Training Log Archive: Carbons Offset

Highwood Pass, gate to gate and back
So many cars parked at the gate, so many people heading out to do the sans-cars ride on a nice day.
Did the first climb with Melissa and her friend Todd. A fairly easy spin up which was fine by me after the quads put in some hard climbing yesterday. Then continued on by myself down the back while they returned to the start. A decent headwind on the way down the back (I think this was the same experience last time, long ago), had to pedal downhill and it still took over an hour to ride the 37 km.
It looked like Highwood House gas station was open for snacks and drinks (and gas) but I just turned around and headed back up. This was a bit of a slog without company. I also may have been slightly bonking. I had to remember to keep looking up because the scenery is unbeatable (almost don't need to travel anywhere to cycle) and without cars you can look all over the place. So many awesome ski lines including a great couloir that still had good coverage today. Too bad you can't drive into here in the winter.
The final distance to the summit is fairly flat. Stopped at the sign for some photos. Then the initial steep descent from the summit gives you some appreciation for what you climbed earlier in the day. On the way back down, passed through the avy debris again (some greenery on the road, with a clean path snaking through it). A nice day although the long solo ride on tired legs and tired body felt like a bit of a slog. That said, I did want to get out for a decent long ride before France.

The bike feels good, got to test out a bar end mirror, handlebar iPhone mount, my new rain jacket (good fit, comfortable, packs decently), and the bikemap app. Unfortunately when I switch my cell receiving off, the bikemap app won't load even though I had it set up for the offline version and had programmed an offline Highwood route to follow and test. It seems like I can start with it open and then switch off cellular, but if I close the app and try to re-open it without cell service, it keeps flashing and trying to reload while searching for signal. It worked when I arrived at the start with the app already open from home before I drove out of cell reception, yet I could see my total ascent and descent accumulating while my distance and time were still showing zero. Tried pausing and restarting, with no change in distance or time despite riding more. Tried closing the app and re-opening, and that's when it just got stuck flashing and trying to reload and search for signal, even if it tried putting it in airplane mode or turning cellular or cellular data off and continually directing it to its offline mode. I'll keep playing with it and try to get it to navigate me around Canmore or downtown Calgary in a mode that allows me to have cellular service/data turned off (so that I don't rack up bills in France).

C • Great weekend of biking! 4

14.8

Jumpingpound - Cox Hill loop with Carbon, Yellisa, Krista, Matt, Jason? and Fraser.
Parked at Dawson and got the gravel road ride out of the way first. Headwind for a lot of it. Felt like I was working a little in the beginning to hold the group pace until the legs flushed out and the body woke up about 45 minutes later. Felt good going into the climb (climbed the Summit trail which is more enjoyable and more rideable than the farther Ridge trail). Got into a groove and just kept spinning all the way up. Got to the top with time for a nice hang out break to myself. That bike was built for that rough climb, it just ate it all up. Tires were soft and grippy (17 psi and 19 psi); not sure if they had any squirm on the hard fast descent... tough to tell with loose rocks moving around under you. The XR4s gave good grip all the way down and rolled and climbed well. Windy up top, it would push you around on the trail a little. Such great views, this trail is such a gem, the original epic!
A fun day with some fun new folks. Some good chat about backcountry skiing in the Lyells and way too many cheesy jokes. Let these dudes on their bigger bikes go ahead on the downhill. Still, I was happy with how I cleaned everything; a few sections I remembered seemed easier.

14.5

15.7

Dirtbags 1 km intervals x 5 @ 10 km race pace

warm up

first interval was about 4:13
other 4 intervals were about 4:27 regardless if I started a little easier (and made up for it) or started a little faster

cool down

legs were tired from the last 3 days of workouts

warm up

5 x power clean and push press: flr, 3, 2 press with 32.5 kg
lunge stretches
scorpions

Power cleans, build to 80%, flr, 3

5x 2 reps squats building to 80%.

5x squats @ 80%, 2 reps. Alternate with:
5x depth drop series of boxes, decreasing height and then a 24" at the end, as fast as you can
Go straight from squats to depth drops, but rest after depth drops before doing next squats

Bulgarian split squats, 3 reps, building to significant weight - max or close

face pulls, 3x12 @ 24lbs
toes to bar, 2x4, almost all were good
Blackburn 5 min

warm up, including:
about 6 - 10 minutes starting in low E2 and making step changes up to high E4 without changing the gear.
About 5 minutes of spin ups for 10 revolutions, taking turns amongst a team of 4, holding E2 in between spin ups

5x 3 min MAP, 3 min easy
reps 3, 4, 5 included increasing and decreasing to high MAP and low MAP.

2 x 8 min FTP, 5 min easy

cool down:
About 5 minutes of smooth spin ups for 10 revolutions, taking turns amongst a team of 4, spinning light between spin ups.
about 5 more minutes of easy spinning.

Hamstrings were about to cramp up on the first two 3-minute reps, probably from the weights yesterday. Legs were a bit tired and slightly limiting.

14.9

Warmed up with:
Power clean and press, 30 kg, one from floor and press, one from 3 and press.
Lunge stretches
Scorpions

Squats
2 reps. Built to 175 lb (new max, 2 reps. Old max was 165 lb. Felt like I could have gone up in weight at least once more but I could hear my coach’s voice wisely saying That’s enough for tonight.)

Bulgarian split squats
3 reps. Built to 105 lbs. Max is 115 lbs I think. Felt like I could have pushed for it on the next set and succeeded but was feeling a bit tired so pulled the plug. Was happy with what I had done.

Myotatic crunch with 7.5 lbs
Cat vomit
Front plank 2 min
Side planks 90 sec

Curl bar with 30 lbs
Triceps pulley with 45 lbs
40s with 10 lbs, 2 sets