Stephen's Personal Blog

A week from today I will, hopefully, be writing about my first tour ride or 48 miles. This post is coming from the tiny Acer Aspire One Netbook that I got for that purpose. Of course, I’m using the 28″ monitor and not the 9″ built in.

Everything is coming together well. There are a couple of things on my list that I don’t have. Notably, rain gear. The tent is packed along with the sleeping bag, pillow, 1/4 the clothes and most of the electrical gear.

This weeks miles were lower than last week; 102 vs 125. It’s not for lack of time. I’m just uninterested some days. It’s not fresh any more. I’ve been on the same route for quite a while. My alternative training route is blocked off by recent detours between Amarillo and Canyon. The miles, wind, cold, and terrain aren’t a challenge. Time is the biggest concern. In the face of this, my body is still improving. The past two rides are over 13 mph. One with wind and one without. Though my miles are missing the target I’m not too concerned.

Also, I’m training heavy. Without support, I carry an extra water bottle, arm warmers, 2 tubes, 2 air pumps, tools, shirt, jacket, and food in a trunk bag on a rack. The trip will have specified stops and a mechanic. So, about 10-15 lbs of crap is unnecessary. I still need a larger trunk bag than I have. And Walmart, oddly, seems to have the best bag. This is also the strategy I used in the century ride last year and my speed was 2 mph higher than average.

The great weather holds till Tuesday. Then it turns below 50 the rest of the week. My cutoff is about 60F. Two long rides over the next two days and then yoga and indoor bike.

Friday, I’ll come home to having everything packed except the car and take a nap. Set off for Tucson, AZ about 11:00 pm. Check in is 1:00pm Saturday. I guess I get an hour crossing into NM.

The ride was originally targeted to about 40 people and has expanded to 50 and now says waiting list. The company’s magazine profiles a similar tour in Washington last week and raves about the food. I noticed another tour in this area that is happening this week. It seems like a popular spot at this time of year. At the bike shop, I ran into a guy who got back from mountain biking there about 2 wks ago and all agog about it.

Still have to true the back wheel. Don’t forget.

BTW, Tucson is predicting 75/50F all week.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 7:10 pm and is filed under Bicycle, My Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.