What Are You Training For???

Last year at this time I was anxiously awaiting confirmation that the beloved post card for TransIowa V6 had reached it's destination in time to be accepted for the race the following April.  It did make it on time and I set out a plan to train over the winter sort of like this - ride my bike every chance I get, snowshoe when possible, cross country ski when conditions permit, and swim when all else failed.

A little while later my friend Todd put a bug in my ear - He was taking a 3 month sabbatical at church and wanted to ride his bike for 30 days somewhere somehow.  I plotted trips out west (my favorite part of the country) that left Denver, CO and headed to The Grand Canyon.  We would then venture up through Utah and Wyoming to Grand Teton National Park and then wrap our way back to Denver.  This trip sounded like a great idea to ME.

Todd and God had a different plan.  He presented an idea to me that did not strike me nearly as much fun as my route would have been.  The Underground Railroad from Mobile, Alabama to our hometown of Orchard Park, NY.  I was disappointed but I knew Todd would not venture out alone so I said if work allows me the time off then I am in.  Work did and as you know, if you follow me at all, we did the Freedom Tour leaving Mobile, AL on June 4th and arriving in Buffalo, NY on July 2nd.

The photo was taken on our final day as we pressed into Dunkirk, NY to meet Pastor Ray, our church Youth Pastor, and his wife Mary for lunch and the final push into Orchard Park.  The memories of this bike tour will be forever ingrained in my head and I hope to put them to paper some day, but that is a long way off.

People would ask how do you train for a bike tour of that magnitude.  Well you ride your bike every chance you get for as long as possible, snowshoe when possible, cross country ski when conditions permit, and swim or run when all else failed.  Sounds familiar to TransIowa training huh?

It has been a successful year on the bike.  A quick check of my training log shows me that I have ridden 6346 miles so far this year.  I have "commuted" 67 times so far whether that is to work, church, gym, store, or somewhere else I could have driven.  My goal is to hit last years mark of 77 which would be honorable since I had 1 month of no commuting at all due to the bike tour.  Or I could call that a commute since I could have driven from Mobile to Buffalo right????  That would put me at 97 but that is cheating I think!

Next year my goal is 100 commutes since TransIowa (it ends on Easter so I am out) and Freedom Tour are not on the docket for next year.  So my bike riding this winter is going to be for fun since I don't have anything "official" to train for.  My goal is to hear how God wants me to utilize my biking for His Glory and I cannot wait to find out what He has in store.

See you on the trails somewhere - weather is beautiful this week so I will be riding some more all week long!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Sunset on The Ohio River from Cave-In-Rock State Park, IN during our Freedom Tour