Category Archives: Cycling
Cycling
Amishland and Lakes 2009
The Amishland and Lakes bike tour is a 2 day cycling tour of Amish countryside and Michigan lakes hosted in Howe, Indiana. In 2009 I participated in this event and completed 97 miles of cycling over a 2 day period. This is the longest (in miles and time) that I have spent on a bicycle over a 2 day period. My longest 1 day ride to date is the Apple Cider Century 2009.
Day 1 – Amish Countryside
Day 2 – Michigan Lakes
Chocolate Milk Recovery Drink
Nutrition and training experts agree that a quality recovery drink should have the following 4 components:
- Carbohydrates for refueling
- Protein to repair and rebuild muscles – preferably a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 carbohydrates to protein
- Fluids for re-hydration
- Electrolytes
Chocolate Milk has all the above components plus essential vitamins and nutrients.
The nutrition facts label shows these amounts per 8oz serving. The low-fat chocolate milk available near you may have slightly different nutrition facts.
The main reason low-fat chocolate milk is my recovery drink of choice is that it tastes great and that it’s much less expensive than other recovery drinks (about 50 cents for a 16oz serving). In addition, low-fat chocolate milk is available almost anywhere. After a cycling training session I always end with 16oz of low-fat chocolate milk for recovery.
Here are a few of the many scientific studies that show the benefits of chocolate milk as a recovery drink:
Apple Cider Century 2009
In 2009 I purchased my first road bike. 2009 was also the first year I specifically trained for a cycling event. My goal was to complete 100 miles in the Apple Cider Century. As you can see, I came a little short of my goal distance and only finished about 71 miles of the event. However, this was the longest I have ever bicycled in one day.
Here is the information on my training for this event:
| Month | Days | Miles | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2009 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| May 2009 | 5 | 68 | 6 |
| June 2009 | 14 | 214 | 15 |
| July 2009 | 16 | 237 | 22 |
| August 2009 | 18 | 319 | 27 |
| September 2009 | 2 | 89 | 6 |
| Total | 56 | 932 | 77 |
Keeping good records of your training is great so that you can take a look back and see how you might improve. One item that sticks out is that I only trained for 2 days in September. This was a result of becoming ill. Was it possible that I was over-trained? Another issue was that I only had 3-4 months of significant time on the bike for training. It’s possible that my goal distance was too high for the time (or lack there of) that I had.
Fast forward to 2011. Since the apple cider century in 2009 up to April 2011, I have only spent 23 hours total on a bike. Needless to stay, my fitness level was basically back to zero.
Here is the information on my recent training:
| Month | Days | Miles | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2011 | 3 | 24 | 2 |
| June 2011 | 2 | 27 | 2 |
| July 2011 | 6 | 72 | 5 |
| Total | 11 | 123 | 9 |
My next goal cycling event is to complete 100 miles in the Cycle Salt Lake Century 2012 (mid May 2012). With that in mind, my goal for August 2011 is to build up to consistently training 4 days a week for a total of 4 hours per week. This will help build a fitness foundation for further training.
