Character building

Most think of the physical challenge in endurance efforts. But there is also a mental challenge on some days. Wednesday was one of those days. I had checked the wind forecast on Tuesday night knowing that Wednesday was supposed to be windy. The forecast called for light winds until later in the day. But it was apparent at 7 am that the winds would be high at an early hour. I left at 8 into the teeth of the wind. As there no good routes to head south into the wind for a long distance and then enjoy a tailwind all the way home, I elected to just ride back and forth, south and north. The longest stretch into the wind was 12 miles, taking more than an hour. It was definitely a mental challenge into the wind. At times, I was slowed to 8 mph on the flat. The worst was the crosswinds. With 3 miles to go, it knocked me off the road surface. Fortunately, I was able to get the brakes on and a foot on the ground before going down a grassy hillside. When I got home, the local weather station 2 miles from the house was registering a wind of 24 mph with a high gust of 48 mph. Cyclists laugh on such days saying it builds character. Does it? I don't know, but I had enough of the wind yesterday.

Hard Effort

I am not a bike racer. At least not this year. It takes a different type of training than preparing for long distance tours. I have started to incorporate more interval efforts in my training, including some climbing repeats.

I did join a racing club in February. The COBRAS is a close-knit group of riders. COBRAS stands for Colorado Bike Racing Association for Seniors. I enjoy riding with them on the weekends and helping out at the 7 ride time trial series that the club sponsor. On Sunday, they had a practice time trial for the coming weekend's Lookout Mountain Hill Climb. This ride is a 4.56 mile, 1300 foot ascent. I went hard from the start, tiring some in the last 1/4 mile or so of the ascent. My time was 30:23. When I got home, I checked last year's times for the 55-64 age group. My time would have been 36th of 44 riders had I participated last year and 5th of 10 within our club. Hard to believe that the winning time in the age group was 21 minutes. Still, I thought I had accomplished much and that times would improve with more hard efforts like this one. The picture is from the ascent of Lookout Mountain.

The Route

This trip travels through nine states, touching Kentucky only for a few miles after leaving Tennessee and crossing into Missouri. If I find a way, I hope to cross into Arkansas from Memphis on our rest day, adding another state to the list. All but two states will be new for me on a bicycle. When I finish, I will have travelled through more than two-thirds of the country on a bicycle. Maybe someday I will have reached all 50 states.

May 11, New Orleans to Gonzales, LA, 61 miles

May 12, St. Francisville, LA, 55 miles

May 13, Natchez, MS, 65 miles

May 14, Vicksburg, MS, 90 miles

May 15, Greenville, MS, 100 miles

May 16, Clarksdale, MS, 82 miles

May 17, Senatobia, MS, 62 miles

May 18, Memphis, TN, 64 miles

May 19, rest day in Memphis

May 20, Ripley, TN, 79 miles

May 21, Union City, TN, 69 miles

May 22, Cape Girardeau, MO, 91 miles

May 23, St. Genevieve, MO, 67 miles

May 24, St. Louis, MO, 84 miles

May 25, rest day in St. Louis

May 26, Louisiana, MO, 105 miles

May 27, Hannibal, MO, 35 miles

May 28, Keokuk, IA, 60 miles

May 29, Galesburg, IL, 96 miles

May 30, Moline, IL, 93 miles

May 31, Galena, IL, 62 miles

June 1, Prairie du Chien, WI, 71 miles

June 2, La Crosse, WI, 66 miles

June 3, Red Wing, MN, 100 miles

June 4, Eagan, MN 61 miles

Getting ready for another adventure

I have always had a passion for fitness. It started at an early age. We had track and field in grade school. My mother was of Finnish heritage. She told me of the great Finnish running tradition when she was a young girl and how the runners would tour the Finnish communities in the US. That sparked an interest in long distance running for me. If I could run injury-free now, I would still be running. But cycling is a great substitute.

In order to keep up an interest in fitness, I have to set goals. This year, I will be riding from New Orleans to Minneapolis beginning on May 11 and ending June 4. The ride basically follows the Mississippi River. It should be a great ride. There are only 13 riders on the tour. My roommate will be John Hicks, who I have been with on two previous tours. John lives in Northern Ireland and with the current embargo on air travel from Europe due to the volcanic ash plume, I am really praying that he will be able to come to America.

I will pass 2,000 training miles for the year on today's ride. I think that I am as fit as I have been for any of the tours in the past 6 years. I adopted a different approach this year. It is more structured with harder efforts and seems to have paid off with better fitness.

Cheers,

Tom