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Last summer my husband, Rich, and I spent five days on the Isle of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. Although they belong to Britain, they are much closer to the coast of France and are … Continue reading
For almost two months now, I have been diligently training. Cycling 3-4 days a week, with at least one and more often two long rides. I’m up to 40 miles at a stretch now. I’ve even worked in some hill training. It has felt good. I can feel my strength increasing, my endurance improving and the early pain in my knees has melted away. I really feel like I’m making progress! Bring on the Trans-Superior Cycling Tour – I’m going to be good and ready!
Just for fun, I thought I’d check on my overall mileage. My favorite tracking software, SportTracks, calculates cumulative mileage for my equipment. So a quick check after today’s ride gave me the answer. 598 miles. Seriously? That’s all? Working the math backwards through my recent rides, I figured out that I hit 500 miles some time during last Tuesday’s ride. It took me 1.5 months to cycle what we’re planning on doing on a 9-day Tour… What a blow.
Good thing that Tour isn’t until August. I think I have more training to do.
It was our last day in the French countryside. Staying in a 200-year-old farmhouse in a village of 100 people, my husband, Rich, and I had spent the week in our preferred style of travel – visiting small, out of the way places and savoring the local flavor.
Our destination for that afternoon was Lucon, chosen for its nice Cathedral and formal gardens. When we arrived, it was clear that we’d stumbled upon an event of some kind. It turned out to be the start of a running race. As runners ourselves, it was with a pang of envy that we watched the racers pass. Being spectators has never been our strong point. Returning our attention to the “sights” of the town, we found a sign listing the afternoon’s events. We had just witnessed the start of the 5500m race, and the 10k was yet to come in an hour. An instantaneous moment of insanity gripped us, as we considered entering the race. But our running gear was an hour’s drive away, too far to make it back in time. Practicality ruled, and we continued our way through the town center. Browsing in shop windows and taking in the town’s architecture consumed 45 minutes, but not our minds…they were still back on that race. So with 15 minutes to the start, we entered in our own race against time – getting outfitted and into that race!
Our first destination was a shoe store, where we rushed in and tried to explain in our best high school French (now decades past) that we needed shoes to run in that race! We managed to find two pair that would do, but did not want to commit to buying them unless we could complete the outfit with shorts. Struggling to get our point across, we acquired directions to the sporting goods store, where we found and changed into new running shorts. While I completed the transaction for the shoes, Rich made a dash for the starting line. When I joined him there, he was explaining our plight to the officials – we wanted to race, but alas were not registered. All this with moments to go before the starting time. The response, “C’est ne pas grave!” (that’s not serious) and an invitation to join the race was all it took. Soon we were off with the starting gun!
Somehow we managed to understand that the race would be three loops through town. We both ran on adrenaline, not being in our best racing condition, and were cheered on by the officials at the starting line each time we passed. A couple of times we were spotted for running without racing numbers, but a quick shout “Je suis le Americaine!” was all it took – the return look was understanding and forgiveness. We were steered away from the official chutes at the finish, but the words “Etats Unis” ringing out over the loud speakers recognized our finish in a unique way.
Our friend from the starting line soon sought us out, along with a woman who turned out to be a local reporter covering the race. Learning the tale of how we entered the race, she entreated us to stay for the awards ceremony. In the meantime, we took a quick loop through town to return to the shops where we had made our purchases. Miming our success, we joyfully thanked the merchants amidst exchanges of congratulations and laughter. We returned to find an Olympic-style podium where local dignitaries presented trophies and large bouquets of flowers to the winners of the various races. The next thing we knew, we heard them announcing our names!
The journalist woman ushered us up to the front, where they asked us to take our places on the #1 and #2 stands! Our French served us well enough to understand the Consular General’s description for the 
audience of how we had come to visit their town, patronized their local shops and joined in the race. He then turned to us and thanked us in his best English. Thinking we were done, we were about to depart when he presented us each with a trophy cup, accompanied by a kiss on each cheek for me, 1-2-3 times, as is the custom in Lucon! We felt quite the celebrities!
We never did see that Cathedral, nor the formal gardens. But there is no doubt we took in the local flavor.
