Eastbound ascending Wilson's on one of the last major climbs of the day.
Yesterday was the last ‘epic’ Team-in-Training ride in preparation for the Death Ride on July 9th. I have to say I’m quite amazed and happy with the way the ride went. Yesterday’s ride was 118 miles with 12,000 vertical feet of climbing. It included jaunts up Mount Tamalpais twice; travel up Highway one to Marshall battling moderate headwinds and the rollers; Olema Hill; Marshall’s wall; Wilson’s Hill (both sides); and the backsides of Alp du’Fromage, Nicasio, and White’s.
I can not speak more highly of the training program that Karen, the TNT head coach, put together or led for this season. The training program allowed me to make a ton of mistakes earlier in the season, which gave me ample time to correct those mistakes so that yesterday’s finale was ‘relatively’ painless. I was hydrated and stayed hydrated, I started slow and conserved energy so that I would have a little something for the end, I ate on the bike, I filled my water bottles with Hammer Gel (Montana Huckleberry is gross, Orange is good), I kept rest stops to a minimum, I took off my shoes at the later rest stops to give my feet a breather and keep ‘hot foot’ at bay, I applied sunscreen, I enjoyed the burn, I didn’t cramp.
I am still fearful of riding in the heat, as it has been a cool spring and early summer. Even though SF is always cold it does get hot in the surrounding areas and that hasn’t happened yet this year. In years past I made it a rule that if the temperatures approached 90 I wouldn’t ride. The Death Ride has been known to get hot, so let’s hope it doesn’t get too warm. To help allay that fear, I’ll be leaving well before dawn to help minimize the amount of time in the mid-afternoon sun.
So cheers to the last big training ride. From here on it is taper and rest. What a great season leading up to the Death Ride!!!
Ps. As of Friday morning, we have raised $5,050 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!! Never in my wildest dreams did I actually think we would reach the goal I had set. My heart can not thank you enough.
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