The Final Three Weeks of Preparation
Still Zwifting during the final month. Outdoors soon!
With less than a month at home in New York City before leaving on the train to Chicago with my loaded bicycle, I’ve returned to the mat to finish my year-long preparation, which I have written about as “The Rebuild.” Since December 2019 I’ve spent most of my free time on the indoor trainer, Zwifting my weight down eight kilos and building my aerobic fitness. I’ve met both goals of getting my weight down under 80 kg (78.6) and my fitness (CTL) up above 90 (94). However, during these last months, I’ve neglected those classes that helped me recover from old injuries and get back into great shape during the summer and fall of last year, as recounted in The Rebuild.
For these final four weeks, it’s time to get off the indoor trainer as much and back on the mat, taking yoga, strength, and stretch classes again, consolidating the gains, and putting Rule #5 into full effect: HTFU! In these final twenty-one days, I’ll be doing one or two online classes each morning and evening, as well as continuing Zwifting to Sweat Connected spinning classes. When my train leaves on 21 April, I plan to be at peak fitness and ready to hit the Adventure Cycling Association’s new Parks, Peaks, and Prairies route on 23 April, riding westbound from Minneapolis, as well prepared as possible for the rigors ahead.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been assembling all the gear and getting ready to ride outdoors again. The Revelate Designs harness and bags arrived for the handlebar packing setup, plus a new Jerry Can bag that I’ll place at the back end of the top tube. I’ve been working the leather conditioner into my new Brooks B-17 saddle, which now sits on the trainer getting into shape where the seat hits the meat. Early next week I’ll transfer the saddle over to my touring bike, put the tape measure to work getting the three points of contact (pedals, bars, and seat) all perfected oriented according to my bike fit. In ten days the weather should be better and I’ll do five rides in each of the New York City boroughs as part of the Transportation Alternatives “Bike the Boroughs” self-paced rides fundraiser.
There are so many little electronic pieces to put in place as well. To save weight I’m bringing a Samsung S6 Tablet with a rugged Otterbox case, plus a nifty foldable keyboard. For battery power, I’ve upgraded to a larger USB powerbank, USB fast charger adapter hub, and a 65w USB Direct Power charger so I can quickly refill my batteries when electricity is available. Rather than rely on my GoPro Hero Black, I’ve used credit card points to get a little Lumix ZS80 camera with a nice 30x 24-720mm Travel Zoom Lens for taking better pictures. And then there are the assorted little bits like a new spare Slime tube, replacement SPD cleats, and replacement counter plates for my old heavy-duty Keen cycling shoes.
And, finally, there has been a lot of work to do setting up all the social media feed details. My graphic artist, Spencer Hawkes, has finished his work on The Rise Up Ride logo (which is fantastic) and I’ve been preparing the website for its launch next. I’ve finally integrated my new Instagram account @theriseupride into the new Facebook page http://facebook.com/theriseupride and created the mailing list and signup form on the website. So many little details to still finish, but my goal is to have the daily storytelling content flow integrated by the time I leave, so there won’t be hassles and headaches while on the road coping with the real challenges of the ride, like wind, rain, shelter, and pedaling across the country.
