I’ve finished the qualifying series for Paris Brest Paris.
I’ve sent in my application.
I’m brushing up on a few French terms that could come in handy: "Un croque-monsieur, s’il vous plaît!” Or “Pardon, ou est le WC, s’il vous plaît?”
(As you can see, my game plan is to end every sentence with s’il vous plait: “J’ai la diarrhée, s’il vous plaît!”)
Time to put the feet up? Mais, no! With qualifying over, now the real training starts.
I’m not much of a planner in this regard, but here’s a look at what I did in 2003. I’m following a similar program this year. It's largely a seat-of-the-pants approach, but it works for me. Your training mileage may vary.
Biking in July and August
In 2003, I did a mix of short around-town cruises, fast weekend runs and three or four long (200-300k) rides. I probably racked up 800 miles in July, and 300-400 miles in the first two weeks of August, but those are just guesses.
* Neighborhood rides. In July, I began joining two neighborhood friends who do a 15-mile loop each morning before work. The pace probably averaged 13-14 along local greenway trails and a few feeder roads. Not much mileage, right? But it helped keep my legs moving, and I added another 10 miles by commuting to work. Those little rides added up -- I wound up with 75-100 miles before the weekend arrived.
This year, I'm joining those guys once or twice a week. I'm also doing a couple weekday rides of 25-30 miles on my fixed gear. Those are usually easy-paced rides, with a short sprint or two somewhere along the way.
* Fast rides. In 2003, when I hadn't planned a long ride on Saturday, I’d head out for a fast-paced 75 miles or so, really getting the heart rate up.
Most of the Saturday rides in 03 were small affairs with one or two friends. This year, I've been doing speed work with the Gyros, a North Raleigh group that gives club riding a good name. Their company and their routes are highly recommended.
* Social rides. In 2003, Sundays were reserved for the local crew. Those were typically poky affairs, with more yammering than hammering, for 45-60 miles. Time to forget about the training, roll down a few country lanes, have some fun in the sun.
I'm repeating the pattern this year. This Sunday's ride was a typical low-key recovery day. JoeRay, Dan and I did 50 miles at 16.5 mph. The route was strategically mapped so that we hit Maple View farm, with its ice cream store, just as its doors opened at noon. (Truth be told, Maple View is the focal point for many of our Orange County rides.) For the record, I had a vanilla shake. Joe bought.
Another popular Sunday route is The Pancake Ride -- a 60-mile out-and-back from Raleigh to Durham, with a stop at Mad Hatters for breakfast.
* Long rides. I did two rides of 200K or more. On the first, I rode what is now the Kerr Lake Loop permanent, a 208K course through the scenic lake country. In 2003, I followed up that ride the very next day with a fast century. The second long ride, just shy of 300K, was my other permanent, Blackbeard’s Permanent. I started this ride at around 2 in the morning, effectively turning it into a test shakeout for my new Schmidt dynahub and E6 light.
I have a similar schedule on tap for this year: We're looking at one weekend of back-to-back 200Ks, as well as the Blackbeard Permanent.
Swimming
I’ve been a lap swimmer most of my life, and I think that helped my overall fitness in 2003. I gave up lap swimming most of last year -- and my cycling suffered. Lately I’ve been in the pool about three times a week.
Other Training
In 2003, doing the Blackbeard permanent in July was the prelude to a week at the beach for surfing at Hatteras. While there, I rode my bike about 15 miles. It made me a little nervous letting go of my legs so close to PBP, but I figured my time was better spent with family and friends. At least Le Tour was on TV, so all was not lost.
Final ride
The weekend before I boxed up my bike in August 03, I did the Bikefest century outfitted just as I planned to ride in Paris. With fenders, lights and Berthoud bag, I looked like a lost tourist among the carbon racing crowd. I got a little practice on tire changing during that ride, something that never hurts. Within the first 2 miles I hit a monster pot hole and tore a huge gash in my front tire. Like a good randonneur, I had a spare with me…
What would I have done differently? I wish I'd had more hills in my schedule. PBP proved to be much hillier than I anticipated. This year, I hope to train for a few days in the N.C. mountains.
If you know how many training miles you're likely to do in July, please submit your response to the online survey at the top of this page.
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