When my children were very little, I 
took up running to stay in shape. As in most things I do, I jumped into it wholeheartedly, and was soon hooked on running and entering local races. When I could, I’d bring the kids along and enter them in the kids’ Fun Runs. They even humored me when they got older, and joined me in some 10k races.
Time marches on. Kids grow up and become 
more independent, and parents have more time. I moved up to half-marathons and then marathons. It was Mom’s running obsession, but they were always there to cheer me on. That was the extent of their involvement, or so I thought.
It wasn’t until they got into college that the seeds started to grow. One by one, they took up running or cycling. It wasn’t long before they too were reaching for extreme goals. My daughter joined my husband and me running Grandma’s Marathon. Two years later we added my youngest son as well! Our middle son – always the independent thinker, no running for him, thank you – did the MS150 bike ride and the week-long RAGBRAI bike ride across Iowa. And that was just the beginning – we have shared numerous races and events since then.
How did we become such an athletic family? Those seeds must have germinated.
This is it, the cause of my sudden attachment to my bicycle, the reason for my forays out into the wind and weather for training, the shift from running to cycling. It’s the Trans-Superior Tour!
Never heard of it? Probably because it 
was my husband Rich’s brainchild. The route, the idea of spending 9 days cycling together, the challenge, and the custom cycling jersey. It’s not his first such adventure, but it is mine. I’m a cycling novice, remember? But I’m up for it!
I have to admit, his route is rather ingenious. We wanted to focus on Lake Superior, and many of the best views from the road are on the Western end. So how to contain the trip to that portion of the lake? No problem – we’ll just ferry across using Isle Royale as a stop-over! Not a bad way to get a rest mid-trip and perhaps a few hours of hiking in the wilderness.
So here is the official route. 
We start in Duluth, work our way along the South Shore and up the Keweenaw Peninsula, right up to the top at Copper Harbor. That takes five days and is the most challenging part of the route, with the longest cycling days and the most hills. From there we ferry across the lake and return along the North Shore to Duluth.
I suspect that whittling down my travel essentials to one set of panniers is going to be one of the trickier aspects of the trip. However, Rich’s mode of travel involves staying at inns and little motels along the way, so I am spared the need to schlep real gear on this venture. And I admit I like the idea of reliable shelter, hot showers and real beds.
I have between now and mid-August to be ready for this cycling tour. I will periodically update my training progress and the finer details of our trip plans during that time. And if you want the male point of view on this journey, visit Rich’s blog, NorthStarNerd.org.
Oh, and did you read the fine print on the jerseys? That last line reads “500 Miles of Love.” It has to be, or we wouldn’t be doing this!
I have taken up a new activity – cycling. That opens up a whole new world of “needs” for workout gear that I’ve never had before, right? Or does it? In my efforts to resist the marketing efforts of sportswear gurus and the peer pressure to wear the “right stuff” when I head out on my bike, I have been doing my best to recycle my existing sports clothes. And I’d say I’m doing quite well!
Well, okay, there is one piece of cycling apparel that I learned I do need – cycling shorts. It only took a few longer rides to discover the discomforts of the saddle, and off I went to Erik’s Bike Shop to get properly outfitted with padded shorts. Sometimes there is no substitute for the real thing.
GPS is great. But it doesn’t do much for planning routes in new areas, or figuring out where to run or cycle in an unfamiliar city. That’s where mapping websites come in handy.
I happen to use the Gmap-Pedometer website. It’s a handy mapping tool that allows you to click on roads and trails to create a route. It shows mile or kilometer markers and allows you to “undo” if you want to change a section. There are 
several types of maps to choose from, including satellite maps and terrain. It understands running and cycling paths, and if you just need to get from one spot to another, you can tell it to just draw a straight line. Sometimes I use all three methods to draw the map I want. The mileage calculates as you go, and records the final distance. When you are satisfied with your map, you can save it and bookmark the URL. Alternately, if you create an account you can name and save your maps there, which I find to be a lot more convenient. The site also allows you to record your workouts.
