Day 1

I have to start somewhere.  After a few months of me just goofing around and riding leisurely rides with no real goals in sight, John Henry Maurice called.  I've crewed for John Henry when he did Furnace Creek 508 the second time, and have ridden hundreds of miles with him. I had decided I just couldn't get motivated to do a solo Race Across Oregon without having a solution to the issues that caused my DNF as a solo entry in the 2012 RAO.  I thought about volunteering to officiate, as I did in 2011.

His call intrigued me.  He wondered if I'd be interested in joining him as a 2X team for this year's Race Across Oregon.  It has often been said that the difference between a solo ultra ride and a team ultra ride is fun.  When Lauren and I formed the Flying Aquarians in 2010 we had fun.  When 4 of my buddies and I were "The Old Goats Four" in 2008 we had a blast!

I figured I still had time to get in shape for a 2X shot.  I thought it might just be fun.  So......  today I started doing homework.

I am in Seattle and decided that hill repeats on Taylor Street might just be the ticket,  especially when it's raining and/or dark.   Today was 60 degrees and partly sunny. It was a good time to go do a little investigation.
If you click on "View full route" in the upper left, then on the "play" icon in the lower right, you can watch a 32x playback of today's ride. It was a good workout, especially for this out of shape guy!  The street is shorter and busier than our Rocky Butte Hill Repeats, but I take the lane on the way down, at the speed limit, and there is a wide marked bike lane on the way up.  It will be a good workout, and it's only a few blocks from where I am staying.

It works out to about 200 ft climbing per mile.  Each lap is about 1.5 miles round trip with 300 ft of climbing.
Today I had evening plans to watch "Bicycle Dreams" so time was short, but I need to starting training, and I needed to start somewhere.  Today was the start of RAO training.

A 2X event will  not require me to have huge amounts of endurance, at least not like riding 500+ miles nonstop, but I will need to be stronger and faster.  Riding this route will help in that effort.


................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today..............6...............0.............0..........0...............6 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411
March.............211..............0.............0.........0............211
Total..............718.............0...............0.........0............718