Week 2 of Training - On Track

Saturday - 30 fairly fast miles with five other cyclists from Michael's Cycles in Chaska, with some hills. Kayaked around Fish Lake, then walked the 4 miles around Cleary Lake to loosen up.

Sunday - walked the 4 miles around Cleary Lake, mixing in some jogging and running to begin to get the running muscles used to working again. Then rain, rain, rain.

Monday (Memorial Day) - Rode a moist 55 miles on the Dakota Trail - wet pavement, lots of spray, some sprinkles and lots of sweat. Not many others on the trail today, so good sailing. Shoveled and dug out rocks for fire pit on our beach.

Tues - Rode 29 miles with Joel, St. Joseph to Albany and back. Pushed it hard going but did not reset my computer, so don't know the speed. Coming back, averaged 17.9 mph without any wind assistance.

Wed - Rest. Did room exercises in the morning, increasing to 15 pushups and 15 situps for the 5 rotations.

Thurs - Rode 10+ miles in nasty wind with Joel, then another 21 with the group for a total of 31. Did my room exercises in the morning.

Friday - Rest. Did my room exercises in the morning, finishing with 40 pushups instead of the usual 15 - the first time i have done that many in a row since training for climbing Mt. McKinley in 1977.

Saturday - I plan to ride 50-60 miles with Rick (the guy who will ride the Race Across America starting June 20) leaving from the Michael's Cycles store in Chaska. It should be a good training ride!

Goal: 80-100 miles during the week, plus whatever on the weekend

Total week miles: 115 during week plus the Saturday 30 miles, Weekly goal achieved. On track.

Training Progress - On Track, But It's Only Week One

I said I would post my training progress each week so you can call me out if I slough off. Here is the log of my first week of recording and reporting. 

Sat - 17 x 1.5 = 25 fat bike with group from Michael's Cycles in Chaska. Kayaked completely around Fish Lake.

Sun - 4 mile fast walk around Cleary Lake. Kayaked hard across lake and back to beat the rain.

Mon - Rest - a critical part of any training program. Your body needs time to recover.

Tues - 30 miles with Gary, Jan, Jen, Jason and Beth. Room exercises. 

Wed - 26 miles, with the first 16 fast with Gary and Buddy Rudy and the last 10 with the Central Minnesota Bicycle Club over Tower Hill (was there a hill?). 5K walk with Wellness Committee at school. Room exercises.

Thurs - 45 km/miles on Keiser spin bike watching a movie in my apartment. Room exercises. I must say that riding with my friends is a lot more fun, although the after-ride festivities don't contribute to weight loss, especially the spread that Lorraine Westrup sets out. Salute! 

Friday -  Room exercises.

Goal: 80-100 miles during the week, plus whatever on the weekend

Total week miles: 101 during week plus the Saturday fat biking, Weekly goal achieved.

Wondering what "room exercises" means? I do about 20 minutes of yoga, then this week 60 pushups and 60 situps, then some upper body work on my Complete Gym in my apartment. I divide the number of pushups and situps by 5 and alternate 12 pushups, then 12 situps, etc. I will slowly work my way up to 100, and increase the difficulty with the slant board on my Complete Gym.

Tomorrow: Saturday - Michael's Cycles, with Rick, a new acquaintance I met last week, who will be riding with a team of 8 in the Race Across America, riding in 10 mile relays at full speed to finish in 7 days. Wow, just when i think I have set a lofty goal for myself I find I am only a piker.

Reminder: I am counting my fat bike miles as 1.5 times actual for my goal of 80-100 per week due to the greater resistance of the fat bike, and my Keiser "miles" according to the odometer on the machine, even if it is a bit generous. As long as I am consistent, I figure it is close enough.

Why I am Confident I can do this.

I have trained for major events before. 

• In 1977, I climbed Mt. McKinley in Alaska, 20,320’. 
• In 1980-84, I trained for 3 marathons, with my personal best 3:08:14 running the marathon through the redwoods in northern California. 
• In 2013-14, I trained on Keiser spinning cycles 4-5 times per week while lifting weights from September – April, prior to riding 105 and 105 miles in a weekend south of Columbus, Ohio and 104 and 75 on the Horsey 100 in Kentucky in May, 2014. 
• I rode a 100 mile ride in September, 2014 only 3 months and 4 days after being struck by a car while riding my bike in Michigan suffering a hangman’s fracture in my neck, a fractured L1 lumbar vertebrae, four broken ribs, a bruised lung, and multiple cuts, bruises and abrasions.

In January, 2015, I purchased a Framed Minnesota 2.0 fat bike and rode with great new riding friends many times, leading me to ride the MN Ironman on April 26 (stopped at 90 miles due to boredom) and the Fulton Gran Fondo 103 miler on May 9.

I know how to train, knowing that consistency, patience and perseverance will achieve the results. But, the support and encourage of my friends will also be necessary, as will the camaraderie of riding with my riding friends.

