Spring Update

As part of a 3 day block (331 miles) I rode with a Matt, Pete, Paul & David to Santa Barbara. We had a great time and rode mostly the route of the Tour of California.




The last day of March I did my first double century. I was nervous going in and went solo. I started at 6:40am and about 30 minutes into the ride started to meet some other riders. After the first rest stop, I joined a very strong group. We got to the lunch break in just over 5 hours of riding ... 114 miles!! My best century time ever, I was averaging 20.3 to this point. I took a little more time at lunch and the train pulled out without me, which was fine as I wanted some solo time anyway. I was on roads I knew since I rode here during my coastal ride last September.

I finished the day at 6pm and truly outdid myself. 192 miles, 11:40 TOTAL Time, 10 hours ride time with an average of 19.2 MPH. Wow.

The next "event" was the Mulholland Challenge. A 112 mile route with about 12,000 feet of climbing through the Santa Monica Mountains. This is where I live and I thought, no problem. Well.... It was the hottest day in April with temps over 100 and I did not prepare for this or eat/drink enough. With 100 miles and over 10K of climbing done, I had to abandon due to muscle cramps. A huge lesson learned.

My concern now was recovering in time for the next mountainous century - Breathless Agony. I did the ride, it was great, and I had a very respectable time. The first 75 miles of this ride has 12,000 feet of climbing which I did it in 7 hours. I was not 100% as I was not receovered from Mulholland. But this was important to do to prove to myself I would be good for the tour in the Rockies this summer. It's a great ride and I look forward to doing this one again!



After Breathless I did 5 solid weeks of 250-400 miles per week. This was great training. Within this period I did an 8 day block of 665 miles and 45,500 ft of climbing.

Now I'm just riding to keep this conditioning and rest before leaving for PacTour's Ridge of the Rockies on July 29th.