I really haven’t given a thumbnail of getting ready for this trip. This is my third season. My first season, I bought a BMG which is supposedly Raleigh’s discontinued entry into carbon bikes. It was a good starter bike even though it was really too big and long for me. But the first year I put about 2k miles on it and really enjoyed the experience. Last year, my second season, I really thought about getting seriously fit. Instead I glanced off a car and upon hitting the pavement with my head, I broke my clavicle and 2 ribs. Thank G-d for my helmet, but it basically shut down most of my season. I started riding again in September for a couple of months.

I decided to purchase a custom fit bike, a Seven, from Signature Cycles. They were referred by my bike coach, Josh Gold, who I met at a charity triathlon training event. I hired Josh to get me fit for this season and decided to really set a goal by signing up for this Marrorca trip. I had a Computrainer, but Josh really taught me how to use it and how to work different areas of fitness. By the week before I was to leave, I did a 80 mile segment of the Canadian Ironman on the Computrainer which is a 4.75 slog. I felt for the first time that I could really do this trip. I hope to post more on what I did to start training. The other two things I learned though, and just as important, is that I need to take nutrition seriously and well as resting/recovery time. I never considered those issues before but I knew I wanted long rides so I needed to work on this.