Well, I finally got to talk to the man himself about 2 weeks ago, Graeme Street. Graeme was very helpful and gave me some great direction on how to achieve the goals I’ve set. He talked to me for over 40 minutes while he was having a busy day so I really appreciate his time in helping me design a training plan. Now it’s time to start this deal!
Basically I’m on the 12 week training plan, advanced style. Whether or not I survive is a different matter altogether! This week was pretty much the start of all the off season work. With Daylight savings Time, after work rides are few and far between. The night comes quickly this time of year and the temps are only going to get lower. I AM going for a mountain bike ride tonight after work, however, in one of the local trail systems. Should be a good time. It will be my first foray into night riding with a head lamp. The temps are currently hovering around 45 degrees so it’s a good night to “pop my cherry” as far as night riding is concerned! This ride generally takes about 1.5 hrs and there’s some tricky shit to navigate on these trails. We’ll see how it goes<knck on wood>.
As the days and weeks go by I’ll implementing the 12 week training plan and some of Graeme’s other programs to really start getting into shape. I have a couple of goals I want to hit next season. One is I want to start doing some endurance races on my mountain bike. I’ve always wanted to try one and this is as good a time as any in my life to do it! I’ll start slow…. maybe try a 6 hour solo race and go from there. Eventually I want to try a 24 hr solo event. That will be the ultimate! Another event I want to try is the Horrible Hilly Hundred in Wisconsin in June ‘09. One of the guys I ride with sent me a link for this ride and it sounds pretty brutal. 124 miles in southern Wisconsin with 10,700 ft of elevation! The event organizers suggest using a 27 tooth cog OR triple chainring set up for this ride. I hope we can get in. I guess the online registration fills up pretty damn quick. They only have 1,000 spots online then they do a lottery for 300 more people. My friend and I will have to keep our ears open and be ready whe the online registration opens!
Anyway, I’m gonna leave it at that. I gotta start shutting things down and get in the car to meet my buddy for our night ride in the trails. Hopefully it won’t be too slick and we’ll have a good ride. We’re gonna try the same thing tomorrow and hopefully we’ll also get a ride or two in this weekend. Next week, Cyclo-Core beckons!
See ya!
-Jeff
