Road to Paris-Brest-Paris

Not off to a good start…

Jerry — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 23:33:06 +0000

Well tomorrow was supposed to be my first 200k for the year, but having been very ill since January 18th it’s not going to happen. At the moment I’m sort of bummed in that I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it to PBP this time around. Everything was on track and my winter training going well when I ended up in the hospital and confined to bed rest for the past 4 weeks.

To add insult to injury, the virus has really messed up my cardio system to the extent that at the moment I can’t even go up a flight of stairs without becoming winded. A huge change from 2-months ago.

Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to recover quickly now and get back on the bike this coming week…

Ride into work

Jerry — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:48:16 +0000

Well it’s a new year and one of my resolutions is to ride into work at least twice a week…more if the weather permits and family oblogations. The only problem this time of year is that it can be rather cold in the mornings with tempuratures in the low 20′s or upper teen’s. I’ve ridden in the mid-20′s without too many problems, but won’t go below 25 or so.

This mornings ride was nice except for a dang head-wind of 14 – 16 mph. The winds were out of the SSW at 14 when I left the house and my route to work goes…you guessed it…south and west. A least if the winds hold from the same direction throughout the day, I should have a nice tailwind for my trip home. Also for this time of year the tempurature this morning was a nice balmy 43-degrees…something that I will gladly take.

Ride stats:
Waking heart rate: 56
Standing heart rate: 66
Waking weight: 153
Hours of sleep: 7
Quality of sleep: 6
Mood state: 9
Actual workout time: 01:32:59
Distance: 33.840K
Average Speed: 21.9kph
Max speed: 51.6kph
Route: My normal route into work.

Workout notes:
The dang headwind didn’t really help much this morning! As I am frequently heard saying “I hate wind! (unless it’s a tailwind)”. Also riding in the dark isn’t exactly the time to be trying to set any speed records either; I have noticed a fairly large difference in my average speeds between daylight and nighttime.

My dream bike

Jerry — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:04:46 +0000

OK, most people have dream cars, dream houses, etc…well I have a dream bike. While most people are going for ultra-light road bikes…I’m looking at something a bit heavier…a solid touring bike! For the types of rides I like to do, I need to balance weight with strength…something that is going to stand up to the 100s of miles a week I put on my bike and the weight of loaded bags.

Complete Specifications
Frame – Trek butted Cro-Moly
Fork – Cro-Moly Touring

Wheels
Wheels – Shimano Deore LX hubs; Bontrager Maverick rims
Tires – Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase, 700x32c

Drivetrain
Shifters – Shimano Dura-Ace, bar end control, 9 speed
Front Derailleur – Shimano 105
Rear Derailleur – Shimano Deore LX
Crank – Shimano 105 52/42/30
Cassette – SRAM PG970 11-32, 9 speed
Pedals – Shimano 520, clipless

Components
Saddle – Bontrager Race Lux
Seat Post – Bontrager Select
Handlebars – Bontrager Select, 26.0mm
Stem – Bontrager Select, 17 degree, 26.0mm
Headset – Cane Creek BL
Brakeset – Avid SD-5 w/Dia-Compe 287 Aero levers

Listing with Technorati!

Jerry — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:18:08 +0000

In an effort to increase the readership to my blog, I’m in the process of getting it listed with a number of the different blog rolls on the web…

Technorati Profile

The Ride Schedule for 2007

Jerry — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 13:57:39 +0000

Well, in order to ride PBP you need prove you have the ability to ride at least a successful 600K ride. Before you can ride a 600K you first need to successfully ride a 400K; before the 400K a 300K and before the 300K you must ride a 200K…oh and did I mention that you only have until the middle of the year to successfully finish all these rides???

A rather aggressive training program and ride schedule is what’s required for this year…and living in the Midwest with average temperatures not all that favorable for riding until…well…at least March or so…that does sort of cramp one’s training season a bit. So…a lot of indoor training rides combined with outdoor rides when weather permits is the rule of the land…

In order to qualify for PBP and not to have to travel to other cities for qualifying rides, I have come up with the following ride schedule for 2007. It’s rather aggressive, but doable:

March 10 – 200K
March 24 – 200K
April 14 – 300K (the only 300K scheduled in this area…so no screw-ups on this one)
April 28 – 400K
May 12 – 600K (or a 400K if I mess-up the April 28 400K somehow)
June 2 – 600K or 1000K

There is only one 300K scheduled for the Kansas City area this year…so I have to make sure that nothing goes wrong on that particular ride or I’ll be looking in other cities for a 300K to ride. Also the ride schedule is rather aggressive in that there are only two weeks between rides, with the ride distances doubling every 2-weeks.

I believe this year that you can for the first time complete the rides in any order, but why would anyone want to? Also if I for some reason mess-up on one ride, a longer ride can be substituted for a shorter ride, but it cannot count twice…so the self-imposed rule is…no screw-ups!

Anyway…back to my ride!