Hello, everyone

When I rode across the country with PAC Tour in 2005, I enjoyed keeping a weblog. It helped me recap each day's activity and kept my friends informed about how I was doing. It also was great to put in the trip scrapbook! I am riding again with PAC Tour on Ridge of the Rockies, a 19 day 1943 mile extravaganza, and will record my experiences here.

Today I'm feeling sort of anxious about starting the tour; It is a huge undertaking, and I don't feel quite as well prepared this time as I was last time. I've ridden about 1800 miles in the last two months, and about 4000 or so on the year, which is qute a bit less than I had going into the cross country trip. (This is the first year since 2000 that I have not kept track of every training mile and hour.) I also have been less disciplined with my intervals than I was before--I was good February through April, but not really since then. That said, though, I am stronger from a round of weightlifting in the fall and from riding my fixed gear bike all over the place, I have another PBP under my belt and I have a lot of experience in riding long distances in brevets and double centuries. And you use the first week of PAC Tour to prepare for the second week, so I'm hoping that holds true for me as well. Last time I was extremely well prepared; I think I could have done less and therefore spent less time away from the family; I've done less this time, so we'll see how it all unfolds.

I also have a new bike for this trip (I'm thinking its the last bike I'll ever buy), a custom frame with a steel main triangle and carbon stays and fork, built for me by Steve Rex. I picked up the bike in Sacramento on June 20, spent the night in Dixon and rode it home the next day (about 150 miles with a lot of up, including the Oakville grade) -- the bike felt like it was built for me! I'm riding a Campangnolo Chorus compact gear system, with chainrings of 34-50 and a rear cluster of 12 - 29. This give me a small gear of 30.8 inches, as opposed to 28.2 inches with the triple I used last time; a less easy gear. Don't think the 2.5 inches make that much difference; its feeling OK on my training rides. There's only one day I'm kind of worried about from that standpoint; the 147 mile, 87oo foot day characterized as "dozens of short, steep climbs." Hmmm . . . but cycling has a way of throwing you curve balls at the least expected times, so you have to be easy and take what comes.

This weekend is another 350 mile weekend; the last one! I'll check in on Monday and report on how it went.

You can find the itinerary (scroll down a bit to find it) and a ride description at this link: Ridge of the Rockies.