Yesterday I competed in the the 2019 Prospera Granfondo Axel Merckx Okanagan. This was a 160 km bike race down in Penticton. One year old and I was able to set a personal best. There are a few things that allowed me to set a best time. And some things I will definitely change for next year. Either way below are 8 Takeaways from the 2019 Prospera Granfondo Axel Merckx Okanagan.First I'll cover the things that I believe helped me have a great ride. Next I'll get in to some things I wanted to work on and improve. And lastly I'll touch on a few general observations from the race. Investing and spending time on the trainer - Last winter I bought a trainer. And I set a goal to commit to two rides per week for training. If I achieved three rides, great. But I didn't want to plan for three and then be getting two days consistently. This schedule worked and I was able to make those appointments from December until March. Once the snow melted and I got the bike on the ride it didn't feel like I was starting from square one. My legs and lungs felt good and I was more comfortable in the saddle. Riding on vacation - In the spring we like to go away with the family somewhere warm. The past few years we have some cruises through the Caribbean but this year we went to Kona aka the birthplace of Ironman. Now I know you're probably thinking. "Chris, you just set up your family trip so you get in some riding". And honestly I didn't plan it that way. And it was really a last minute decision to bring my bike to the island. But what a great decision. I was able to take...

The other day I went out for an early morning training ride. But on this ride I crashed. Hard. And I learned a few things some of which may help you.To give you some context this was the first time I had gone down on my bike. A few years ago I flatted out on a descent and my back wheel was flailing about like a fish. I gradually brought the bike to a stop but my spiked heart rate kept going for a well. It took a number of weeks, maybe months, to feel comfortable pushing it downhill again.And up until this morning I was feeling comfortable on the bike. I got in over 500 km during our trip to Hawaii and have gotten out for some good rides around Kelowna since we've been back. And I'd include the ride where I crashed in this category. There were lots of good take-aways.But before I get to the positives from this ride I want to explain what happened. I was going down a descent after finishing on Glenmore road and heading down to OK Center. I guess I had a little too much lean and little too much wheel turn. Plus I think I hit a patch of pebble or loose gravel. Before I knew it was down and sliding along the pavement. Checking my computer at the end of the ride my max speed was 60 km/h. I don't know if I hit that speed at the time of the crash but I do know I was checking my speed after the crash. So there's a good chance I was going close to that speed.After I stopped sliding I took a moment to see how I was. What was sore? What hurt? I felt my arms and legs for injury....

Last weekend I competed in a bike race. While I ride my bike to work and enjoy getting out for longer weekend rides this isn't something I've done a lot of. But it won't be my last. [caption id="attachment_4926" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Bob, Greg and I before the L'alpe de Grand Blanc bike race. A friend, GD, registered us a few weeks ago for this race. I do remember while preparing for the conference that he was planning to do this. Part of me subconsciously acknowledged this. And part of me buried the prospect deep below everything else that needed to get done for the conference. Then on Wednesday last week came the call. 'You need to pick up your race packet on Saturday. The race starts Sunday at 9 am.' Ok I thought. Game on. Let's do this. At this point where was no point for distractions. No concerns about which workouts to still do. How much of a taper I could use. Or anything else relevant to prepping for a race. Instead all I needed to do was make sure my bike and gear were ready to go and to get a good night's sleep. Here's how it went and how I did. Plus a few things I might do differently next time. SleepWhen I say that I wanted to get a good night's sleep the night before what I mean is that I got good sleep for a few nights before the sleep. I knew I was going to be picked up at 745 am on race day. So to factor in enough time for fuel and hydration I wanted to comfortable getting up for 6 am. No problem there. TrainingWhenever you enter a race you want to feel you were able to bring your best on that day....

Do you like to cycle? If you live in Kelowna there's a good chance you own a bike and are familiar with the various gran fondos and triathlons that take place in the Okanagan. Recently I sold my car and needing something else to commute I thought I'd pick up a road in the meantime. I went for a road bike over a mountain bike for a few reasons. One was that we live on a hill and going home at the end of the day is a lot easier on a 16 pound versus a 40 pound bike. Plus the speed of road cycling is definitely appealing. [caption id="attachment_4300" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My new ride. A 2014 Kestrel Legend. So I picked up a Kestrel Legend and love it! Whenever I plan morning rides with friends I tend to wake up in the middle of the night and start getting dressed thinking it's time to go. Nevermind the fact it can been anywhere from 1230-330 am and pitch black outside. I'm ready to go riding. But as I ease into to this sport I am noticing a few things I will need to tweak with my training. And if you're into riding as well these may help you also. 1. Stretch my hipsWhen you're riding your hips are flexed. Other than the fact your knee and ankle are moving the hips are in a fairly constant position of flexion. So to balance this out will mean extra timing with the lacrosse ball, foam roller and hip stretching in general. [caption id="attachment_4301" align="aligncenter" width="248"] Rear foot elevated hip flexor stretch. Ensure the knee-hip-shoulder-ear all line up. While on a ride I will stand on pedal and drive my hips forward to the handle bars as much as possible. I'll hold that position for as...

One of the things that has been fun as we continue to move forward with Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. has been all the changes that have happened in the past year. We've moved into a new facility. And we outfitted it with the best equipment anywhere in town. Next we did some touch ups to freshen up the look of the place and make it a little more comfortable for everyone. Lastly we've looked to bring on some new talent that can help us continue to help you get better results in less time. But we're not looking to bringing just anyone on board. We want people that meet very specific criteria. They need to be great people, who live an active life already and have a desire to continue learning and getting better. With this mind we've recently added Matt Baumeister to the OPP team. Matt is a recent kinesiology graduate from UBCO and is certified through the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiologists. But besides his degree and credential Matt is also an accomplished athlete specifically in triathlon. Recently we did our weekly sand dunes workout on a Saturday morning. If you've joined us before you'll know what this workout it all about. If not let me explain. This dune can take anywhere from 5 minutes plus for a newbie to climb. Some first timers don't make it up. And the all-time fastest climb ever was 3:12. I thought I might have a shot at this time as I put up a 3:15 this year but now this dream is crushed. You see Matt climbed this dune in 2:50! For the longest time I was trying to go under 4 minutes. And when I did I felt like Roger Bannister breaking the 4 minute mile. Now sub 4 minute climbs are a regularity. And seeing Matt going under 3...