Shift

My 2009 cycling season training kicked off on Saturday morning in foggy 34 degree weather. I rode out North Valley, by Tillikum which was on the season finale of the Amazing Race, down Laughlin road, back on the 240 over the hill, and back to North Valley road to Newberg. The rolling hills was a good early season work out - right at 2 hours of riding. I hadn't been on the bike in almost two weeks and hadn't ridden outside for seveal more. It felt good to be out. Something about riding out through the farm land, the hills, the ponds and streams, and everything else renews me.

Last year I focused on the miles. This is the year of my paradigm shift. I have always got carried away with mileage and miles per hour as a measurement of my fitness and how to determine my work outs. This year I will go to the LA method of determining distance - time. As many professional cyclists proclaim, it is about time on the bike. If any of you have lived in the LA area, you know that you don't talk about miles to get somewhere, it is always a distance as measured in time.

"How long to get to Disney Land?"

"About an hour to an hour and a half from Simi Valley."

I believe by taking this approach, I will be able to improve my time on the bike before the STP rather than just focusing on the miles in order to take that step to the 12 hour total time ride. July will tell if my approach is sound.

Focus

2008 was a good year for me on the bike. I met the two goals I set for myself and really enjoyed the riding and fitness that was a result. In looking at 2009, I really only have one goals - 12 total hours for the STP. I believe that simplicity will add to my focus. This definitely is a stretch for me but attainable. Last year I finished around 13 hours but reviewing the ride, 12 hours was there if I didn't take as long at the rest stops. I will get my plan more finalized as I get closer to the date but a few ideas that I have right now is get more longer rides on Saturday with some longer Friday night rides. Keep up the intensity on the weekday rides, especially when I start riding to work again. Get to the hills and add to the leg strength. Do one hour time trials to keep the speed up. I am excited for the year of riding.

I am also excited for the year in Professional Cycling - Lance is back, Astana is stacked, and we have two strong US pro teams in Garmin-Chipotle and Columbia. A lot of good cycling to follow and watch this year. Let's get riding.

I know it may seem short sighted to just focus on the STP but my building to ride the STP starts right after it ends. All the miles I put on the bike the rest of the year only help me to get the job done in July. Plus, August will be a busy month for me with all of the C activities that she has and my own obligations with the church youth program. We have a high adventure planned to do some hiking around Mt. St. Helens for 4 days in August. I will still bike but I will still have other fitness activities to keep me going.

The biking has been slim this week. We spent New Year's with my brothers and parents in Tacoma. It was good fun to eat and visit with all of them. On Beecher Street, there is a nice picture of the entire family at Josefina's restaurant on New Year's Day. The other part is that I had a massive stomach bug. The pain meter was at an 8. I was down and out till this morning where I still feel the lingering effects. Yesterday, I spent about 6 hours at the clinic getting poked, proded, and lying about. Not good for the bike but this coming week, I will get back into it. It just irritates me to be sick when I am off of work. Not fun for me or for my family. As I am driving home from the clinic, I notice that the roads are dry and it is partly cloudy with some sun. This only adds to my frustration. I am not only sick while I am off of work but the weather is great for winter Oregon to ride in and I don't get to hang with the C. Triple Whammy!!!

Anyway, 2009 has begun. Let the goals be achieved and the fun begin...