Well we're finished with stage 3 now. It was supposed to be an 80k circuit. But I think they couldn't quite close all of the road. So we ended up on a much shorter hot dog. They didn't add any laps though and the stage ended up being about 40k. It was a welcome event however, as the trip to get to the race was fraught with lengthy transfers, most notably an 8 hour bus ride beginning at midnight, immediately after arriving in Caracas.
I don't do very well with taking days off, so 2 days without getting a bike on really shut down the system. We rode a bit on Sunday and I tried to shock the system back into action. It was quite painful…and entirely innefective. The time trial was okay I suppose as Geoff Brown made up some TT bars for our road bikes. And it seems to me that Rabobank has been rolling the shallow front Shimano wheels in TT's the last couple of years. I can't understand why but figured they must know something. So I put faith into my Scandium wheels that they would roll quickly. After the TT, we had an afternoon circuit race. I was totally blocked still but combined this with a total build up of lactic acid and just hung on.
The next stage was a long 195km in sweltering heat. I was still in pretty bad shape and nearly lost contact on the first climb after 10km. So I rode last man for about 130km, praying that the remaining KOM's would not be a factor. Eventually the legs did come around a hair, giving me hope that I can get into this race over time.
Svein flatted today with about 4 laps to go. Sherby and Brando went back for him and brought him up to the 5 cars that followed the race. That was when I decided I could help out and dropped back too. I think some guys really lit it up when they saw Svein flat because we were barely making any headway at 54kph. Luckily the roundabout at the end of the course was jammed up and we closed the final 10 seconds through there. Eric flatted too but in the last K so he was given pack time and his GC is intact for another day.
One of the dudes on another team speaks english and told us that the guys who've done well here before do essentially nothing for the first week. That sounds like a good plan, but for me, it's not by choice just yet. I hope to sit in down the road because I want to, not becasue I have to.

A few weeks back I was swapping emails with Coast Capital Savings' VP of Retail Services, Ian Maguire, regarding our recent hospitality event we hosted at the Tour de Gastown. Ian emailed to thank us for putting on the event and to congratulate the team on its success. Here is Ian’s email:

I appreciated the email and my response to Ian went like this:

This interaction really sums up what makes a successful sports sponsorship property. It is a combination of building a great product (i.e. the team) combined with the necessary funding to take our product to market (i.e. the sponsors). It is a partnership from beginning to end.

We have not even finished the 2007 season and I have to say the success of our team this year far exceeded our expectations with amazing wins like the US Open, Tour of Cuba, two national championship titles and overall dominance at BC Superweek. Combine these wins with the team’s ability to capture the UCI Americas points lead and Svein Tuft’s #1 UCI Americas ranking as an individual rider, and the end result is an unprecedented Canadian cycling success story. Did I ever think I would see one of our riders winning the US Open on NBC Sports broadcast to millions of viewers? Ummm…No! How about a solo victory? Ummm..double No! Well we did and I am not complaining. We had to buy a new web server to handle the traffic on our website but that is a small price to pay!

So now what? The season is far from over but we are in the planning phases for 2008 already. This is the time of year that we must reflect on our progress as a team, analyze how well we aligned with our goals and begin setting objectives for next year. We must look closely at our rider roster, race schedule, significant titles and many other key areas to assess how successful we were as a team. Next, we assess the team’s efforts and results with the overall business related goals we set out in our partnerships with each of our sponsors. We will ask ourselves many questions including: Did the sponsors get what they expected? How well are the sponsors using the team in their PR and marketing endeavours? What were the most successful activities or events we did with each of our sponsors? Did they receive the ROI (return on investment) they were expecting? Where do we need to improve?

Over the coming weeks I am going to highlight several areas of our sponsorship and provide specific examples of how we have worked with some of our sponsors. I am hoping to reveal a little inside knowledge on what makes our partnerships successful and highlight the efforts that our sponsors put toward our team. Keep your eye on my blog for updates on this.

2007 has been a very successful year and with that success comes greater exposure for the team and the sponsors, something that enables the partnerships to continue to grow and prosper. But it also means we have a greater responsibility in representing our sponsors, our nation and our race fans in the most professional and ethical manner. In addition, there are greater financial demands on the team in order to maintain and advance its growth and amazing results. Which leaves me wondering:

Can we win the UCI Americas tour in 2007?
Will Svein keep his white jersey and be the #1 UCI Americas rider?
Can we repeat this success in 2008?
Can we be the #1 team in the US?
Can we be the first all Canadian team to ever ride in the Tour de France? Now that would be a wild idea!

