With the lack of fall races, I’ve found myself in a bit of a training slump these past, oh, seven months or so.
But as I mentioned in my last missive, I’ve found that cycling is currently holding for me, what running has held for the past 10 or so years.
Namely, enjoyment. Satisfaction. And maybe a touch of meditation while on the road.
So me being, well, me. I can’t just enjoy it, I need to turn it into something.
But first, some history
I was thinking about it and realized it’s been almost seven years to the day since I’ve ridden 100 miles or more.
And going even further back, in 2008 I participated in my first of three 145 mile rides from NYC out to Montauk, the town at the eastern tip of Long Island.
It was called The Montauk Century and was clearly a bit more than a Century, closer to a Century and a half, but for the psycho cyclists in the group, of which I was one, there was an option to start at Penn Station in Manhattan at about 5AM.
The last time I rode that tour, I remember riding through Times Square at around 4:30 AM when all the bars were closing and drunk people spilling out in the street.
What a sight they were to see. That said, I’m sure we completely confused more than one stumbling drunk.
But I digress.
Not just a long ride
I have the need to train for something that I am not in shape to do today and that will take me a few months to prepare to do.
So I decided that I’m going to train to ride a Century. That is, ride 100 miles in one ride.
The fact that I need to train for it pains me on some level as I used to be able to just get on the bike, no matter the time of year and just bang one out.
But alas, I’m a touch older than I was when I did that, my bones are creakier and the ice cream flows substantially more. All culminating in a cyclist who is not prepared at a moment’s notice for a Century.
The ride
I’ve been going through ride libraries online at the New York Cycle Club‘s site, Ride with GPS and some others to find something fun and hilly. But since I’m staying on my home turf, I’ll probably wind up doing a similar ride to the one I posted above.
But I’m not sure.
What I like about that ride is that it’s not just a little over 100 miles, but it also has more than 6,000 feet of climbing.
Since I’ve been in Westchester for the pandemic, I’ve been doing a lot of hilly rides. Typically 1,000 feet of climbing for every 10 miles I ride.
But I’ll get into that in another post.
In the coming weeks I’ll be talking about hills (and why I love them), distance (and how to conquer it), nutrition (and how to eat it), gear (of course), and staying focused and motivated for hours at a time.
For now, wish me luck!
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My Current Cycling Gear
- Garmin Edge 1030
- Garmin Varia UT 800 Smart Headlight
- Garmin Varia RTL515, Cycling Rearview Radar
- Sidi Wire Carbon Road Shoes
- AfterShokz Aeropex
- Assos Chamois Cream
- Giro Aether Helmet
- Oakley Half Jacket 2.0
- Follow me on Strava
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