Yesterday's ride completed the training rides of Chris at ridewithchris.org. It's been many months since I started training for ALC 08 and training is coming to a close. It is tapering time to keep the body oiled, but giving it time to heal and energize for the ride out to LA. By tapering, I mean that I will likely do two 60 mile rides next weekend instead of two 100 mile rides. Then maybe a 20 miler on the 25th. I haven't ridden hardly at all during the week this whole time and I still feel very ready for the ride. However, I have worked out twice a week in the mornings so that does count for training.

Many thanks to Chris Thomas and all the other training ride leaders, SAGs, and other riders. The ALC ride is incredibly organized and without this amount of volunteerism and organization, we riders would not know what to do with ourselves physically, mentally, and nutritionally throughout the many months of preparation. Thank you!!

I was not prepared to feel prepared. It's a good feeling. I did not expect to say, "three days only have 60 some miles!" The biggest challenge ahead is to control the saddle discomfort as best as I can. Lots of "butt butter" and wear the best shorts during the first days. Mavic's 3D padding is the best I have used. Incredible padding. Buy some now.

At the beginning of the training season, I had no faith that I could complete what I did yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised that my mind changed in ways unexpected. "I just laid down a couple centuries, this is just 25 more miles." "Last week's ride was 110, this is just 15 more."

125 miles - 3593 feet of elevation

Today's ride was another personal record breaker. 125 miles. High temperature reached 102F.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/5580429

More later. Tired.

My average speed was the highest it's been on this ride, which is odd. I focused on cadence the whole time and my average was 79, higher than on any previous ride. We made excellent time in the early morning and had many miles behind us before it started to get HOT. I started to feel the heat and get tired at miles 78. That was my breaking point on this ride and where my self monitoring became the spot light in my mind.

The heat sucked, but the riders clustered together and we watched each other the whole last half. On no other ride did I feel like we looked out for each other in quite the same way. To the rider who puked from too much sugar intake, we had our eyes on you the whole time. Nice finish, but damn!

I have put together a plan for after the ride from SF to LA. I will bike each block of each street of San Francisco. For busy streets, I can wake up at 4AM to avoid terrible traffic. This is especially smart on streets that are very steep and have no room for bikes during busy times.

Fortunately, they sell maps with elevation gain information on them. VERY useful. Because my sense of direction is relatively non-existent, this plan will help me map the city in my head.

Ever since I got hit by a car years and years ago, I lost my sense of direction. So many people ask me where this is and where that is, but I have no idea. It dawned on me some time ago that people actually remember all those direction details and look at me strangely when my eyes glaze over at turn three. Zigzags are much clearer, LRLRL (da-da-da-da-DA), RLLRLL (Daa-daa-daa-Daa-daa-daa), etc.

I biked 200 miles this weekend with an elevation gain of approximately 9,100 feet. This is a personal best!

Saturday was 90 miles:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/5197312

Sunday was 110 miles:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/5197309

ROADKILL (Why is this the first thing that comes to mind?)
Skunk: 1 (Its intestines and stomach were vultured out and lying in a long string.)
Squirrels: 2 or 3
Rabbits: 1 or 2
Birds: who knows, squish

NUTRITION
Electrolyte drinks continuously
Larabars
Honey stinger candy nugget thingies
Food at stops along the way
Never felt very hungry, a good state to be in

WEATHER CONDITIONS
Hot, mid 80s
Very strong head wind coming back from Gilroy
Cooled off during the final two hours of riding

Last, but not least, four tires exploded due to wear. Each sounded like a firecracker. I have never experienced that before and it was quite enlightening to know what happens after too many miles.

The weather was supposed to be horrible this weekend, at least in terms of riding. Actually, the percentage of rain was more like 5 instead of 50. Despite that, there were clouds overhead nearly the whole weekend. I hopped in the bicycle trainer for hours and had a different experience than the past weekends. After hour three, the trainer is incredibly boring. If I had a partner in a trainer next to me to jam with or talk to, that would pass the time a lot faster.

I managed to put in approximately 100 miles this weekend over two days. Now, that is not a lot, but it is still time in the saddle. At this point, I cannot miss back-to-back riding on the weekends because to do so will mean an impossibly sore ass in June. Day three will likely be a rough one in the bum region and I am told that after that, it sorta gets numb so you stop thinking about it.