Long time no see!

Wow... so this has been dormant for a while. Sorry about that folks! Unfortunately life has been rather hectic for me for quite a while. This year has been full of sickness and extremely long work hours due to various campaigns I've been working on.

That said... we're back in business! I don't know if I can do the multiple posts a week but I will do my best to update this blog as often as possible!

RECIPE - Energy bars (Bars to Conquer Cancer?)

Hi again everyone,

As promised in my last post, here's a post about nutrition!  Below is a video on how to make the energy bars that Lisa and I use to get through our training without bonking or burning out.  Hope you give them a shot, they're dead simple and really tasty!

Homemade Vegan Energy Bars
(Adapted from Global Cycling Network)

Ingredients:

• Sunflower oil - 1/2 cup (any light flavoured oil is fine, I might try coconut oil next)
• Brown sugar - 1 cup
• Light corn syrup - 2 tbsp
• Peanut butter - 1 tbsp
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
• Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
• Sunflower seeds (any nut or seed really) - 2 tbsp
• Flaked almonds - 1/2 cup
• Sultana raisins - 1/2 cup
• Chopped pitted dates - 1/2 cup
• Unsweetened dried coconut - 1/4 cup
• Thick cut oats/oatmeal - 2 1/2 cups (225g if you have a scale)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180C or 350F or gas mark 4
• Over low heat, mix the oil, brown sugar, syrup, peanut butter and vanilla in a pan until melted
• Once mixture is mixed, add in sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, raisins, dates, and coconut.  Stir everything together again until evenly mixed 
• Gradually add oats in a few additions to the mixture to stop from clumping
• Transfer mixture to a 8x8 square baking tin lined with parchment. 
• Press down firmly with a metal fork. 
• Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, keeping an eye on them so they don't get over done. 
• Leave to cool completely in the tin before you take them out and cut them (They'll just flop around and fall apart if you try when they're still warm).
• Cut up and enjoy!

Thanks for tuning in!  You haven't donated yet, please do! I can't do this without you!

Drinking VS. eating your calories

While doing any kind of extended strenuous exercise, you need to keep calories coming in as you burn them off.  If you dont, you're going to "bonk", "hit the wall", or in plain English... run out of energy.  That being said, the average person can put forth a pretty high effort before needing to refuel (glycogen versus fat for energy, but that's another post to itself) ... hydration is another story completely however .  You have to stay hydrated otherwise your body stops being able to function properly as a whole and you get into REAL trouble.

If you need to have calories coming in, does it really matter what state they're in?

Well besides having texture differences for variety's sake, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wants to eat everything through a straw.  Aside from a texture point of view, how your body deals with calories differs from eating and drinking.  If you end up drinking  finish this thought (finish this thought)

Energy and calories from drinking hydration mixes tends to be more quickly absorbed, but is also quicker to be used.  Whereas the energy taken from solids foods is more slowly released over time.  Think of a cherry bomb versus a sparkler if you need a visual representation.  Liquids are quick but not long lasting, solids are a little slower to react, but will last much longer.  There are also factors to take into account such as gastric emptying rate.  Which is the rate at that the food or fluids that you've taken in empty out of your stomach and enter your small intestine where it all gets absorbed. 

If I need calories in order not to bonk, why don't I just make super dense drink mixes?

Why don't you just take twelve scoops of Gatorade in one water bottle and just slam that back? Well depending on how easy something is to take in and absorb the better.  The higher the caloric density, the harder your body has to work at it.  So your small intestine has to take moisture out of your body in order to help process those calories.  Which means you're going to dehydrate so you can hydrate.  Seems a little counter intuitive doesn't it? Besides that, if you're dehydrated to begin with and then become more dehydrated you could be setting yourself up for some gastrointestinal fun.

That my dear reader is exactly what you DON'T want to be dealing with on a long distance run or cycle.

TL:DR! - yes it really does matter if you eat or drink your calories on the road.

Just a quick note today.. working on the weekend :(

Things I've learned today.

