Mike Across America

With 6 weeks to go until the start of RAAM, its time to start final preparations. Training is going well – 500 miles last week – with the weather finally warming up. Fund raising is steady – $20,000 so far – only $10,000 more to hit our goal. If you know of anyone who might want to help support my ride and the causes I’m raising money for – direct them to this site. We have corporate sponsors who we are finalizing details with so we can get my race jersey designed and ordered. We also need to order signage for the support vehicles to help recognize our sponsors. Chad Pickard at Spoke-N-Sport is finalizing details with spare bikes, clothing, nutritional supplement, helmet/glasses, etc.. Jenny Stinson, my crew chief is getting all the crew members details: copies of drivers license, insurance information, travel schedules, job duties, packing lists, etc., etc. etc. organized. My training schedule in the environmental chamber at Sanford is set to help me acclimatize to hot weather riding conditions. This event takes the work and cooperation of many people to even get to the starting line let alone complete the race successfully.

42 days – 6 weeks – its crunch time!!

I wanted two long rides this weekend. Potentially, two 200 milers. The weather has been cool/windy – this is April in South Dakota – and I was not sure what the plan would be. Finally, on Thursday might with the forecast for NE winds we (crew members Karen/wife and Nancy/sister) and training partner Jason Cox decided to head to Lanesboro, MN where one of the nicest bike trail systems exists! Jason and I took off Saturday morning at 7:00am in cold – 34 degree – and breezy – North wind 10-20mph conditions. Long story short I felt great and completed the 200 miles in 11:14 on the bike time with 1:06 off the bike time. Jason’s knee flared up and he put in 140 miles before calling it a day. The next morning with winds forecast out of the NW we decided to stay in Laneboro (we talked about riding back 200 miles toward Sioux Falls) and ride there. Logistics were such that 200 miles would have put us coming home very late and I ended up with 120 miles for the day, with “gas still in the tank”. Jason was able to ride the last 50 miles with me. Saturdays ride was 17.8mph avg. with an avg. HR of 113. Sunday’s ride was 18.0mph avg. with a avg HR of 113. Great weekend of training. Karen and Nancy provided support throughout the rides which makes these long efforts much more fun. In 2-3 weeks we will do another big weekend. Something like 200/200.
RAAM is 51 days away.

I had 367 miles of riding this week. Two 100 mile rides back to back this weekend. The riding has been steady – not forced or strained. The Saturday 100 was 5:15 on the bike – 19mph avg. speed, 114 avg. HR. Sunday was 5:15 on the bike – same avg. speed as Saturday, 113 avg. HR. Both rides were on totally different routes and weather conditions – but the effort was the same. I’ll back off a bit this week and get ready for two 200 mile days back to back next weekend – weather permitting. We plan to do a RAAM simulation weekend. I’ll have some of my crew with me and Jason Cox, my training buddy, will come along to ride with me. We plan to start early and ride till dark – 12 hours – two days in a row. We will experiment with different nutritional ideas to see what might work during RAAM. It will be nice to have a crew vehicle along to provide support throughout the ride. If you see two riders being followed closely by a white car – honk and wave – we’ll appreciate the support.

RAAM starts on June 9 – 59 days from today. Part of me wishes I had more time to train/prepare. A bigger part of me wants this to happen now! All the planning, training, talking, mailing, fund-raising, etc. makes the thought of just riding my bike sound really good. The major components for this adventure are all in place. We have our crew set. Travel plans, lodging, vehicles rentals are pretty much done. Fund raising will continue right up and through RAAM. At this point I just want to ride my bike – a lot! The weather is getting better all the time. I’ve logged over 2800 miles since January 1 and I feel I’m right on schedule with my training. Details with my bike sponsor – Spoke-N-Sport/Cannondale are being finalized. We are still hopeful to pick up some corporate support to help with expenses.
When people ask how I can possible ride my bike 250-300 miles per day for 10-12 days I think how nice it will be to having nothing else to do! 59 days and counting.

On Wednesday, March 31, I was back in Sanford’s National Institute for Athletic Health and Performance lab with exercise physiologist, Jason Dorman, for a one hour ride under “nice” conditions. In previous sessions I had ridden in 105 and 90 degree temperatures. This time it was a cool 72 degrees. The numbers were all good in that I averaged 204 watts for one hour with an average heart rate of 124 beats per minute. My sweat loss was such that I was able to drink enough water during the ride that my weight stayed the same. What I’m learning with these tests is the importance of fluid intake. We all know to drink plenty of fluids when exercising, but the volume that is required in warm/hot conditions is huge. Now I’m working with Lisa Esposito – sports nutritionist – to devise a nutritional plan on the bike to help maintain not only fluid requirements but also caloric needs–up to 8000 cals per day during RAAM.
I’ll be back in the environmental chamber in May prior to leaving for Oceanside, CA to do heat acclimatization training. Now its time to get outside and ride!!