Training: Part 1

Having signed on for the Pacific Coast ride in August, 2011, I had 13 months to whip myself into cycling endurance mode. Tony and I had a two-week cycling vacation in Italy which was to jump start that process. Without divulging all of the gory details, and while we enjoyed Italy tremendously, it was less successful on the cycling front. An unfortunate tumble on rain-slicked cobblestones while heading down one of those famous Tuscany hills resulted in a visit to a hand surgeon and a cast on my right hand through mid-November.

Tuscany, pre-accident

Therefore, training in earnest began in late November. Sarasota has a vibrant cycling club, the Sarasota Manatee Bicycle Club, with group rides at all levels almost every day. I rode 5-6 days per week and managed to rack up 3181 miles between late November and early June.

The highlight of the winter was participating in Bike Florida in late March. It is a one week ride that visits different parts of the state each year. This year's location was a major attraction for me, on the panhandle due south of Tallahassee in an area termed the "Forgotten Coast". The town where we had our rest day, Apalachicola, also happens to be the epicenter of Florida's oyster industry and I can attest to their well-deserved reputation. Another incentive was the longer mileage days so I could gauge how my training was progressing. Having covered 300 miles in the week, I felt confident that I would be capable of increasing that to the 350-400 miles required on the Pacific Coast ride. I was fortunate to have two folks from the cycling club also on the trip along with their friend from Arizona and, most days, we rode together.

Bike Florida:  Terry, Patty, Amy, Carol