my feet were pretty cold as I pulled into the driveway at the end.

The final missing element in my Official Training Room was obtained when I went to buy some bolts ($3) at a local store to replace the one that broke on Friday as I was riding home, leaving BlackAdder momentarily seatless, and discovered weight training benches on sale for half price. Now I can do the full range of strength training exercises at home, between my chin-up bar, dumbbells, skipping rope, tension bands and Swiss ball. I will no longer be weak and puny, my friends.

On Saturday night I went with my friends Pat and Barry to, of all places, the Candian Legion Hall on Kent Street for Round 3 of the West Quebec Wheelers Roller Races. This is an indoor racing event that pits four sprinters against each other on bikes fixed to rollers. A big clock-like sign shows the standing of each contestant as they spin like mad to get to 500 m. This takes around 23 seconds, so the races are pretty fast.


I think Roller Races began in the UK in the late 1940s to make up for the shortish outdoor season and I first heard about them on "the Bike Show" podcast as the Rapha clothing people are sponsoring these now. It is great fun to watch and nobody was holding back in their pursuit of medals and a very fancy trophy. There was an excellent turnout of noisy fans and we were impressed with the number of participants and the presence of some very high-quality bicycles. 28 cyclists signed up for the 500 m heats, with wide age (and fitness) range. From having only one female contest in Round 1, this Roller Race saw enough women to run two heats of four.


The 500 m races used the fixed version, but for the 1000 m event the racers used their own bikes on rollers without being attached. This looked pretty scary as some of the riders were not used to roller riding but there was a spotter standing next to them to prevent anyone from flying off too far.

In addition to these races, there was a match-up between Warren MacDonald and Michael Nash, who have ridden the 15 km (9.32 miles) OBC time trial in times of 18:32 and 18:39 respectively. My best time was 22:43, so I am happy neither is in my age group or I would be depressed. I only have to beat the guy who is doing it in 19:25. Only.

We drank Legion beer and cheered lustily but left before the final event, which was a 5 km free-for-all challenge. And who says nothing ever happens in Ottawa?

Sunday was cold again but I did 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer before a 90 minute spinning class. There was a stand-in instructor who could yell above the sound of the machines and the music, amazingly. Her program was pretty brutal and by the end of the class the original 16 or so participants had melted down into 5 remaining hardy souls. I was certainly in no condition to go for a training ride afterwards, but with freezing temperatures this was not a very appealing idea anyway.

In the afternoon a very tall person came and bought my old time trial frame and headset. I was delighted to sell it as it was too big for me, and he was having trouble finding a frame big enough for triathlons so we were both happy. He was Austrian in origin so I had the chance to practice my German and even used all those cool technical terms, like "Sattelstutz."

The final great accomplishment for the weekend was to read and review a beautiful new book from Australia on custom bicycles. The review should go on www.pezcyclingnews.com shortly. So riding in to work I felt on top of things today and for a brief time I was able to ignore the fact that the windchill made it feel like -19C (-2F).

My Conquest of Winter

My world this morning...

While at the Pedaling History Museum, I noticed a display featuring a spiked tire and a runner, meant to replace the wheels on a bicycle so that it could be used for winter. This was a coincidence as when I came back to Ottawa the special studded rear tire I had ordered had arrived. After I picked it up at the post office on Sunday I spent a good thirty minutes wrestling it on the rim. It did not look all that impressive and is very heavy.

Yesterday was simply too cold to ride so I drove to work, something I only do perhaps twice a year. There is no parking available in our building (which is inexcusable as it is in the middle of nowhere) so I had to park about three blocks away and walk through the biting cold. Of course, when I returned I discovered that Ottawa only lets you park on the streets for three hours and doesn't have to post a sign about this. So now I get to pay a $30 parking ticket as well.

Today I was determined to dress warmly and come in by bike. Of course, overnight a big storm had developed and when I opened the garage door there was a lot of snow on the ground. Big, fluffy flakes were coming down. Instead of my cycling shoes I had a pair of hiking boots on and I thought if it was too bad I could walk the bike back and hike to the office, a good 50 minutes away. But after the first few pedal strokes I realized that the studded tire really works and off I went, tearing through the snow and having a pretty good time.

My route generally avoids traffic but I found where there had been cars the road was a bit slippery so I just hopped up on the sidewalk. The deep tread cross tire on the front and the studded tire together allowed me to move quite briskly, probably up to 22 km/h or so. It was still cold outside but the challenge of it all goaded me on and as I crossed the Minto Bridges and saw the office ahead I felt a surge of triumph. I would be the only cyclist to make it into work today! Of course at that moment someone rolled down the hill near the bus stop and pulled in ahead of me on their bike. My hands were cold (it was still around -20C with the windchill) and the tire clattered over the parking garage floor but I had beaten Winter!

