Royal River Valley Rumble 5 MTB XC Marathon Race 2016 @ Sunridge Ski Hill (Alberta Cup XCM) #1

Sunday May 29th, I finished 34th place out of 39 in the Solo Men category Results, It took me 4 hours & 48 minutes to complete five laps and I went a total of 47 Kms. Total elevation gain was 4,183 Feet. My average heart rate was 168 bpm and max was 193 bpm. Check out my garmin data here.

This was a great way for me to kick off my seventh season of racing. I love this format because its simple complete as many laps as you can in five hours. I do not do well at this venue as it is pretty technical trails and short steep punchy climbs and on this day I did well as I enjoyed the course because there was some longer climbs mixed in and one cool new trail (squeeze my lemon) was built with awesome switch backs to decent on. On the first lap it had rained hard the night before so the course was very slick and lots of the climbs we had to run up them. My second lap was my fastest one as the course started to dry up nicely. On lap four my quadriceps and hamstrings in both legs started to cramp up pretty bad and then I lost momentum over the rock garden down low by the river and my leg could not move to un clip from my pedal and I crashed down into a big gorge and landed on my shoulder and thankfully only had some bruises and my bike was still attached to me so it was ok. By lap five I was in pure grind mode as I could barley even walk up two of the steep climbs no one could ride up. My goal was to complete four laps and I beat that by one lap. The temperature was 20 deg C. Thank you to my parents for coming to cheer me on at the finish line. After the race I sat with my parents and United Cycle Race Team members Cory D, Trevor C and Mike K.

The day before the race I organised Race the Ridge along side with Cory D, my mom doing the lap counting and all our great volunteers. It was a big week to get some details done for the race and on race day it was an 11 hour day to get there to get the course set up, volunteers ready to go and prepare the race as to the regulations set out by Alberta Bicycle Association. I did not even ride my bike for ten days before the race. This race used about five Km's of the course we used for our race and Kurt M of Hardcore helped us out to set it up so I knew the course well.

Thank you Kurt M, Geoff  I, Steve M, Karen M, Mark R, Peter K, Gord B, Bob W, Keegan B, and Hardcore Bikes for putting on the race & all the volunteers for their efforts.






 Pic by Leanne E

 

 



Pic by fellow racer & Photographer Nick C. Check out his website http://www.redlinephotography.ca/ 

 

 

 

My salute. I'm almost at the finish line. Pic by my parents.
 

Fat Tire MTB XC Race 2016 #1 @ Sunridge Ski Hill

Tuesday May 17th, I finished third last place in the four laps group. It was 8 kms long and it took me 47 minutes. My average heart rate was 169 bpm and Max 196 bpm. Total elevation gain was 1,342 feet. Check out my Garmin data Here. With my warm up I went a total of 10 kms and road for 1 hour. The course had the really hard switch back climbs and steep descents. After the first couple climbs my stomach felt a bit un settled so I had to back off my effort a bit. Then my dropper seat post locked up on me so it took me a bit to get it to the full height position. After the race I spoke with Kurt M and Geoff I of Hardcore about our races as they are organizing the MTB XC marathon race on May 29th and myself and Cory D are organizing the MTB XC race on May 28th. I spread the word as well tonight. It was 26 deg C and a perfect evening outdoors. Thanks to the crew @ Hardcore for putting on the race.

May 2016 Training

Wed 18th, MTB group ride to Whitemud Park for 1hr 50mins, Average heart rate =133 Max =182, Elevation gain 886 feet. Km's 18

Sun 15th, MTB ride @ Terwillegar Park for 2hrs (Zone's 1-4) Average heart rate =145 Max =189, Elevation gain 1,457 feet. Km's 22

Sat 14th, Road ride to Beaumont for 2hrs 30mins (Zone's 1-3) Average heart rate =136 Max =173, Elevation gain 797 feet. Km's 65

Thu 12th, Road ride @ Ellerslie Road for 1hr 20mins (2 X 15min threshold) Average heart rate =122 Max =180, Elevation gain 463 feet. Km's 35

Wed 11th, MTB group ride to Gold Bar Park for 2hrs 10mins, Average heart rate =145 Max =185, Elevation gain 1,329 feet. Km's 22

Sun 8th, MTB ride Terwillegar Park to Patricia Ravine for 2hrs (Zone's 1-3) Average heart rate =129 Max =174, Elevation gain 1,398 feet. Km's 24

Sat 7th, Road ride Colchester Hall to Antler Lake with parents for 3hrs (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =123 Max =182, Elevation gain 856 feet. Km's 70

Wed 4th, MTB group ride to Quesnell Bridge for 2hrs, Average heart rate =153 Max =194, Elevation gain 1,194 feet. Km's 22