I don’t know the answers to all these questions, but what I do know is we are embarking on a new era for this team. Our goals are getting bigger and sponsorship is the most critical component to our future success.

Do you agree? Tell me what you think by leaving me a comment below.

Until next time…

Mark
President & CEO
Symmetrics
Mark My Words Blog

Here's an interview I did in the winter with Pinner that got lost down the pipeline. Check to see if his predictions for 2007 are holding true.

Interview with Andrew "Pinner" Pinfold. Just another Pinhead?

By Jacob Erker

Jacob: So Pinner, that's an interesting nickname. I’ve been racking my brain on how it came about. Give us a hint.

Pinner: Probably 'cause I am so skinny…just kidding. In high school some friends of mine started to call me Pinner and it stuck. What is sort of funny is that my father, my uncle, and my two male cousins all have been called Pinner at some point. Some people even call my dad Mr. Pinner, and my wife Keltie, Mrs. Pinner (she hates it). Some people on the team think my nickname should be changed to the broomstick, but I think Pinner sounds better.

Jacob: I like Pannier too, but it’s easier to say Pinner. So, you had quite a season in 2006. Many great victories. Are there any that slipped away that keep you up at night? And if so, will you keep racing until you get those victories?

Pinner: Thanks, yours wasn't too shabby either. It's funny, because even though I had my best season to date, there are still a lot of races that I would love to have back, and yeah I do have trouble sleeping after them. One that sticks out is the last stage of Chihuahua where I crashed with 400m to go. I was in perfect position, I was sprinting better than anyone in the race (the day before I was second after my sprint was messed up by a motorcycle in a corner) and before I went down I was thinking I had this one nailed (big mistake). Anyway, I crashed costing me the win, but I also caused the guy in 4^th overall on GC to fall, which unfortunately, with help from some Mexican commissaires, bumped Christian to fourth in the GC. Of course you profited from my misfortune, managed to dodge all the carnage, and got 2^nd. Call it a Pinner lead out.

Jacob: Yeah I could go for some more of those next year. Problem is, I can't sprint around anyone so I would need to be in 1^st position and have everyone behind me fall down. One of your wins last year was the last stage of Beauce. It was quite an interesting and circuitous route that lead to the win. As I recall, I had been in the break for a while and eventually you came across with a few other guys. Then you and I debated who should work for whom. But it wasn’t “You should work for me!” “No, you should work for me!” Instead it was, “I’m cracked. I’ll work for you.” “No, it’s too damn hot out here. I’ll work for you.” Eventually we settled on me working for you. And in the end, I was right. Next time, will you listen to me sooner?

Pinner: If I listened to you all the time, life would be too easy.

Jacob: After your great victory, I found you to celebrate. You picked me up and swung me around in circles like I was your soon-to-be wife. You know there’s no way that could’ve looked cool. Are you aware that I was uncomfortable with your spontaneous gesture and just wanted to be put down? What ever happened to High-Five? Your ‘Frank the Tank’ impression on the podium was, however, pretty awesome.

Pinner: Sorry I embarrassed you, but when you win a big race this year, I’ll expect no shows of emotion from you. Perhaps a friendly handshake, but no smiling. As far as Frank the Tank on the podium, it is kind of ironic because Parisien slagged me pretty badly in the French media after my win. Oh well.

Jacob: Yes, for those that don’t know, Frank was mad because he thought that with Symmetrics having two guys in the break, we should have both ridden ourselves into the ground so that his teammate could win. That’s like having your sprinter help out with the leadout train. Anyhoo, I owe you and Svein a bit of thanks for getting me on board with Symmetrics. I didn’t think I stood a chance when I made fun of Mark Cunningham’s tan in Arizona the previous April, and then later found out he would be my future boss. Did you have to do a lot of smoothing over to clear the way for me?

Pinner: We pretty much had to put everything on the line for you. The vote was close but we got you in and you are forever in our debt.

Jacob: There are two Andrews on the team, two Jeff’s and two Kevins. This has lead to a lot of confusion. Do you see this potential for conflict continuing to spiral out of control until we have total chaos? And if so, is it possible to return from the depths of hell by simply firing you to stop the bleeding?

