Well, now that I have committed to riding the 2011 Ride for Semper Fi, I guess I better make sure I am physically and mentally ready to do it. That means training, lots of it. Miles and miles and miles and miles.
Up to now I have not done a whole lot of road cycling. I did a couple of short triathlons when I was younger, but nothing beyond the occasional road ride if the trails were too muddy for the mountain bike. While I was living in Northern Virginia I started commuting to work a little bit, but that was really just to keep my legs in shape for the mountain bike racing season.
So now I have to prepare for a long and arduous road ride. I started riding a couple times with some friends at work who are much bigger roadies than I am and that has been very enlightening. I even did a short, 26 mile, road race and finished 7th out of 27 in my age group! The whole concept of drafting is awesome, you can just sit on the wheel of someone and let him do all the hard work fighting the wind while you rest. Then you take a pull while he catches his breath. Working together the two of you can go quite a bit faster than if you were solo.
So far I have only done a few long rides, ~40 miles being the longest. One off my favorite routes is along the beach. It doesn't get much better than a beautiful day at the beach in SoCal! But this route is mainly flat, so today I did a new route with some hills. Still only 40 miles, but quite a different feeling on the legs.
I am also trying to hit the gym a few times a week to keep my strength training up. I use a modified Crossfit Endurance training regimen and it seems to be working pretty well so far. Although having to do two workouts a day can be draining sometimes. Keeps me young though, right!
Keep checking back as I will be providing updates and new routes as the training continues.
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