Training Advice and My Training Plan to Get Ready For Fast America South

Training advice/requirements from Americabybicycle.com:

“Experienced cyclists should begin their program 6-8 months prior to the start of the event. Ultimately beginning around 100-150 miles per week and setting reasonable cycling goals (century mark, back to back distance days, etc.). You should be increasing your monthly totals by 10% and remember the training "watch words" are consistency and endurance, get out and ride 4-6 days a week and make sure at least 2 days a week you are riding longer distance mileage. The last two months before the ride your weekly total mileage should be up to 300+ per week and you should be able to complete back to back centuries comfortably averaging at least 16.5+ miles per hour. Your training schedule should total 3,000-4,000 miles before you arrive at the ride start. All participants must be able to complete a century in 6 hours riding time.”

I will ride between 80-100 miles each week Monday – Thursday, plus whatever I can do on weekends through December (or until fat biking starts). I will count fat bike miles as 1.5 times the bike computer reads. Miles on the Keiser will count toward the weekly total, despite it recording somewhere between kilometers and miles, for simplicity sake. Initially just putting on the miles will contribute towards losing weight and gaining strength and endurance – improving my strength to weight ratio. Consistency and patience will achieve the results.

Riding some gravel grinders will be thrown in to try to build in a bit of variety. I will need to pick up the pace through some greater intensity rides from time to time as well, and especially on the trainer during the winter months. Some high resistance riding on the Keiser will be needed after January to increase strength for the many hills to be encountered on the tour. From mid-February – mid-April, I will follow their advice to increase the weekly mileage to 300+ . (Sounds like a lot of movies to watch while on my Keiser trainer.)

Simultaneously, I will be doing my daily yoga in the night and the push ups, sit ups and Complete gym routine to increase my overall flexibility, strength and fitness.

Specific Major Rides and Interim Goals Known Now (with the rides bolded)

June 6 – Tour de Pepin, 100 miles

June 27 – 28 – Crow Wing State Part to Bemidji via Paul Bunyon Trail on Saturday and return on Sunday. 123 each direction. Stay at Super 8 overnight. Goal: be able to ride two centuries back to back.

July 4 – Great Scott 50 Miler. Goal: Just enjoy local roads with my weekend riding friends.

Be able run a 5k by August 8 to lose weight and improve aerobic capacity.

August 8 – One Day Ride Across Michigan, 147 miles Goal: ride an ultra-long day ride.

September 2 - 6 – DALMAC, Lansing to Mackinac City 5 East. 295 Total miles. 58 to Ithaca HS, 67 to Harrison HS, 67 to Grayling HS, 76 to Cheboygan HS, 27 miles to St. Ignace/Lasalle MS. Will add miles to do the first four days as centuries. Goal: Demonstrate ability to ride four centuries back to back to back to back.

October – December – P90X training. Change the training somewhat to relieve monotony and increase strength and overall fitness.

December – March – Fat bike, XC ski, Keiser Trainer Exercise Bike

Saturday April 16th to Friday May 13, 2016 – Fast America South. Costa Mesa, California (between LA and San Diego) to Savannah, Georgia riding 2904 miles in 27 days.

The Goal is Set!

I have committed to ride across America in 27 days from Saturday, April 16 to Friday, May 13, 2016. This is the Fast America South covering 2904 miles from Costa Mesa, California (between LA and San Diego) to Savannah, Georgia. It is a fully supported tour sleeping in motels organized by America By Bicycle http://americabybicycle.com/ More details of the ride may be found at http://americabybicycle.com/fas-short I had intended to ride from San Diego to Boston in 33 days, but that tour is only offered in 2015 and 2017, and not available in 2016.

From reading the blogs of previous tours, it is obvious that this will be hard to do and even mighty uncomfortable at times. We will average 115+ miles per day, covering 841 miles from Costa Mesa, CA to Albuquerque, New Mexico on days 0-7, 921 miles from Albuquerque to Fort Smith, Arkansas on days 8-16, and finishing with 1142 miles from Fort Smith to Savannah, Georgia on days 17-27. In addition to the miles, past tours have faced high heat in the far west, days of climbing over 8000 feet, driving rain, cold in the mountains and even 25-30 mph headwinds. It will be a challenge. But, if it were easy, it would not be as interesting if everyone could do it.
 

The initial communication from America By Bicycle read: "Our Fast America Ride series are our most intense cycling experience and are not for the low mileage or novice cyclist. Making a serious training commitment will help you be prepared for the ride. Experienced cyclists should begin their program 6-8 months prior to the start of the event. Ultimately beginning around 100-150 miles per week and setting reasonable cycling goals (century mark, back to back distance days, etc.). You should be increasing your monthly totals by 10% and remember the training "watch words" are consistency and endurance, get out and ride 4-6 days a week and make sure at least 2 days a week you are riding longer distance mileage. The last two months before the ride your weekly total mileage should be up to 300+ per week and you should be able to complete back to back centuries comfortably averaging at least 16.5+ miles per hour. Your training schedule should total 3,000-4,000 miles before you arrive at the ride start. All participants must be able to complete a century in 6 hours riding time.”

Now that sounds like a challenge!


In future blog postings, I will outline my previous riding experience, my current conditioning status and my training plan to be ready to ride. I will then weekly post what I have done that week in training.


I will not be able to ride this tour by myself. That is, I will need the support and encouragement of my friends to do this. I may lay out a training plan, but I will need you to help me by holding me accountable to do what I say I will do.


When I complete this tour, I want you to say, “I helped him do that. He could not have done it without me.” It will be a team effort, and I welcome you to be part of my team.