Ride to Conquer Cancer

[funlvnman]

I don't what the altitude of your home town is, but Albequerque is about 5000 ft. It's not that hot there but it is VERY dry. Don't be too surprised if you get a low grade headache that won't go away no matter what you do for the first few weeks. It is a combination of lower atomspheric pressure and being dehydrated. When I moved to Tucson from Boston it took me two months before my headache went away. For me, half an aspriirin, and two glasses of water when I first got out of bed and before any coffee/tea etc helped a lot.

As far as training goes, time in the saddle is what's it's all about. I assume you are training for a "fun" ride rather than a race so pace isn't important so much as comfort. My personal experience was your shorts can't be too tight. The purpose of the shorts is to 1) wick water away from your body and 2) not move against the skin. The shorts slide across the seat and don't move relative to the body.

There is a book written by a pschologist about the RAAM, Race Across AMerica. I don't know if it's being conducted anymore but the race was from San Diego to Atlantic City. The typical race time was 4 days, on a bike!!

In the book there are several chapters on being comfortable on the bike, and how to massage yourself while you ride. It's worth the cost of the book.

Unless you have someone to assist you during the ride, consider either a handle bar bag, or a bike trunk bag( sits over the rear wheel) to hold all the stuff you're going to need for a two day ride.

Good luck, and make sure you post pictures of you durign the ride to inspire us.

Rich

[bikeolounger]

Oh, yes, RAAM is still being done. I have at least three friends racing in it this year, and my girlfriend is on the crew for one of them (8-person team, in this case).

funlvnman, this ride is supported, so chasem won't have to carry everything. There are rest stops along the way.

My own experience with longer rides like this has been that since I cannot tolerate Gator-Ade any more, I carry mix for my drink of choice (in my case, Hammer Nutrition's HEED or Perpetuem, depending on distance and output level). That way, I get water at the rest stops, toss in the pre-measured mix, shake the bottle, and be on my way. If I have a personal support vehicle and person, I get the luxury of simply trading bottles.

I tend to prefer bottles to hydration bladders, as it's easier for me to monitor how much I'm drinking that way. On long events like RAIN, I may have a small hydration pack loaded so that I have water to drink should I use more that I'm carrying in bottles between stops for some reason.

[chasem]

I don't what the altitude of your home town is, but Albequerque is about 5000 ft. It's not that hot there but it is VERY dry. Don't be too surprised if you get a low grade headache that won't go away no matter what you do for the first few weeks. It is a combination of lower atomspheric pressure and being dehydrated. When I moved to Tucson from Boston it took me two months before my headache went away. For me, half an aspriirin, and two glasses of water when I first got out of bed and before any coffee/tea etc helped a lot.

The two towns I'll be riding in until I head to NM are 350-550ft elevation. I'll be in Glorieta, NM this summer though, which is just shy of 7,500ft. I was there all summer last year, though, and the only problem I really had was chapped lips. I'm not too worried about the problems that come with high-altitude, but thanks again for the heads-up

As for the rest, I'll have to read this thread again when it's not... 1:00 am, and when I'm not dead tired.