Don't let his dentured smile fool you...
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Hong Kong Photos
View of Hong Kong Centre from across Causeway Bay
The tallest building in Hong Kong, International Finance Building, 415m tall and has double decker elevators!
Chinese Night display in Kowloon
Me...on an urban outing
Chinese Doll Display in Victoria Park
At the Start in Plover Cove
Me..and others on the steep climb
T2 with Nikitenko
After the sprint finish
Me with The two Great Hosts...Ikko and Erika!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
HK Plover Cover Race Report
Got up this morning and heading downstairs for a short run. On the building door it says *#1 Typhoon Warning Has Been Hoisted*...hmmmmmmmm
#1 is the lowest typhoon warning but nevertheless a typhoon. High winds and rain woke me up pretty quick. Breakfast, tatoos on and out the door to plover cove to race.
The swim was in a cove as you might have guessed. The ocean felt great, warm but not too warm and seemingly bouyant. It was raining pretty hard at the start but i like racing in the rain
One false start and then the real thing. We are off , head down, great start pull over to my right and get on some fast japanese feet. First bouy was about 350m. Between 200m to 350 i lost some position and was about 10th into the first bouy. 200m to 400m is an area i need improvement on, threshold swimming. At the first bouy i accidently almost dunked a guy but backed off from doing it...then this guy grabs the back of my suit, pulls me back and dunks me, i proceed to get swam over by 2 or 3 guys from behind and a lung full of water...should have dunked that mother. Get going again and now there is a gap to the pack. I put my head down and tried to bridge up but could not. I swam the remaining 1km on my own with two other guys on my feet. I came out disappointed i wasn:t in the mix but freaking angry and ready to rock the bike.
Out on the bike and straight up the first hill i could see a grp probably 30s ahead on the hill. I caught up to them after the climb on the technical downhill sections...turns out it was the lead girls pack....geeez! After the first 5km of me and a Jiang from china we got caught by a pack of about 8 from behind. THe remainder of the bike went well, felt good on the climbs and it was an incredible course to ride. I think coming in T2 we were about 2:30 back of the leaders.
Good fast T2, thats something i have done well at this year, and out onto the run. Flat run of four laps. Jiang and a kiwi ran about 20s ahead the entire time and i couldnt get them back. Now on to the battle between me and Nikitenko (KAZ). We had a good battle...he was about 10s ahead going into the last lap as i slowly closed in. I am not kidding when i say that Borats anthem...
...Kazakhstan greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls. Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium. Other countries have inferior potassium Kazikstan...was singing in my head as I chased this guy.
The last lap had this extension of about 1km and with about 300m left i moved past him... but he hung on....and it came to a sprint finish.
I think i was just telling steve the other day that i hadnt been in a real sprint finish this year and perhaps ever. Well i started to sprint and could hear him coming...the crowd picked up and we ran stride for stride to the tape, he took me...by a nose length. Good battle. It turns out that Nikitenko is ranked 206th in the world and i am 207th. He races on a completly different continental series than i do yet the rankings speak for themselves...pretty darn accurate!
That is it for my racing this season. I think it has been a great season for me with many improvements and good results. Time for some down time and then begin focusing on building from this season.
Thanks for everyones supportive emails and encouragement they give that extra push when im battling it out on the course!
12hr flight home to Good old Canada.
#1 is the lowest typhoon warning but nevertheless a typhoon. High winds and rain woke me up pretty quick. Breakfast, tatoos on and out the door to plover cove to race.
The swim was in a cove as you might have guessed. The ocean felt great, warm but not too warm and seemingly bouyant. It was raining pretty hard at the start but i like racing in the rain
One false start and then the real thing. We are off , head down, great start pull over to my right and get on some fast japanese feet. First bouy was about 350m. Between 200m to 350 i lost some position and was about 10th into the first bouy. 200m to 400m is an area i need improvement on, threshold swimming. At the first bouy i accidently almost dunked a guy but backed off from doing it...then this guy grabs the back of my suit, pulls me back and dunks me, i proceed to get swam over by 2 or 3 guys from behind and a lung full of water...should have dunked that mother. Get going again and now there is a gap to the pack. I put my head down and tried to bridge up but could not. I swam the remaining 1km on my own with two other guys on my feet. I came out disappointed i wasn:t in the mix but freaking angry and ready to rock the bike.
