On Saturday July 4th, the Tour de France starts. This marks the beginning of the end of my training to some degree. I still have to do long rides, 3-5 hours twice a week, and I still have to work on my flexibility, but my goal is insight.
After having a very difficult time at the HHH I consulted some very experienced athletes and they said train long. Heeding their advice I have increased my training rides to 2 hours twice a week, a 3 hour hard ride on Fridays and a 5 hour submax on Sundays. I have decided to supplement my nutrition with GU and have a little less Carbopro because I am not sure of its effectiveness. The new addition to the mix has been a product called Saltstick. It is a nutritional supplement with salt. Saltstick will help replace the electrolytes and salt that I am loosing due to the heat.
I tested this new plan last weekend in the Adirondacks. I was in the Lake George area visiting family and I had a chance to ride in one of the most beautiful places in the US. I consulted the local bike shop, Blue Sky Bicycles, and they gave me 2 rides to try. I chose the one they said was the most scenic and went the next day. It was a beautiful ride with low traffic through the rolling foothills of the Adirondacks. My plan was to ride for 2-3 hours and just do as many hills as possible. Because I was unfamiliar with the route I did a few more hills then planned but it was a great ride and the hills did not seem too hard.
The following day I rode along 9N beside Lake George. The route was along rolling terrain and had 2 big climbs over Mt. Tongue, about 1000' of climbing in each direction. My strategy was to ride the mountains as close to my LT as possible, which would be about 200 watts, and then recover on the downside and ride submax all the other times. The strategy was great and allowed me to do a 3 1/2hr ride with plenty of power. The only issue during the ride was the rain which made the downhills somewhat scary.
Now that I have returned to the Chicago area I have resumed my training. Flying always disrupts my rhythm and it takes me a day or so to recover my form so my first ride was a 2hr submax. I was doing a low submax ride with a buddy, Ted, and after he dropped off to go home I decided to take a scenic rout back a went along the Skokie Canal. While traveling at a pretty good clip I hit a huge bumble bee and was stung in the eyelid. It really hurt. But those are the trials and tribulations of training.
I am in good form. HHH is behind me and I have refocused on my goal. The rides are long and hot and my riding buddies are back from Italy. Its good to be back in the saddle. So my training continues and intensifies as the Tour begins. I can't wait for the next ride. So if you need to reach me I will see you on the road.
