Building the Base

Like every year in cycling, 2019 is set to be filled with many new adventures. This year I will be starting with a new team, X-Speed United. This team is an international project with riders, coaches and support from Hong Kong, Australia and Canada. Being registered in Hong Kong, we will be looking to compete mainly on the UCI Asia Tour circuit with select races in North America as well. With 2019 in mind my coach and I have decided to change a few things up this year, in the hopes that I can keep progressing and reach my new goals.

Phase 1 of this was getting back in the weight room. I am a huge advocate of strength training, and during the winter I will be in the weight room 2-3 times a week working my lower body and core. Strength training is important for many reasons, the one that I am most interested in would be increasing short & long power on the bike and perhaps more importantly, injury prevention. Training the less used muscles in bodies will make every day activities less strenuous and help to ward off imbalances both on and off the bike.

Another part of phase one is a professional bike fitting. Something I do every year just to check up on my form and make any adjustments for new gear or preference. My bike fits are done by Al MacEachern at Sweet Ride Cycling in Mahone Bay. Al is a certified Specialized Master Fitter and this year he made me a set of Body Geometry custom insoles (in the shop) for an extra level of comfort and to ward off alignment injuries.

Jesper & some Belgians

Phase 2 of building to 2019 is increased base miles. This year I am doing this in two stages. In early December I took a two-week trip to Mallorca to ride some base miles. I have a friend who lives on the island and who has opened a Coffee Roastery. The Roastery has become a bit of a magnet for pros since its opening. That is where I met a few riders who I trained with while on the island.

Pain train rolling

During the holidays, I packed up for our yearly ski trip to Charlo, NB. Charlo has some of the best trails on the East Coast. As my cousin Colin was training for Canada Games trials, I logged more slow and steady kilometers. We were there for six days this year averaging 45 km a day. Huge thanks to Cheema Paddling club for letting me tag along on some of their workouts.

Colin and I at the Wall

Phase two (base miles) continued after the holidays. I have never focused on putting in super long hours on the bike before. The main reason for that is simply preference, I didn’t easily enjoy those super long rides of 6+ hours. I could never really put my finger on why, sometimes the kit, the way I felt the next day, or not doing them with other people perhaps? All I know is now I have changed my mindset a little and I was really enjoying those rides on my recent camp in Valencia, Spain.

My favorite photo from the trip, top of the Col de Rates

In Valencia, I put in my two longest ever weeks back to back, a 33-hour followed by a 35-hour before limping onto the plane home. One of the best parts of doing hours like that is the feeling of accomplishment you get after finishing a six-hour ride, or cranking out 200km in a day. There was not a whole lot of intervals being done on that trip. I managed to sneak a few in near the end as I was looking to reach my TSS (Training Stress Score) for the day. TSS is the main metric I train to, prescribed by my coach, Luc Arseneau. Assuming I don’t under or over shoot the score on any given ride, it usually keeps me on a track that allows me to finish the training block without going too deep and throwing off the next few days.

Long time teammate and friend Will Elliott and I

My Spain camp was a major success, and now as I write this my legs are barely turning as they recover from it. In past years I would be trying to keep those big hours rolling when I returned home. I’ve learned though, and this rest period is where the benefits of those big rides come home and make me stronger. Being home again in February is also a little change up from my regular routine. I decided that it was best for my head to return home as opposed to spending huge amounts of time in Spain, I think it is paying off already, there’s no place like home.

Yes, that is a front bag! Pros need storage space too!

Phase 3 is starting to build up my anaerobic training zones. Lots of intervals are on the plan for the next few weeks, both long and short duration typically with a fair amount of rest between sets.

My new favorite descent in the area, Guadellest!

Phase 4 will be coming in about a month, and the main difference between phase three and four will be recovery between intervals. As you decrease the recovery time, you increase the stress on the body, and force it become more efficient at shedding lactate acid. These short recovery interval sets also simulate racing quite well, which in the end is what it’s all for.

The road to Lorcha

X-Speed United is a start up team, and we have partnered with AeroPlan to help get us going. We have set up a donation page, where you or someone you know can donate AeroPlan Miles to the team and help us cover our flights throughout the year. Please feel free to share the link and thanks for reading.

X-Speed United Aeroplan

The assembly of Canadians in Spain