The Beginning of the Every Day Cyclist Challenge: Setting a Goal

September 20, 2008

In about six months I plan on riding the Ronde Van Vlaanderen voor wielertoeristen (The Tour of Flanders Cyclosportif)!!  It takes place the day before the pro race, on Saturday April 4th. 

My long-term goal for the Everday Cyclist Challenge is to be in the best shape of my life for this very difficult ride.   Since I have never ridden the Rondebefore, I don’t have a benchmark to use or a specific time that I want to surpass.  I do want to be at my best, and over the winter improve on some of my weaknesses. For this type of ride, which has many steep climbs, many withcobbled sections, I really need to increase my explosive power.  As Paul Sherwin would describe it, I am the type of rider with a big diesel engine (although not very big at all).  I do not have the explosive kick I would like, or what I will need to make it up and over the bergs of Flander.  And of course I will work on bringing down my weight.  My goal weight is 172lbs and I have about 10 to lose.  Additionally, one of my weaknesses (as withmany cyclists) is upper body strength, I only have upper body weakness.  Aside from rounding out my overall fitness, increasing my upper body strength will definitely help me with the short punchy climbs.

In the coming weeks I will work on specific plan to reach my goals.  I have plenty of time to reach my goals, which means I have lots of time to really gain a lot of fitness.  But I do want to finish out the end of this season and a relax a little before I get deep into a specific training regimen.  As a start, since I will not be riding during the week much anymore, I will start to rebuild my core fitness and functional strength by spending a couple nights a week doing Core/Zen/Speed workouts. 

I am so excited to be able to head over to Flanders next year.  And I hope that this blog and the Everyday Cyclist Challenge will keep me motivated to be at my best next April!!

 

 

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