My Own Tour Complete!

Today marked the end of one of the most exciting TdF's in quite some time. Cadel Evans put in the Time Trial of his life to take back 57 seconds from Andy Schleck to win the tour by 1:34. The Schleck brothers managed to hold podium spots and finish 2nd and 3rd. It was the 3rd consecutive year that Andy has finished 2nd. With the amount of possible GC contenders there are now in cycling, unless he learns to Time Trial, I am not sure if he will win the TdF. The highlight of the the TdF for me was the 10 day stretch and defense of the Yellow Jersey by Thomas Voeckler. He and Team Europcar did an amazing job of bringing back the pageantry of the tour. I was happy to see him hold his 4th place position after the Time Trial. I know possible positive samples may be found out later but for now the tour seems more popular in years.

The hardest part of the last day is now waiting till the next TdF. It is always a great motivator everyday to get out there and train. This week was a brutal week of training with the weather. We just went through a huge heat wave in Central PA. We had a heat index reading of 122 two days ago. The humidity was some of the worst have ever felt since I moved here. The other day when I started my ride at 8am, the heat index was already 96 and when I finished 2 hours later it read 110. Today was humid but the heat index was only in the 90's during my ride. This week wound up being my biggest week of training to date. I have never felt so strong on the bike.

New Training Totals:
Week - 8 rides/ 342 miles/ 16hour 25minutes/ 21.0mph/ 6511 feet of climbing
Month - 25 rides/ 1,065 miles/ 52hours 19minutes/ 20.4mph/ 32,075 feet of climbing
Year - 208 rides/ 7304 miles/ 529hours 02minutes/ 21.2mph

My Tour de PA/NJ Totals
1023 miles/ 50hours 15minutes/20.4mph/ 31,283 feet of climbing

I am looking forward to racing this weekend but I have also looked into a possible stage race. Tomorrow I will begin to add weight training back into the schedule. I can definitely use a little more power on the pedals when climbing the hills. This week's goals with the race - 250-275 miles and 8000 feet of climbing.

This week's race:
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=11667

Possible Stage Race:
http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=12479


TdO '11!!!