Training
I made my decision to participate in this ride last October. This required me to carefully plan my training so I would not peak too early or burn out. Rest is an important part of training and I have learned this lesson the hard way. What follows is a general description of what I did.
During the months of November through February I concentrated on strengthening my legs. I used some of the exercises from a book called, Weight Training for Cyclists by Eric Schmitz and Ken Doyle. During November, December, and January I lifted three times a week and rode twice on the stationary bike. Weather in Oregon is typically very wet during this time of year. In addition, my work schedule would only permit me time to work out very early in the morning.
I attended a cycling workshop in January which was mostly review, but I did learn one very important thing. That was the importance of energy drinks during the ride and recovery drinks after the ride. Later, when I was riding a lot of miles, I bought my sports drink form Costco. It was less expensive. For a recovery drink, I am a firm believer in Endurox R4. I always make a special point of drinking it after a challenging ride.
After January I lifted weights only twice a week and began to ride more often. The weather was still quite poor and I could tell stories here but I’ll spare you. All I’ll say is “Are we having fun yet?”
Jay was preparing for the Mt. Mitchell ride in North Carolina. That ride came early in the spring, so we all supported each other by getting out rain or shine. As I increased my time on the bike and my mileage, I reduced the time in the weight room and finally stopped at the end of February. The weight lifting has really paid off and I highly recommend it for off season.
I built in three change of scenery ride opportunities which I mentioned earlier, one in Livermore, one in Santa Rosa, and one at Lake Tahoe. This was important for my motivation and inspiration.
I am not naturally a data head. I never have kept a daily workout log for riding or running except when the training became intense. Data becomes important to me at these times so I can measure my specific progress. I slowing increased my weekly mileage about 10% each week until I was riding about 365 miles each week for the four weeks prior to my departure. I never did do back to back centuries this year and probably should have. I have done this on other occasions and once rode from Seattle WA to Portland OR in one day on the triple.
Finding routes around Portland that involve climbing is not very difficult. One of my favorite training rides is to ride from my house in Wilsonville to the steps of Timberline Lodge, 74 miles and 7,000 feet of total elevation gain. One other ride to test our progress was to ride from my house to the top of Larch Mt. and back home. This ended up being 122 miles; over 8,000 feet of total elevation gain, and occurred on a day where the temperature was 91 degrees. This was a challenging day but we made some very wise decisions throughout the day.
During the months of November through February I concentrated on strengthening my legs. I used some of the exercises from a book called, Weight Training for Cyclists by Eric Schmitz and Ken Doyle. During November, December, and January I lifted three times a week and rode twice on the stationary bike. Weather in Oregon is typically very wet during this time of year. In addition, my work schedule would only permit me time to work out very early in the morning.
I attended a cycling workshop in January which was mostly review, but I did learn one very important thing. That was the importance of energy drinks during the ride and recovery drinks after the ride. Later, when I was riding a lot of miles, I bought my sports drink form Costco. It was less expensive. For a recovery drink, I am a firm believer in Endurox R4. I always make a special point of drinking it after a challenging ride.
After January I lifted weights only twice a week and began to ride more often. The weather was still quite poor and I could tell stories here but I’ll spare you. All I’ll say is “Are we having fun yet?”
Jay was preparing for the Mt. Mitchell ride in North Carolina. That ride came early in the spring, so we all supported each other by getting out rain or shine. As I increased my time on the bike and my mileage, I reduced the time in the weight room and finally stopped at the end of February. The weight lifting has really paid off and I highly recommend it for off season.
I built in three change of scenery ride opportunities which I mentioned earlier, one in Livermore, one in Santa Rosa, and one at Lake Tahoe. This was important for my motivation and inspiration.
I am not naturally a data head. I never have kept a daily workout log for riding or running except when the training became intense. Data becomes important to me at these times so I can measure my specific progress. I slowing increased my weekly mileage about 10% each week until I was riding about 365 miles each week for the four weeks prior to my departure. I never did do back to back centuries this year and probably should have. I have done this on other occasions and once rode from Seattle WA to Portland OR in one day on the triple.
Finding routes around Portland that involve climbing is not very difficult. One of my favorite training rides is to ride from my house in Wilsonville to the steps of Timberline Lodge, 74 miles and 7,000 feet of total elevation gain. One other ride to test our progress was to ride from my house to the top of Larch Mt. and back home. This ended up being 122 miles; over 8,000 feet of total elevation gain, and occurred on a day where the temperature was 91 degrees. This was a challenging day but we made some very wise decisions throughout the day.