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Cobble Hill 10km

"It got ugly out there" An old friend used to say after a race that involved a lot of grunt work. And, today was one of those races. I found it involved a bit of extra effort mentally to keep pushing myself to the finish line. Meanwhile, I was flailing all over the place and grinding everything out of it.
 What is it about the late stage of the race where you want to drop the pace and just walk it in for the last few km. Is there something wrong with my race strategy? Maybe I'm going out too hard? Maybe I don't have the fitness level that I think I have? Maybe I enjoy beer too much?  The questions will eventually need to be answered.

Well, today was a great race in chilly conditions up the road near Cowichan Bay.  It was put on by the Ceevacs road runners club. It is relatively flat but undulating with small inclines and descents all thought the race.  I found it hard to lock-on to a pace and I felt like someone who drives like my Grampa: with two feel, one on the brake one on the gas, constantly accelerating and slowing.
In the future I hope to improve on my speed (and pacing) and over the next few weeks leading into the longer races I can hammer the finish.
Next week is the Cedar 12km....and a few weeks later is the Courtenay 1/2 marathon!

www.drvinge.com

Island Race Series - Saanichton 8km

 It is now the time of the year for the  Island Race Series (IRS - coincidentally!) supported by the Frontrunners running store. Luckily the island doesn't have below zero temperatures & frozen roads (very often) and a road racing series can start early January and run through till the end of April. Every two weeks a new race occurs around the South Vancouver Island from distances of 5km up to 1/2 marathon.

The first race was the Saanichton 8km around the country fields of the northern Saanich peninsula near the Victoria airport. The Prairie Inn Harriers put on the race with excellent logistics and organization!   It was a chilly 2 C when we arrived with frozen grass and ice in the ditches but the roads were clear and that is all the really mattered. I enjoy the chilly running temperatures of the winter & spring. It is nice to keep cool and not have to use excess energy trying to prevent overheating.


Synopsis on my race;  In the general summary I would say it was very good experience and I was happy with the results. It was right where I wanted to be with the time and pacing but I have an keen interest to place higher.  I feel that I should have been ready for more of the necessary pain-train. I think that in preparation, even a week before, I should have amped myself up for holding on to the upper limits for the long haul. Even though 8km really isn't that far it was the first race to get my body in the zone for road-racing. I have multiple excuses and reasons but it breaks it down to I need to understand what my race-pace speed is and find out how long I can hold on to it.

The next race is the Cobble Hill 10km (near Shawnigan Lake!) on Jan. 27th @ 11am. Join us.

I ended up 12th overall and got out sprinted by a new rival, Nick from FrontRunners. Thanks for the photos!

Beautiful British Columbia

My home province. I happened to stumble across this:

Revelstoke Mountain Resort Review

Overall Quality Points: 88.5

Stats
Vertical: 1713m (5620ft)
Skiable Acres: 3121
Highest elevation 2225m (7300ft)
Runs: 59
Inbound Chutes: 15
Avg Snowfall Base: * can't find anywhere!!
Avg Snofall Alpine: 1200cm unreliable source
Lifts: 4 total -  2 High Speed 8-person Gondolas,  2- high speed quads
Ticket Price: $76 Adult full day, $1049 Adult season
Time Driving to hill: 5min 

The score is based on these quality points out of 10.

