Fourteen Weeks to Tahoe!

Only three pages cover that big red circle on the calendar. June 7th is now only 98 days away, 14 weeks til we clip into our pedals, mount our bikes and head out to challenge the Sierra Nevada around Lake Tahoe. In 1960 these mountains were full of Olympians competing for the honor of thier nations at the VIII Winter Games at Squaw Valley. This June the mountains will echo the words "Go Team" as 3000 Team In Training cyclists take up a different challenge... the challenge to find a cure for blood cancers while meeting thier own personal physical challenges. For me the challenge is not the distance. I have ridden 2 centuries and take long rides regularly, but I am a 'Flatlander'. The bumps around Lake Tahoe are bigger than the 300 foot hills around the Jersey Shore. My challenge is the combined 4100 feet of ascents and the altitude we will be riding at.

The team is coming together. After only 2 weeks of riding together we have begun to sort out the team. I am more than certain things will change as we move from flat land to hills, but for now we have our riding groups and the relationships that go along with riding with someone are developing. We even had a paceline working together in the wind, pulling and drafting and keeping the tempo and speed during this past weekend's ride. The road always feels shorter when you have others to ride with, the more the merrier! Perhaps the hills won't feel as long or high with a group as well. We will find out in the coming weeks. Longer and more challenging rides are in the immediate future and I for one am looking forward to it. In the mean time its to be a combination of distance, cardio and core.