Earlier last year I decided to try my handat riding a 1200km. randonnee. I decided to ride The Big Wild Ride,a giant 750 mile loop through the interior of Alaska. Viewing The Big Wild Ride on a map the distances aren't readilly apparent. Alaska is a big hunk of land...
Let me start by saying this is the hardest ride I've done to date. I rode with the pack for the first hour and chatted to Roland, Kaylie and Len. But the pace was unsustainable, so I just let the pack go. I rode alone on to Highway 101 and...
I wanted to do this ride. I was looking forward to this ride. I was excited. I'd trained for it.I knew I could finish the ride. But there was a problem - pshaw, there's always a problem. So, let's start with the problem. Wednesday of the week prior my throat...
I started the ride with some doubt in my mind about finishing. I felt I wasn'tadequatelly prepared for this ride. I'd ridden a few 100 mile rides this year, but nothingwith even half the advertised amount of climbing. I wasn't sure I had the legs to complete the ride. Ahhh......
It's been a strange year of riding. Early in the year I decided to take the ridinga bit more seriously and try to follow the advice given by Joe Friel in his bookA Cyclist's Training Bible.I had a Power Tap wheel but wasn't really using it to improve my riding...
The ride started at 6:00. The weather was clear and crisp – a big change from the dreary and overcast weather we had for the prior brevets. I started out feeling stale and rode a bit slower than normal just to get started. Around mile 25 we turned into Gazos...
This was probably the slowest brevet I've ridden. I finished the ride in 25 hours 30 minutes. I'm not happy that it took me that long to finish. OUCH. The same loop will be used for the firstday of the upcoming 600K, so that means I won't get any sleep...
The ride started at 6:00 AM. The weather was foggy and wet. Like the previous ride, there were 50+ people signed up for the ride. Like last time, I decided to take it easy for the first 50 miles and was passed by a number of familiar faces: J.T., Kaley,...
It's the end of June, I feel tired and depressed. I figure my desire to install a new sprinkler system in the front yard has placed my bike goals out of reach. --sigh -- Four weeks before the brevets I've been training for and I'm taking a week...
Complete the King of the Mountians Challenge :(Time trial or other similar performance goal ( Angeles Crest, Palomar... ?)Complete a 200km, 300km, & 400 km brevet ( ummm ...the 600 km brevet scares me )Improve speed endurance - spin @ 140 RPM w/o bouncingImprove climbing - reduce body mass to...