Monthly Archives: July 2011

Training

Tuesday July 26, 2011

Our training continues to go well. Due to our different schedules we have yet to ride together with Jocelyn’s new Long Haul Trucker. She is putting her own miles in with that. I continue on the “beast” while adding weight. Most weeks I am riding up to three days in a row generally taking a southern route to Sebastian Inlet bridge. From my house to the other side of the bridge is 40 miles. My days of 100 plus training days are over with the addition of panniers and trunk bag. My panniers are loaded with 6 gallon jugs of water. At 7.5 pounds a gallon that gives me some 45 pounds. Plus I have added several other things from the garage. We are planning for 70 mile days at six days a week.

Last weekend I decided to load everything including the new tent and sleeping pads into the Ortlieb trunk bag. I should have bought the large one because that bag is now full. We still haven’t gotten our sleeping bags yet so will need another bag to carry those. That bag and my tool shoebox pretty much fills my bike.

After a few miles I was really feeling the weight. I thought I might be up to around 60 pounds. I did my usual ride and had a very tough time getting to the top of Sebastian Inlet bridge at 65 feet. I turned around and went over again. The heat along A1A was brutal. I felt like I was in an oven. But I made the 80 miles with lots of water and head shower stops at the many beach parks. When I got home I weighed myself with shoes and hydration pack at 210 pounds. All my bags totaled 76 pounds so it looks like I am at my trip weight. That’s a lot of weight on the bike. The next several weeks will be spent stressing it and trying to find a week spot.

So now I am concerned about long grades and mountains. Being in Florida there is not much opportunity for hill training so I need to start training on bridges. I think I will start doing laps on the local bridges.

Kennedy Space Center is a great place to ride
Kennedy Space Center is a great place to ride
I like leaving early
I like leaving early
My fully loaded bike
My fully loaded bike