Team,
Is anyone else getting tired of this weather???? COME ON NOW – it’s a good thing we have soooooooooooooooooooo much fun in our AM gatherings. We are a GO for a spin tomorrow morning. 1’C, clear, dry, and very crisp is the call. 540AM at our Loblaws. ALSO CHECK OUT MGRIDETORONTO ON FACEBOOK. These two spots are a place to go for all things cycling. Check out the Blog, the weekly Yellow Jersey Winner (could be you), twitter, YouTube, and every other posting you can think of. This website, along with our Facebook fan page, will be used to promote our cycling community, share ideas, thoughts, and everybody’s passion for this two wheeled adventure. If you have any questions or comments on all of this, please let me know. See you in the morning. This past Sunday a number of MG riders took part in Paris Ancaster and it was one of the most epic days I've ever had on a bike!!
While the race was held on a Sunday the conditions were actually influenced by the weather on the Saturday leading up to it. It poured rain all day Saturday which of course created a muddy mess for race day, The drive to Paris on Sunday morning looked promising with cool temps, a strong wind but clear skies. By the time we arrived at the start line the corral for wave 1 was already filling up and a number of us made the decision to skip the warm up and head straight for the start corral - BIG MISTAKE!! After waiting for 20 minutes the gun finally went off and wave 1 was underway. The pace right from the gun was full throttle, leaving my cold legs to scream for oxygen as the lactic acid flooded to my quads, 100's of riders fight for position in an attempt to make it to the front groups, its an amazing adrenaline rush as the race heats up. At the 20 km mark the course leads you to a steep mud hill that forces most riders off their mounts. The run up the hill is pure torture, your legs feel like lead and trying to keep your heart rate in control is impossible - once you get your body under control you've then got another 40 km's The course takes you over every possible terrain, single track, rail bed, paved highways, farmers fields, even mud slides and after 60 kilometers of grueling wind, sleet, rain and snow you arrive in Ancaster completely wasted but feeling so good for having ridden as hard as you possibly can. personally I learned a lot about racing in this race, you've gotta fight for the front, you've got to be ready to go from the gun, there's no settling into a tempo like you do on a group ride, you've got to be aggressive and move up instead of moving back, as soon as you move back you get dropped, I also learned that you can't count on others to pull you along, they would rather ride you off their wheel!!! I also learned that I have a lot more to learn about bike racing!!!! For me racing isn't so much about winning - I'm no where near the front, for me racing has more to do with challenging myself and never giving up (although believe me there were many times when I wanted to turn around, pack it in and get myself warmed up!!) its about digging as deep as I can for as long as I can and seeing what happens when I do. it was awesome to see so many MG riders out there, we had some amazing results, some tough luck and yet all of us made it to the finish line with a huge smile on our faces. I'm proud of all you guys!! This is what cycling is all about - its about pushing yourself, digging as deep as you can and making it to the finish line!!!! Special mentions go to Shannon, Tim, Derrek, Kevin, Graham, Corey, Dave, David, Edmond, Kim, Scott, Mark, Fraser, Robin, Marie and I'm sure I'm missing others on an amazing race, you all represented MGridetoronto very very well - proud of all of you for your results!!! Now that we have the site live and are starting to see people following us I thought I would give a big shout out to one of the most friendly and happy cyclists in our early morning peloton.
Angus Warner joined our group last year when he was riding solo heading north on Bayview at around 5:30 am. Angus happened to cross paths with Fraser on his way to our meeting spot and in true Chapman style Angus suddenly found himself invited to ride with the group. I don't know if Angus knew what he was getting himself into but this guy has stuck to it and is now a true regular on our MG rides. I think this story says a lot about the group of people who we ride with, we really are a community, we are welcoming to everyone who wants to get up early in the am and get their ride in early in the day. Not only that but riding in a group like this is really really effective. Like many of us Angus has gained so much strength and we've all noticed how much stronger he is getting. So much so that Angus finds himself amongst this years Yellow Jersey winners, he's riding like a superstar and its only April. Great work Angus!!, can't wait to see you on your new BMC SLX-01, its going to be FAST!!!! So to everyone who's thinking of joining our group, do it, don't wait till next week or till it gets warm out come and ride with us and watch yourself get stronger with every kilometer you're on the bike!!! See you on the road - tomorrow 5:40 am, Bridal Path Burner!!! CF So I'm just back from the last official indoor MG ride for the season, it was another huge effort on a course that looked like a pyramid so much fun!!
On a positive note looking around the room all the cyclists were posting numbers that were significantly higher today than they've been all season, its so good when you start to see all your hard work paying off. MG Ride Toronto has been meeting every wednesday since November to prepare for when our Canadian weather lets us get back out onto the road, its been really tough getting up at 4:40 am to make it in time for the 5:30 start but WOW its been worth the effort. The benefits of riding indoors are tremendous, I can honestly say that this workout is by far the hardest day of my fitness routine every week, it rivals racing crits in its intensity and it helps you increase your power output so that when you finally get onto the road and have the added benefit of gravity and draft you recover more quickly and you have more power to put into your pedals when you need to. Lastly, a couple of big THANK YOU's 1. I'd like to thank Bob @ Watts up for being there every week - you've taken tremendous care of us, everything from making sure we have water to the angle of our fans - our needs were met and I do know that 4:30 am isn't your "normal" wake up time - thanks Bob 2. Fraser - thanks for coordinating this with the guys @ Watts Up, certainly your enthusiasm put this weekly training session together, greatly appreciated. 3. To all the guys who were there every week: Kevin, Shannon, Angus, Nick, Dan, Jason, Andrew, Duncan, Craig, Dave, Todd, Gary, you guys are the reason that the MG ride is so much fun! its motivating to know that if I don't show up I'll be hearing from at least one of you about it, we keep each other accountable and it goes a long way towards our training - GREAT WORK from all of you - I can't wait to see the pay off on the road!!! Cheers CF Just got back from our weekly Wednesday morning sufferfest at Watts Up Cycling. 10 guys showed up for the hour and 20 minute indoor ride. We've been coming together as a group every wednesday since November to put in a solid hour on the bike. I can't believe the impact it is having on everyones power.
Special mention goes out to Dave Newall he put in a PB on the hour of effort and was still looking fresh at the end, he's going to be very quick this summer. I should also mention Angus Botterell who we've seen wearing the Yellow Jersey a number of times this winter, he is obviously putting in alot of time on the trainer and it shows, his power is steadily improving!! Finally, today we had Scott Judges of Fitt 1st who came out and took video of us on our bikes, his feedback is going to be amazing and will hopefully improve both our comfort and our power on the bikes. Great ride today guys!!! |
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August 2017
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