Terrain: 9.5 - All around my kind of mountain. Lots of steeps, opened up gladed tree'd areas. Some minor traverses at the bottom.
Snow Pack: 8.0 - I really don't know what the overall base snow level is. I couldn't find this information anywhere, other than the current base (183cm) which isn't that impressive. Either they are trying to hide the lower elevation snow levels or the don't measure it. The alpine gets tons! (1200cm) but I don't know how reliable that is.
Snow Management: 8.5 - Mostly left open, steep enough where they don't need groomers on every run.
Lift Access: 9.0 - This hill does it right. All high speed, gondolas and quad chairs. No wasted time, just straight up efficient. The break in the middle of the Gondola, where you have to get off and then wait in line for the second component is the only downside.
Day Lodge & Amenities: 9.0 - Great lodge at the base with a couple fancy bars and restaurants, a mid mountain lodge with bar and a heating room at the top. An easy going pub at the bottom would be a nice addition.
Cross Country Trails:  7.0 - No xc at Revelstoke mountain resort but 7km outside of town there are 26km of trails.
Ticket Price: 9.5 - $76 Adult full day, $1049 Adult season
Distance to town: 10.0 - 2km. It doesn't get much better than this. You could walk to town if you needed!
Quality of Town: 9.5 - It is a quaint mountain town. Small main street with shops on both sides. No malls or big block shopping centers.
Accomodation: 7.5 - It is hard to find a place to stay.  There are hotels and other places but they get booked up quick! Needs a few more options.

Overall: 88.5

Top of the mountain 

Open glades in the north bowl

M id-mountain lodge! Yes, this is a waitress serving beer on the  deck.

Sun Peaks Resort Review

Stats:

Vertical: 882m (2894ft)
Skiable Acres: 3678
Highest elevation 2152m (7060ft)
Runs: 124
Inbound Chutes: 13 (glades)
Avg Snowfall Base:
Avg Snofall Alpine: 197cm
Lifts: 7 - 3 high speed quads, 3 fixed quads and t-bar
Cross Country Trails: 30km groomed
Time Driving to hill: 25 minutes (14km)
The score is based on these quality points out of 10.

Terrain:  6.0 - I originally thought I would give it sub par, a 5 or less, but I had a look at the map again and decided that it was larger than I thought. There is time to get lost on the hill and many secret pockets to explore. The downfall is that 60-70% of the hill is too damn flat (for my liking) there are many long traverses to just waste time riding out. 

Snow Pack: 5.0 - Yearly averages are in the Sub 150cm range. There website only states annual accumulated snowfall (of 559cm) and doesn't even post avg base level.  This year was an anomaly because they already had 150cm by late December. On the lower hill there are many bushes, logs and stumps showing through on the open runs. Ideally these would become fluffy pillows to drop off, but there is not enough snow for that. 

Snow Management: 4.0 - This low score to me means that there is LOTS of management; groomers on every run. Everything is groomed flat and that is needed due to the pancake status of the hill. 

Lift Access: 6.5 - A variety of lifts ranging from low speed to high speed. One large downfall was the lowest lift (Burfield) took 24minutes from bottom to top! This was 2.5x what I expect a lift to take low OR high speed. It was windy and cold and took too long to get another run in at the end of the day. 

Day Lodge & Amenities: 8.5 - This size of the village is huge! There are tons of coffee shops, pubs and restaurants around the area. The options are endless.
Cross country Trails:  7.5 - 30km of groomed trails around the Morrisey ridge loop with some decent hills to boot.
Ticket Price: 7.5 - $76 Adult full day, $1099 Adult season.
Distance to Town: 6.5 - It is 58km winding road that takes around 1hr to drive the distance. I gave an extra 1.5 bonus point because Sun Peaks is now a municipality itself!
Quality of town: 6.0 - I particularly like small valley towns and neither the Sun Peaks municipality or the city of Kamloops fills this void. They both have everything a person would need, but the vibe isn't quite there for me. Good for families and small groups!
Accomodation: 8.0 - The resort and surrounding town of Sun Peaks has plenty of places to sleep including an on-hill hostel! Kamloops has everything you would need in price range for sleeping.

Overall: 65.5 points

 

 

 

 

Alpine Resort Review

I have decided to focus on some Alpine and Nordic skiing.  First  of all, I'm not that good at it but I want to get better.  I have recently completed a little road trip through a handful of BC ski resorts and wanted to get a total sensory experience of a resort. I have ranked my exposure to each resort and nearby town.
This ranking is completely my point of view; I will review the overall ability of a ski resort to cater to my every need. I have judged these resorts on an unbiased very selfish and biased scale as I'm a self described powder hound/glades hungry typical skier. I don't want to see crowded out groomed ski runs or scraped dry mogul fields; I want steep and deep powder glades hidden from the masses of tourists (which is hypocritical because I'm in essence a tourist!).  My preference is that I want an easy-going pub and lounge area on the day lodge instead of a 5-star dressed up restaurant. I want to be able to get to the nearby town within a few minutes not an hour+ drive. Here are my outlines of grading based on a ten point scale;

Terrain: A zero is flat with no ability to ride through trees, a 10 is steep and gladed out trees with not too many tuck-outs or traverses.