Mon 2nd, MTB ride @ Sunridge Ski Hill for 1hr 15mins (Zone's 1-3) Average heart rate =142 Max =187, Elevation gain 1,066 feet. Km's 12

Sun 1st, MTB ride Mill Creek Ravine to Gold Bar Park for 3hrs (Zone's 1-4) Average heart rate =145 Max =183, Elevation gain 2,290 feet. Km's 33





7th Mothers day ride to Antler Lake. Pic by parents

2015/2016 Capital City Rec Hockey League Season Recap

This was my eighth consecutive season of organized hockey, third with the Rangers. We were in Division 13/15. I played in 24/30 Games and had 10 Goals & 14 Assists for 24 points. I played in 5/5 play off games and had 3 goals. I included the two pre season games in the stats and games played because it was used to seed our team into a proper division. We won our first round best of three Play off series and fell short by one goal in game three of our round two series.

April 2016 Training

Sat 30th, Road group ride @ Wye School for 3hrs, Average heart rate =150 Max =195, Elevation gain 994 feet. Km's 75

Thu 28th, Road ride @ Ellerslie Road for 1hr 30mins (2 X 15min threshold) Average heart rate =122 Max =177, Elevation gain 440 feet. Km's 40

Wed 27th, MTB group ride to Mill Creek Ravine for 1hr 50mins, Average heart rate =149 Max =189, Elevation gain 1,027 feet. Km's 18

Wed 20th, MTB group ride to Riverside Golf for 1hr 46mins, Average heart rate =155 Max =186, Elevation gain 1,135 feet. Km's 20

Sun 17th, MTB ride Mill Creek Ravine to Riverside Golf for 2hrs (Zone's 1-4) Average heart rate =146 Max =181, Elevation gain 1,401 feet. Km's 23

Sat 16th, Road ride @ Ellerslie Road with Mom for 2hrs (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =97 Max =143, Elevation gain 436 feet. Km's 37

Wed 13th, MTB group ride to Mill Creek Ravine for 1hr 34mins, Average heart rate =132 Max =175, Elevation gain 787 feet. Km's 15

Sun 10th, MTB ride @ Mill Creek Ravine for 2hrs (Zone's 1-3) Average heart rate =130 Max =173, Elevation gain 1,250 feet. Km's 21. First ride on my new Trek Fuel EX 9.8 carbon fibre full suspension trail bike I bought from United Cycle  It handles & climbs great and is a fantastic ride.

Sun 3rd, Road ride @ Colchester Hall to Northern Bear for 3hrs (2 X 10min threshold) Average heart rate =133 Max =173, Elevation gain 892 feet. Km's 76

April 2015/2016 Capital City Rec Hockey League (Playoffs)

Thu 14th, (Game #5)
@ 9:45pm, Knights of Columbus arena Rangers vs. Bipolar Bears (L 2-1) I emptied the tank tonight and played through lots of bumps and bruises. I can look in the mirror and say I tried my best. We scored twenty seven seconds into the game. But They out played us in the first period. We battled so hard as a team and blocked shots and skated really hard. We have a really good team and just came up short. We lost the second round best of three series and are eliminated as they go on to the finals. They out shot us 23 to 18. James S 1G.

Mon 11th, (Game #4)
@ 9:00pm, Terwillegar arena Rangers vs. Bipolar Bears (L 4-3) I won lots of face offs tonight and I had a couple nice back checks where I stole the puck away. I missed my chance in the shoot out and I lost the puck and didn't even get a shot on net, I was disappointed. I would say that tonight as a whole they did out play us. They went up 2-1 in the third period. With the game tied we scored with only a couple minutes left. Then they scored on a six on four power play with their goalie pulled and a few seconds left in the game. They won in a shoot out. The difference was they scored three power play goals. The best of three series is now tied. They out shot us 26 to 20. James S 1G & 1A. Ryan S 1G & 1A. Daniel D 1G. Howard C 1A. Jeff M 1A.

Sat 9th, (Game #3)
@ 10:00pm, Callingwood arena Rangers vs. Bipolar Bears (W 5-4) I had missed a couple days of work this week for a medical condition but I felt good when the game started. That is until in the second period I blocked a slap shot off the foot and then later on I fell feet first hard into the boards jamming my leg up a bit. We came out and had a really strong first period. Then the second period came where I think we only had two shots on goal and got out played and our goalie Ryan L held us in there. The third period was fairly even and the difference was Ryan S goal on a break away short handed getting hauled down drawing a penalty and still scoring the game winner late. They out shot us 30 to 12. Ryan S 3G & 2A. Chris K 2G. Ryan DV 1A. Bruce C 1A. Jeff M 2A.   

