Training Log Archive: phatty

Rode from Sechelt along Hwy 101 to Madeira Park and back on another glorious weather day. A very decent sized and well maintained shoulder kept me away from the passing traffic. After a death on one of my commute routes home on Friday (which I thankfully didn't witness as I left early that day...but still lost my sh!t on a clueless driver who buzzed me not even 100m from a red light...a$$hole!), I'm not feeling as brave around cars as usual.

Paddled from our campsite at Porpoise Bay up north in the bay along the shore. Such a perfect day to be on the water, viewing the picturesque coastline on an out-and-back route. Much more work to do in order to be at least 65% as strong as Hansel on the Georgian waters this Sept.

Nothing like botching up CPs 1 and 2 to get back into things. The session was around Cap. Univ. and it was VERY micro in the sense of having to work around the tight collection of campus buildings and multi-level structures. It was good to get back on a map for the first time in a while.

Up at the crack and picked up Gooder for a trail run along Baden Powell. Such a good temperature out and it was good to have some company on the trails.

SS18 Endorphin Dealer Launch in Squamish so we took 15 North American dealers around the trails. They really loved the experience and made all of the work to make it happen quite worth while. Lucky to be able to have this type of thing be a part of my job.

High Cascades 100, Bend OR - I hadn't explored much of Oregon before so what better way than a 100 mile MTB race? A buddy from my Salomon HQ days was doing it so I had a ride to and from Portland and a place to crash, too. Sweet. The landscape here is volcanic and very dry. Forests are quite different than I'm used to seeing as the line trees' needles are incredibly acidic, pretty much taking away much chance for low lying greenery to grow. As such, the trails are dusty, dry, and because a lot of work has been put into them, really flowy for MTB.

I was fairly conservative off of the start and just got into my own groove, figuring out the trails along the way. I feel like I was actually doing quite decently up to the 80k point and managed my nutrition and hydration in the increasingly hot day. I even wore a buff over my nose and mouth for a lot of it to keep the dust clouds out.

Then came the real heat. I simply didn't manage the water carry well enough after Aid Station B and had downed all 2L of my water with in the first hour. Not good as this was the hardest section of the race with decent sized climbs to negotiate. My mouth was so parched and my energy sapped. I even begged some passers-by for a gulp of water and thankfully, they had enough to spare. I'm sure I had dropped a few places as I entered Aid Station C, the final one before the finish. Whatever, I was in survival mode and was so close to just drinking from streams without treating the water. In any case, I hammered back so much Coke and ate like a champ.

Off again but even quicker this time, I was out of water again...with 25 hard kms still to the finish. I ate as much as I could but had no saliva to swallow it all with. It was not a good situation. I begged again for some water from some rec bikers and they were happy to oblige. I must have earned some good karma of late. I suffered quite a bit this time and got passed again and again. Ugh. Never the less, I kept plugging away and tried to enjoy the fun single-track session. Out onto the pavement for the final 5k to the finish, I gave it what I had and was so happy to receive a Coke immediately when I crossed the line...and then another almost straight away. Despite the hydration issues, it was a good day out, discovering a new area and my bike worked well (save for a slow leak in my rear tire...but it held enough to get to the finish).

As it turns out, I missed winning the phat boy category (aka Clydesdale 200+) by 7 minutes and settled for 3rd. EDawg will like his new medal.

C • Congrats! 7

Easy spinning ride out to Whytecliff and back...yet another gorgeous weather day.

Legged the EDawg up and down Mt. Fromme for the first time. St. George is quite a steep track and I was sweating bullets by the time I hit Mtn Hwy. The grade became quite a bit more manageable after that and while there were a few whimpers and complaining about wanting to get out of the pack, EDawg was a great little hiking partner. The views northward atop Fromme were really something today. So clear for kms and there is certainly quite a bit of snow around still. The trek back down was definitely more start-stop as EDawg wanted to walk around, bang some sticks, and have some snacks. We walked down on Executioner which I'll have to give another go to as I think I can now ride most of that one, having mostly walked it before.

C • Good to hear 2

New route to the climb trail and checked out the site of Lee's bridge fall yesterday. Yikes! Onward up to 7th Secret and didn't get the flow I needed to run it cleanly. Onto Espresso and pushed the speed all the way to the bottom of Penzoil. I almost bought it pretty badly on 7th but escaped unscathed.

C • Bridge fall? 9