Pedaling PG County

It's finally starting to feel like Spring is near, and just in time for us to start racheting our weekly mileage. For our longest ride thus far, we covered much of the Anacostia Tributary Trail System, specifically the Northeast and Northwest Branch Trails. Our 38-mile ride included impressively diverse scenery, especially considering that we never left Prince George's County! Memorable sights included:

• Lake Artemesia
• College Park Airport - The world's oldest continually operated airport
• The rolling farmland and back roads of the BARC
• ... and even a lively family of raccoons

Recent storms with high winds turned parts of our trek into a bit more of an off-road adventure, as we tossed our bikes onto our shoulders in order to step over downed trees and cross small creeks. We even found ourselves walking our bikes uphill when we were met with an abrupt end to the Northeast Branch Trail: a steep crushed-rock path that connected the trail to a neighborhood road. We highly recommend the trail, but be prepared (and think twice about which direction you want to ride!). Do you have any great trail recommendations? If so, please share!

As our rides are getting longer, we're quickly realizing the need for healthier and heartier eating. Stay tuned for later posts about calorie-counting and good pre- and post-cycling meals.

Meet Jake the Snake

This past week's warmer, drier weather afforded us more opportunities to get out and ride (including a trip to Point Lookout State Park), so we thought it would be timely to highlight our sweet new bikes.

Jake the Snake is a 2009 Kona model, and is somewhat of a "Frankenstein." The aluminum butted frame was sold back to College Park Bicycles by a rider who was looking for an upgrade, but wanted to keep all of the parts. CP Bikes built new parts around the frame, which meant that we got an almost-new bicycle for a great price!

Since this was a rebuild, there are obviously some differences from the manufacturer's spec list. Here's a breakdown of the new parts for all of you spec nerds!

1. Truvativ Isoflow road crank set
2. Shimano Tiagra front and rear derailers
3. Shimano V Brakes
4. Avocet racing-style saddle
5. Weinnman Zac-19 rims
6. Continental Ultra GatorSkin tires (an upgrade we requested, these tires are built with Kevlar to be puncture-resistant)
7. Shimano bar-end shifting system. In fact, the whole handlebar system was replaced with an aluminum Bontrager set. This is probably the most significant alteration from a functional standpoint (arguably an improvement). It's been a lot of fun getting used to the bar-end shifters.

We opted to stick with the cage-style pedals in the interest of cost (clipless pedal systems and shoes can easily cost more than your bike) and ease of use. As new riders, we were a little skittish about adjusting to new shoes and clips. We're also keeping in mind that we'll want to pack as light as possible on our trip, and having different shoes for riding and walking will just take up more space.






Some quick research suggested that Jake is a great for riding through places like Montana! Straight out of the shop, Jake the Snake is considered a cyclocross bicycle. With the modifications, it's now a great touring bicycle - a complex and beautiful machine!

Back in the Saddle

Photo from http://pedalrevolutionblog.wordpress.com/

... Well, not quite yet. Darn these cold, wet days! Even though we've been restricted to the stationary and treadmill at the gym, a good friend and avid cyclist suggested this article on selecting and adjusting the perfect saddle for your bike. We didn't realize how important and complex a saddle fitting can (and should) be, especially for long rides.

We welcome your comments about other great resources!

Cross-Training

In addition to training for 50 days of 60-100+ miles on a bike, we are preparing for D.C.'s annual Cherry Blossom 10-mile Run. This is the first year that we've made it through the lottery system, which has taken the place of regular registration since interest in the run has grown so large. With the run situated almost exactly at the half-way mark between now and the start of our cross country trek, we've had to really consider how we want to juggle two training schedules safely and effectively.

We posted a link to the schedule we're using for cycling training in an earlier blog post. To prepare for the 10-miler, we're using the tried-and-true Hal Higdon 15K Training Guide. While we are not really novice runners (we've both run in Philly's Broad Street 10-miler and Baltimore's Marathon Relay in recent years), we want to be careful not to stretch ourselves too thin on either training schedule. Our biggest concern is avoiding injury. A pulled muscle or twisted ankle (or worse) could really set us back in our preparation for both events.

So, we took a look at both schedules and created what we think is a pretty solid combo:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1		3m run	20-25 min ride	2m run + strength	20-25 min ride	3m run	1.5hr ride
2		3m run	25-30 min ride	2m run + strength	25-30 min ride	4m run	1.5-2hr ride
3	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	2m run	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	2m run + strength	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	2m run	2hr ride (25-30m)
4	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	4m run	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	3m run + strength	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	5m run	2hr ride (25-30m)
5	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	4m run	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	3m run + strength	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	6m run	2hr ride (25-30m)
6	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	3m run	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	3m run + strength	30-40 min ride (8-10m)	4m run	2hr ride (25-30m)
7	10-15m ride	5m run	10-15m ride	3m run + strength	5m ride	7m run	30-40m ride (2-2.5hrs)
8	10+m ride	5m run	10+m ride	3m run + strength		8m run	20-25m ride
9	10+m ride	3m run	10+m ride	2m run + strength	2m run	REST	RACE DAY!
10	REST	8-10m ride	10-15m ride		10-15m ride		40-50m ride
11		10m easy	15-20m		15-20m		45-55m
12		10m easy	15-20m		15-20m		45-55m
13		10m easy	15-20m		15-20m		45-55m
14		10m easy	10m		15-20m		50-60m
15		20-25m		20-25m			50-60m
16		20-25m		20-25m			50-60m
17		10m easy		15m		20-25m	55-65m
18		15m		25m		25m	60-70m
19	25m	15m	25m	25-30m		TRAVEL
20		OREGON		LVs RIDE!

Since we're pretty new at this, we welcome any suggestions you can provide - musings, wisdom from experience, etc. You're welcome to borrow our make-shift schedule and make it fit your needs.

Happy training!