194 Days (Everything Hurts)

So much training has happened these last two weekends.

November 10-11:  Training camp in Fayetteville, TX

While it is certainly true that I am learning more about cycling than I have ever known before, I think that these last two weeks have best taught me how to wake up early.  Seriously, we were due in Fayetteville fo for training by 8:00AM, which meant that we had to leave by 6:30 at the latest.  WHICH MEANS THAT WE LEFT AT 6AM!  That day was amazing, though.  Right after arriving I was able to get on my bike and go for a 20 mile ride with some great teammates.  After lunch, we were taught skillz that we will certainly need in order to be better cyclists (skills like slaloming, quick braking, and they even had us literally hug each other while simultaneously riding in circles [to teach us to not be afraid to ride close to each other.])

We then had an amazing dinner, had an informative Q&A session with our coaches, and then I went to bed around 10:45.  Turns out that I'm not accustomed to sleeping outside, and after a not-entirely-restful night of sleep I got to wake up at 6AM so that we could be wheels down by 7.

I finally got to really see what my bike could do, and had an amazing 30 mile ride.  We made it back, took showers, and then drove back to Austin.  I slept better that night than I can remember ever sleeping before.


November 18:  First hardcore team ride

Once again, I had the honor and privilege of waking up before 6 so that I could ride my bike around Austin. And by "around Austin," what I really mean is "we rode our bikes miles outside of Austin and I had no idea where we were most of the time."  For some reason, these people have some belief that I might actually know what I am doing on a bicycle.  I don't get it, but they do.

I was assigned to lead my six person group on a 36 mile training ride, which was longer than most of us had ever ridden before.  I had turn by turn instructions, but that didn't stop me from getting us lost and tacking on 4 "bonus" miles to the trip.  We made it back, eventually.  I was on such a high when I made it home that I could hardly stop talking about it to my roommate/sister, but as soon as she left to take her dog on a walk I collapsed in bed just as my body started reminding me about every little bump I went over.  I'm already sore, but I'm so pumped about riding some more this week.

I can't believe how much is happening! We are supposed to train for 1,500 miles before we can leave for Alaska, and I passed my 100 mark today!

135 miles down, 1,365 to go.