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Tim HeemskerkRacing, Coaching And Life Experiences
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July 18 Dynamic Compression Device- SPACE LEGS-With great interest I just read about the dynamic compression device Team Slipstream or Garmin Chipotle uses.
Apparently they use the device 2- 3 times per day for 30 min: in the morning- before or after a massage and before going to bed.
Reason for this is to reduce edema and muscle inflammation. So it promotes muscle recovery to be able to race better the next day.
So far I have been using muscle cooling techniques (for example a cold river or lake after the TransRockies stages) and compression socks from Sugoi for traveling and after a race or hard training, all this to reduce muscle inflammation and edema, but this compression device is not static but uses a dynamic waveform of compression...COOL!!
Here's a picture of how this look like...now can you imagine how much stuff a team is carrying around for a race like the Giro d'Italia or Tour de Farce.
July 16 DEVON DUST UPLast Sunday I raced the Devon Dust Up, a really hard race course in Devon just outside the city of Edmonton.
The weather was nice and Stew picked my up @ 8am and together with Peter we traveled to this race in our team van.
We had a nice setup going with the United tents. Good event by the people of Hardcore!
The race went well for me and I won my 50th race in Canada! This season my goal was to reach 50 wins (in my 4th season) and that's what happened last Sunday in Devon. I can't believe it was already my 50th already, all victories in United Cycle team colours , time is just flying over here. I still remember getting to Edmonton being on the highway from the airport wondering if I would ever be able to ride my bike in this city, untill I discovered the trails near 76th Ave and that made me smile since I discovered some technical trails in the river valley. Next I went to discover bike shops in the University Area looking for an indoor trainer for the winter time. First it was Pedalhead MTB shop, next it was Redbike, Pedalhead road shop and next United Cycle where Brys Francis started talking to me about joining their race team. He really sounded like a nice guy (and he still is :) ) ,and all I wanted to do is ride and have fun (no sponsorship issues/ worries etc.). Ohh..yeah and I got a nice offer on the indoor trainer I was looking for too!!
The next 4 years I have been loyal to United Cycle, especially after getting the support to do TransRockies twice in 2 years and winning it last year, a grand mission which cost a few $$. These are things I will never forget and this is why is still represent their colours and be loyal to them! These are the things that count, priceless experiences!!
Now I am kinda enjoying a mid- season break and being a reseach subject @ the U of A. Today my heart will get a scan by the most sophisticated MRI scanners out there @ Abacus in the new Mazankowski Heart Institute. Also I am busy working out something new for Canadian Cyclo Cross (more to come soon), if things work out the way we have in mind. Hopefully something that will raise the bar in the next few years hopefully resulting in the breakthrough of a rider in the international, professional cross scene. I am slowly getting in cross mode now and my brain is restless about how to plan things for the upcoming weeks and months since this period is gonna make or break a bad/ OK/ good/ excellent cross season. This first part of the season went perfectly as planned, so hopefully things will go like that again. That's all I can say for now.
Good luck to Justin Middleton (junior men) and Andrew Thomas (U23) who will represent TTP @ Nationals MTB this weekend in Mt Ste Anne.
Both riders worked hard and are ready to deliver a good result.
On my way winning the Banff Criterium Race '08, one of my nicest wins in Canada!
July 09 ENERGY DRINK vs. THIRST QUENCER.A question people often ask me is what to drink in their water bottle in training or racing.
If the training ride or race is well over 30- 45 min and intensity is medium- hard to intense I do give them the following advice:
- aim for 60 grams of carbohydrates per 1 hr
- make an estimate of how many fluids you need. An easy way to get experienced in that is to weigh yourself before and after a ride and look at the difference between these 2. Do not forget to correct for fluid or food intake during that ride.
Now people can take up to 1 liter per hr since that is about the maximum for your stomach to empty in 1 hr. You are able to increase this rate by drinking lots in hot weather, but for an average person 1 liter per hr is about right.
If you know you can take up to 60 grams per hr and up to 1 liter per hr things become pretty easy for racing or training in hot weather conditions. Since you are most likely drinking 2 water bottles of 500 ml each per hr:
60 grams in 1 liter (2 water bottles of 500 ml) in hot conditions means a 6% solution which is a thirst quencer (6- 8% solutions).
60 grams in 500 ml in milder to cold weather conditions means a 12% solution which is an energy drink (10- 12% solutions).
Since electrolytes, like Sodium, are very important next to fluid and carbohydrate intake most thirst quencers (more fluid intake since you are sweating more) have these electrolytes added as well.
Most thirst quencers and energy drinks use carbohydrates or sugars that are different in length (from glucose to malto dextrines) you have to go out and try some different ones and decide which ones work best for you. Try this in training first before applying this to a race to prevent stomach problems or other issues.
-Tim.
