Sans Chaine Cycling

And p**f! Where did all that fitness go? We chase the fitness but it is a fickle beast.

Coming off a great ride at Sea Otter the season start was looking good. Then things went sideways.

Too much mileage in March. Too much travel. Busy days and too much stress.

It all adds up and kills our fitness.

There is still a long season ahead. Time for a reboot. Time to rebuild. Time to not stress and over compensate (the hardest part of all).











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What does Sans Chaine’s ride together mean?

Sans Chaine isn’t a club. It is a riding philosophy. 

Part of the impetus for creating Sans Chaine was seeing what I believe is a need to change the culture of cycling. Too many riders are missing out on an amazing part of our riding. Too many riders are being made to feel like they don’t belong. 

What are they missing out on? Those amazing rides where we ride together, two-by-two, chatting and supporting one another without any pressure to perform. Some rides should be done in a way that no one feels pressured to go faster, that they are too slow, or feel like they are looked down upon. This is something I grew up doing and we need to bring it back.

So many rides these days devolve into a contest. Every hill becomes a chance to push the pace and half-wheel your fellow riders. Going hard is part of our fun and excitement, but when we’ve said it will be an endurance or steady day then pushing the pace on the hills isn’t cool. There is no need to break the group apart over and over again. 

How to make Ride Together work:

Don’t worry about your data - enjoy the moment.

Respect your fellow riders. 

Support one another. 

Check your ego. 

Manage the pace. 

Shelter one another from the wind. 

Share a gel with those in need. 

Do the ride you said you were going to do.

Everyone can enjoy the ride.

Ride together doesn’t mean going easy all the time. But when you have pulled a group together and said that it will be a long and steady day, stick to the plan. Put the stronger riders on the front to offer shelter and support to the others. Learn how to pace the hills so that the group can ride as one. Once you do this you’d be surprised at how steady and smooth the riding can become. How amazing the experience is. And how no one has to be made to feel like they don’t belong.










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was a true viking adventure. An event we definitely
underestimated!

On our recon ride we got our first taste of how rough the Rift roads were going to be. A double track through a farmer's property was bouncing us all over the place. It couldn't be that hard all day could it?!?

Race day we lucked out with some gorgeous weather. Our worries about riding 200km in freezing rain fell away and we got ourselves ready to go.

For the event we rode as two groups. There was me - trying to race as a "pro". And John, Holly, Marc and Geoff doing a proper Sans Chaine day. I was nervous and almost bailed on my pro attempt. Once the event started though I was caught up in the moment and away we went!

I was really happy with my ride. I made the front split of 15 riders - knowing from our recon ride to run the second water crossing was key 😜. The effort was a big one though and I knew I couldn't keep up that pace for 200km. I backed off the pace and settled in for a long day.

The Rift was different from other events. Unlike typical gravel that can be almost as good as a paved road, the roads were rough, rough, rough all day. Loose lava gravel with big rocks strewn about dragged against the tires, with very little chance of benefiting from a draft. This was an event that required you to push on the pedals and concentrate from start to finish. By the end of the day, as Holly said, Unbound was looking like it had been a ride on a bike path.

As we rode deeper into the event, and further up the sides of Hekla, the terrain around us was gorgeous.

The adventure continued with some Icelandic Viking snow crossings. It was funny as our group came up on the snow. Some tried to ride it, and just like being on slick mud their front wheels washed out and spilled them into the snow.

I lucked out and ended up riding with two riders from Iceland. They knew the course and I followed their pacing on the increasingly steep climbs. At 100km though things went sideways. Four tube changes later and my day was done.

At the finish we enjoyed a beer, soggy pasta and potatoes. The sun was shining. Despite the worst we'd all finished our day!

Prepping for by going old school and cutting holes into some wool socks.

The hope is they'll help keep the feet warm after some hike a bike on the snowy part of the course 😳










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Oh those ambushes! They certainly spice things up! Thanks to for an amazing event yesterday.










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Follow along on Strava (link in bio) to see if this old man can stay motivated and pull together some solid form.

Five weeks to do some final training for the ! The whole season has been leading up to this. The crew has done some solid races and some big miles. Now to bring it all together.











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We might have been joking about the tricep being the make or break muscle of the gravel season (see the video for a good laugh hopefully).

But it turns out strength training is actually key to doing well! How else are you going to carry your mud caked 40+lbs bike a couple of kms and not be wrecked.










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Muddied and bruised, but unbent, we roll on . Congrats to all the finishers!

Amazing day to ride with this crew.

📸 by










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Wish us luck! Time to put all that prep into practice.










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Beyond riding the bike, the amazing thing about cycling is the places it takes you.










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Practicing to eat more calories on race day than I thought possible has been a big part of preparing for .

A whole cup of oats in the morning 2-3 hours before your event? The first time doing it wasn't so great. But having practiced it now the cup of oats goes down easy and doesn't disturb the stomach anymore.

Thinking about this was really a result of listening to and reading some posts from . Well worth looking him up.