Snow Pack: Checking the overall base and mid-mountain snow, but overall quality of snow, wet vs. dry.

Snow management: Is every run groomed, is or are there some open rough open country.

Lift Access: fixed-gear low speed old chairs or high-speed/gondola new engineering marvels.

Day Lodge & Amenities: Mid mountain lodges easy access, base of hill pubs with relaxed atmosphere.
Cross Country Trails: First, do they have some, are they groomed, quality of trails.

Price of ticket: lower price is better. This is comparing day pass vs. seasonpass in alpine and nordic.

Distance to Town: What is the drive to the nearest town. I don't want to be needing to drive a few hours to home or hotel.

Quality of town:  What is the town's vibe and feel.  Pubs, restaurants, cool coffee shops...

Accomodation: Are there places to stay or rent in the area.


Please see following Mountain Resorts Review:

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
Revelstoke Mountain Resort
Silver Star Resort
Sun Peaks Resort
Fernie Alpine Resort
Mount Washington Alpine Resort

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Review

Stats
Vertical: 1260m (4133ft)
Skiable Acres: 2800
Highest elevation 2450m (8033ft)
Runs: 120
Inbound Chutes: 85
Avg Snowfall Base: 252cm
Avg Snofall Alpine: 650cm
Lifts: 4 total - High Speed 8-person Gondola,  2 fixed grip quads, and a 2-person old chair.
Ticket Price: $83.75 Adult Day, $1399 Adult season pass.
Time Driving to hill: 25 minutes (14km)

The score is based on these quality points out of 10.

Terrain: 8.0 - Very steep and lots of open chute areas to really let loose. Up to 10km long trail from top to bottom gives a good workout for circuits of the gondola. The bottom is quite flat with a long winding traverse/trail to get down to the bottom.

Snow Pack: 8.0 - Decent with an average consistent base level covering up everything. There are almost two different mountains here with snow levels. The upper bowls get almost 3x the amount the lower flats get.

Snow Management: 7.0 - Many open glades are left raw and open, the lower mountain has too many groomer for my liking, but with the flat terrain there is nothing they can do.

Lift Access: 6.5 - The high speed 8-person gondola saves this mountain. It is only 12 minutes and reaches the full vertical of the mtn of 1260m. The problem is that you need to ride the slow fixed-gear quad if you want to stay in the powder at the top. Or else you have to make your way down to the gondola every time.

Day Lodge & Amenities: 8.0 - It has everything that you would want, a comfortable day lodge lunch area, nice washrooms, a ski gear shop, a few restaurant/pubs with indoor and outdoor seating. 

Cross Country Trails: 9.0 - Excellent groomed trails just past the base of the resort. Groomed daily with a new stand alone xc lodge for warming up in. 

Ticket Price: 6.0 - Quite pricy for my liking ($83.75) for a day pass, but lots of good terrain opened up. XC skiing was ($10) day pass, in my mind worth it due to the amenities at trails. 

Distance to Town: 7.0 - A bit of a hill climb (14km) up to the base of the hill, with a single lane bridge over the Columbia river slowing things down if there is lots of traffic. 

Quality of Town: 7.0 - The old downtown is cozy an cute with a multiple of ski-shops, coffee shops and bars/restaurants. The town is split by two large highways that creates a big divide in town. 

Accomodation: 7.0 - There are a new cabins on-mountain or above the pubs and bars, a very affordable 

Overall: 73.5

View of the hill from the bottom

 

 

Cross Country ski lodge