I want to ride my...

Bonk scare

Last night I had a bonkmare. ie. I dreamt that I was clipped into my bike and was suddenly to tired to pedal or hold myself up or even unclip my cleats. So I fell over. :(

Tuesday 4/26 ride: Minuteman Trail, aprox 12 miles.

Today was a good ride, with more of a lets see how fast we can do this kind of feel. Not very many hills, well marked trails, signs in English. The biggest obstacle was avoiding other pedestrians/ cyclists on the Minuteman trail. It feels good to ride, come back and feel like you could do more. Tomorrow's yoga class will be a challenge for my bike-tired muscles.

Clip riding is also getting much easier. I have not fallen the last two rides (tho I dont want to jinx myself) and am getting better at timing the unclip. I do however have my battle scars (someone asked me today "what happened to your legs?" upon seeing my brusises exposed by my bike shorts) to remind me that I am not immune to the ol' toppling over at a busy intersection scenario.

Training schedule

This is what we have written out as our training regimen, as based on a book on bike touring from the Wellesley Library. Considering we started strong over the weekend and still feel ok, I think this seems pretty moderate and accomplishable. Friday nights will be for resting.

Just got panniers in the mail, can't wait to try them out and try riding loaded. I believe that will truly change the training experience. The schedule we have laid out will clearly be much more relevant when riding with comparable weight. I'm hoping I stay healthy and treat myself well enough to get through it!

(At the moment, we are taking these as minimums and riding as much extra as desired.)

Easter Bunny Ride

To celebrate Easter, we got up early and went on this 22-mile ride. Our previous ride was the longest straight bike ride the both of us have ever done, so even with a day of rest and yoga in between, we felt a bit of the "saddle soreness."

I hear this goes away with time, hopefully it is soon!

Considering our pacing and how early in our training we are, I am not worried about making our estimated 30-mile/day average in Europe. In fact, the more we train, the more excited I get for the trip! Woo!

View Easter Bunny Ride in a larger map

Some training...

Today we took a 26 mile training ride. I'll admit, I love my new bike, the Trek 520. If you are looking for a super solid bike, check it out.

It is also becoming more apparent to me that we will probably get lost a whole bunch, considering I wasn't even sure about the directions in a 15 mile radius of my house. After the ride, I feel pretty good, considering we are planning on a 30-mile/day average when overseas. However we were not loaded up with camping gear and extra clothes that we are planning on bringing. Good thing we got some time to train!

View First 520 bike training ride in a larger map

The begginings

Amsterdam to Barcelona.

That is far, about 2000km depending who you ask.

Not to mention, on a bicycle, it would take at least a month.

Alas, we are planning on it. Get ready Europe.

Emma says..

Diego and I have experienced the thrilling and ego smashing aspects of clipless bike shoes. I have fallen over four times. good thing we still have two months to practice.

So far we have:

Bikes!

Airfare (biggest ticket items, no pun intended)

Bike shoes

A tentative route.

We need:

Panniers

A tent

Snazzy biking clothes

To win the lottery

To learn some French/Dutch

Woohoo first blog post T-minus 1 month, 24 days til takeoff