After traveling up and down the coast for the past two years to participate in LIVESTRONG Challenge, I’m finally getting the opportunity to ride in my home turf. That’s right -- the 2008 edition of this incredible event will be held for the first time in Bay Area! I’ve been stoked about this ever since the dates/cities were announced back in December, and when the registration opened up this morning I immediately signed up for the 100-mile ride.
Now if you’ve been following my journey through the past two Challenges, you may be wondering if riding 100-miles is much of a challenge for me any more. After all, this is the third time around I’ll be training for this event…so it would be reasonable to assume that things will be much easier this time around.
Well, I can say with absolutely certainty that the journey to this year’s Challenge will be just as difficult as the years past -- if not harder.
First off, riding 100 miles is never easy. Doesn’t matter how many times you’ve done in the past, you’ll always encounter unforeseen challenges along the way. Remember Apollo 13? That was NASA’s third trip to the moon...
And then there’s the fact that I’ve actually only completed a 100-miler once…that’s right, just once. That’s because when I participated in the Portland event last year, the 100-mile ride got cancelled due to extreme weather -- so the longest ride option ended up being just 70 miles. And as for the So Cal event where I did complete the entire 100-mile course…I barely reached the finish line in time before the course closure. In fact, I know I was the very last rider to finish that distance because the sweeper vehicle was right behind me for the final miles.
So going into this year’s LIVESTRONG Challenge, my first goal is to complete the 100-mile course stronger & faster than before -- to really conquer the distance as opposed to barely surviving it. This means putting more mileage in my legs than ever before…building up to 80+ milers before the event.
Having said that though, I don’t plan on being in hardcore training mode every time I hit the road…in fact, I want the next 7 months to be the best time I’ve ever had on my bike. Which is why my second goal this year is to explore frequently -- making efforts to ride in new/different roads as much as possible. After all, there are infinite miles of pavement around us…so it would be a shame not to experience everything that this beautiful part of the country has to offer.
Let the journey begin!
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