supplies for our ride - work in progress

6 tubes (I have these)
2 patch kits (I have these)
2 extra wheels (I have these)
1 bottle electrolite pills - need to order
1 giant bottle of advil - need to buy from Costco
1 case hammer head beer to replenish our glycogens - need to buy
maps - have these
1 tub of gatorade mix (if Costco still carries it) - need to look for this
What ever works best for saddle sores. - need to find this
bug dope - will leave this to Laura
1 pair of pants - trip to the Columbia employee store
2 pair of shorts - have these
3 pair of bike shorts

This weeks riding plans

Looks like the rest of the week will be sunny and nice (today is Wed) so family and work allowing, I'm going to try and ride four days in a row, partially to test out the new shorts that are arriving today but also to test my legs. I might just get 20 miles two of the days but I want at least one 60+ and one 40+ day. 23 days and counting!

Mileage

5/8 - 12 miles
5/9 - 48 miles
5/12 - 17 miles
5/15 - 17 miles
5/16 - 10 miles
5/19 - 22 miles

It's not nearly as much as Dad is doing, but with classes, work, etc my schedules pretty full. It's still something, and I'm riding consistently and feeling stronger. A couple more 50+ milers and I think I'll be as ready as I can be.

28 days to go! Today's lesson

Rode two longer days this past weekend in the sun and felt like crap even after drinking tons of water on Sunday night. I was starting to worry about 3 weeks in the sun (assuming we are lucky enough to get dry weather) and after talking with my roofer brother today he reminded me of the importance of electrolytes. I happened to have some pills from Hammer nutrition to boost your electrolyte levels. After a day plus of feeling run down I was back to my normal energy level and had a great work out at the gym.

Wind

10-15 mile an hour headwind + rain = hill simulation

I guess I should be thankful for the headwind this morning. I don't have real mountains to train on so I have to improvise. Wind is fine now, I just really hope we have a nice tailwind come June.

I've decided it isn't my legs that concern me, it is my ....

I realized on Sunday (after my first 80+ mile ride for the year), that it isn't my legs that concern me, it is my posterior/shorts. Our legs will get stronger during the ride but if I can't sit on my seat comfortably, this is going to be a tough three weeks. My goal over the next couple of weeks will be to find shorts that fit me properly so that I can enjoy the rest of the ride...

Laura did great on Sat, she rode 45 miles and still went for a hike on Sunday. All I need to do is keep her hydrated and fed and she will keep me going.

Chris

Rain, rain go Away

One thing I really worry about is my ability to train pre-ride. We did the Oregon Bicycle Ride about eight years ago, which is a week long bike tour, but we spent the entire summer training for that ride. Right now I'm busy, I'm a graduating senior, and I'm not willing to spend all my free time training. I'm getting in about two 15-25 mile rides per week (I'm planning to up the mileage soon), so hopefully that will give me enough of a base to work off of. I think the first week will just be painful, it's inevitable. However, days like Saturday and today are really throwing me off. It is pouring out, and as I lack both rain jacket and fenders riding is not pleasant. I got up and went for 15 Saturday, today I called me friends who ride with me and didn't even get out of bed. How am I supposed to motivate myself to train more when the weather is so discouraging? This is the rain we should have had all winter (we had an oddly dry winter) so that when spring rolls around and we want to be outside it's sunny and warm.