July 07 CANMORE CANADA CUP- HEEMER RULED!!This Saturday was the day I have been training for all season, the finish of my first peaking period which was good the past few weeks.
We stayed with family Knight and traveled Friday morning so I could get 2 pre- ride laps in. The course was pretty much the same as last year so I got that dialed in really well, except now I was riding a light hard tail bike, it climbed super well and descended good too (carbon).
I had some issues when entering the race and after visiting the riders meeting since nobody there was aware of the Canada Cup rules for call up at the start line and I had to explain that to the, but when race day came it was wasted energy since nothing was done with my comments and that is quite disappointing. Last week Kamloops was awesome in this respect, entered the race and was given the proper call up within 5 minutes and here different people who had no clue. I was asked how many UCI points I had and I said between 30 and 50 points and the (UCI- person in Charge of this part of the event said that this was not enough for a top 20 call up...WHAT!?!...who's all here...last week it was good enough for 9th call up. I know the people here and I have a top 10 ranking at this race....
Well this put me on fire at the start grid and after the gun went I blasted past everyone and had the spot I deserved. THANKS GUYS!!
Now I was leading the first climb and ramped up the pace so I got into the descent first, that worked and getting to the next long and steep climb I was leading a group of 5 guys, Me- Lazarski- Widmer- Hadley- Gagne! I ramped up the pace again up the next hill since I felt good and was ready to suffer this weekend. I dropped everyone and got a 30 sec gap on the first lap. Every lap I was able to extend another 30 sec to that and after 3 laps going into my last I had 1.5 minutes on Gagne- Widmer and Lazarski. During the last lap I tried to ride safe and not crash when I saw Lazarski getting closer on the long and steep last climb so again I had to increase the pace which gave me a 45 sec advantage @ the finish line. Wow..I did it, I just won a Canada Cup after winning TransRockies last year. I had a similar feeling climing the hills, just outclimbing everyone else on the climbs just like I did during the TransRockies Challenge; being able to attack when the road goes uphill, and putting the hurt on everyone behind me: what a fantastic feeling and worth all the hard work leading up to this weekend in Canmore. It is so nice to have form and peaked at this right moment.
For all Albertans and probably all Canadian XC racers Canmore is THE RACE since it is one of the most technical races out here and I just won that race and I did that on a hard tail bike while al most competitors were riding full suspension bikes!
People told me they could not recall if ever a non- Canadian won a Canada Cup..hahaha..I do feel a bit Canadian though, I live here for 4 years now and have been in Canmore many times, for example 3 weeks ago for the Alberta Cup (hopefully this will make a few people out there feel a little better and a little less jealous!), but it is kinda weird knowing I am from Holland a country which is pretty much flat and mostly under sea level. Lazarski finished 2nd- Widmer 3rd- Gagne 4th and Hadley 5th, pretty much the positions we had after the start.
In the evening Debby, Peter and me joined the afterparty @ the Hamilton's residence and it was nice to chat with everyone again.
I learned a new thing though: In Canada it is apparently disrespectfull to refuse a shotgun drink at a party, even after knowing you have to drive your rental car with your wife and young TTP athlete back into town.
On Sunday we had a super relaxed day and Debby and KIKI went on an awesome (shorter) hike and a quick lunch after before hitting the road back to Champion City. Right when we passed Airdrie there was a tornado warning in Airdrie....scary moments since the radio got the emergency message saying if you are on the highway and encounter the Tornado you had to stop in the ditch and shelter. Luckily we only encountered black skies and rain. We saw video footage of the tornado on TV. It hit a farmers field and not the highway!
Thanks to family Knight for having us at their place, we had a super nice weekend, another awesome experience in life.
Thanks to Debby for feeding me and supporting me towards one of the best experiences in racing.
Thanks to United Cycle for supporting me and for helping me out with the equipment for this weekend.
Thanks to Patrick G- Ryan H- Chis R for sending me some awesome pictures of this event in Canmore.
Thanks to everyone for the congrats on this race after the race, by email and on facebook, I really appreciate that!
For all the people reading my blog (and it appears to be quite a few people) here's a few pics of my very interesting life here in Canada. I am off to work now since I am coaching 28 TTP athletes to hopefully even better performances in the near future!
July 01 CANADA DAY CRITERIUM RACEToday the Canada Day Criterium on the race calender and I was doubting all morning to do it or not. Like 2 hrs before I decided to go, washed my bike (still dirty from the Banff race, last time I road it) got my clothes together and rolled down the ravine into down town. I decided to go and help out the team since my legs felt like cement, no power, nothing! Registered for the race 40 min before the start, chatted with a few people and went to the start line without a warm up, yes that's how serious I took it today, not good.