We'll see what the ride home is like tonight. And tomorrow freezing rain is promised. "Bring it on," I say. The Germans have a saying: "There is no bad weather. Just inappropriate clothing." And if gets just too bad I have a new set of cross-country skis. But I would like to think that the cycling season is not quite over yet.

Yet More Intervals Again

Once again, the wish of the Coach of Cruelty is my command. But my plan to get out on the Eastern Parkway at 5:30 this morning came to naught as it was just too cold outside (can this be almost June?) so I slept a bit longer. The ride to work was pretty awful as I did not bring gloves, figuring that a sweatshirt and a nylon windbreaker would be enough to keep me warm but I was quite wrong. And on the way home again there was a brutal north wind blowing.

But since I am paying for my coaching advice I take it pretty seriously. Just before 6 pm I saddled up the Dreadnought and headed out over the potholes to the Eastern Parkway. The tasty dish on the menu was time trial intervals, 5 of them at 3 minutes each, with a heart rate of 158+, and three minutes to recover. The first two went very well, but the third hurt a bit as my left calf began to cramp but then I felt better and the last two were fine. I then discovered I was on the course for the Ottawa Bicycle Club's women's time trial, so I stopped to cheer them on, even though they all looked faster than me. Sigh.

I finished up the ride with a comfortable cruise back to the house, confident that on Thursday I will not be nearly as slow as I was at the first time trial. Out on the road for 1:20, and put away 38 kms. Still feels cold, though.

On the Road Again at Last!

Ottawa's miserable winter has relented enough that today I was able to cycle to work on BlackAdder. The temperature this morning was just below freezing, but the sun was shining and the long-range forecast is pretty similar. Except for two patches of ice where I had to walk, the roads were dry so today the outdoor cycling season really begins!

With a few previous and quite brutal rides to work, my total mileage for 2008 now stands at, uh, 17 kms. But the journey of 10,000 leagues begins with a single step.

Me vs. Winter: 0-1

As it appears that it will never stop snowing in Ottawa--I had to shovel the driveway yet again today--I thought that I would get serious about trying to do something outdoors. Yesterday I went with my friend Peter, who is an excellent skier, to Gatineau Park for some cross-country skiing. We rented me some nice skis in Old Chelsea and then drove to Camp Fortune, the downhill ski area, and parked the car.

The weather was quite nice, hovering around the freezing mark, and in spite of having been off skis for a decade (and being not so good even then) I did fairly well. The concept of the snowplough turn appears still to be somewhat beyond my grasp and on a number of trails I found the most effective to stop and/or turn was to, well, fall down. This became more regular as we came back and as I got tired my already-marginal ski handling skills degraded. But there was lots of fresh air and nice scenery. I saw many red squirrels and even stood close to a woodpecker near one of the chalets where we stopped for a snack.

Gatineau Park must be one of the finest placed to do x-country in North America. The trails were beautifully-groomed and quite challenging.

As for myself, I have a sore left wrist today but I would like to try again and perhaps get more serious about figuring out how to do those turns.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Definitely the end of the 2007 Cycling Season

A Big Storm!

The Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada are being hammered by a very impressive snowstorm that has probably already dumped nearly 2 feet of snow on us.

The NOAA image at right shows the satellite image as of 4 pm today and there is still a lot of the white stuff yet to come. Amazingly, we will be barbecuing some veggie burgers tonight, once I dig out the barbeque on the deck of course.

So for those of you suffering the same storm, may your shovels be light. For those without snow, be sure to go for a ride for me since I think it will be some time before we dig out, let alone before I get on a bicycle for an outdoor ride!

The deck--it was clear this morning!








Our street, somewhere in there...

Winter Motivation

It is not getting much more Spring-like in Ottawa these days and the dark and cold are pretty relentless: when I got up this morning it was -15C and it was ages before the sun came up. Rather than cycling outdoors, I have been going to the gym to lift weights (boring), treadmill running (boring, except when the belt goes too fast) and riding the time trial bike in the basement while watching racing DVDs. The latter is not so bad since I usually just spend an hour doing this, but I have really enjoyed watching the DVD of the 2003 version of one of my favourite races, Switzerland's Tour of Romandy.

This race, in the French-speaking part of the country, began in 1947 and runs through some glorious countryside. When living in Europe I followed this 5-stage race on television and always enjoyed it very much. And the parcours for the 2008 race has just been announced so as I whirl away in the basement I am riding, at least in spirit, through the wonderful hills of Springtime.

