2 days to go

So just 2 days to go, till we depart.  I did some last minute shopping today for some rain gear (rain is disappointingly predicted on Saturday, although the forecast seems to change by the minute so who really knows?!).  I just have to pack my stuff and head out.  I’m very much looking forward to it!!!  Anyone who looks at my flickr site will see that on Sunday I did my final big training ride of 73.15 miles, this was slightly less than I would have liked but still not bad going – especially as it did include a climb up Cypress Mountain. 

Before the ride this will be my last update on the fund-raising.  Even more fantastic progress has been made and the total now stands at 6,124.38, plus I have some further cash donations to submit too.  This is magnificent and I am so grateful to everyone who has donated.  I, of course heartily encourage anyone who hasn’t donated to do so, every penny is going to a good cause.

If I don’t get chance to update tomorrow then I will be taking my laptop with me, this is ancient and not reliable.  So if I get an Internet connection and chance then I will try to update as often as possible with progress.  If not then I will update after the even and there will be lots of photos!

Cycling this week according to Vancouver Bike to work

My profile this week on Vancouver bike to work week’s website reports the following stats for my commutes:

9 Commutes
238.1661 Kilometers Travelled
56.2071996 GHG’s Saved
6811.55046 Calories Burnt

Actually this is an underestimate because it appears to only allow one distance to be recorded and then multiplies that depnding on whether or not you went one or both ways.

Why 9 and not 10?  It rained on Friday afternoon – hard – and I was so tired that I decided to sling it on a bus and skip that one! 

6 weeks to go

The Gearup4CF ride starts in 6 weeks time.  So there is still plenty of time for everyone who is intending to sponsor me to do so!

Everything is starting to come together now.  Within the next two weeks I should be in possession of the bike I will use for the ride.  I’ve also now started training in earnest, helped by the much improved weather in Vancouver!  Today I was down at the airport twice, I have been down there 5 times this week and racked up more than a hundred miles.  At the moment the only real problem I have is slight back pain, especially going up hill, this goes away as soon as I get of the bike!  This should be helped by getting a bike that is properly fitted to me, I’ll try to remember to talk about what is soon.

Also good news this week was the arrival of the team kit, it looks magnificent and it should look great when there is 21 of us all wearing it, photos to follow.  Also arrived are advertising posters for the event, one is going up in my apartment building and various posters should appear around UBC and other places. 

So things are all starting to take shape!

Me down at Iona Beach this evening

Me down at Iona Beach this evening

Originally uploaded by JamesZ_Flickr.

I took this photo of me to prove I am out training – at least a bit!  This is me with my much maligned but in fact stalwart bike down at Iona Beach at about 7pm.  Today was a horrible start to the day, with a big down pour that caused me to stop on Marine Drive to fit covers to my shoes so I didn’t get completely soaked on my extended 11 mile ride into work. At this time of year the weather can change very quickly and by the afternoon it was a lovely day so I went down to the airport and Iona Beach. This is taken looking sort of eastwards towards the airport. This was the first time this year I have been able to dispense with my arm warmers.

Time to start training

I’ve just returned from vacation and the rain has finally abated in Vancouver, so it is time to start working up to the bike ride. 

So how does one train for a long distance ride like that?  Well, as I’m relatively new to cycling, I haven’t got any professional answers to this.  Last year when I went on the BC Lung Association ride I did train and this consisted of my daily cycling commute – which is 16 miles, plus usually one long ride on a weekend – eventually building up to a full days distance the weekend before (in the region of 65 miles).  Looking at some of the advice on some Internet sites this appears to have been a good way to go about it.

I’m still figuring out my strategy for this and I will post more on this in the future.  One plan I have is to extend my daily cycle to work from 8 miles to include a detour down the Vancouver Airport, this will give me more distance and also take me on one of my favorite routes – cycling should be enjoyable!!!!

In the meantime there are a range of websites that offer advice on such activities, below are a couple that I’m looking at.  Looking at these and others one quickly becomes aware of just how seriously some people take their cycling, I don’t think I’ll be going quite as far as some people do (where’s the fun in eating an exact number of calories in a day?) – not yet anyway!  One important point about this ride though is that it is not a race, the goal is to complete the distance so this is somewhat different to working up to absolute pace.

http://www.bikeforums.net/  (just discovered this big online big forum)

http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=47 (the touring forum, this seems the closest to what I’m doing)

http://www.bicycling.com/channel/0,6609,s1-4-0-0-0,00.html?location=_*topnav*  (bicycling.com seems to be a huge website with lots of interesting things on it)

http://www.bv.com.au/  (this is an Australian website and these guys seem to have lots of useful tips under bikes and riding)