The race started well and I sat in for a bit, covered a few attacks and decided to give Marc a hand since this race was not a normal race but a points race, just like the track, with points every 4 laps or so. My lead out was pretty much doing 3/4th lap, up the hill- on the plateau and down the descent to have Marc come by me after the last corner to the finish line. It was hard doing but I had lots of recovery in between, 3 laps or so. I managed to do this about 4 times, Taylor did another one. First I did not bother sprinting myself for points since I was dedicated to help Marc win this points race, but after a few leadouts I noticed people were getting tired and I was getting better, my legs were opening up...maybe I should have done a proper warm up after all is what went through my mind during the race!?! Dumn!
Now I gathered some points too and my name appeared on the board near the finish line...sweet.. prize money!!! The leadouts hurt so many people and me included (!) that we got off the front with about 5- 6 riders during the last 5 or 6 laps. With 2 laps to go, knowing Marc was clear for the points and win, I decided to attack off the front. I rode the last 2 laps by myself and crossed the finish line FIRST, but this was a points race not a criterium race. I still celebrated the effort in style and pretended I won the race, just to get that feeling again when you win a race and to entertain the crowd since it looks weird crossing the line first and not celebrating the effort and most of the crowd does not even know what a points race means but they do understand that the guy who crosses the line first wins..so I did it for them AND I did it to show off my sweet red TREK MADONE 6.5 road bike and my new white and orange SPECIALIZED LIMITED EDITION cycling shoes!!
I knew that with the double points it would move me up to 3rd or even 2nd, since Marc was already clear for the win. I finished 2nd overall in points, clear sweep by Team United Cycle and it shows that our team work works well, since we won the last 3 criterium race in Alberta, Devon crit and overall (Marc)- Banff crit (Tim) and today's Canada Day crit in Edmonton (Marc 1st, Tim 2nd)...wow this small team is standing tall for sure with the good work from Mike Sarnecki who keeps improving his fitness and Taylor Little who helps the team and is in the mix himself as well. Ryan Hopping...time to get fit buddy and be part of this team!
Next appointment: Canmore Canada Cup this Saturday!
United boys regrouping during the race. United boys getting away from the pack preparing the next points sprint. June 30 KAMLOOPS, BC- Canada Cup.After racing road (stage) races the past few weeks I decided to travel to Kamloops, kinda a last minute call. Busy day getting everything arranged on Thursday and Gary Middleton, Justin's dad, was so kind to rent a van and hotel room and did the driving. 8 hrs for a XC race, not very European style, but ey, who complains if you are traveling right through the Rocky Mountains past Jasper and Mt Robson through breath taking scenery!
Andre joined us and Friday around lunch time we dropped of KIKI (out dog) @ the Middleton's because Kendra was willing to babysit her for the weekend, awesome. Thanks Kendra!!
Now the drive was long and the weather @ arrival was HOT. Temperature reached almost 40 degrees Celcius so we pretty much stayed in our airconditioned room all day on Saturday, except for our pre- ride which was dry, dusty and hot, not a tree on the race course...outch.
Lots of fluid intake that day to get hydrated as much as possible for race day.
I had a good call up since I still own UCI points from last season. This season I did not do any bigger XC races so I did not know what competition was going to be like. Fitness is good into my buildup for the upcoming cross season so I was confident on a good result.
The start went well and after 1 km I got into the lead of the race on the plateau of the race course. I kept riding and nobody would come around, not yet, that happened right before the first descent, I was sleeping I think and not thinking straight since things became so dusty I could not see much and nearly crashed on the first part. There was a big rut in that first section which I could have seen if I would have gotten there first.
I had troubles and 2 guys got off the front, 2 team mates of each other, Marty L and Stef W, and they pinned it. After this section the road went up and I had 2 options: close the gap quickly or settle down in the heat and take things more gradually. I chose the latter option and it proved to be the wrong one since in the next descent I lost more time and was now 20- 30 seconds down. I closed up a bit again on the next climb but lost time on top of the 3km plateau...crap I won't get back anymore is what I thought. I kept the pace high and had 4 good laps and the last 2 laps were a reall struggle against the heat. It was not really a race anymore, just riding and try to be fast in non- racing conditions, trying to stay healthy and kinda hydrated, crazy. The last lap Matt H was getting closer, so I had to ramp things up again and I kept him @ 30 seconds and I finished in 3rd position which is a good result. I did not kill myself and that was good since we had a long drive back and short night (3- 4 hrs of sleep) ahead of us. Unfortunately with a speeding ticket on our way back. Gary and Andre were good company on this trip and it was a fun 2.5 days on the road. It was good to see some familiar faces again and racing at this higher MTB level.
Too bad of the crazy hot weather in Arizona like conditions, hopefully better race conditions in Canmore. At least there's some good tree cover on that race course and less powder dust to get into your lungs and some reall hill climbing that's going to hurt!
-Tim.
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