From http://www.cyclingnews.com/ today:

2007 Tour de Romandie announced

The itinerary of next year's Tour de Romandie has been unveiled by the event organisers. The 62nd edition of the ProTour stage race taking place in the French-speaking part of Switzerland will be run from April 29-May 4, 2008, and serve, as usual, as a final preparation for Giro d'Italia contenders. But next season, the Tour de Romandie outcome may be more open to climbers as there will be less overall time trial kilometres than this year, when Thomas Dekker of Team Rabobank scored the final victory.

The prologue held in the streets of Geneva will be extra-short, only 1900 metres, and the long time trial usually raced on the final day will take place on Friday, May 2 in Sion. In between, the Swiss mountains will surely do some damage and provide a worthy winner of the event.
The six stages outline as follows:

Tuesday, April 29 - prologue: Genève-Genève (1,9 km)
Wednesday, April 30 - Stage 1: Morges-Saignelégier (182,4 km)
Thursday, May 1 - Stage 2: Moutier-Fribourg (170 km)
Friday, May 2 - Stage 3: Sion-Sion (18,8 km ITT)
Saturday, May 3 - Stage 4: Sion-Zinal (126,5 km)
Sunday, May 4 - Stage 5: Le Bouveret-Lausanne (159,4 km)

Winter (Continued)

BlackAdder back home

You know how it is when you are out driving your car in a snowstorm, with the wind howling and the flakes flying, and you see a guy on a bike and you think "He's crazy." I have become that guy.

This morning when I got up the weather looked okay, and certainly warmer than yesterday. But by the time I had had breakfast and gotten ready to go the snow had begun to fall in huge, swirling flakes. This time I was smart enough to wear cycling glasses with the clear lenses and, with some trepidation, I set off into the white whirlwind.

Note the tire tracks coming into the driveway

I discovered very quickly that 33 mm tires can go through anything. This should not be a surprising discovery since they took me through the mud so easily on the C&O Canal towpath but it was a novelty since my previous commuting history had been on my old Gitane with narrow 23mm high-pressure racing tires. I cruised in comfort and security, almost as fast as on dry roads and felt no slipping or handling issues.

Leaving Vanier and entering New Edinburg I did not see many cars so I could take the centre of the road, all the while holding a steady 20 km/h or so. I rode easily over the bridges on the Rideau River, with their creepy steel mesh roadway, and rolled into the office only a few minutes later than normal. Pretty well covered with snow, but almost on time.

Will it never end?

As I sat in my office I looked out of the window occasionally. Of course, the snow stopped as soon as I entered the building. And it began again when I left! But at least I know that I can ride comfortably in fairly deep snow. I just have to stop from time to time to wipe off my glasses.

Seriously Cold

I am still riding BlackAdder, my city/cross/shopping bicycle the 8.5 km return trip to work each day. Yesterday was actually fairly mild and the return trip, in particular, was actually quite pleasant.

Today is a different story. Leaving the house, the temperature was -14C (6.8F) and there was a light 8 km/h (5 mph) wind blowing. However, once you start rolling on the pavement the Do-It-Yourself-Windchill goes up pretty fast, and I was doing some long stretches at 25 km/h (15.5 mph). The calculated windchill works out to around -38C (-31F).

When I got to the bike parking area at work, there was one other cyclist. Although I am ridiculously proud at having ridden in, I hope that the cold weather does not last too long!

I want to ride my bicycle...

A lot of people have welcomed Winter with open arms in Ottawa but I just see it as the end of the cycling season. Bah! Humbug! I have been riding BlackAdder to work almost every day since I returned to Canada in September and had hoped to go into the second or third week of December before it got too messy.

But Hope springs eternal! It was above freezing today and there was a whole lot of melting going on so I hope that the roads will be clear enough to ride on Monday. BlackAdder has 33 cm tires so going through the messy stuff will be a lot easier than when I used my old Gitane for commuting.

And if worst comes to worst, I can cheer up by looking at a site that my friend Will has directed me towards: it is dedicated to crazy people actually riding in ice and snow: Ice Biking! Although my favourite photo has to be the racer climbing Loveland Pass in his shorts during a snowstorm!

I may be able to eke out a few more rides before the big snowfall that shuts everything down but there will be no serious riding until April, I guess. So it is time to look into alternatives: I am going to spinning classes at the athletic club; there are lots of badminton clubs in Ottawa if I want to jump up and down for an evening each week; there is cross-country skiing, which has enough cachet that I will not lose much of my cycling coolness if I do it. Who knows--there may be new opportunities in winter yet.

Still, I miss the sunny skies and the open road already!