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Who enters these things? Now is the time of year when more and more endurance races are coming around.  Before this morning’s “training” ride at 7:00 because that’s when it’s cooler and less humid, I checked the weather reports – 77 degrees and 99% humidity.  No joke – 99% humidity.  I took this picture after dinner, it let up a bit:

98 Percent Humidity Bike Ride

98% Optimum Ride Training Weather

 

Did I wake up in Houston?

No, I guess this is all part of it.  So, the first endurance bike ride for me is the 24 hours of Great Glenn, this coming Saturday, and the second is the Hampshire 100.

I kind of got roped into them, and now have been working to get myself more fit to take on the challenge.  However, there’s not a lot I can do, I don’t think.  It’s kind of like prepping for a final exam – either you know it or you don’t.  With this, I’ve taken the same attitude.  I’ve been pushing a 35lb freeride bike on all our weekly rides – trying to get 30 – 60 miles per week.  Some nights it’s only a couple hours of riding for 10 – 15 miles, and some days it’s 3 – 4 hours of riding for 15 – 20+ miles, with a ton of climbing.  The second part of my thought process on the physical conditioning is to incorporate as much climbing as possible.

What’s happened is, I’ve started reading books on adopting a positive mental attitude (PMA) – it’s a real thing – I’ve learned to “enjoy” (using that term loosely) the suffering of climbing steep mountain single track on a 7” bike, and I’ve also learned to love PBR Tallboys.  No, I learned that in college.  But, they’ve been a big help on the PMA, because every time I think about the suffer-fest of climbing, riding 24 hours, and/or riding 100Km, I help myself to a tall boy.  It’s carbo loading, right?

But, not all the PBR in Milwaukee can help my PMA when I wake up and see 75 – 80 degree temps with 98/99% humidity, and a real feel of WHAT THE F AM I DOING?  Hopefully, this coming weekend will be cool and dry.  Pics and report on Monday.  Pray for cool and dry.