California by the numbers

After thinking about what I had shared, I realized it wasn't enough. Here are some numbers that got me through my first ever training camp.

Days spent riding = 16
Kilometres ridden= 1504 km
Time riding: 54hrs 30mins
Elevation gain = 20 933m
Number of flats = 4
Broken shifters = 1
Palomar ascents = 2
New max watts for 1hr = 358w
Best 9min effort = 412w (arbitrary length set by strava segment hunting)
Number of bananas consumed = 15
Bagels consumed = 17
Complete days off = 0

As far as food went, I had bagels with Reese spread for the first week. Then I ran out of reese spread :( So then peanut butter was substituted. I also ate lots of trail mix, mainly for the chocolate, but the fat in the nuts was probably a good source of energy. For dinner it was pretty much chicken most of the nights with pasta, rice or sweet potato fries. Lots of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. I would love for them to sponsor me. And for days where I wanted to pat myself on the back for a good ride, I would indulge in a can of vanilla coke (my favourite!). I bought a 12 pack, and it turns out my first 12 rides I was feeling good about myself. Maybe I need to be harder on myself...

Overall I would give the trip a perfect 5/7 score!

And that's a wrap! Cali training camp in the books

After a bunch of riding, lots of miles and meters of elevation climbed, I must return home. It was awesome to do nothing but train, but it can get a little boring after a while so I am glad to go home. Pictures will say more than I can come up with to share so I will post them here. If you are interested in the rides I did, you can creep my strava and see what went down.

Of course it would rain when I am here. It is an El Nino year after all. We tried to plan our rest days to coincide with the rain, so it worked out nicely. 

If you are down here and looking for group ride, check out the Swami's rides. This picture was taken when I was enroute to try their legendary Wednesday morning ride, but then I ended up getting two flats. I just happened to be in front of this lovely shop while I waited for coach Komar to help out and drop off a wheel while dropping Emily off to the airport. 

Palomar looked pretty big, but it was always hard to get a good perspective of size. The only way I could do it was to use houses as scale bars. After trying to get a picture from many different areas, I think this best captures the height. I should have taken a picture after the above rain storm when it dumped a bunch of snow on top. 

18.7km at 7% avg gradient later, you can get to the top of Palomar. We climbed it twice while here. First round I went 1:02:27, round two I paced a bit better and dropped my time to 1:00:58. It was one hell of an effort. I have been told that the time was pretty good. I also think my body got a bit more used to the altitude over the time here as I felt more capable of getting out of the saddle and pushing on the second attempt. 

And after the first round we got a group picture at the summit by the Mothers restaurant/store. Lots of good riders here!

Unfortunately on my last ride, my front shifter broke. Damn shimano... I literally have been using the bike for just 2 weeks. Where is the quality control? Hopefully I can get it all fixed up in time for good friday. Can't let this fitness go to waste!

I have to thank some people that helped make this first training camp possible. My parents and grandparents who helped donate to the 'Feed Chris Foundation', and helped give me airport transportation. Sharon and Robbie for letting me stay at their beautiful house. My female teammates for helping to make the camp fun. And of course Coach Komar for the long list of things he helped with. I would list them, but then he might get mad that I missed something. So just know it was long. 

New bike and riding in California!

I have been due for an update. Things have been crazy with school trying to get enough work done to justify taking the time off for training camp. The Monday before I left, I picked up my new Trek Emoda SL6, all blacked out. It looks sweet. I swapped the stem, saddle and bar tape, and now it is perfect. I am a pretty picking guy when it comes to bike fit/feel. I think that this is the least amount of things I have changed on a bike! First ride on it was down here in California, and it handles great! The Ultegra brakes provide impressive stopping power (I was definitely impressed, it felt more solid than my old sram red brakes), which adds lots of confidence on all of the descents. I don't have too much new information to share, so I will share some pictures as they are always more fun.

 Here is the new bike with race wheels on it. It didn't look quite right all black, and I think the fluoro-yellow bar tape adds a nice touch. I am learning though that it is hard to keep clean (the bar tape that is).

Here is my lovely bed for the next two weeks. It was either the couch or throw a mattress on the floor and sleep on that. Seems to be working just fine as I am sleeping like a log each night. Although I am known to be a very good sleeper. 

The landscape here is breath-taking. I have to keep reminding myself that I am riding my bike so that I don't drift off the road or into the other lane and crash. Have to try and stay focused...

 Off enjoying my first ride out! As you can see, still have no front teeth. Damn Paris to Ancaster... Hopefully the implants will be in by May.

First coffee ride was to a Starbucks. Since then we have made trips to other shops. Top recommendation from Sue Palmer-Komar is Panniken in Carlsbad. Really good. Awesome coffee, and they have a delicious cinnamon roll. I have been looking to get a butter tart with my coffee, but I was told today that it is a "Canadian thing". It is a very good thing, and our neighbours should adopt it! 

While down at the coast we went to the Oceanside pier. Saw this lil guy with a funny sign and thought it was worth the share. 

Next update will be at the end of camp. By then I should have climbed Palomar mountain once, if not twice. First attempt is scheduled for Saturday! If you want to see some of the other fun stuff that the team is doing, then check out the facebook page. Much more frequent updates as more team members are contributing to the news. You can find that HERE

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, and are having a great start to your own year doing what ever you are looking to accomplish!