Woman's Tour Bike Training

My bike in 2011...down by the beach.

You've read a snippet or two about the Woman's Bike Tour that I will be going on in July. It's a 6-day tour through part of the Grand Tetons and I've been in training for a few weeks now.  I'm so excited!

The Woman's Tour has many tour packages, but I chose this one because it was rated for beginners. However, Cliff keeps reminding me there will be hills and I keep reiterating that it's rated for beginners. I think I might be trying to convince myself of that, but in the meantime, I will ride my little legs off to make sure I'm ready for this tour.  The first day on the tour, we will ride approximately 12 miles. The rest of the week we will ride anywhere from 20-40 miles a day, from point to point staying in Inns at night. The rides are in the mornings and then we have little side excursions in the afternoon. One day, we'll float on a river and one day we'll have a yoga session. I'm really excited about that, too. And now, since I most assuredly have to train for this week-long riding tour, you get to hear all about my training. Ha!

I've been riding my bike on the porch at the lake with the help of a trainer.

The Woman's Tour sent me a six-week training schedule to follow. I started early to make sure I would be ready and I will wrap up their schedule next week. But, I still have almost two months before the trip. So, I will continue training....taking longer rides, until the day I leave for Wyoming.

I've had to re-think how I normally train because I'm all about the miles and when I give you stats, they will be in miles. But, the Woman's Tour training schedule has me riding by time. When I started a few weeks ago riding half an hour two days a week and then an hour on Saturdays, I could tell that the training was not enough for me. So, I thought, I'll just tweak their plan to fit my ability. Well gah, I didn't have to! The training has picked up now and it's very challenging. Time on the seat is most crucial. And Sunday, I rode for 3 hours. I'm not gonna lie, it was a little painful. Especially for the ischial tuberosity! My next long ride will be 4 hours. Holy Ouch!! I ride outside, when I can. And when I can't, I set my bike up on the trainer and ride indoors or on the porch. My biggest fear is not the hills or how bad the tush is going to feel, but the traffic. From all I've read, the Woman's Tour courses are on less traveled roads or on bike paths. I'm counting heavily on this. If you would whisper a prayer for safety, I would love you forever. For now, I will follow their schedule and continue to, throughout June and July. I'm sure I'll be ready!

So....in case you were wondering, my stats are as follows:
Week of Apr 26  - 14.36 miles
Week of May 3   - 10.82 miles
Week of May 10 - 26.5 miles
Week of May 17 - 41.67 miles
Week of May 24 - to be continued...but so far, 38.50 and I still have 2 more days of riding this week.

Trusting my training,

Laurie

Oh wait, before you go......take a look at the sunset Cliff and I were watching this evening at the lake.

The gloaming.....a magical time of day.

What's Blooming?

The first thing I do, when I arrive at the lake is check the yard to see if there's something new that I haven't seen before and it's confirmed.....all sorts of new things are blooming. Eeeek, I am so excited to tell you the peony bloomed!

So far, it looks like I only have one peony plant and it only had one bloom. Pure gorgeousness!

Then, there are the Daylilies.

The little house the flying squirrel was living in.

The same house now has a family of birds living in it. I wasn't quick enough to capture the mama coming and going, but I spent a few minutes this morning listening to the babies.

And this is the tree that the birdhouse is attached to.

Can anyone tell me what it is? I don't have a clue.

A well established Hosta.

Brace yourself.

I'm fighting a new beast! Deer! They are wreaking havoc. Help!

You see this well established Lily, full of tender buds? I was so excited at the thought of seeing them in full bloom, wondering what color they would be......but, no more.

The beast ate every last bud! The poor thing is just left with little nubs.

I couldn't bear to take a picture of it.

Just wait, it gets more graphic.

This is one of my new Hostas, planted last fall. It's was just a little too tasty. Waah!

I planted three Hydrangeas and flanked them by the Hostas. I have high hopes for this combination. But as you can see, the beasts have been nibbling on them, too.

I remembered that Cliff's daddy once told me to place Irish Spring soap shavings around some Indian Hawthorns that I had planted at home. The deer were nibbling their leaves, too. The soap thing apparently worked...I didn't have any more trouble. So, I did the same thing at the lake. I'm hoping it works. I also placed a wind chime on a branch of a Crepe Myrtle that hangs right over the Hostas. If the deer goes back to that spot, I'm thinking that he'll bump the wind chimes and it will scare him away. Lordy, it's a battle!

And then there's this.......apparently, the beasts don't care for them.

Love this, but have no clue what it is.

The Gardenias smell heavenly!

And, last but not least, I bought this at Lowe's. It's Calibrocia.

I planted Geraniums and Creeping Jenny in a couple of planters by the back door, but forgot to get pictures. And I plan to place a large pot of geraniums on a bench going down the stairs to the dock. I'll try to remember to get pictures of those next time.

Changing Gears!

My bike training is coming along nicely. Saturday, I rode about 10 miles and Sunday, about 14. My legs felt like they could keep going for many more miles, but my sit bones were screaming. I ordered a pair of cycling underwear. I'm going to try them under my athletic skirts, because I can't stand the bike shorts that cyclists wear. I'll let you know, if they work.....who knows, maybe you want a pair for yourself. 

Emily and the children spent the weekend with us at the lake. Emily cooked dinner twice and did the dishes, too. I felt pampered! Lidia and Sawyer played in the lake the whole weekend. Cliff pulled them behind the boat on a kayak, on a raft, on a boogie board and even with them just holding on to the rope. They had a ball.

I've got a full load, this week. Tuesday and Thursdays is yoga, as well as 10 miles each day on the bike. I'm thinking of running Wednesday for some cross training. And then, I have some really long rides this weekend....an hour Saturday and three hours Sunday, which will be approximately 4o miles.

Talk more later,

Laurie