The next big thing...

Each year I try a new thing, or try to try a new thing at least. The last few years have included the following:

2007 Eating: Got up to 190 lbs
2008 Running: Half Marathon, Marathon
2009 Cycling: Century, Double Century
2010 Cycling: Century
2011 Duathlon: (62 mile bike followed by 13.1 mile run)

I love cycling. It's been my friend over the last two years. We've laughed together, cried together, cramped together and traveled together. One thing I've noticed however, is that I miss running. There is something satisfying about the simplicity of running. It's just you, the road.....and a freaking awesome pair of running shoes. Ever since I started cycling two years ago I've had this nagging urge to run again. When I started distance running in late 2007 I was doing it just knowing that I was going to hate every mile and that as soon as I finished the marathon I would thumb my nose at the sport and walk away. Little did I know how much I would come to love it. First it was the 5 mile runs that I enjoyed. By the time I finished the marathon and looked back over my training, I realized that I absolutely loved and looked forward to my 10 mile runs.

I've biked from coast to coast, well I've biked on both coasts anyway. I've done the Seattle to Portland on the west coast and then I did the Seagull Century this last fall in Maryland. It went right along the Atlantic ocean on the east side of Chesapeake Bay. Time trial rides out to Flaming Geyser State park in Washington were some of my favorites for improving speed. Endurance training in Pennsylvania has been picturesque. I've ridden thousands of miles through Amish country. At times I've ridden right along side Amish men both young and old, on bikes, or passing Amish horse-drawn buggies. Of course I'm riding on my multi-thousand dollar carbon fiber racing bike listening to my ipod. Other cyclist are vocally envious of my bike; but the Amish seem to see through the pretense and realize that it's just an unnecessarily expensive form of transportation. It's humbling.

When I started cycling I did a lot of reading online. I read a lot of homespun blogs very similar to the one you are reading now. I wanted to know how long a rookie should expect to be on my bike while riding over 200 miles in one day. I read a few blogs and chat strings that indicated that for your first double century, you should be happy if you averaged 16.5 mph. That means over 12.5 hours of riding. Since I wasn't great at distance running, I assumed my body wasn't meant for any endurance event. For this reason I estimated my riding time at a conservative 14 hours.

As I started riding I was averaging 16.5 mph in my first few 20 mile rides. After eight weeks of training I was holding 17.5 mph over 40 miles. After 4 months I was averaging 18.5 mph on 70 mile solo rides. 5 months in I could maintain a 21 mph average over 20 mile solo time trials. I was able to finish the STP with a 19.5 mph average. After my initial estimate of 14 hours, I started the ride with a stretch goal of finishing in under 12 hours. I was surprised when I crossed the finish line with a total ride time of 10:23.

I'm now looking to partially return to my endurance training roots by entering a Duathlon. It includes a bike portion of a Metric Century which is 100 kilometers (62 miles), followed by a half marathon, (13.1 miles). As bad as I am at running, I miss it. It hurts, but to me, it's a more satisfying experience. The race is in Pennsylvania, midway between Lancaster and Gettysburg.

If anyone wants to join me in June, you can stay at our place.

768 Miles Per Hour!!

The speed above is that of the speed of sound. I didn't quite hit that on my ride yesterday, but I did get up to 42.5 mph. That was scary enough. I went a total of 52 miles and I could have gone for a while longer, but I felt my legs becoming sore and I didn't want to get into any over training problems. When I started my ride it was about 48 degrees. Cool, but not cold. Ten miles in I had to remove my long sleeve riding jacket. I went the rest of the way in just a riding jersey and riding shorts. It ended up about 58 degrees when I was finished three hours later. The loop I do had a few pretty wicked hills that are about a mile long and very steep. I have a compact crank set so I don't get to take advantage of a granny ring. The agony lasts for about 10-12 minutes when it usually takes me less than 3 minutes to go the same distance on a flat.

It would be nice to have 3 or 4 people to ride with but I think the drafting would make me too lazy. I'm having to do all of the pulling on my own and I think it will make me stronger once I get into some group rides. Currently I am pedaling almost constantly with no time to rest. My heart rate stays between 150-160 bpm the entire time. When I'm able to draft off of a few people that should drop by about 20 bpm.

With my marathon training, I think I had a solid program, but I think it assumed a better fitness foundation than I had when I started. I should have been running for about a year before just throwing myself into it. My body type wasn't meant for distance running so I should have given myself more lead time. Having said that, I am extremely happy I did it. It's pushed me into a better level of fitness that has continued since December of 2007.

Without doing all of that running, I would have never considered doing a 200 mile bike race when the opportunity presented itself. There are now about 5 of my friends who want to be involved as well. Lots of people are looking at expensive bikes and making their wives very uneasy.

Unlike a marathon, I think endurance riding is something anyone can do, once you get use to the saddle on your bike. ;-)