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So by the Waves to Wine tour, I had dropped about 15 pounds and had a lighter bike. Monique and I had trained throughout September and she had upped her miles considerably. Our goal was to ride 75 miles the first day and 65 miles the second day of the tour. I recall one training ride on a Thursday late afternoon. We had just reached Folsom on our return from Nimbus Dam and a lightining storm started. It wouldn't have been a big deal except that we were right next to the river and there were power lines not 25 feet above our heads. The rain was driving and showed no signs of letting up. We pulled into a Coffee Republic and thought about sitting it out for an hour. But Monique wanted to get home and, as she put it, we were already wet, so we might as well get really wet.
We slogged it out back to Roseville and about 2 miles from home, she flatted out. Thankfully, we were right next to a covered bus stop. So rather than fix the flat, we decided I should ride home, get the car and come back to pick her up. I sprinted flat-out for two miles in the rain and was out of breath when I got home. But funny, I didn't feel like busting a lung. That was the first sign I was getting fit again. I picked her up and we got dressed and went to dinner at Macaroni Grill. This time I ordered something from the light menu and Monique commented that it was the first time she had noticed I had not gone for the lasagna. "Its all about making good choices" she would tell me and I started taking those words to heart.
We had a great time riding the Waves to Wine, which is one of my favorite tours. The weather was spectacular along the coast and was a bit hot inland, but I enjoy riding in the heat. We followed our game plan - we would ride out of all the rest stops together and when I felt the need for speed, I would crank it up and wait for her at the next rest stop. Our system worked well and helped us both enjoy the tour. Sunday's jaunt through the wine country was equally fun, and we weren't terribly sore after the first day's 75 miles. We had a nice lunch at the rest stop at Chateau Souverain and decided to take our time through the vineyads on the way back. I got ahead of Monique at one point and I stopped to wait for her in in front of small winery in the most magical part of the route. It’s a large vineyard surrounded by redwoods with a long climb to the top of a hill nestled in the forest. I sat down on the lawn under a tree and watched as cyclists passed by, chatting and smiling, waving to me as they passed. Cycling is such a friendly culture and you can always count on a wave or a smile from a passing cyclist.
We finished up the course at around 2 pm, showered, changed and had a beer. Unlike past years, we decided to stay an additional night so we could do some sightseeing in nearby Bodega Bay (yes, the same Bodega Bay as "The Birds") the next day. That night we went to eat at our favorite Thai restaurant in Santa Rosa and decided to walk to a nearby Border's Books and Music after dinner.
I was really excited that I had accomplished my goal of being ready for the Waves to Wine. In 3 months I had made some very positive gains and overall, I felt great about my trajectory. But I knew that I was missing something else that would really get me into top shape - structure. Up to that point I simply went out as long as I could for as hard as I could. But I had heard there were training methods that racers use - like interval workouts - that were very targetted and effective. I went to the Sports section at Border's and started browsing for books on cycling and cycling training.
That's when I found Chris Carmichael's book "The Ultimate Ride". Carmichael is Lance Armstrong's coach and has helped him each year to prepare for - and win - five Tours de France (soon to be six). As I skimmed the chapters I realized that there was a lot more to cycle training than going all out for hours at a time. His approach seemed to be very reasonable, scientific and proven, without a lot of hype. And I noticed that the program could be done by non-racers like me, those who were looking to put more structure aroound their workouts. It also uses heart rate monitor data to track performance levels. And the program put a big emphasis on rest and recovery, which was a relatively new concept for me. Inside the back cover was an offer - to participate in the Carmichael Training Systems online training program for 3 months at a reduced rate.
I bought the book and read it cover to cover in two days. And after that, I went to the CTS web site and signed up for the program. I bought a Polar 720i heart rate monitor with integrated cycling functions and installed it on my bike. I was done with excuses, it was time to see if I was for real.
<- Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ->
Author's Note: I wrote this article in the Fall of 2004 and since then I have received great feedback and a request to make it more available. Since then, I've lapsed into some old (bad) habits but I'm on my way back. A new "Re-Reinventing the Cyclist" is in the works. For now, I hope you can find some nugget of usefulness from this archive. - Carlo