Rolf Devinci

Te TdF is over for another year.What will I watch now?(wink). Other than needing a life I have been inspired to train on hills in preparation for the stage race hosted by Breakaway Cycling in August. Watching those pros climb those mountains is awesome and it got me to thinking about the steepness of some of our local hills, specifically the ones I often climb. Google is a wonderful thing and I found an equation that requires only a level and ruler to detemine your base measurements. By dividing the length of the level into the distance from the level to the road surface and then multiplying by 100 you get the % gradient of a slope. So armed with the equation, a level and ruler I headed out to some of the gnarly climbs I often use to train upon. The results were surprising and I wish I could somehow verify my results. Flamingo Drive.Description - 5 switchbacks and steep 1km till false flat for last.22km. Climb length - 1.22 km.Gradient@.25 km = 7.3%,gradient@.50 km = 12.6% and slope...

Been darn quiet as of late so not much to blog about. Paleo is still working well though I have been a bad caveman this week while on vacation. Needless to say I have imbided upon a little to much alcohol(specifically beer)and some grain products, mostly of the granola/nutrigrain bar type thing. Both have been in response to my training. It has been pretty hot and humid this week and I have done alot of mid day training during the height of the day's heat so the post ride beers and bars were well deserved indulgences. Since I have been able to watch most of the TdF mountain stages I have been inspired to focus upon hill training in an attempt to get ready for the next BNS race scheduled in mid August. Breakaway Cycling's Race day is an one day stage race comprising of three events; a 18km time trial,45km(ish)road race and a 7 km hill climb. Sounds like a great event but I am well aware that holding events along the spine of central Nova Scotia means hills,lots of hills. It sh...

The premise of paleo nutrition is to keep it simple,eat basic,unprocessed foods and try to avoid neolithic foodstuffs;ie grains,dairy and legumes. Modern "hunting and gathering" is far easier than our cavemen ancestors as it requires nothing more than a short trip to the market. The premise, however,is the same...find the foods you like and if they are plentiful and cheap(on sale)then like our forebears you chow down. Watermelon! Usually it can be quite pricey but during the summer it becomes affordable. Whole seedless watermelon have been on sale at Sobeys this week for $4:99(CDN) so like my paleo ancestors I have literally "sat down" in the watermelon patch and have been eating my fill. Delicious dark red flesh, cold, sweet and juicy. Loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C it also is an excellent source of lycopene, potassium and electrolytes. All essential to athletes training in hot weather conditions.An ideal way to help stay hydrated(90% water)it also off...

Its been a odd cycling season thus far into the summer of 2010. Most of my cycling focus has flipped to the commuting side as, essentially,I have become a full time bike commuter. Unless it is raining in the morning I generally will cycle to work regardless of the forecast for later in the day. Factor in my reluctance to train with the usual cast of(fast)characters within the bike club's structure(Saturday mornings)due to high traffic/safety issues along a portion of the route my training has become erratic to say the least. Generally my commute home is about five kilometres straight uphill so it does offer me the opportunity to do hill intervals by pushing the pace when homeward bound. On the climbs today it occurred to me that I can take advantage of the short,but intense commute home by transitioning to the run soon thereafter. I have been trying to get back into running now that my orthotics are(somewhat)broken in so this is a perfect opportunity to get in some weekday trai...

First in a new blog instalment is the venerable superfood Spinach. I eat fresh baby spinach on a daily basis. Mostly used in salads I also lightly stirfry it with scrambled eggs and use it as a bed for other meals. 100 grams of this wonderful green provides a modest 4 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein. It also offers 90% of the daily recommended values of vitamin A, 45% of vitamin C, 20% of iron and 10% of calcium. An alkaline forming food it helps balance out my protein intake(cause it's all about balance)and also supplies a modest amount of Omega 3 fatty acids. It is available year round with a good price point and just tastes so darn good. http://healthmad.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-spinach/ Maybe Popeye was right afterall...............