Goals, training and insanity

Insanity has struck. I am actually considering training for a triathlon sprint. This from a person who couldn't run a mile 6 months ago. Insane! Here's the thing -- I find I really like a long-term stretch goals and feel restless without one. I learned this when I decided to train to ride the Katy Trail.

Cycling has become one of my fave things to do, as I have previously noted. One day, during a strength training session, I was warming up on the stationary bike. I remarked casually that I was surprised how much I was really enjoying the bike riding. Susie heard this and told me that another of her clients was planning to train for a week-long, 200-mile bike tour on the Katy Trail in Missouri in October of the following year. This would mean a full 12 months to get ready. I was in. [Side comment -- be careful about those casual remarks when Tip Top Susie is within earshot!]

Step one was to introduce myself to the other client, so we could train together once the weather got good again in the spring. When I did, I liked her right away. Sue is tall, blond, and (as I soon discovered firsthand) very determined. She had some very specific ideas about how to train. We started out with a plan to meet two week nights a week at the gazebo, since we lived in various parts of the island. Weekend rides were more structured and planning responsibility rotated. -- Actually, this sounds more structured than it was when we started, but it quickly evolved. -- Anyway, from a fitness and cycling experience standpoint, we were a diverse group. There was also a range of ages, from 50's to almost 80. It might surprise you to learn that the 80-year-old was our most able rider. Humbling!

As the spring gave way to summer and summer inched toward fall, our rides became longer and longer. Those seemingly long 5 mile rides in May were routine, minimal maintenance rides by September. We expanded our locations to the Metro Parks (20-25 miles), Dexter (remember the haranguer lady?), Hines Park into Northville, and an overnight excursion on the KalHaven rail trail from Kalamazoo to South Haven (35 miles each way). We rode mostly on pavement, but had several rides on chat, which is basically crushed limestone. Pavement is the easiest surface to ride on. Sand is horrible. Chat is somewhere in between.

As we rode greater distances, we became more comfortable with the distances, as well as a variety of road, traffic and weather conditions. Well, maybe not all of "we." And I don't think any of us was happy the day we rode down Dixie Highway past the gravel quarry. There is nothing fun about being buffeted by double-bottomed gravel haulers speeding down a two-lane road. To quote Sancho in The Man of La Mancha, "whether the stone hits the pitcher, or the pitcher hits the stone, it's not going to be good for the pitcher." Cyclists are definitely the pitcher in this scenario.

Two pieces of gear are really key to an endurable and even enjoyable extended ride -- the right bike saddle and the right shorts. (I'm talking comfort, not safety, here.) As it turns out, there are gender-specific design elements to a good saddle. Without going into details, it has more to do with where the padding isn't than where it is, thus giving soft tissues a break. It turns out that the saddle that came with my bike was a man's saddle. It didn't really matter when I was just tooling around the neighborhood, but was quite noticeable when I started riding down to Flat Rock and beyond! And the chamois in the shorts -- OMG, thank heaven!

We have acquired other gear and doodahs as we progressed and as weather and conditions became less of an inhibitor in our own minds. For example, the following items have all found their way into our house -- UVB resistant shirts for the fair-skinned (me!), a wide-mouthed water bottle that will allow ice cubes in easily (Doug), arm warmers (me), various reflective clothing items (both of us), skull caps and toasty-warm pants, rain jackets, and a variety of half- and full-fingered gloves. Then there are the computers to monitor heart rate, cadence, speed, and distance; the flashy lights for dusk or dawn riding, a good rearview mirror and a bell. And of course, there are plenty of whatchamacallits still out there just waiting for gadget geeks to stumble across them!

I'll tell more about the Katy trail later, but for now, I just want to say that I view differently what the conditions need to be for riding. I have a goal in 2010 to ride my bike in every month of the year. So far so good, but it was a near thing in January. As the end of the month neared, I carefully considered my condition requirements for meeting my goal that month. I sure didn't was to fail in my overall annual goal the first time out of the gate! As it turned out, for me, I need dry riding surfaces, no precipitation and preferably no wind. On January 29th, Doug and I went for a fairly short ride (5 miles, I think). We went out twice in February, and so on from there.

Crazy!