Switching Gears

Mical Dyck, yup, female cyclist named Mical (pronounced Micheal). Probably won’t forget that.  I am a 28, nearly 29, year old Canadian female mountain bike  and cyclocross racer.  I have been apart of the Canadian National team since 2005 and I’ve had the honor of representing Canada in 3 World Championships so far, with my ultimate goal is getting to represent Canada at the Olympics.  In 2009 I moved to Victoria, BC, Canada’s cycling mecca, and have kicked my training into full gear.  I love the lifestyle and people involved with cycling and I’m really stoked that it is such a large part of my life.  I live the life of a professional athlete, training and racing full time, but I also work full time during the winter and part time during the summer to support my dreams.  I am currently working Northern Alberta, working a very random schedule, so my training is all over the place, but somehow my coach Dan Proulx, makes it work.

Being stuck up in the frigid white north again…however am I going to get myself ready for racing in…WOW….just over a month!! I can not believe, and I say this every year, just how fast the “off season” goes by. I am also very surprised and pleased with how good I feel after 2 weeks and 40 hours of good riding. The human body is a wonderful machine and it really is amazing what your body can get used to. Not even 2 years ago I know that I wouldn’t have survived that kind of solid volume without getting really sick or burnt out. I’m not saying that it was a walk in the park, there were a couple days I woke up feeling that I’d be okay with just staying in bed, but once I got out and riding I was good. That’s when good riding partners are extremely important, if you know someone is waiting for you to ride, you’re a lot more motivated to get out and ride.

So now here I am back at work, definitely not able to get nearly as much volume in. I am most definitely not one of those people that can do repeated 3 or 4 hour trainer rides. So now what??? Well, shift my training a little into an intensity block. Lower volume and higher intensity (yes intervals) with some strength, cross county skiing, snowshoeing and running thrown into the mix. I actually love and really value any time that I get to cross train, almost as much as cycling.

It’s pretty funny, after taking 2 weeks off of “planned intensity” and just riding, I was actually really excited to start doing some structured training rides again. So there it is, I’m currently in my 2 weeks of intensity, then back home to the beautiful Victoria for some more volume!!

On a separate note, this season I will be riding for Trek Pro City out of Victoria, BC, and I am very excited about this opportunity. I want to send out a huge thank you to Barry Near from Trek Toronto Store for everything that you have done for me over the past 2 years. It has been great working with him, however the goals of the team and myself are going in slightly different directions and I felt the need to pursue my goals as best I can. I will definitely still be flying the Trek logo and riding the wicked Trek Bikes!!

Mical Dyck is a 28 year old mountain biker from Victoria, BC representing Trek Pro City Victoria.  To read more of her blog posts visit http://micaldyck.blogspot.com/