USA Track & Field website 
has similar capabilities. I find it a bit more tedious for mapping as it only uses straight lines, while gmap-pedometer will automatically follow the curves of a path or road. However, it does calculate total climb, and present a graph of the elevation profile. The site also has a database of routes entered by other runners. You can search for routes in a particular location based on distance, starting point and route rating.
Note the accuracy – each of these examples follows the same route that I ran and captured on my Garmin GPS and SportTracks in my previous post. The mileage is almost identical.
Check these out to eliminate guesswork and plan your next route!
The best part about my Garmin Forerunner GPS is downloading my workouts to my PC. There is so much data packed into that little device and it all explodes into a vast array of information that can be displayed on my screen in a myriad of ways.
I currently use SportTracks by Zone Five Software, which supports most Garmin GPS models. While it started out as a free program, it is well worth the $35 price for the current version. It is easy to use, has a good visual interface, and more than enough features for my needs. For each of my workouts, I can view all of the following and more:
Click on any of the images to enlarge
There is a reporting module that enables me to look at my mileage or other statistics over time. I can filter the reports by activity, and group results by time period, location or other parameters. But more detailed filtering and analysis requires cutting and pasting the results into Excel, which may not suit everyone.
I like being able to look back on the maps of my routes to plan future workouts, or to look at alternative turns or add-ons to create a new route for the future.
One drawback is that the software is resident on my PC. When I’m away from home, I no longer have access to my data. An alternative is to use Garmin Connect. This is a free service for Garmin devices that provides the same tracking features online. It also allows you to share your data with other users, connect to Facebook, blogs and other social media. I like the idea of “access anywhere” so I just may have to give this a closer look.
What a difference technology makes. Where I was once content with recording my time and distance in a spreadsheet, I now have access to seemingly infinite amounts of data. It may not make me a better athlete, but I know a lot about where I’ve been!
A number of years ago, out of the blue my husband gave me a Garmin Forerunner 201. Knowing how compulsive I was about tracking my running miles, as well as my IT background, he knew it was the tool for me. Nirvana! Was he ever right!
No more spreadsheets. No more driving my running routes to estimate mileages. No more guessing. This gadget that I could wear on my wrist did it all. Not only could it track time and miles for my runs, it could tell me my pace, auto-pause when I stop, and calculate my splits. Even better, I could download the data to my PC and analyze it ad nauseum. I fell in love with GPS! Never mind that it was big and clunky on my petite wrist. Never mind that it regularly lost its satellite signal in the north woods. I could no longer go running without it.
Time marches on, and as always technology changes. I’m up to the 
Forerunner 205 now – not exactly the latest and greatest, but it has all the features I need. And with my aging eyes, I’m reluctant to move to one of the newer models with smaller displays. (sigh) It is still my favorite piece of gear, only now it’s also a necessity for cross-country skiing, cycling, hiking, snowshoeing – any activity that involves moving.
Here are some of my favorite uses:
These features are useful during my workouts. There is even greater value when paired up with software to store my workouts, track them over time, and provide infinite levels of detail. But that’s a topic for another post.
What’s better than doing a training ride? A ride with a destination!
My husband and I have initiated Saturday training rides together, as part of our preparation for our cycling vacation this summer. Today we set our sites on Mocha Moose, a funky coffee shop up the North Shore just before Two Harbors. It would make a nice 34 mile ride round trip – not bad for our early season training.
Never mind that it was 40 degrees and cloudy. Never mind that there was going to be a headwind on the way back. Never mind that “real athletes” never stop. It was warm and friendly inside Mocha Moose. The decor was eclectic, as required fo
r a true coffee haven, and the offerings were tempting. Having done our homework, we’d originally set our sites on the sinful cinnamon rolls. But when confronted with the bakery case, it was the breakfast turnovers that called to us – layers of flaky pastry surrounding ham, cheese and egg. We’ve earned these, right?
Owner Patti lived up to her vivacious reputation, and kept us entertained while we lingered. She was a bountiful source of local flavor, including tales of other cyclists who are regulars at her place. And she was just as easily absorbed in the details for our upcoming cycling trip, which will pass by her door. We just might have to make it a stop on our tour!
Superior Footprints 