February has been a difficult month to increase my bicycling mileage and endurance. Between snowstorms that make outdoor riding impossible and weeks-long cold spells that keep the ice and snow on the roads, it's impossible to put any serious mileage on this month. Oh, and did I mention that I work for a living? Five days a week? Yeah, about all I can expect to do is maintain my fitness level in February.
To compensate, I'm taking every chance I can to get out and turn the pedals. On weekend trips to someplace warm, I rent a bike and grind out 20 miles. When the weather turns warm on the weekend, I try to do 40 miles each day. Meanwhile, I hit the elliptical at the gym and count calories to keep from getting fatter than I am already.
When I do get out, it feels good. I can tell I've gotten stronger since I started back in to cycling last summer. I can rip around the neighborhood dozen miles at 13.6 mph, when my records show that as recently as December I could barely reach 12.5.
The days are getting longer, the historical average high temperatures are going above 50, and it won't be long before you can actually ride in the morning! In March I've signed up for a week-long Backroads tour of the California wineries. There are two scheduled days over 60 miles, so I will hopefully reach a new level by the end of March.
And, addicted to planning centuries that I am, I found even more that I could do. Here is the whole list -- accomplishing only half of these will be an amazing feat:
1. April 30: NC, Tarwheel
2. May 6: IL*, Tour de Stooges
3. May 14: AL*, Huntsville Tour de Cure
4. Jun 25: IA* or WY
5. Jul 2: MO* Tour de Loco
6. Jul 4: OK* Tour de Payne
7. Jul 17: NY River Valley Ride
8. Jul 25: ME* Lobster Ride & Roll
9. Aug 6: IN* Amishland…
10. Aug 27: DE Shore Fire
11. Sep 3: TN* Sunrise
12. Sep 11: MN* Jesse James
13. Sep 17: NJ Jersey Devil
14. Sep 25: MI* Apple Cider
15. Nov: GA* Cruisin’ in the Country
16. Dec: SC* Festivelo
The asterisks mean that the website has not yet been fully posted yet, but the date has been established.
