As I mentioned in my previous post, I started training (for what I did not know- other than to shed some pounds) back in June 2006. I live in North Georgia, in what I would describe as the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The Tour of Georgia usually passes close by us and there are some buh-rutal climbs in almost any direction. In fact, Lance Armstrong was reported to have expressed surprise at how tough the riding was in his first Tour of Georgia. Tell me about it. The "flat rides" I now do have around 2,500 vertical feet gained (VFG) in 50 miles.
My first rides were short- maybe 10-12 miles and oh so slow. Oh yeah, there were as few inclines as possible. In fact, I'd set the length of the ride by how far it was to the first hill that I didn't want to climb. To say that I was "hill-averse" would be exactly right.
Over time I began to stretch the miles and since I am retired, I had the luxury of riding exactly when I wanted (to beat the traffic, rain, heat, wind, etc.), where I wanted and for how long I wanted. No possible excuses that way. And it worked. I steadily grew stronger and as my ride distance increased from 10 miles to 20 to 30 and so on (my training rides are now 50-70 miles), the weight came off and my endurance and speed increased. I began to notice that I no longer thought about every pedal stroke and started to become absorbed with the scenery or thinking about my family or flipping off the redneck that just buzzed me. The miles went by quickly and the success I was having in getting back in shape was really becoming fun. I kept a detailed mileage log and began to set mileage goals for each week and month (March was 850), which for the most part I attained.
At some point during the fall of '06 I began to wonder whether I could keep the training going without having some goal to shoot for. I decided that I needed a target- some sort of milestone that I could work towards. And that's when the notion of doing a cross country tour came up again. Years ago, when I'd first started riding and did some short (2-3 day) tours, I fantasized about doing the "big one"- a cross America tour. However, the realities of a career and family (baby gotta eat) forced me to postpone any thought of spending weeks/months on a bicycle seat pedaling through the heartland. But now, with my time virtually unlimited, there was no reason, other my own inertia, that I couldn't do it.
After studying various options for doing a tour, I decided to go with a group named America By Bicycle. Their references checked out very well and I wrote first the deposit check and then paid it in full last week. Whoeee- I'm actually going.
Oh yeah- riding hills. At 6'3" and 225 pounds, I'm never going to be a "climber". However, I am now much more comfortable climbing and no longer avoid climbs like I did when I started. In fact, I find that my mind wanders as freely when climbing (a sign that I'm comfortable) as when I'm riding a flat road (though there aren't many of these in north Georgia). Most of my rides around here have VFG of 50-70 feet per mile (a 50 mile ride has 2,500-3,500 VFG) with sections that are much steeper than that (like 350 VFG in .75 mile) and this seems to be a reasonable model of what I'll experience with my ride this summer.
Attention One and All:
The ride I'll be doing this summer is called "Across America North" and it's being put on by a company called America By Bicycle (ABB). ABB puts on numerous fully supported bicycle tours (tours include"SAG wagons" for the weary, hosted food stops, 24 x 7 mechanics, hotels, meals, etc.) and they can be visited at http://www.abbike.com/ BTW, their website will have a daily update as our ride progresses, so check that too. The tour I'm on follows the northern route across the U.S. (the map to the left shows the route-sorry if it's hard to read) and will pass thru Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, a ferry across Lake Michigan, Michigan, southern Ontario, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. I will do about 90% of the ride, but will disengage in Henrietta, NY so that I can attend my niece's wedding in Victor, NY in August. (Hey Kelly- I'm looking forward to the big event). For a detailed itinerary of the ride check this : http://www.americabybicycle.com/AAN/AANPop.htm
The bike I'm going to tour with is my Giant TCR C2. I am very happy with this bike, although I will admit that the bike is pretty heavily modified (mostly courtesy of Joe Elam at Habersham Bicycles: http://www.habershambicycles.com/--thanks Joe!!) The wheels are Mavic Ksyrium ES, the brakes, derailleurs, cassette (12-27) and chain are Dura-Ace, the crank is Shimano compact (50-34), the pedals are Speedplay X2's, the handlebars are FSA Carbon K Wing, the seatpost is FSA K Force Lite Carbon and the saddle is Fizik Alliante. (for the non-bike-geeks among you- all this means is that I've spent a bunch of money buying shinier and lighter parts for my bike that it came with. I'm still slower than molasses, even with the same components that Lance has.) The bike is an XL frame and both the frame and forks are original.