1. Canada is an unstoppable force when hockey is involved
2. Using nothing but my legs I can achieve over 60 Km/h on my bike.
3. In a dead all-out sprint I can clear ten meters per second.
4. Naps are the best thing after an intense workout.

Recipe: Red Lentil Rice Cakes

Recipe: Skratch Labs Portables - Red Lentil Rice Cakes

(Original recipe from Feed Zone Portables by Biju Thomas & Allen Lim)
Makes: 15 servings
Time: 30 minutes

Keep in mind, these rice cakes are NOT going to be strongly flavoured! These cakes are meant to be lightly flavoured in order to give you fuel and not cause you any stomach troubles along the way.  As listed in the Portables "Rules to ride by"

"Bold flavours are taken best sitting down.  When making ride or workout foods, use mild ingredients and keep seasoning light.  The same dishes can be more bold when cooking for boxed lunches or at home.  The opposite is true for salt."
-- Thomas, Biju, and Allen Lim. Feed Zone Portables: A Cookbook of On-The-Go Food for Athletes. Boulder, Colorado: VeloPress, 2013. Print. Page 53.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup uncooked red lentils
• 2 Cups uncooked sticky rice (Calrose, arborio, or any sushi rice should work here)
• 4 1/2 Cups water
• 1 Tablespoon minced onion
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon minced jalapeño pepper
• 1 Teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon tomato paste
• 1/4 Cup plain Greek yogurt
• Coarse salt and pepper to taste

Optional Additions:

• 1/2 Cup diced tomato
• Add this to the pan with the onion and pepper so the moisture cooks off and the tomato breaks down
• 1 Teaspoon chopped scallion / green onion
• 1 Tablespoon minced flat leaf parsley or cilantro
• 1 Teaspoon Tabasco (or other mild pepper sauce)

 Methods:

1. Rinse the lentils and rice in cold water, and drain completely.
2. Combine the lentils, rice, water, and a dash of salt into a pot / rice cooker and let cook.
3. Bring saute pan to med-high heat with a little bit of oil to coat the bottom
4. Lightly cook the onion and pepper (about 5 minutes)
5. Sprinkle in the paprika and stir, if needed add a little more oil to keep everything from sticking
6. Stir in the tomato paste, turn heat to low, and add the yogurt
7. Mix thoroughly then remove from heat and set aside 
8. Once rice and lentils are done, add to sautéed veg mixture and toss in any additional ingredients
9. Adjust salt and pepper to taste
10. Spread evenly in a 9" x 12" baking pan (I used 9x13 and it was just as fine)
11. Let the mixture set up for a bit, and then cut into squares and wrap!

Nutritional Info:

Energy: 150 cal

Fat: 1g

Sodium: 110mg 

Carbs: 30g

Fiber: 2g

Protein: 5g

Water: 67%

New recipe: Date and coconut energy balls (aka EPIC BALLS)

Date and coconut energy balls (aka EPIC BALLS)

Credit : (Original recipe from: Megan @ Detoxinista)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pecans, or other nut/seed of choice (I was going to use cashews, but decided against it)
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut 
• 2 cups soft medjool dates (For the love of all things good, MAKE SURE THEY'RE PITTED!)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (If you have REAL vanilla, use it!)

Method:

• In a large food processor fitted with an “S” blade, process the walnuts and coconut until crumbly.

Pre-processing

Post-processing

• Add in the dates, coconut oil, vanilla and sea salt and process again until a sticky, uniform batter is formed.

See these pits? These will do a fantastic job of RUINING your equipment
and making your recipes taste like crud.. So take 'em out... Trust me on this one.

Blended down sticky noms! Time to starting scooping!

• Scoop the dough by heaping tablespoons, pressing down onto a cutting board to pack the together.
• Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place in the freezer to set
• Store the balls in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for an even longer shelf life.

Voila!  Enjoy!
(Original recipe from: Megan @ Detoxinista

Donate to the cause and help conquer cancer in our lifetime!

