Ride the Rockies 2017 Training Update: March Madness

What do you do when your team loses in the Elite 8? Shred your bracket and focus on your next big goal! For me, that is Ride the Rockies 2017, starting 11 weeks from today. My March Madness ended last night with the Jayhawks' loss so its nice to have something to look forward to. Having a goal to keep me motivated is one of the reasons I sign up for these challenging multiple day cycling events.

The other part of March Madness in Colorado is the spring weather. March is Colorado's snowiest month along the Front Range. This past week we went from 75F during the day to a blizzard that night. I was able to get outside this past weekend but the rest of my 300 miles so far this month have been on the indoor trainer. 

I've been continuing to throw in sets of Flying 40s and Ten Speeds during my workouts, as well as gradually increasing mileage. To date, I have logged more miles in 2017 -- 865 -- than in any of the previous three years through March (and I still have several days to ride). I'm averaging right around 75 miles per week/300 miles per month.

Jonny Rocker texted me this past week. Apparently he's having trouble getting motivated to ride while sitting on the beach in Hawaii (everybody say, "awwww") and has only recorded 560 miles to date. I'm not worried about him. He will catch up quick once he gets back to retired life in California :)

I'm ready to move on from March Madness to April showers and May flowers. Come on, Mother Nature, let's do this!

Ride on...

Daren

2017 RTR Lottery Accepted!

It began with a text from Rocker on Friday morning. The charges had hit his card. So I checked my credit card and sure enough, there it was, a charge from RaceIt-Ride the Rockies. Seeing the charge go through is a sure sign that you're in -- RTR doesn't charge your card unless you are selected in the lottery -- but it was still good to receive the e-mail confirmation later that day: 

Getting selected in the RTR lottery isn't exactly like winning the lottery. I wish it was because I have been selected 10 out of 10 times I have applied! My luck with playing the lottery is not nearly as good (RTR is capped at 2,000 riders -- it makes me wonder how many people actually apply for the 2,000 spots).

I have ridden three of my nine Ride the Rockies as a member of Team Bar2Bar. Several of us got together to do some skiing this past weekend and all we could talk about was RTR! Pictured (from left): Woody and Paul the Pilot.

Anyway, as I suggested to Rocker, it's time to get motivated. There's nothing like knowing you have to be ready to ride 447 miles while ascending more than 32,000 vertical feet over the span of seven days to wake you up in the morning (and a lot more than that if we decide to meet up with Team Bar2Bar in Salida and ride to the start in Alamosa).

On that note, it's time to hit the trainer (my CycleOps Fluid2 trainer, not my personal trainer). 

Ride on...

Daren