Our GearUp4CF Vancouver Team climbs Cypress!

Submitted by Stan

Well, we did it. On Victoria Day, a dedicated team of GearUP4CF riders met at Cindy's Cafe on Marine Drive in West Vancouver to embark on our first big group ride up one of the local mountains.  This was terrific training, as the grade up Cypress approximates what we'll be facing on most of the mountain passes on our way to the Rockies.

Tom and Susan rode over from Vancouver (as did I, via a separate route). Rebecca and Andrea joined us a little later; just in time for me to breathlessly have some coffee and orange juice before heading up the hill.

<--Left to right: Andrea, Rebecca, Tom, Susan and Stan. Click on photo to enlarge.

We started up 21st avenue, with a short. 1.7 km but very sharp grade approaching 13%, until we reached the Upper Levels highway, eventually reaching the turnoff to Cypress Mountain.

Overlooking the viewpoint, 

halfway up Cypress Mountain-->

<-- the view from my bike, about six kilometers up the mountain.

From the base, it's a grueling 12 kilometers at a nearly continuous 7-8% grade until the top, the Cypress Mountain ski area.



The mountain flowers are beautiful this time of the year











Sad to say, my Garmin GPS ran out of working memory and only stored summary data.  So that nice plot of our route and hill profile is not available today.  Some details are available, though. Click here if you are really interested.

You can basically see what we did, however, in the elevation profile below taken of my ride up Cypress last week.

My elevation profile from last week's ride. nearly identical to the ride we did this week. --->

<--We're at the top!  Left to right,  Rebecca, Andrea, Tom and Susan .  I'm taking the picture.

This was the first time Tom and Rebecca had climbed Cypress to the top of the ski area.  Tom recalled that he had attempted it last year, but back then he could only just barely make it halfway, up to the Cypress Mountain viewpoint.  Tom has since lost over 30 pounds and is looking very fit. What a difference a year makes. Both he and Rebecca easily made it up the mountain. And Andrea! Andrea playfully rode circles around all of us heading up the hill. Both amazing athletes in their own right, I suspect Andrea and Susan, who was right at the front of the pack, will be leading all of us up the big mountain passes in June.  From what I can see, our GearUp4CF Vancouver team is looking pretty good.



To our riders:  With the warmer weather now upon us, this is a great time to do some big hills (or lots of repeated smaller ones), if you are not already.  Don't overdo it, but aim to carefully build strength and endurance over the next few weeks.  And don't forget core strength.  Make sure to work on your trunk and torso at the gym during your leg 'recovery days'. It will help stabilize the spine from the pelvis to the neck and shoulder, and, with more inner  strength, let you lighten up on the handlebars when riding. That, in turn, can help lower stress on your hands and shoulders that sometimes happens when cycling for hours.  Core strength training has made a huge difference for me in feeling more relaxed on those long rides.

- Stan


Only 24 days until we're on our way!

Would you like to sponsor a favorite rider? Click on their name anywhere on this journal to open their "bio" on the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation GearUp4CF web site, click on the button "Sponsor this Rider", and you will join our team!