SLOW START FOR SPRING

PISTE 4

ROAD CYCLING SEASON OFF TO SLOW START

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

I had this huge psychological barrier keeping me from getting on my road bicycle this Spring, but yesterday, on my third attempt, I managed to complete the rollercoaster from the West End through West Vancouver.

I was slightly faster than last year, getting to the various landmarks I have programmed in my head about 5-10 minutes earlier, with an earlier overall finish of about 15 minutes.

I struggled climbing up through the residential neighborhood from Marine Drive to the Upper Levels Highway, and on just about every hill thereafter, but I am hoping to quickly regain last year’s climbing legs by the end of May with a goal of cycling into late October, just before snowboard season gets underway at Whistler, with maybe a longer road cycling trip in late September.

The climbing legs were just not there like they were last year when I got an early start in April. But I pushed harder on the sprints over the flat stages.

Initially, when the weather was still a bit too cold for me in early April, even after putting on an underlayer, I managed a few laps around the Stanley Park roadway.

Last weekend, the weather had warmed up, but I was uncertain about my conditioning after a lazy winter. So, I only went as far as Lighthouse Park before turning around and heading back home. (without climbing up to the Upper Levels Highway)

I felt good on Saturday just to be able to complete the rollercoaster at 2 hours and 16 minutes.

The snowboarding season had come crashing to an end when I simultaneously clipped a mogul, crashed front forward and cracked my ribs and spine out of whack on February 16.

The season got off to a slow start with very little snow at Whistler.

So, I went riding in Alberta at Sunshine Valley and Lake Louise to find very little snow there as well.

The season did eventually turn around during the third week of January, with heavy snowfalls at Whistler. And that sudden change in possible outcomes created a bit of snow euphoria.

For a few weeks, I could not get away to the mountains as the snow fell heavy and almost continuously, but then that day came with that rare combination of a clear work schedule and a heavy snowfall.

Snow fell so fast and deep that the moguls got filled in with fresh snow. And my GPS system got tricked into thinking the run was flat when it may have had just a big enough mogul for me to clip the front of the board and hit the ground chest first on the Olympic Lower, you know, just before turning the corner for the last stretch toward Whistler Village.

I was winded in the mid-morning clouds for a few minutes.

I did manage to finish out the rest of the day, but not before making the same mistake again in the late afternoon, except on Blackcomb coming off Stoker toward the Blackcomb Gondola.

I got sore as the week progressed. I was so wacked that when I went to have a bath to help my body recover, I could not lie flat in the tub. I had to pull my knees up to my chest until the hot bath loosened up my back, and then my ribs and spine went back into alignment. (not recommended at home without a doctor’s note)

I decided to pack it in for the 2022/2023 snowboard season so as not to risk losing the road cycling season to recuring injuries and then, which would have been a great regret, the following snowboarding season to a lack of conditioning from a lost summer of fitness from road cycling.

I have been weight training as a way of rehabilitating my back. And I am grateful I had gone back in the gym the last two years, otherwise the injuries would surely have been much worse.

I had to return to the gym slowly after the accident, using about 40% of the previous weight at first. I am using about 70% weight now from before the snowboarding accident, and will likely keep it that light for the duration of the road cycling season.