tldr; Want to do a 4200 mile bike ride across america in June, 2022.


I've had a couple of threads on here. In this one I rode the 2016 Triple Bypass ride in Colorado, and then I tracked somewhat my life after knee replacement surgery:
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/8...hlight=unfrgvn

I also posted a thread about some issue I had in 2018 and 2019 where I felt really crappy for about a year:
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/8...hlight=unfrgvn

The issue was never diagnosed and more or less resolved on it's own, though I tried some thyroid supplements and vitamins as well as T3, a thyroid hormone. In the collective wisdom of the forum I was a hypochondriac grasping at straws. I don't take it personal, if I was on the outside looking in it was probably the conclusion I would have reached as well. In any case, I feel so much better these days. I'm still supplementing with magnesium but nothing else.

Since I have no job and not too many responsibilities these days, my wife and I have talked and she is ok with me trying to do the Trans America Bike Race(Tabr):
https://transambikerace.com/

Seems like this is a good time to steal my last post from my original thread, from 3/7/21:
Since then I've lost 15 pounds and I've been ridding my bike a fair amount. To do TABR I will really need to step it up. I've also been rethinking the ride, not race idea. I think to keep it interesting I need to push myself more than that. While I will never be competitive with the guys and girls that are going to do it in a 17 or 18 day time frame, I'd like to set a goal of doing it in no more than 35 days. Math tells us that is a 120 miles a day, every day.

Why post here? I like to go back and reread how I felt at the time for one, I like to get other peoples input for another. I have a vague idea of how I plan to train for this, but if there is anyone who has ever done an ultra endurance event I'm all ears. I have a lot to get sorted before next June. My plan is to carry a pretty minimal amount of gear and stay in hotels. Some carry sleeping bags and a heavier load. The really fast people sleep about 3 to 4 hours a night and carry a bivy sack to sleep on the side of a road. I'm not doing that. I feel like if I have all day to ride 120 miles seems doable. The problem of course is putting those days back to back to back...

I think that is enough for now.

Went camping this weekend and either strained or pulled something in my calf playing corn hole. Corn hole, for ****s sake. I've never hurt myself doing less, still not sure how it happened. It was either when I was striding forward throwing the 2oz bean bag or when I stepped back. I can't even believe it. Stretching was going to be part of my regimen, this just confirms it needs to be.

Since I can't ride my bike today, seems like a good time to set goals. I've set the big one, but need to define other tasks that will make the big goal possible.
1. Increase my FTP. Not sure how much is possible but lets put down 20 to 25%.
2. Get my gear sorted. Need decent rain gear for sure, have clothes for warmth. Even though the ride is in early June, some of it is at elevation and temps can be in the 30's. Need more saddle bags to make sure I can carry what I need. I think I will need a bivvy sack in case of emergency, but hopefully will spend almost every night in a motel or other lodging. I have lights, but probably need something better and/or backups. Get and install aerobars and get comfortable riding with them. Get a bike fit early next year.
3. Lose weight. At 225 now, would be happy with 190 or less at the start of the ride. I'm not too worried about this though will obviously need to watch what I eat, but I think as I increase training volume the weight will come off.
4. Define my riding schedule, as well as stretching and core strength workouts.

I found this web site:
https://endurancebikeandrun.com/blog...epacking-event

They lay out these points:
All of that makes a lot of sense. I don't think I will need to be doing massive volume, like 1,000 mile a week in advance of the race, though I think doing some long back to back rides will be on the schedule.

So, my weight is 224. I've been losing about a pound a week. I'd like to step that up a little at least until I get to 200 but with holidays coming I expect I will be lucky to keep it at the pound. I also got in 4 decent rides this week, but nothing over 2.5 hours.
In case someone stumbles across this thread ad and wants to try something like this too, here are some of the better links I've found:
https://rideallnight.wordpress.com/2...ike-race-2016/
https://endurancebikeandrun.com/blog...epacking-event
http://jv-cycling.blogspot.com/2017/...ng-events.html

And some blogs of people who have done the race.
https://www.mamilcyclist.com/
http://jimmyandjanie.com/blog/catego...ike-race-2017/

My own training plan is to include a fair amount of intensity rather than just long, slow rides and a lot of core exercises off bike. I figure I'm only going to be able to ride at about 60% intensity for the long hours this is going to take. I'd like to get that 60% to be as high as possible, but I'm far from a speedy cyclist to begin with. My FTP (functional threshold power) is only around 160 right now. I'd like to get it over 200 by the time the ride starts, which is still low but not terrible for a 60 year old fat dude.

Looking at gears for my bike. Most of the Western climbs are of a reasonable grade, but are at high altitude above 5000 feet. The eastern climbs are at lower altitude, but tend to be at grades up to 15%. I have a 50/34 cranks with an 11-32 11 speed cassette. This gives me pretty low gears. but I'm worried that when I'm tired they might not be low enough. I'm going to install a gravel crank of 46/30 and pair it with my 11-32 cassette. I hope to have this done in a week or two.

Hey hey, here's another cyclist!
Transamerica looks like a challenging race, but seems you are more capable to succeed!
what app do you use to track your FTP? I used zwift last year
will you also incorporate weights into your training?
What bike do you have? is it a gravel race?

