Winter Update

After completing my California coast ride, I took some time off the bike and at the end of October, started a winter training program. My coach, David Brinton, has a great winter program that starts with weight training. Then at the end of October, we start climbing in the Angeles Crest area. This is a large scale mountain range similar to the Rockies or European climbs you see in the Tour de France. Very different than the canyon mountains we have here. Here's a picture of me at the top of Mount Disappointment getting some extra cycling radioactive waves. This is right next to Mount Wilson, but slightly higher.



All this training is in preparation to start the Simi Ride in December. The Simi Ride is a famous race training ride that many racers ride as .... well, a race. It's a great measure to see how you stack up against some category riders and a few pros. Aaron Olsen (T Mobile) did the ride regularly as well as cycling legends Thurlo Rogers and Ron Skarin. The typical size of the peloton is around 80 riders.

January and February were mostly spent doing base milage training averaging about 200 miles per week. On occassion I would do a couple of back to back 100 mile days.

I also went to 2 stages of the Tour of California, including the Time Trial stage. This was totally awesome. If you ever have the opportunty to see a professional race in person - go!