Out on the bike and straight up the first hill i could see a grp probably 30s ahead on the hill. I caught up to them after the climb on the technical downhill sections...turns out it was the lead girls pack....geeez! After the first 5km of me and a Jiang from china we got caught by a pack of about 8 from behind. THe remainder of the bike went well, felt good on the climbs and it was an incredible course to ride. I think coming in T2 we were about 2:30 back of the leaders.
Good fast T2, thats something i have done well at this year, and out onto the run. Flat run of four laps. Jiang and a kiwi ran about 20s ahead the entire time and i couldnt get them back. Now on to the battle between me and Nikitenko (KAZ). We had a good battle...he was about 10s ahead going into the last lap as i slowly closed in. I am not kidding when i say that Borats anthem...
...Kazakhstan greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls. Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium. Other countries have inferior potassium Kazikstan...was singing in my head as I chased this guy.
The last lap had this extension of about 1km and with about 300m left i moved past him... but he hung on....and it came to a sprint finish.
I think i was just telling steve the other day that i hadnt been in a real sprint finish this year and perhaps ever. Well i started to sprint and could hear him coming...the crowd picked up and we ran stride for stride to the tape, he took me...by a nose length. Good battle. It turns out that Nikitenko is ranked 206th in the world and i am 207th. He races on a completly different continental series than i do yet the rankings speak for themselves...pretty darn accurate!
That is it for my racing this season. I think it has been a great season for me with many improvements and good results. Time for some down time and then begin focusing on building from this season.
Thanks for everyones supportive emails and encouragement they give that extra push when im battling it out on the course!
12hr flight home to Good old Canada.
Go for the Cup
Tomorrow will be my last race of the season, I hope to make it the best yet. Im feeling pretty good and fully recovered from the bug i caught in mexico.
The race meeting was very extravegent for the race. So many cameras and media, and for this race they have a big trophy cup! looks sort of like Lord Stanleys actually.
For me i think it is going to come down to whether or not I can climb on the bike for the first lap with the big boys. Its make or break time there and i need to ready for it. The mother of a climb comes basically right out of transition, very little time to put the shoes on and then your standing in your biggest gear for this sucker.
Friday i got a flat tire. Normally this would be routine to fix but i am traveling with tubulars...got it done in the end and tried it out this morning on a 30min Hong Kong crit course I whipped thru. Its odd though the new tire seems to very very slowly leak.
Did some sight seeing today as well. Around some markets and went right smack downtown HK with Ikko touring me around. Apparently there are some people that live here.
Ok, off to bed.
The race meeting was very extravegent for the race. So many cameras and media, and for this race they have a big trophy cup! looks sort of like Lord Stanleys actually.
For me i think it is going to come down to whether or not I can climb on the bike for the first lap with the big boys. Its make or break time there and i need to ready for it. The mother of a climb comes basically right out of transition, very little time to put the shoes on and then your standing in your biggest gear for this sucker.
Friday i got a flat tire. Normally this would be routine to fix but i am traveling with tubulars...got it done in the end and tried it out this morning on a 30min Hong Kong crit course I whipped thru. Its odd though the new tire seems to very very slowly leak.
Did some sight seeing today as well. Around some markets and went right smack downtown HK with Ikko touring me around. Apparently there are some people that live here.
Ok, off to bed.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Hong Kong Arrival
It feels great to be here and to finally be feeling 100 percent. I almost didn:t come over to race my last race of the year because I had been feeling pretty lousy since bringing back a sickness from mexico. But today I had some training and it felt alright, i think by sunday i will be ready for one last kick at it.
Ive only been here one day but quickly ive found out that many of the generalizations or assumptions i had of Hong Kong were wrong:
1) Hong Kong is not an Island! Well it is many islands, hundreds of islands and actually, part of hong kong is on mainland asia.
2) Ive always heard that Hong KOng is overpopulated and tremedously crowded. Not so much, there actually is breathing room on the streets and the trains are sometimes almost empty!
3) I didn:t realize how far south Hong Kong is, it is not far from the Phillipines. Being this far south the vegetation here is very jungle like and the islands features and much like a sterotypical tropical island.