Thanks for your interest. I use training peaks:
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/?gclid...hoCsRIQAvD_BwE

to track my training and my FTP. I have a watt meter on my bike, which is a Specialized Roubaix. Training Peaks is probably over kill for an old guy like me, it is set up for racers and their coaches, but it is only about $100 a year.

I am doing some weight training and generally following the base training plan from the book Base building for cyclists by Thomas Chapple.
The Trans Am follows the Trans america trail, which uses paved roads. Most of it is rural but there are a few sections that have more traffic then we would like. I will be wearing high vis clothing, for sure.

Still losing weight and riding my bike. This week will be sketchy with Thanksgiving, family get togethers, and beer drinking. Will do my best to limit the damage and be back to riding and working out next week. Weight is 222 as of today. I feel like I'm getting some legs finally, just need to keep building my fitness.

Sounds like a great adventure, good luck!
+1 to Training Peaks as a good app.

I haven't logged on to the forum recently, nice that you have your training plan including weight.
keep riding on!!

So made it through the holiday without a lot of damage, weight wise. Didn't lose much, either. @ 221 this AM. To start TABR I'd like to be ~190, so 30 pounds to lose. Getting serious, now. Doing a fair amount of riding, though was just treading water through the holidays. Cold weather hasn't helped, but I am using it to sort through what gear I need at what temp. My ride tomorrow will start at 28F, it won't be colder than that even at elevation, in June. My long ride so far is 35 miles, shooting for 42 tomorrow with some of that at a higher intensity. Will back it up on Sunday with a 35 mile ride.

How is going the training?
Are you doing those routes on your own? or have you joined a cycling club?

Training is going ok. Weather has impacted me some, but I'm riding in some conditions that are worse than normal to try to get ready. I've bought some gear including a 16L seat bag to carry that gear/clothes. Weight loss is still slow. Going to have to kick that up a notch. I'll never be fast but certainly am still working on fitness. Still keeping my rides on the shorter end(20 to 40 miles at varying intensities), but I have a planned 60 miler for tomorrow, my longest ride in a couple of years.
I pretty much ride on my own and have to invent routes. Part of Saturdays ride will be with a local group. The longer the route the harder it gets to keep it safe, or it gets repetitive.

Training volume by week:
1/3 11 miles (weather sucked)
1/10 62
1/17 92
1/24 118
1/31 46 (recovery)
2/7 123
2/14 107
2/21 51 (bad weather)
2/28 139
3/7 145 miles

Bad weather weeks include some indoor workouts not tracked here. Strava tracks a fitness number. It seems pretty accurate. In that time my fitness number has gone from 40 to 68. I'd like to get that to 105 before the TransAm but it is not that easy to keep it moving up the higher it gets. I think my volume by miles will get capped around 250 and I will be adding intensity to try to get that level higher.

Feeling pretty strong on the bike up to about 50-60 miles. Rode 638 miles in March, and will go over that in April. My Strava fitness number is 78. This week should be a big week to increase that number. Tried out my seat pack. I think it will work but not in love with it. Might explore better solutions.

Still on track to ride this ride. Feeling strong. The biggest problem I have is a sore butt, which has never been an issue in the past. I think I need to play with the seat position, and may go in for a real fitting.

Changed out my crankset from a 50/36 to 46/30. This required a new bottom bracket, and threw a new chain on there as well. So my drive train is in a good shape. I've only done one short ride with the new crankset, but early review are good. I'll do a longer ride tomorrow. I'm on a taper, but still need to keep the legs moving. I did not intend to be making changes so close to my ride, but life always gets in the way. I'll be on a plane in 6 days and on the bike in 9. I wish I had lost at least 5 more pounds but feel like I will lose 15 to 20 pounds on the road over the next few weeks. I will post my rides on Strava, if anyone wants to follow.
https://www.strava.com/athletes/390208

Really like my new gear setup. I thought I would go back to my 50/36 after this ride but I don't think I will. Ride starts in 4 days, fly out tomorrow.

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks, it was a fail. I screwed up and forgot to mark my seat height before the bike shop took my bike apart to box it to fly it to Oregon. I think when I got there I set my seat height a little low and rode a couple of days like that before my right Achilles started to get inflamed. I started fooling with my seat height but it was too late, my right leg was pretty swollen and painful. Decided to pull the plug after only 500 mile. It was pretty and lots of climbing in that 500 miles, so not sorry I went. I've been off the bike almost a week and my right leg is just getting back to normal.

Totals riding for 8 days in Oregon.
549 miles, with 25,243 feet of climbing.

Are you going to try again next year?

That is a decent question. I think the odds are pretty low. I found a week away from home to be ok but the prospect of being away from home for another 3 weeks or more to accomplish this feels pretty selfish. I also think it exposed that my desire to accomplish this is not high enough to get 'er done.
Rabrai is closer to home and is only a week. There is a ride across Georgia that also looks like fun. These might be more within my skill set.
https://www.brag.org/brag/?gclid=Cjw...xoC2ksQAvD_BwE
https://ragbrai.com/

There is another ride across country that is a thousand miles less and makes more use of cycle paths and gravel roads.
https://bikenonstop.com/

I'm not sure if this is a better fit for me, but it might be. In any case, I don't think it will be next year.