Down to Under 2 Weeks Until First Race!!!

With every passing day, I get more excited for what will be my first bicycle race! And with every workout, I get more confident in the goal I have set for myself! My coaching schedule still gets a little crazy at times with it being "Last Chance Meet" season. That pretty much entails chasing meets around the Middle Atlantic states to give my athletes a chance to qualify for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Currently, I have 3 athletes who are provisionally qualified for the championships.

I am now down to 12 days until the Mont Tour. I have yet to get on any parts of the course but it looks more and more likely that I will be able to within the next 3 days. I also know a group that might ride the course on Sunday. I really just want to be able to ride a few of the hills to get an idea for gearing during the race. I have been getting plenty of hills in my rides but always good to be familiar with the course, even if only a little bit.

Training continues to go amazingly well and I am getting to ride with a few people at times. Tomorrow night, I am supposed go to a group ride in Mifflinburg, PA - Big Ring Velo. One of the guys from the group we have here at Susquehanna was telling me about it and we are headed there. He said it would really help me. It will also be helpful to get some more group rides and learn some different routes. And when you tack on a decent morning ride, it makes for a very good double workout! I did get my first double last Friday and felt very good after it was all done.

New training totals:
Week - 8 rides/253 miles/ 11hours 38minutes/ 21.90mph
Month - 9 rides/ 283 miles/ 13hours 11minutes/ 21.40mph
Year - 129 rides/ 4280 miles/ 195hours 17 minutes/ 21.90mph

This also one of the best times of the year in cycling as the Grand Tours got started this weekend with the start of Giro d'Italia. Tragedy struck the Giro today with the crash and death of Wouter Weylandt, a rider for the newly formed Leopard Trek team.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/weylandt-dies-in-giro-ditalia-crash


With the weather improving and my schedule getting less hectic, I can't wait to get so many more longer rides (2.5-3+ hours). The only problem there is finding routes around here long enough for that......ugh!! I guess I will have my own mini Tour de Central PA throughout the summer. But in the long run it all leads to the epic event of the summer......

TdO 2011!!! The Epic Cycle continues......