Saturday, March 3, 2012

So we meet again

A few years ago I did my first Century with the Tour De Cure.  The best part of the route in my opinion was going through Elfin Forest.  I hadn't been back since, and I've been itchin' to do so. 

It's part of the route for our upandcomming ride (http://sandiegocentury.eventmediainc.com/), so I figured it was high time to do so.  I planned out a nice 35 mile loop, starting at the Mira Costa college. 

My daughter really liked riding through Elfin Forest as well.  If we had the time, we would have pulled over and checked it out more.  The ride past Lake Hodges on the Del Dios Highway is always nice.

Our average speed was lower than previous times, but we didn't feel nearly as sore or as tired as before.  I think we're finally starting to get the hang of properly climbing hills on the tandem. 

With the nicer weather, we saw a lot of cyclists out today.  This route is particularly popular with many cyclists and teams.  

To keep the water bottles from coming loose and having to stop to retrieve them from the road, we've tightened down the cages which make pulling the bottles while still riding a bit difficult for my daughter.  After getting mildly dehydrated with the last ride, I decided to have her carry the CamelBak.  Great decision and it helped her out quite a bit.  The problem is that we had to stop several times for bathroom breaks.  I'd rather take the extra time than have her not drinking enough water. 

Friday, March 2, 2012

Two Training Rides

So after buying the tandem, I get this bright idea that I'll sign my daughter and I up for an organized ride.  It makes for good motivation to train for it, since you're committed to it.  Without having to drive or travel way out of the way, I decided upon this one - http://sandiegocentury.eventmediainc.com/  After looking a the course, there was no way I was gonna sign up for the century route.  I just know there are too many hills involved and that we would never be ready for it.  The 37 mile route seemed almost too easy, so I opted for the 66 miler.  It's going to be a challenge that should be obtainable. The map for the 66 miler is shown here - http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=223978

So that means we're gonna have to train every Saturday morning to make sure that we are ready for that kind of distance.  So far we've gotten in two good sized rides -


27 miles.  I was familiar with most of this route, since I ride a lot of it in my daily ride to work. Not too many hills and will be the easier part of the route.




A 38 miler that we didn't drink enough water through and suffered the consequences afterward.  A good amount of climbing that we definitely have to work on.  Very nice, scenic ride past Lake Hodges and the Del Dios Highway -


My daughter is getting really good at riding the tandem.  Her balance is great, she knows all of the signals and communications that we need to have.  The only complaint that she has (which I have too) is that her butt is sore after these longer rides.  That's something that we're just gonna have to get use to.