Pinner: As we all know on the team, Randell in known as Andrew the Lesser and I am Andrew the Greater. I would say you’d fire the ‘Lesser’ first.

Jacob: First I’ve heard of that. My questions deal with reality so your answers should do the same. When we drove down for Tour of Utah last August, you wanted to stop halfway and sleep. But Cam, Brandon and I forced you to continue all the way to Provo. When we finally arrived, there were no hotel rooms available and we had to sleep in the van in a parking lot. Did that event contribute to your loss to Lagutin on stage one? Keep in mind, I was only trying to get us there so we could have a nice morning instead of driving again all day.

Pinner: The lack of quality of sleep is the reason for getting second that day, and fourth the next. That’s my story and I am sticking with it.

Jacob: You missed the Tour of Hokkaido in Japan because of your wedding. I thought all cyclists were supposed to get married in the off-season.

Pinner: It’s kind of hard to find an off season when you race road, track, and ‘cross. That date was open when I got engaged. Kevin just pulled some strings to get that project so he could guilt trip me for not being committed to the team.

Jacob: So the boys are doing some track these days to try and qualify for the Olympics. You are also listed on the roster. I’m wondering why I was left out. Does Kevin not know that I was Canadian Junior National Flying 200m Champion in 1993? Okay, so some guy actually beat me but was DQ’d for not going through some painted line. Big deal. I was still pretty fast. Do you have any plans on the track this season?

Pinner: I plan on contributing to the team pursuit squad and hopefully getting the call to race at the PanAm champs in May. I am sure you were fast…everyone after this winter of track is fast. Fast, fast, speed, speed, we now have a team of sprinters. Doesn’t anyone like to climb anymore?

Jacob: Not me. The Columbians keep making me look like a worthless sack on the climbs. I’m going to switch to full-time leadout man this year. So if you weren’t a bike racer, what would you be doing right now?

Pinner: So much of who I am and what I have done comes as a result of cycling that I can’t really imagine what I would be doing otherwise. Right now I am finishing a master’s in medical geography (similar to epidemiology) and my interests outside of cycling are in the health field, so maybe I would be doing things along those lines but who knows.

Jacob: What has been your all-time favourite race? And don’t just pick something you’ve won like, “Oh my favourite race of all time was the Provincial 100km Headwind Challenge”.

Pinner: Call me crazy but Beauce is probably my favourite race. So much about it is challenging, the weather usually sucks, the roads are horrible, and the competition is fierce but year after year I love to go back. It is just plain hard which seems to suit me physically and mentally. Plus, you stay in a great hotel for the whole tour (no packing and unpacking), and the food is great.

Jacob: Okay, so we differ on that one but it is true that the hotel is really good. Alright buddy, thanks for your time. It’s up to +3 now so I better head out the door.

Pinner: What were you waiting for? I did four and half hours two days ago in -1. Sounds like you’re getting soft. Thanks for the interview. Cheers.

Eric, Zach and I had a quick trip up to Calgary on the weekend for the Tour de Bowness, which takes place in a friendly neighbourhood that was long ago, gobbled up by the big city. I did this race in 2005 with Christ, Marsh and Sherby and it went pretty well for us. I promised Eric and Zach cowboy hats from Bow Cycle if they attended, so for them, it was a no-brainer.

We started off with a 3-up hill climb up Canada Olympic Park. It's only 1.3km but that just gives you a false sense of security. With about 300m to go, my legs were screaming. Zach proved the quickest on the day. I was 2nd and Eric, 4th. Thanks to my buddy Chad for setting the pace on the "lower slopes". And by the way, I figure Zach cheated. He also poured salt into the wounds afterwards when he told me to go on a diet.

For the criterium on Monday we raced around the biggest bike shop I have ever seen; Bow Cycle. This place is as big as an MEC. Two floors. It's enormous. Outside, Norco had the tents set up as did Shimano. So we had a nice place in the shade before the race. The La-Z-Boy guys drove out for this one too. We were able to break up the field after a bit and settle down to all 3 of the S-Team in the break along with Jamie Sparling (La-Z-Boy) and Jeff Bolstad (H&R Block). Eventually, the move split again with Zach and I up the road with Sparling, while Eric escorted Jeff back to the peloton. When the lap counter said 10 minutes plus 5 laps to go I attacked to start putting the pressure on Sparling. A lap later, they changed the counter to 15 minutes to go. So a little more work left than we thought. Jamie put up a good fight but eventually had to give in and let Zach ride away. I finished up 2nd while Eric won the bunch sprint for 4th. There was an omnium too and the S-Team managed to sweep the podium.

