Worried
I wrote this on June 1 but didn't post. I'll try to update later tonight maybe:
From reading my brother’s blog and that of 187 KM to Go, It looks there is a fair amount of doubt or apprehension going around about this ride. Well, count me in on that! This past weekend (May 28) I set out to do 100 miles again and I quit at 46. I got sick to my stomach. This is two weekends in a row I had to quit my ride. I have concluded it is the new energy mix I have been using, HammerGel Sustained Energy. I have used it only on those two rides and it just didn’t make sense that my energy would be sapped and I would not feel like riding after 45 miles. I really like the standard HammerGel and so I decided to buy Sustained Energy because it was designed for longer rides lasting over two hours. It contains some protein along with carbs. I am done with Sustained Energy. The problem is I have lost two weeks of increased endurance gains and now I wonder if I can even do a long ride. It’s amazing how a bad day can kill my confidence, but, all I can think about is how unimaginably huge hills await me in France and how can I believe I can ride up those hills if I can’t do a 50 miler here in Tennessee.
The next 3 weekends should give me the answers I need before the Etape. This weekend I am doing 75 miles Saturday and another 75 Sunday as part of the Tour De Cure Diabetes charity ride. That ride goes up Monteagle Mountain and will provide an excellent mountain field test. The weekend after that I plan another 100 mile ride. And, on June 17 I participate in the Cherohala Challenge which is a 115 mile ride with extended 9% grades. If I get through all of this ok, I will ease off for a week and then do maintenance rides until the Etape.
Robert has his cast off now and I don’t know his plans but I hope he can start riding long rides again. I really don’t want to go over to France by myself to do this. The good news about the Etape this week is that we are confirmed for our hotel in Oz just below L’Alpe D’Huez. That means if I make it to the end of the ride, the Gondola takes us off the mountain straight to our hotel where I can fall down on the bed.
I think I have done 1300 miles total training so far. I need to check that. Last night I did 50 miles through Percy Warner Park after work and felt fairly good the whole way. I used no Sustained Energy mix and had no stomach problems. This is a good thing.
We have not purchased Airline tickets yet. I need to do that soon. I think we will fly into Lyon from either London or Frankfurt on July 7. Cyclomundo takes care of the logistics from then until July 11 when we are on our own again. We could fly back July 11 or stay a few days. Again, we need to decide about that now.
From reading my brother’s blog and that of 187 KM to Go, It looks there is a fair amount of doubt or apprehension going around about this ride. Well, count me in on that! This past weekend (May 28) I set out to do 100 miles again and I quit at 46. I got sick to my stomach. This is two weekends in a row I had to quit my ride. I have concluded it is the new energy mix I have been using, HammerGel Sustained Energy. I have used it only on those two rides and it just didn’t make sense that my energy would be sapped and I would not feel like riding after 45 miles. I really like the standard HammerGel and so I decided to buy Sustained Energy because it was designed for longer rides lasting over two hours. It contains some protein along with carbs. I am done with Sustained Energy. The problem is I have lost two weeks of increased endurance gains and now I wonder if I can even do a long ride. It’s amazing how a bad day can kill my confidence, but, all I can think about is how unimaginably huge hills await me in France and how can I believe I can ride up those hills if I can’t do a 50 miler here in Tennessee.
The next 3 weekends should give me the answers I need before the Etape. This weekend I am doing 75 miles Saturday and another 75 Sunday as part of the Tour De Cure Diabetes charity ride. That ride goes up Monteagle Mountain and will provide an excellent mountain field test. The weekend after that I plan another 100 mile ride. And, on June 17 I participate in the Cherohala Challenge which is a 115 mile ride with extended 9% grades. If I get through all of this ok, I will ease off for a week and then do maintenance rides until the Etape.
Robert has his cast off now and I don’t know his plans but I hope he can start riding long rides again. I really don’t want to go over to France by myself to do this. The good news about the Etape this week is that we are confirmed for our hotel in Oz just below L’Alpe D’Huez. That means if I make it to the end of the ride, the Gondola takes us off the mountain straight to our hotel where I can fall down on the bed.
I think I have done 1300 miles total training so far. I need to check that. Last night I did 50 miles through Percy Warner Park after work and felt fairly good the whole way. I used no Sustained Energy mix and had no stomach problems. This is a good thing.
We have not purchased Airline tickets yet. I need to do that soon. I think we will fly into Lyon from either London or Frankfurt on July 7. Cyclomundo takes care of the logistics from then until July 11 when we are on our own again. We could fly back July 11 or stay a few days. Again, we need to decide about that now.
posted by Tormax at 5:35 PM
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