TdR for Pablove

Monday, April 12, 2010

Spring training!

Redding, CA is knows as a HOT town. And in fact, it IS! In summer, anyway.... days over 105 degrees are pretty common! But in spring, it's heaven for cyclists. Oak trees, rolling woodlands, livestock pastures, etc. all look amazingly green & lush for about a month in April, and that's exactly the right time to be putting time in the saddle! Temps are mild, which makes up for the occasionally breezy day. I've been riding all winter but looking forward to spring every day! I could blog a bit about a few epic rides, one of which was supposed to be a 4 hr

ride but after 2 hrs of freezing, driving rain in which I could barely brake or shift the bike, I called for a rescue, haha.... my wife just shook her head at me as I fell into the front seat of the truck, soaked head to toe and shivering uncontrollably. But anyway, in spring that doesn't happen really... wait, except a couple of weeks ago when I got caught in a 20 minute hailstorm that about knocked my glasses off, followed by sheets of rain that covered the road with huge, heavy raindrops. BUT, I digress. I am actually attempting to write about how GREAT it is to ride in the Redding area in the spring, and I've got a few pics here to show what it's like! We're also within an hour

of Lassen Peak & Mt. Shasta, so there's no shortage of beautiful cycling with tons of climbing! Every ride I do is with the TdR in mind, of course! I'm riding around 225 miles a week with the goal of 3 centuries a week by the end of April, after which I'll keep the same schedule but move those century rides into the mountains as we get into May & early June. At that point we'll do a couple of hard training weeks, the first in Tahoe where we'll ride 4 mountain centuries in as many days, and about 2 weeks later we'll spend a week in the eastern Sierras near Bishop, cycling all of the high elevation mountain climbs they have over there with the goal of 4, maybe 5 heavy climbing centuries in a row. If that doesn't get us ready, I don't know what will! I'm hoping we have a pretty solid base by then, and after a 2 week taper we'll hopefully have what it takes to tackle 13 mountain centuries in 15 days during the Rockies Tour starting July 20!

The ride I'm supposed to be blogging about today is a beautiful 72 mile loop that I do straight from the house! I'm lucky that way, as Redding is a fairly small town of 85k people, and within 15 minutes I can be on fairly rural roads that are great for cycling with low traffic and nice scenery. I'm still into fairly flat & rolling terrain at this early stage of my training, and I'm trying to build that base of mileage so I can transition into the mountains without as much trouble. Four hour rides are the norm for me these days, and I'm making sure to ride a sustainable pace, since that's what our trip will be all about! I don't stop much at all, though, so my heart rate

is up for a fairly solid chunk of time. The tour will be different, though, with our little stops for grub or a pic that will help the legs recover throughout the day. The ride passes the Northern California Veterans Cemetary, which is a very moving place in the small town of Igo, CA. It sits on a quiet hilltop outside the town, and those Northern California residents who gave either part or all of their life in the service of their country are buried there. I've stopped a couple of times, but usually I simply roll by with an increased sense of gratitude for the life I lead. After a 20 mile stretch of flat & fast section of Gas Point Rd, you cross the Sacramento River near Cottonwood and

follow Ash Creek Rd. along a long, beautiful stone fence until a small climb lifts you up enough to see the mountains on the horizon. A fast, gently downhill section on Dersch Rd. allows for a fun section of 30 mph pedaling in the big gears, and pretty soon you're back into the Redding area for the home stretch! I rode this loop the other day and took a wrong turn, so it ended up being 77 mi, time 4:24, 2400' climbing, not that fast at 17.5 avg. but quicker than we'll probably be riding this summer! I'm psyched to reach the 300 mi per week milestone and start doing long days in the mountains as the snow starts to melt. I'll post any interesting rides and pics here as we go. Thanks for reading!

Friday, April 9, 2010

TdR for Pablove - Day 7

After cycling Yellowstone & Grand Teton on the 6th day, we'll drive another full day to bridge the gap between our destinations, so we should be well rested for Day 7.... which is good, because it's going to be the hardest day on the TdR, hands down, no contest! It STARTS at 7600' elevation in the mountain town of Estes Park, Colorado, and will take us to a high point of 12,183' on the Trail Ridge Rd., 8 miles of