Curse you Mac software!

Sorry for the lack of updates guys... Unfortunately I'm working on a crazy tight deadline for a project at work.  So the whole 'personal life' thing has fallen off the radar.

To top it all off, I FINALLY got an opportunity to install iMovie so I can edit my recipe video... and it says I can't install it due to my operating system version!  ARGH!!! I've got another recipe post coming up though soon though.  I might stick to no videos for now until I can get an editing app sorted out.

<sigh> Back soon!

Computrainers and energy bars!

Hi everyone, the video has been recorded! However my demo of Final Cut has expired.  AGH! I tell you, it's like the universe is trying to hold me back or something.  Wednesday!
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Everyone knows that with the winter season comes indoor training.  Whether you're on a trainer in your basement, or an exercise bike, or a spinning bike... You know that sooner or later, you're going to get bored and it's going to be hard to stay motivated.  Two hour endurance classes are no exception to that rule, believe you me... (O_O) Whipping your legs around at 90-115 RPM for two hours with the occasional sprint isn't exactly exciting training.  A necessary evil though for sure.

That is, until RPM Total Fitness brought in "Real Deal Performance" and their computrainer systems.

Honestly, these trainers are a bit of a headtrip!

First off, what makes them different is that you use your OWN bike.  Your seat, your gears, your everything.  You just mount your bike into the trainer bracket and you're ready to experience the closest thing to outdoor cycling as you can get!  Unlike conventional trainers that just stick to one difficulty, these trainers are computer driven.  What does that mean for you as a rider?  

Well the two screens at the front of the area display all sorts of information. At the top of the screen you see your course, and yes, if the program shows a you're going uphill you have to WORK. It keeps track of how far you've ridden a la little horse and squirt gun games at the carnival too... and believe it or not, you can actually DRAFT like you do on the road!  It's truly unbelievable stuff, and so hard too!  In just over an hour, I ended up burning over one thousand calories!  

Now don't get me wrong, I like spinning classes, but there's just something so much more satisfying about training on your own bike and having everything "just so" versus having to fiddle with spinning bikes since the fit is never 100% to your liking.  I really can't wait to go back, it was so much fun to see everyone's competitive streak come out to get their little dot to the end of the course first.

If you have a chance to check out Real Deal Performance at RPM in the Junction, please do!  You'll be glad you did.

Want to help conquer cancer in our lifetime? Click here to make a donation today!

Skratch Labs: Exercise Hydration Mix review!

First off, let me first acknowledge that I didn't get the video up this weekend... My camera battery is dead and I can't find the charger!  I'm going to be doing it with Lisa's help with my phone's camera instead.  Sorry guys!  With that in mind... Here's a review instead!  I'm determined to keep up a posting schedule!
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Being a cyclist that's almost 100% vegan, it's tough to find a decent way to hydrate and replenish during intensive spinning workouts and rides without having something that has animal products in. "Animal products?" You might ask? Indeedy! Taurine is an amino acid derived from animals... No thanks...but I promise that there will be no soapbox lectures here about all of that though... So let's move on.

For the last two years of my endurance cycling career I've been an avid user of Vega Sport products. I was fan of plant-based nutrition for before preparation, on the road, and for post-ride recovery. However, while they got me where I needed to go, powering me over 800km, the taste never sat well with me. I always felt bloated and I had an upset stomach more often than not... Not exactly what you want to be dealing with on an endurance ride of over 200km.

Enter Skratch Labs hydration mix.



After seeing an ad for them on YouTube I figured it was worth a shot to try their mix out. Flavoured with REAL fruit, is light on calories so it easily replaces electrolytes that you sweat out and it's vegan friendly? BAM! I'm on board.

Available in single serving pouches or in 454g "bulk" bags, it's available to try before you invest in a bag of the stuff.  It averages about twenty servings per bag, and I paid $24 at Dukes Cycle so it nets out to $1.20 per bottle... not too bad at all! It ends up being about twice as much as a bottle of Gatorade or Powerade or Powerthirst or whatever (roughly $0.50 per 500ml), however it's not nearly as harsh on your system!  The price is certainly worth having something naturally flavoured and doesn't taste like salty fruit punch.