After the awards I had lunch with my family who drove from all over Alberta to take in the race so that was pretty cool. Later on, Eric, Chad and I ventured back to Bow Cycle to take in April Wine in concert. The shop had been nearly emptied of bikes for the show, which was in celebration of 50 years in service. The drum solo was the best part. The guy is in his 60's, did a hard-core solo for 15 minutes, blew himself to bits, and then came back for more. Awesome.

A big thanks goes out to Tom Bastable, the Alberta Norco rep. Eric's bike didn't make it in time for the hill climb so Tom offered up his Norco which was the same size. Bow Cycle donated some Shimano pedals too. Much appreciated guys. Hope to see you in '08.

There's talk of maybe adding a road race next year too. Sounds great. I hope the event continues to grow and that we'll see the emergence of an Alberta superweek in August. Come on Edmonton. Two weekends of racing and perhaps a mid-week event too works rather well in B.C.

What does it mean to race?

To be sure the first thing that racing means is suffering, and not only physical – racing involves as much mental turmoil as it does physical anguish. Throughout races a battle is being waged in the mind: don’t let the wheel go, push a little harder, the heat isn’t that bad, and on and on ad infinitum. A crack in the mental armour is much more fatal than bad legs. 

In tandem with suffering racing means never giving up, what the Italians call grintas. You have to hang tough, push your limits and not be afraid to come apart. Each season it seems that one is able to plumb new depths of suffering. A racer can’t be afraid to put their nose into the wind and see what comes of it. 

To race also means that you are prepared, done the appropriate training, laid the base miles and put in some decent intervals. To come off in the early parts of a race means that you’re not really racing but just there for the ride. 

You are truly racing when your competitors are cracking under the pressure that you’re applying. You are dictating the pace and making everyone else suffer and come apart. There aren’t many days like that in racing, but they are definitely the best.

 

What is not racing?

Soft pedalling, weaselling, and not doing your share are all elements of not racing. They may be good strategy but it’s not racing. Racing involves strategy such as ambushing the stronger riders, covering the right breaks etc etc, none of which involves taking it easy. You don’t stop racing when stronger riders are present, that’s when you turn to tactics to take them out of the winning situation.

An awareness of these differences is sometimes lacking in cycling here in Canada. As a community we need to inspire more aggression in our races, take them to a new level and ensure that new comers to the sport understand that there is a staggering amount of work needed to become a real racer. We have many aspiring riders, but they need some guidance to get where they want to be.

 

 

Cycling has turned into more of a long-term endeavour than I initially expected. When I decided to ride full-time to see what I could do at the age of 19 I thought that by the age of 30 I would have achieved pro-dom and moved on to bigger and better things – namely family and a University degree leading to some sort of top-exec-suit job. Little did I know what I was getting involved in.

Ten-plus years later and I’m still at it, racing full-time, and this despite having retired on more than one occasion (see earlier interview with Jake for full-details). On occasion I feel a bit like the last of the Mohicans; not too many of the people that I started riding with are still racing, let alone riding.

This last week was a treat as I had one of my oldest friends, Juan, with whom I started riding, in town for a visit. As a teenager on summer vacation the days were filled up with riding, the Tour (it always felt like once the Tour was over so was summer) and part-time work. There were three of us that used to get out each day: Juan, John and myself. During Juan’s visit all three of us got out together for the first time in years. What a blast from the past. On the bike with these guys I was reminded why I loved this sport so much. We cruised and had a great time.

A subtle reminder as to why I liked the sport was just what I needed last week. At the time I was questioning the meaning of life, spending the nights tossing and turning and generally walking around with a brain like a mushy vegetable. In short I was completely cracked mentally. Despite obvious symptoms I didn’t immediately diagnose my ailment, making for a tough week of self-loathing and general melancholy.

This week I’ve done nothing but sleep, sleep and sleep some more. Four twelve hour nights of sleep was just what I needed to get things back on track. A few more days of rest and it’s time to start prepping up for the last bit of the season. Now that I’ve ridden again with my amigos and been reminded how much I love the bike I’m good to go. Bring it on.