Five Weeks to Go

Thirty-five days to go until I do my 60 miles for age 60 on the Pine Creek Rail to Trail. This week begins the final training time. I get my new bike, probably tomorrow. (More on that after I get it.) I have no idea how I'm going to make it on this trip. Sitting on the stationary bike at the fitness center is, I am sure, a great deal different from riding a real two-wheeler along the 60 miles of Pine Creek in Pennsylvania.

As I have mentioned before I am planning on doing this over two days. Checking what other people do on bike trips like this one they range anywhere from 35 to well over a hundred miles in a day. What I know is that this trail is relatively flat and, in the direction I'm going, generally downhill. My goal the first day is to travel around 35 miles. My guess is that I will do this in around 4 - 5 hours. I am not out to set any records. Seven to ten miles an hour seems like an easy pace. It is far slower than I do on the stationary bike. But can I do that for four hours (with plenty of water, scenery, and picture breaks)?

But in order to figure it out I am planning on riding one of the local trails near home for Independence Day. The Douglas Trail runs from Rochester to Pine Island. It is around 12 miles or so. No pushing, no rushing, no racing. But Friday is a day off and that will be my pace-setting ride. I will see if I have done enough or if I should plan on doing some real serious training over the next five weeks.

It is exciting to have this on the schedule again. Sixty for sixty. Hmmm.