Part of the problem with road biking is traffic (the rest of the problem being the lack of dirt, but that can't be helped). Dealing with stoplights, stop signs, cars, and traffic controls designed for cars sucks. Stopping and going is no fun. That's why it's important to have routes that are relatively free of traffic controls. Getting to these routes can often be a pain, but luckily there's one a mere 7.2mi from my house via bike path and back roads: the 3.2mi Rose Bowl loop. It's quiet, nearly free of cars, free of traffic controls of any kind, and reasonably scenic. All in all, a very nice road ride when you're looking for an easy flat ride.
The Rose Bowl flanked by the foothills of the San Gabriels: not a bad sightOf course, why would anyone want to do a flat road ride, especially when there are so many great epic road climbs to be had (or better yet, why would anyone want to ride on the road when they can mtb)? Well, to train your aerobic system it's important to be able to have easy rides where you can plug away for long times/distances without working very hard, which is difficult to do on climbs and impossible to do while mtbing (at least the way I mtb). Since when do I care about training?
Since they announced they're holding collegiate mountain bike nationals at Northstar, that's when. I want to qualify for nats, and to do that, I have to increase my past average race speed by nearly 50%. That's no small order, especially taking into account that I'll be racing longer courses, double or triple the distances of my races from last year. Thus, in addition to mountain biking like a crazy man this summer to improve my descending skills, I'm going to be doing a full road regimen too for the benefit of my climbing. My first goal is to kick ass in the Tahoe-Sierra 100 so I can upgrade my category before the season starts. We're definitely coming, Jeannie. You know, there's a 50 mile course too, if you or anyone else wants to do it.
As an addendum, this is also the first picture I've uploaded from my new camera phone. It's convenient to have; I don't have room for a camera when I'm biking, but I do have room for a phone. It also has a built in mp3 player, which I also enjoyed very much. Nothing like music to take your mind off a long ride.
Since they announced they're holding collegiate mountain bike nationals at Northstar, that's when. I want to qualify for nats, and to do that, I have to increase my past average race speed by nearly 50%. That's no small order, especially taking into account that I'll be racing longer courses, double or triple the distances of my races from last year. Thus, in addition to mountain biking like a crazy man this summer to improve my descending skills, I'm going to be doing a full road regimen too for the benefit of my climbing. My first goal is to kick ass in the Tahoe-Sierra 100 so I can upgrade my category before the season starts. We're definitely coming, Jeannie. You know, there's a 50 mile course too, if you or anyone else wants to do it.
As an addendum, this is also the first picture I've uploaded from my new camera phone. It's convenient to have; I don't have room for a camera when I'm biking, but I do have room for a phone. It also has a built in mp3 player, which I also enjoyed very much. Nothing like music to take your mind off a long ride.
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