Today I did something that i think may have been a first ever by a Canadian! I wanted to check out the bike course so i got geared up and rode to the metro station. I then took the train with my bike far enough so i was out of the city. Being white here gets enough looks, pair that with tight spandex and a 4000 dollar racing bike on a subway train and your a geniune circus freak...some eyes i don:t think ever left me.
I navigated, getting lost once on my way home, around the bike course which is one of the most beautifull courses i:ve ever seen. The bike goes up over this dam and then into a national park. The roads are smooth and quite narrow and the jungle bush encloses you in this crazy world where you feel like the only one on the planet. The course has two climbs, one major of 400m at 11 percent and another which is probably 1km at 4 or 5 percent. This is going to be tough for me to hang on to the group(s). Climbing is not my forte right now and especially steep grades.
Really glad i made it to this race and my friends here and taking great care of me. Tonight we walked along the water watching a lazer show projected onto the hong kong skyline. Great dinner which included shark fin soup.
all for now.
Ive only been here one day but quickly ive found out that many of the generalizations or assumptions i had of Hong Kong were wrong:
1) Hong Kong is not an Island! Well it is many islands, hundreds of islands and actually, part of hong kong is on mainland asia.
2) Ive always heard that Hong KOng is overpopulated and tremedously crowded. Not so much, there actually is breathing room on the streets and the trains are sometimes almost empty!
3) I didn:t realize how far south Hong Kong is, it is not far from the Phillipines. Being this far south the vegetation here is very jungle like and the islands features and much like a sterotypical tropical island.
Today I did something that i think may have been a first ever by a Canadian! I wanted to check out the bike course so i got geared up and rode to the metro station. I then took the train with my bike far enough so i was out of the city. Being white here gets enough looks, pair that with tight spandex and a 4000 dollar racing bike on a subway train and your a geniune circus freak...some eyes i don:t think ever left me.
I navigated, getting lost once on my way home, around the bike course which is one of the most beautifull courses i:ve ever seen. The bike goes up over this dam and then into a national park. The roads are smooth and quite narrow and the jungle bush encloses you in this crazy world where you feel like the only one on the planet. The course has two climbs, one major of 400m at 11 percent and another which is probably 1km at 4 or 5 percent. This is going to be tough for me to hang on to the group(s). Climbing is not my forte right now and especially steep grades.
Really glad i made it to this race and my friends here and taking great care of me. Tonight we walked along the water watching a lazer show projected onto the hong kong skyline. Great dinner which included shark fin soup.
all for now.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Hong Kong Phooey.....Number 1 Superguy!
Getting things organized here for a trip to Hong Kong tomorrow. Where is that passport?
I'll be taking a 12hr flight tomorrow night and be staying Ikko, a friend of Marty's that I have met and had some good times with.
This photo here shows where Ikko lives (red dot) and where the race is held (blue dot). The airport is down in the bottom left corner. Click on the photo for a larger view
This will be my last race for this season and it looks to be quite competitive. Many different top athletes for all over. There are 5 Uzbekistan athletes, i'll have to beat those guys for Borat!
After this race I will be heading home to Revelstoke for 3 weeks or so before coming back down to Victoria to begin training for next year.
I'll try and give an update in Hong Kong before the race!
Check out Hong Kong Phooey. This song will no doubt be running thru my head during the race.
I'll be taking a 12hr flight tomorrow night and be staying Ikko, a friend of Marty's that I have met and had some good times with.
This photo here shows where Ikko lives (red dot) and where the race is held (blue dot). The airport is down in the bottom left corner. Click on the photo for a larger view
This will be my last race for this season and it looks to be quite competitive. Many different top athletes for all over. There are 5 Uzbekistan athletes, i'll have to beat those guys for Borat!
After this race I will be heading home to Revelstoke for 3 weeks or so before coming back down to Victoria to begin training for next year.
I'll try and give an update in Hong Kong before the race!
Check out Hong Kong Phooey. This song will no doubt be running thru my head during the race.
Some Veracruz Photos
pretty fountain
The port at night
Some boats waiting to go out
A marketplace along the water in Veracruz
2 for 1
Today i've got a deal for race reports.. 2 for 1.
I made my way over to vancouver labour day weekend to race in the vancouver triathlon in stanley park. This has been one of my favourite races mostly due to the killer bike course the event has. At what other time would you get to race around stanley park in practically your underwear?
