Monday, May 14, 2007

I rode 47 miles yesterday. It was hard. I was unloaded with the exception of my handle bar bag with tools and food and 120 ounces of water. (2 bottles and a camelbak holding 3 bottles worth, or 3.5L for you Canajuns) Standard biking practice for me is to plan to go through a bottle of water (24 ounces) every 10 miles under regular conditions. These conditions can vary, of course. Climbing out of Hell's Canyon on the Oregon/Idaho border I went through 3 (4?) bottles of ice water in 7 miles. It didn't help that the temperature was 105 degrees at the top of the canyon (hotter at the bottom.)

Anyways, I did an exploratory trip through several of the valleys in the area and had a lot of fun. It was a little hilly and a little windy, but I did pretty good considering I haven't ridden that far since RAGBRAI. I carried 50 miles worth of water with me in case I didn't find a water stop. I found one, but almost missed it - so it turns out that was a good idea.

I'll be doing another 50 miler or so on Wednesday and then heading to California on Thursday. After I get back (mondayish?) I'll be putting in the 80+ mile days and starting to train loaded. If I can do 50 miles loaded by the end of next week I'll be happy. I'd like to get in one 80 mile loaded day before we leave. This training will be interspersed with running and upper body workouts to get my shoulders used to holding my body up on the bike for 9 hours a day. I'm training with a heart rate monitor so that I can build up my aerobic base for optimum efficiency and endurance. This is opposed to building up my anaerobic base for optimum power and strength. Ideally I'd build up both, but I just don't have the time. Pouring concrete for 9 months built up my strength enough anyway.

Aerobic training helps the body learn how to burn fat efficiently, and anaerobic burns carbs and eventually protein when you run out of those. For a long tour building up a strong Aerobic base with a high top end is better. Triatheletes agree with me.

I'm pretty behind in training - but I'm ahead of everyone I'll be riding with... soo.... I guess I'm ok? I dunno, I just don't want to injure myself. We'll start out doing 50 mile loaded days, but those still add up when you do them for weeks in a row.

Posted by Dreqan @ 08:30 PM PST Link | 18 People give a shit!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Me:
X-Country bike ride beginning June 4th, ending August something.
Josh's Wedding (end of June - I'll be in/passing through IA)
RABGRAI (last week of July - I'll be in IA for a week)

X-Country journal will be located at: The TRS Journal
X-Country pictures will be located at: The TRS Gallery

Qehndrah:
Josh's Wedding (end of June, picking me up on the way by car)
RAGBRAI (last week of July - flying?)

Posted by Dreqan @ 07:25 PM PST Link | Click here to give a shit

This is going to be a long entry. I will probably make use of the more button.

I'll post later about training and more about the x-country trip. Also I made a website for my Aunt Nancy's trip that's almost finished. For now:

Read More

Posted by Dreqan @ 07:21 PM PST Link | 16 People give a shit!

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Oregon is starting to look up:

The Greymatter Jugglers are now 3 jugglers, 2 live band members, and a Kaufmenesque announcer named Steve Honeysuckle. It's a very interesting show. (the roster is still a bit fluid)

Posted by Dreqan @ 07:39 PM PST Link | 20 People give a shit!