I think I’ve mentioned RBR on this blog already, but I just need to reiterate that I love these guys.  I have a Premium Site membership, which is always the first place I look when I need to search for info on some specific cycling topic, and I also get their weekly e-newsletter.  The newsletter often has tips and advice that I didn’t even realize I needed.

I was being lazy this morning and catching up on the last couple of newsletters that have been sitting in my email box, and I came across a tip from Fred that I need to remember and USE:  if you’re trying to increase your speed on a century ride (well, DUH!  who isn’t?!), you should include speed work not just as a separate type of training ride, but incorporate it into your long rides as well.  Fred suggests basically a 10-30 second sprint every 15 minutes.

Since I drink and eat on a quarter-hour schedule, it should be pretty simple to work some short sprints into my rotation (the system is 6 swallows of accelerade on the quarter-hour, alternating with water on the in-between quarters; ie, 7 minutes after the hour, 22 minutes, so on–yes, it’s a little OCD, but it gets the fuel where it needs to be; plus food with the water at least once an hour).  Plus it’s another thing to keep track of, which keeps the brain focused on cycling instead of getting sucked into a whirlpool of misery.  The trick, ultimately, will be to train my head to stay on track when I’m sleep deprived and way beyond my physical limits, but that’s a subject for another post.

Anyway, this is a public reminder to myself to add in those regular hard efforts on my next long ride (which might not be for a few days; I’m quite stiff this morning). 

Saturday, February 24th–first century of the season.  It’s an annual event called the Frostbite Tour, organized by my friend Mike Dayton; I’ve ridden it the last several years, but never managed to do the whole 100 miles.  I’m lobbying for decent weather–if any of you can pull some strings on that front, feel free . . .  The ride, fyi, is also a fundraiser for esophogeal cancer research, in memory of a friend of Mike’s who died several years ago.