So what do Lisa and I have to say about it you might wonder?

TASTE:
We love this stuff! Even though it has over 200mg of sodium in it, you really don't have that weird salty taste from other sports drinks... Since it's a powder mixed with water you don't need to keep shaking it along your ride to keep everything mixed up like you do with gels and other denser powders. Top it all off with the fact that it's flavoured with natural ingredients (plus a little bit of dextrose) rather than 15 syllable chemical compounds? I don't know about you guys, but we're sold.

EFFECTIVENESS:
This stuff works pretty much on par as other products to get you through your ride.. But Skratch will get you across the finish line feeling MUCH better. As mentioned in the video above, it's only 80 calories per bottle, so your body doesn't have to expend energy so it can get energy from what you're drinking. Makes sense right? Since the Ride to Conquer Cancer I've used Skratch products almost exclusively (except for when they run out of stock at the local bike shops), and I definitely notice the difference between mixes.

If you have the opportunity, get yourself some of this stuff and give it a shot!  You'll be happy that you did.

Want to donate to the cause of punching cancer in the face?
 

Welcome to 2014! Going for a RTCC hat trick!

I've really fallen down on my posting schedule eh? Arg... Life happens.  BUT THIS IS WHEN I MAKE MY COME BACK!

Starting now, I'm beginning a training schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Saturday (weekend).  This way I'll be able to post something after each of my training sessions and hopefully have something insightful to say.  You know, inspiring as well as informative!.. Well that's the idea anyway.  These posts might be a video blog, a brief break down of how fundraising or training is going, ideas about nutrition and more!

TOPIC #1: How do you train for the Ride to Conquer Cancer?

The first week of training, we established what's called the "Lactate Threshold Heart Rate." Which is:

The lactate threshold (LT) (or lactate inflection point (LIP) or anaerobic threshold (AT)) is the exercise intensity at which lactate (more specifically, lactic acid) starts to accumulate in the blood stream.

Essentially we cycled as hard as we could push for eight minutes straight twice. Every minute we'd record how fast our heartbeat was and average it out.. because science! My threshold averaged to a whopping 183 BPM. That means that my heart was beating just over three times A SECOND.   What this number allows us to do is train in "zones"... Each week, we pick various zones or percentages of that threshold and cycle faster/slower or harder/easier until we settle into that number..  Then we do that for TWO HOURS STRAIGHT.

STATS FOR NERDS

• Zone 2 (Basement) - 150 BPM
• Zone 2 (Ceiling) - 161 BPM
• Zone 3 (Basement) - 163 BPM
• Zone 3 (Ceiling) - 170 BPM
• Zone 4 - 170 and up
• Lactate Threshold average - 183 BPM
• Highest ever in spin class - 194 BPM (!!!)

TOPIC #2: Why the heck are you putting yourself through that?

Allow me to answer that question with three simple reasons...

1. To get your butt used to being on a bike seat for two hours or more at a stretch
2. To prepare your mind and body to cycle over 200 KM in two days and to bike up Hamilton mountain, which is a category 3 climb (Read: STEEP UPHILL)
3. To punch cancer in the flippin' face...  Really, that's the reason we're all here.

TOPIC #3: How the heck do you survive?

Thankfully, at this point I'm pretty used to cycling long distances and have amassed a pretty decent selection of cycling gear (perhaps a topic for a later date?).  But the most important factors in cycling in my mind are hydration and nutrition! Because really, if you're sweating like crazy and are burning a boatload of calories you'll only be able to do so much until you 'bonk' or just expend all of the energy you've got stored up!

I'll save those two topics for the next post which will be a video blog.  Watching is easier than reading you know?

Want to donate to this epic ride of epic epicness?

Remember, I can't do this without your help!

Talk to you soon guys, and don't worry not all posts will be this long!
K