HRIDE: Week 13/14+ Training Report

I confess that I have started to lose track of weeks as training time has been flying by this month. Since my last post I have reached my training peak for the event and can honestly say that I have surprised myself in what I am now capable of.

My last three weekend training rides have been:

May 5th: Sandy Hook NJ - 85 miles
(40 miles of which we rode in fast pacelines on the flat coast)
May 12th: East Clinton NJ - 40 mile hill climb extravaganza
(500 feet more elevation in climbing than the 100 mile Tahoe course, crammed into 40 grueling miles)
May 19th: Rockland County NY - 60 miles with hill repeats included, in the rain

*Not only have I completed these rides, but I have graduated to comfortably riding them with the "fast group". Wahoo!

I should also note that my progress over the past month would not have been as great without teammates and coaches, and most importantly, my riding partner, Kurt, aka Hollywood - a teammate who lives just two blocks from me in Brooklyn. Having someone to commit to work out with, travel to rides with, compare progress with, complain to and ride with while watching each other's backs on the open rode, has made me a stronger and more confident rider that I could be on my own.

So, basically, I am ready - which is an awesome way to feel as I enter into the "taper" part of training (more on that in my next update). It might actually be more appropriate to say, I am kicking ass. So stay tuned for my story about America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. Tahoe, here I come....