which are above 11,000'... making it the highest continuous motorway in the United States! There are 3 high mountain passes over 10,000' to climb in this section of Rocky Mountain National Park, and towards the end of the day we'll still have to climb Berthoud Pass at 11,300! We'll climb over 12,000 vertical feet on this day in total, with most of it over 8,000' in elevation. The mileage for the day will be the same as most days, about 100 miles - but the grueling high-elevation climbs will certainly beat up our legs. We'll be in the small gears all day for sure. I'm personally looking forward to this day for the huge cycling challenge. Big days on the bike really appeal to me because they allow me to discover my personal physical & mental limit.... plus there's always that cool sense of achievement that you get after overcoming a goal that previously seemed uncertain, maybe even impossible! Apprehension & self-doubt is natural, I guess... but that turns into satisfaction and a nice confidence boost after achieving a big goal. This entire

trip is a big goal, for sure.... but I know we can do it. I also know we can do this individual day - we've all ridden big mountain century rides with tons of climbing. But it's easy to wonder... How will we feel on day 7 after 600 miles in the previous 6 days? How will the legs & lungs do at elevation? Will we be pummelled by afternoon mountain thunderstorms that will make the day that much more grueling?

Will I have to sink to the depths of despair and climb into the sag vehicle, the ultimate confirmation of failure? Probably not, but...the possibility still nags! So we'll start from Estes Park nice & early because Trail Ridge Rd. gets lots of traffic. We purposely laid out our trip to make sure we didn't ride this road on the weekend. We won't have much of a warm up since our first major climb starts immediately... it's a 20 mile climb, average grade about 5-6%, and ends at Iceberg Pass at 11,827'. At mile 23 we'll reach the highest point of the road at 12,183', and then descend a little before we climb Fall River Pass at 11,796'. The

last of the 3 passes in Rocky Mountain National Park is Milner Pass, 10,758, which is actually the point where we'll technically cross the Continental Divide! The reward for all of this work will be a 30 mile descent into Granby, the last 20 of which will be mellow 1-2% downhill but it'll make for fast progress as we pedal the bigger gears and make up for the slow climbing we did earlier in the day. We'll pass through the towns of Granby and Grand Lake at around mile 60, and then

we'll start the last climb of the day as we gradually climb into the town of Winter Park at around mile 80. We'll top Bethoud Pass around mile 92, and then finish the day with a descent into Empire, CO. Our next ride day starts from Vail, about an hour down I-70, so we'll probably have dinner in Empire, & then hop in the car to find our hotel in Vail for the night. It'll be an epic day! Can't wait to see how it goes. Thanks for reading

Thursday, April 8, 2010

TdR for Pablove - Day 6

After driving between Glacier National Park and West Yellowstone on the day prior, we'll be starting this long day with a rest day behind us... I wonder if we'll feel better after 12 hours in the car, or worse? Well at least our muscles will get a break! The plan is to ride 126 miles through two national parks, Yellowstone

& Grand Teton, between the Wyoming towns of West Yellowstone and Jackson. This day will be special for me in particular because when I was 13 and flyfishing consumed my every waking thought, my dad's cousin took me to fish the famous waters of this area... the Madison, Yellowstone, Armstrong Spring Creek, Henry's Fork of the Snake.... but I was so into fishing that I barely even noticed the scenery! Can you believe that I actually slept in the car once as we drove past the Tetons and through Yellowstone?

I can remember Jim telling me that I might want to look out the window because people travelled a heck of a long way to see the views that I was ignoring! Who can care about or appreciate life's most precious treasures when you're 13 anyway? Well now that I'm 38... I care. Believe me, I appreciate! And I can't think of a way to more fully enjoy the mountain scenery than through cycling. So we'll be riding mostly rolling terrain, with no major climbs and most of the uphill sections

just being gentle grades of 1-2%. That's good, because starting the next riding day in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park, we won't have much of that! We'll roll past the Madison river in the western section of Yellowstone for about 15 easy miles where the bison and elk are easily seen alongside the roads! After that we'll split off southward along the Firehole river, where we'll pass through a

geothermal area which has the famous Old Faithful Geyser and a bunch of cool hot spring including the colorful Grand Prismatic & Morning Glory springs. After about 45 miles we'll pass through the West Thumb area with its numerous lakes as we

head towards the south end of the park and make our way towards the Tetons! Once on the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Parkway, we'll pick up the Snake river and follow it all the way to Jackson. By this time I think we'll begin to see the Teton Range as we ride. One of the most famous views that I'm looking forward to seeing in person is that of the Moulton Barn, the last remaining bit of an early 1900's western homestead near the Teton Range. It's also one of the most photographed

spots on the planet, but I want to see it nonetheless! This day is gonna kinda long, not terribly hard, but epic and amazing because of the world-class scenery! Thanks for reading.