Greetings, fellow cyclists! Today I am going to share my progress and journey with you regarding my cycling journey over the past couple of months. I wrote about my September ride update a couple of months ago and am happy to bring another uplifting synopsis to my readers.
September and October Ride Update
As many of you know, I live in the beautiful city of Rancho Santa Fe in California. Although the weather has been steadily decreasing in temperature since I last shared an update, I’ve been getting out about half the mornings of the week to cycle on pavement. The temperatures have been in the 60s and 70s which is warm to most but cool to me. On chillier mornings, I’m always sure to bundle up and follow the tips I share in my post titled Ask Bart Haynes: Cycling in Winter.
When rain hits (which is has been somewhat frequently over the course of the past few weeks), I train indoors. I have a great garage set-up for my bicycle trainer and am therefore able to achieve an excellent cycling session even when weather proves unfortunate.
Taking tips from my past posts all about workouts for indoor cycling and indoor training in winter, I’ve been doing the following on my trainer rides:
- Warming up for 10 minutes
- Interval training
- Climbing bursts
- Ladder intervals
- Cooling down for 10 minutes
Mixing up my indoor rides with these exercises insures that my riding doesn’t stay stagnant. I’m able to effectively build muscle and continue improving my speed times while getting an amazing ride in even when San Diego brings rain.
Most often, I ride for about an hour and a half when I train indoors at harder intervals and take longer, more familiar rides for two. I have particular routes in Rancho Santa Fe that I love to cycle that prove challenging and enjoyable at the same time. When I can’t actually mount my bike, though, I power hard under the cover of my garage roof.
Tour de Tucson Disappointment
Unfortunately, I was unable to participate in the Tour de Tucson this year. I was bitterly disappointed because I had trained hard in the month of September. However, life events popped up and I couldn’t make the trip. As I had ridden consistently over the past 5 years, I was curious to see what my time would be. My truest hope is that I’ll be able to fly over to Tucson and mimic the race on my own sometime in the next few months.
Even though I was unable to attend this year’s Tour de Tucson, I plan on riding in several local races in the San Diego area including the 2019 Campagnolo Granfondo in San Diego in April. This will motivate me to continue cycling at my hardest. It will also help me prepare for the 2019 Tour de Tucson that I will certainly be at if all works out in my favor.
Conclusion
I am extremely fortunate to be so healthy for my age after so many days of physical strain and several injuries in my cycling career. I hope to continue cycling as smart and as often as I have been to maintain my health and to keep up the career in my saddle. I appreciate those of you who have been following along with my journey on the blog. I hope that it provides encouragement to those of you who are embracing your own cycling journey.
Many thanks and happy cycling!
-Barton Haynes