Training: 10 days 'til start

Another fairly light day: 140 km (87 miles), 6:05 hrs, 23 km/h (14 mph), strong wind, occasional drizzle, temp 15 C.

Well, this was supposed to be the grand finale week of training, but has turned out to be an anti-climactic fizzle. After Monday's ride in the heavy rain and wind, I found I just couldn't bring myself to go out in the same miserable conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday. Did some weight-lifting and that was about it. My cleats were still not even 100% dry this morning (lesson: get a second pair to bring on the trip!) . I had taken off the little bootie covers on Monday since the zippers had eaten away the skin on the back of my calf. My solution to that today was to just not zip them all the way up--that worked fine. I managed to purchase a totally waterproof top which also, I discovered today, doubles as a great groundcloth for picnicking on the damp ground. Menu: Gatorade, Studentenfutter Klassische Mix Mit Rosinen (mmmm, 1000 quick calories in a single bag), some cereal bars, peanut M&Ms, caffeine and aspirin.

My average speed was a bit slow. I attribute this to the first hour and half where I was just trudging along. You'd think that after two rest days I'd be perfectly fresh, but that first bit was about as easy as chewing on pebbles and just as fun. I was heading into a strong headwind (15 mph), as well, which didn't help. In general, I like the strong winds since I figure it makes up for not having any real mountains to train on and also gives me some useful bike handling experience. Just imagine leaning into a strong cross wind only to have a double-trailer truck zip by momentarily blocking the cross wind and sucking you up into its trailing vortex at the same time and further throwing up a cloud of dirty mucky mist just for spite. Throw in some potholes, a horse cart and pedestrians and you get the idea...

Today my turnaround point was km 70 on Ruta 9. This coincides with the half-way point to Punta del Este (the most famous resort town in Uruguay) and the highest point along that route. I didn't leave the house until 11am and a turnaround here would bring me back to my doorstep at sunset. I hate riding in the dark, even though I always bring along my lights just in case. The last 30km is all bad neighborhoods, full of potholes, ill-lit, and full of car/bus/truck/foot traffic.

A bit of the old abandoned route is visible at this point, shown in the photo. If I had a decent camera and were a decent photographer you'd be able to pick out the old km marker and the really weird little single lane divided section towards the summit. The sign says: Prohibited: Smoking, Hunting, Fishing. They do have a big problem with forest fires in these eucalyptus tree plantations. Folks go in to plunder firewood and drop cigarette butts, etc. The trees (eucalyptus or pine) are grown exclusively for paper and constitute the most profitable use of rural lands except for the most fertile bits. As an indication, land prices have about quadrupled in real dollar terms since they started growing paper timber extensively around 20 years ago. The land is mostly owned by foreign interests, as you might expect.

Anyway, I was delighted to turn around here. From here back towards Montevideo is downhill for 20 km with only a few minor contrary hills and dips, until the Arroyo Solis Chico right before the toll-booth at km 50. That combined with the tailwind makes the experience euphoric. Those same 20 km took me better than an hour to climb, trudging against gravity and the constant headwind. Going back flies by at 40 - 50 km/h taking less than half an hour and seeming like five minutes. The pure joy is hard to describe. Note that with a tailwind there is no wind noise and the bike is absolutely silent. There isn't even much traffic on this section of road to spoil it. I'm listening to the super high fidelity music on the iphone, one minute Vivaldi's Four Seasons and the next belting out One Love at the top of my lungs along with Bob Marley. I probably make a funny sight, but with joy of the ride, the beautiful scenery zipping by, the endorphins generated by my effort, and the recent caffeine kicking in, I feel like a bird flying, soaring effortlessly, joyfully...thrilled. This is what it's all about!

Training: 13 days 'til start

Only went 130 km (81 miles) today--out Ruta 8 until the Ruta 9 fork. 5:30 hours, 24 km/h (15 mph). It was the worst weather I've ridden in since my bike messenger days in Boston like 25 years ago. On the way out there were headwinds with strong cross gusts. Combined with the trucks, cold, and heavy rain much of the time, it was absolutely miserable. The huge wind-driven raindrops actually stung! The way back at least I had the tailwind and could pick up the pace to over 30 km/h. I admit to taking quite a few extra breaks in the covered bus stops along the way, though.

I figure there are bound to be days like this on the trip, so it's good practice. And 81 miles isn't so far off the 95 mile average we'll be covering. I'm training solo so am getting no help against the wind so each mile I train is equivalent to say 1.25 on the trip where there are a dozen others to share the load, or at least that's what I'm hoping. Anyway, I liked the awed looks and comments I got. (Or were they all just thinking how crazy I was to be out in the storm?)

No way I was going to risk iPhone photos in the rain, so I'm posting a crappy picture I took on an earlier day. But I did finish listening to Chris Anderson's book FREE: the Future of a Radical Price and got started on Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. It's an unabridged translation and the reading takes 60 hours so I'll be on that one for a while. Loved the hours-long description of the saintly Monsignor Bienvenue that Hugo starts out with. I highly recommend audio books as an alternative to just listening to music (which I also love, of course). A spellbinding narration makes the miles melt away, especially when you're feeling tired and can't wait to get home. And, hey, the ear buds keep the ears warm and dry!

Happy biking!!

Ride 50 miles out of Montevideo and you can cross two departamentos. It's kind of like having a country were all the states are the size of Rhode Island. This was my first 100 mile (161 km) ride a couple months ago. It was a little premature. After 130 km my right knee hurt so much that I basically limped the last 30 km using only my left leg trying to ignore the excruciating pain from the useless spinning of the right. Not recommended, and a little slow. This set me back about three weeks.