Sat 2nd, (Game #2) 1 Goal
@ 8:15pm, Clareview arena Rangers vs. Toothwork Titans (W 4-1) On my goal our line did a good job turning the puck over in their zone where Robin M cycled it down low to Bruce C who then passed it to me right out in front and I made a nice move and went five hole. I had some really good back checking. We were missing four players tonight so we knew we had to play really hard to over come that. We had more of the play in their zone as I felt that we out played them. This was a full team effort. We out shot them 35 to 23. We took the first round best of three series 2-0 so now we get to keep playing in round two. Daniel D 2G & 1A. Chris K 1G & 1A. Robin M 2A. Jeff M 2A.  

Fri 1st, (Game #1) 2 Goals
@ 8:30pm, Edmonton Garrison arena Rangers vs. Toothwork Titans (W 5-4) On my first goal Chris K passed it to me as I was right beside the crease and I showed patience to pull the puck back and across to deke the goalie out. My second goal was the game winner as we were in overtime four on four where Robin M passed it to me and I was at the side of the net and one timed it in bar down. The game went back and fourth as both teams had really good scoring chances. Both goalies were really solid and Ryan L made a great glove save with the score 3-2 for us at the time. They showed a lot of battle as we were up 4-3 with 17 seconds left and a face off in their zone and they came and scored with six seconds left to force overtime. We got out shot 41 to 38. James S 1G. Daniel D 1G. Chris K 1G & 1A. Howard C 2A. Robin M 2A. Andy R 1A. Javan M 1A. Jeff M 1A. 

March 2015/2016 Capital City Rec Hockey League

Mon 14th, (Game #22)
@ 6:30pm, Tipton arena Rangers vs. Toothwork Titans (W 3-2) I did hit the post tonight. And also got a great feed in front and missed the net. This game it felt like we had more of the play in their end. The difference was in the third period we were on a five on three power play and that had expired and as their player came out of the box we scored. We out shot them 25 to 17. James S 2G. Evan R 1G. Ryan S 3A. Howard C 1A. Robin M 1A. Blake M 1A.   

Thu 10th, (Game #21) 1 Assist 
@ 10:15pm, Crestwood arena Rangers vs. Ghostbusters 2 (W 5-3) On my assist I stole the puck along the boards and it went to Alex H who came in off the point and made a nice play to come in and score. One of their players ran into Robin M and I went over to their player and spoke to him saying this is a non contact league, It felt good stepping in for a team mate. We got out played in the first period and saw our selves down 2-0. They were intercepting our passes in the neutral zone. Then we scored 5 straight goals. Ryan L made a big save on a three on zero play to hold us in the lead. They out shot us 27 to 21. Harry A 1G & 2A. Ryan S 1G & 1A. Robin M 1G. Chris K 1G. Blake M 1A. Evan R 1A. James S 1A.

Mon 7th, (Game #20)
@ 9:30pm, Russ Barnes arena Rangers vs. Garbage Goals (W 3-2) I did bad in the face off circle tonight. I also gave the puck up right in front of my own net, thankfully they didn't score. I did make two nice back checking plays to prevent goals. This game was very even. Both teams had 30 shots each. Both goalies made some really nice saves. I thought both teams defence men played really well. We scored with 32 seconds left in the third period. No one scored in the four on four O.T period. We won in the shoot out off a game winner from James S. Ryan S 1G. James S 1G & 1A. Chris K 1A. Andy R 1A. Javan M 1A. 

March 2016 Training

Thu 31st, Road ride @ Ellerslie Road for 1hr 31mins (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =123 Max =147, Elevation gain 525 feet. Km's 36

Wed 30th, Road ride @ Ellerslie Road for 2hrs 10mins (2 X 10min threshold) Average heart rate =126 Max =181, Elevation gain 643 feet. Km's 50

Sun 27th, Road ride @ Colchester Hall to Antler Lake for 3hrs (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =131 Max =154, Elevation gain 984 feet. Km's 73

Sat 26th, Road group ride @ Wye School for 3hrs, Average heart rate =155 Max =195, Elevation gain 1,289 feet. Km's 80

Thu 24th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 16 minutes (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =129 Max =145, Avg Rpm =88, Km's 32

Wed 23rd, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Sweet Spot 55mins) Average heart rate =146 Max =167, Avg Rpm =91, Km's 43

Sun 20th, Road ride @ Wye School for 2hrs (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =137 Max =167, Elevation gain 1,040 feet. Km's 48

Sun 13th, Road ride @ Colchester Hall for 1hr 31mins (Tempo Effort 55mins) Average heart rate =146 Max =176, Elevation gain 449 feet. Km's 42

Sat 12th, Road ride @ Colchester Hall to Ardrossan for 2hrs (Zone 1/2) Elevation gain 653 feet. Km's 53

Sun 6th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =143 Max =155, Avg Rpm =85, Km's 37

Sat 5th, Road ride @ Colchester Hall for 1hr 35mins (Tempo Effort 50mins) Average heart rate =149 Max =173, Elevation gain 561 feet. Km's 40

Thu 3rd, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Sweet Spot 45mins) Average heart rate =143 Max =169, Avg Rpm =87, Km's 43




26th Group Ride, I am on the front row on the right.
 

