Farewell for Now Arizona, Route 66 Awaits

Today was the last day of camp (at least for me). There are actually three more weeks, but I've done my planned four. Now I need to get home and start training on my Route 66 bike. I only have about 2 1/2 weeks to get comfortable on it before driving out to Santa Monica.

For the Route 66 tour, I will be riding a Rivendell Rambouillet. The Rivendell is quite a bit different than my usual road bikes. It has an all steel frame and a geometry that is designed for a more upright riding position. Most importantly, it allows for larger tires. Given the poor condition of much of the original Route 66 roads, larger cyclo-cross type tires are needed. I am planning on running 32mm tires with a somewhat aggressive tread. Normally, I run 23mm or 25mm slicks on my road bikes.

Lessons Learned

I learned quite a bit out here during the past four weeks. My primary goals in coming out here were to learn how my body reacts to riding long miles almost every day for month, and to get in shape for the Route 66 tour.

I consider the trip to be successful. I am in better shape than I was a month ago, and I learned a lot about riding every day. The lessons learned from the saddle, knee, and illness problems that I had at camp will probably save me grief on Route 66. Sure, things will still go wrong on Route 66, but I now know a lot more about avoiding saddle problems and overuse injuries. I also know a lot more about how to ride through them when they do come up. As for getting sick, well, I can only hope that after riding with 150 people from around the world and living with 5 different roommates, I have caught everything that I am going to catch for the season.

Adventure Awaits

The blog will probably be a little quiet for a few weeks. I'll still be posting my training ride summaries -- probably just stats and a few random events. The real adventure begins on April 14th as we begin the 2,500 mile, 29 day, traversal of the original Route 66.

Given the powerful history of Route 66, and poor condition of the road, I expect plenty of drama. That should make for plenty of great stories and great photographs on almost every day. In addition to my blogging, there will be several people in our group that are working on books, videos, and other documentary works. I believe that the editors of Route 66 Magazine will also be joining us, via car, for entire journey. Their knowledge of the road will add tremendously to both the experience and to the quality of the various documentaries being developed along the way.

Thanks for supporting my blog during training camp. The emails and blog comments are a great source of motivation after a long and painful day. I hope you can all stay with me on Route 66. I'll do my best to be both informative and entertaining...

Today's Ride Summary

Route: Casa Grande to Tucson
Distance: 83.2 miles
Speed (avg/max): 15.8 mph / 31.4 mph
Riding Time: 5 hours 16 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours 24 minutes
Power (avg/max) 158 watts / 785 watts
Calories Measured at Wheel: 2,980
Heart Rate (min/max/avg): ??? bpm / ??? bpm / ??? bpm

Miles this Year: 1658