One Month Down

Home Made Pork Tacos Makes Me Strong

Not only was this the first month of the year it was the first month of my 18 months of preparation for the GDR. If I tell myself that the race is a year and a half away I am not too worried about my present state of fitness. If I tell myself that one of my eighteen months of lead in has vanished without noticeable differences in my strength, endurance or weight, I get pretty scared.
This month I rode a paltry 420 miles and 34.5 hours. Most of that was on my SS 29er and mostly on cold snowy streets. I did a good job of riding frequently, I probably had 4 days when I didn't touch a bike, but I only got two long rides in; both around 5 hours long. getting 80 to 100 miles in on my monday makes it easy to pad my mileage but it also does a lot for my motivation. When I start off my week with a five hour ride I feel I have momentum, I am eager to keep things rolling and almost always put in a couple of solid rides back to back following it. With the exception of President's Day when my daughter and I will be hanging out, February holds the promise of completing more long Monday rides.
I have been adjusting my diet of recent. First step was to get some good food in me. Now I need to stop eating so much of the bad food or food at the wrong time. I know enough about my body to have realized that I shouldn't be a grazer. That theory that we would all be better off with 5-6 small meals instead of three big ones does not work for me. My best days are when I eat my basic breakfast of goat's milk yogurt, blueberries and walnuts and then spend the next 4 or 5 hours in physical activity. A good lunch with some meat, some fruit and some sweets followed by more activity and a dinner with more meat, vegetables and some sweets. It is best if I stop eating by 4 or 5 o'clock at the latest. The closer to bedtime I eat, the worse I feel when I wake up.
None of this diet applies to long bike rides though. I eat 200-400 calories hourly as long as I am biking. I always wait until at least 40 minutes into a ride to start with the food. There seems to be a point at which my body says, "looks like were going to need a lot of wood for the fire today" and it opens the way for me to eat whatever I want in profuse amounts. It is one of the best things about cycling.