February 2015/2016 Capital City Rec Hockey League

Sun 28th, (Game #19) 2 Goals & 1 Assist
@ 10:00pm, George S Hughes South Side arena Rangers vs. Bipolar Bears (W 4-2) On my first goal I was covering the point for our pinching in defence men and the puck came to me from Javan M at the blue line and I toe dragged it around their player and that gave me time and space so I wound up and took a hard low slap shot and it deflected off their players skate and in. My second goal Andy R passed it to Robin M and then the puck came right in front of the net and I one timed it in. My assist I was behind the net and passed it to Javan M who passed back to the point to Eric L and his shot went in. We fell behind 2-0 really fast and early in the first period. We calmed down after that and played our way back into the game. Where we did good was the cycle down low. The turning point was in the third period as we just scored two quick goals and they went on a three on zero chance and our goalie Brendan M made a crazy save, but our player put his hand on the puck resulting in a penalty shot, no worries he stopped that too. They out shot us 28 to 21. Ryan L 1G. Howard C 1A.   
Thu 25th, (Game #18)
@ 9:00pm, Michael Cameron arena Rangers vs. Figjam (L 4-1) I did not play as good tonight. My legs were a bit sore from my spin yesterday. The game was fairly even but they did get better scoring chances. It seemed like we did not get many good scoring chances. We took five penalties tonight. We got out shot 31 to 18. Ryan S 1G. Chris K 1A.

Sat 20th, (Game #17)
@ 8:45am, Knights of Columbus arena Rangers vs. Voodoo V (W 2-1) I took my first penalty today for hooking. I didn't have my legs going the first couple shifts. I played back at centre. It seemed like their team was just a bit faster than us in the first half of the game. Our GM Harry A is on their team and he played against us today. We played better the second half of the game. We drew two penalties late in the game and we came back with two power play goals in under three minutes. Blake M was great in goal. We got out shot 44 to 31. Ryan S 1G & 1A. James S 1G & 1A. Howard C 2A. 

Sat 13th, (Game #16) 2 Goals & 2 Assists
@ 10:15pm, George S Hughes South Side arena Rangers vs. Toothwork Titans (W 6-0) My first goal I got a nice pass from Ryan S in tight and one timed it. My second goal was of the high light reel type as I was out killing a penalty and got the puck in my own zone and got by both their players and then went around the one defence men back and made a nice deke on the goalie as I tucked it in on my back hand. My first assist I got the puck in the corner and got it over to Ryan S. My second assist I passed it to Ryan S outlet from our zone and he got it to Evan R. I played left wing instead of centre tonight. I should have had the hat trick as I had lots of chances. The game was close 0-0 after first period and I would say that was because we took two penalties. We played really good in the second and third periods. Ryan L got his second shut out this season and it was cool to see as he was battling a bad cold. We out shot them 39 to 21. Ryan S 2G & 3A. Chris K 1G.

February 2016 Training

Sat 27th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Sweet Spot 45mins) Average heart rate =146 Max =169, Avg Rpm =85, Km's 42

Wed 24th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Tempo Effort 40mins) Average heart rate =138 Max =165, Avg Rpm =87, Km's 42

Sun 21st, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =131 Max =150, Avg Rpm =87, Km's 36

Mon 15th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =136 Max =147, Avg Rpm =86, Km's 39

Sun 14th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Test #1) Average heart rate =150 Max =194, Avg Rpm =89, Km's 41

Thu 11th, Spin @ home for 1 hour (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =128 Max =143, Avg Rpm =94, Km's 26

Wed 10th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Tempo Effort 35mins) Average heart rate =141 Max =167, Avg Rpm =91, Km's 40

Sun 7th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Tempo Effort 30mins) Average heart rate =143 Max =166, Avg Rpm =89, Km's 39

Sat 6th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 30 minutes (Tempo Effort 30mins) Average heart rate =141 Max =169, Avg Rpm =90, Km's 37

Thu 4th, Spin @ home for 1 hour 15 minutes (Zone 1/2) Average heart rate =129 Max =144, Avg Rpm =88, Km's 30