Nolan P was grascious to have myself and felipe vande wyngard stay with him. Felipe had just finished training over here in victoria and was headed to veracruz to race the following weekend. I had this race and then would race in veracruz as well.
The tide was right out for the swim start and i made a very bad mistake of trying to be sneaky which cost me alot in terms of having a good start. My swim was not what it needed to be to have a shot at the winning the race so i was constantly playing catch up until it was too late. My bike felt strong as a positive and well the run was a gong show as the volunteers were not yet out on the course. This got people placed 2nd to about 10th i'd say lost on the run, but that is part of racing i guess. I felt bad for paul krochak who was in 2nd when things went wrong. The results are not an indication of the proper placement of the athletes. I ended up 2nd and felt it was a great prep for veracruz in 5 days.
Veracruz,
I flew down to veracruz which is located in the southern part of the gulf of mexico. One of mexico's largest ports, it escaped the hurricanes relatively unscathed. I arrived late wednesday night and quickly realized that I was more in mexico than i had ever been. The previous race i had in mexico was in a resort town, this was 'real' mexico and at night there i was honestly a little spooked.
When morning came the ghosts had disappeared and got to see some of the historical city. I got in the water as well which was very very warm (28). I enjoyed the cuisine with no glitches and come race day i was feeling recovered and ready to race.
The swim went well and i came out just off the front group. I put my head down and went ALL OUT on the first kilometers of the bike and managed to catch the lead group. The group was 4 mexicans, 1 can, 1 costa rican, 1 argentian. The mexicans would not work and were actually trying to slow the group down so that there compadres would catch up. The other three of us did all the work and actually gained time on the first two laps before losing time on the last two. We came into T2 with just over a minute on the chase pack. THe run was a brute struggle where i was so close to stopping. The heat and humidity were really getting to me. When i crossed the line i was so proud of myself for hanging in there and getting a quality result. I finished 8th scoring some valuable points.
After the race I caught a case of the taco bug and battled flu like symptoms for 5 days upon getting back to victoria. The rest of the week I have felt tired and the motivation to train is dwindling...one more race ...one more race.
I made my way over to vancouver labour day weekend to race in the vancouver triathlon in stanley park. This has been one of my favourite races mostly due to the killer bike course the event has. At what other time would you get to race around stanley park in practically your underwear?
Nolan P was grascious to have myself and felipe vande wyngard stay with him. Felipe had just finished training over here in victoria and was headed to veracruz to race the following weekend. I had this race and then would race in veracruz as well.
The tide was right out for the swim start and i made a very bad mistake of trying to be sneaky which cost me alot in terms of having a good start. My swim was not what it needed to be to have a shot at the winning the race so i was constantly playing catch up until it was too late. My bike felt strong as a positive and well the run was a gong show as the volunteers were not yet out on the course. This got people placed 2nd to about 10th i'd say lost on the run, but that is part of racing i guess. I felt bad for paul krochak who was in 2nd when things went wrong. The results are not an indication of the proper placement of the athletes. I ended up 2nd and felt it was a great prep for veracruz in 5 days.
Veracruz,
I flew down to veracruz which is located in the southern part of the gulf of mexico. One of mexico's largest ports, it escaped the hurricanes relatively unscathed. I arrived late wednesday night and quickly realized that I was more in mexico than i had ever been. The previous race i had in mexico was in a resort town, this was 'real' mexico and at night there i was honestly a little spooked.
When morning came the ghosts had disappeared and got to see some of the historical city. I got in the water as well which was very very warm (28). I enjoyed the cuisine with no glitches and come race day i was feeling recovered and ready to race.
The swim went well and i came out just off the front group. I put my head down and went ALL OUT on the first kilometers of the bike and managed to catch the lead group. The group was 4 mexicans, 1 can, 1 costa rican, 1 argentian. The mexicans would not work and were actually trying to slow the group down so that there compadres would catch up. The other three of us did all the work and actually gained time on the first two laps before losing time on the last two. We came into T2 with just over a minute on the chase pack. THe run was a brute struggle where i was so close to stopping. The heat and humidity were really getting to me. When i crossed the line i was so proud of myself for hanging in there and getting a quality result. I finished 8th scoring some valuable points.
After the race I caught a case of the taco bug and battled flu like symptoms for 5 days upon getting back to victoria. The rest of the week I have felt tired and the motivation to train is dwindling...one more race ...one more race.
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