Colorado Casual Hoody

Based in Louisville, Pearl Izumi makes clothes for the Colorado lifestyle. From cycling shorts to speed suits, the company caters to runners, cyclists and triathletes, but they also have a stellar line of fashionable lifestyle jackets and vests for both men and women. With wool on the outside and fleece on the inside, the Pearl Thermal Hoody is a luxury for those below-zero winter days.

Pearl Izumi: pearlizumi.com

Where to buy: Louisville Cyclery, 1032 S. Boulder Rd., Louisville; University Bicycles, 839 Pearl St., Boulder

Phone Cases With Muscle

When you give your hubby a new iPhone 4S for the holidays, make sure there’s an Otterbox case in his or her stocking. The Fort Collins-based company makes the toughest, most rugged cases—protecting phones against drops, scratches and your two-year-old’s grubby clutches. We like the stylishness of the Commuter Series Case, but those in need of heavy-duty protection should stick with the Defender Series. $34.95, $49.95

Otterbox: otterbox.com

Where to buy: Cell phone provider stores

Cell Phone Savior

It’s newfangled and shiny but not totally out of this world. The Steelie is a high-powered, magnetic system that reduces the chances of loosing your cell phone in your car. The basic Steelie—unveiled in mid November—attaches your cell phone to a shiny ball fastened securely to your dash. It’s handy and stylish, and perfect for the person who has every thing—but still can’t find their phone.

Steelie: steelie.com

Where to buy: McGuckin Hardware, 2525 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder

Handmade Gift Tags

Impress your family and friends with these adorable handmade gift tags, made by crafty lady and Louisville resident Nicole Stibrany. Using modern design, reused, upcycled materials and a delicate touch, Stibrany creates little pieces of art for all seasons. Tags come in all shapes and sizes, price vary.

Concepture Papery: concepturepapery.etsy.com

Travel Gadget

A Tugo is a funny, little item that you’d expect to see in a Sky Mall catalogue. In truth, it was the brain child of a Denver couple who had taken one too many trips juggling luggage, boarding passes and coffee cups. The tugo is a flexible cup holder that secures to the space in between the upright handles on your rolling suitcase. And it’s a brilliant present for the traveler in your life.

Tugo: tugo.com

Where to buy: Airport Baggage Center and First Class Baggage at DIA; Send’em Packing, 283 Columbine St., Denver

Smart Socks

Broomfield Based Save Our Soles specializes in protecting feet from the damaging effects of the Colorado lifestyle. The company’s sock technology is unsurpassed: fabrics with moisture management and control near the foot, and three-ply nylon on the outside to boost durability and strength. Plus, SOS socks come in nifty designs that make your Nike socks look like grandma’s.

Save Our Soles: sossocks.com

Where to buy: Trek Bicycle Store, 1817 Colorado 42, Louisville; Full Cycle, 1795 Pearl St. and 1211 13th St., Boulder.

The post Get Practical appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

1. Boulder Running Company’s Memorial Weekend Sale
is an awesome score the same weekend as the Bolder Boulder, boasting 75 to 80 percent off retail on discontinued clothing, apparel and footwear with a good spread of shoe sizes, giveaways with purchases and freebies from vendors. Call 303.786.9255 or visitboulderrunningcompany.com for more info.

2. GoLite’s Warehouse Sale
generally occurs in May and includes last season’s discounted gear as well as apparel. Call 303.546.6000 for more info or visit golite.com/salesevents/ for updated listings.

3. REI’s Anniversary Sale
every May offers the best deals on just about any outdoor gear, but members get even better deals, plus awesome discounts, at the biannual Members Garage Sales. Boulder’s next garage sale is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 22. Call 303.583.9970 or visit rei.com/outlet all year long for great gear deals.

4. Eldora Mountain Ski Club/Eldora Mountain Bike Adventures Fundraiser
La Sportiva, SmartWool, Billabong, Kombi and more sell discontinued, sample, slightly flawed and overstock gear and apparel Sept. 16 from 3pm to 7pm and Sept. 17 from 9am to 5pm at 3850 Frontier Ave. at Pearl Street and Foothills Avenue in Boulder.

5. Camp USA/Scarpa’s Warehouse Sale
should fall in September this year, representatives said. This awesome dual sale includes samples, gear with cosmetic blemishes, discontinued and overstock gear. Call 303.465.9429 or 303.998.2895 for more info.

6. Mike’s Camera Tent Sale
Mother’s Day weekend rocks awesome discounts on lenses and accessories with smaller discounts on bodies. Mike’s Camera Expo includes sales, informational stuff for customers, deals on cameras and accessories and happens around Thanksgiving, but it’s not as stellar as the tent sale. Call 303.443.1715 for product information.

7. Dick’s Sporting Goods’ biannual clearance sales
are the best time to shop Dick’s. Every January after New Year’s and June after Father’s Day, take 25 to 50 percent off of the lowest ticketed price. The summer sale is usually store-wide and includes footwear, apparel, golf, cycling, fishing, camping and team-sport paraphernalia, while the winter sale is primarily apparel. Apparel sales will dip as low as 50 percent off, but gear typically goes at 25 percent off. Locations in Broomfield, Longmont and Thornton.

8. Prana’s biannual sales
usually hit at the beginning of August and February and promise 40 percent off of everything in the store from apparel to headbands to chalk bags to yoga mats. Call 303.449.2199 for exact dates.

9. Fresh Produce’s Warehouse Sale
boasts nothing priced for more than $15, with kids clothing for as little as $5. Save up to 80 percent off retail, representatives promise, with new prints and colors each year, and an evolved line this year that promises more fashion-forward dresses as well as tried-and-true essentials. The sale moves every year, usually occurs on Memorial Day weekend, but sometimes lands a weekend before or after. Call 303.444.7573 or follow Fresh Produce on Facebook at facebook.com/FreshProduceClothing for the next location.

10. Crocs Warehouse Sale
at the Twin Peaks Mall in Longmont typically occurs in early to mid-December. Prices start at $5. Check Crocs’ blog for exact dates company.crocs.com/blogs/crocs/ or call 303.848.7000 for more information.

The post 10 Gear and Apparel Picks appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Photo by James Burrus

Getting around on two wheels in Boulder County keeps getting progressively easier, safer and more convenient as more roads get the “bike friendly” treatment. June being Bike Month in Colorado—and Bike To Work Day being the fourth Wednesday in the month—it’s worth noting the serious improvements to county roads that are used by fitness and commuter cyclists alike (like yours truly).

Probably one of the most hellish stretches for a cyclist in Boulder County is Valmont Road between 75th and 95th streets. It’s motley clumps of asphalt patches, complete lack of shoulders and not one but two sharp S-curves make navigating that stretch an exercise in survival. Contrast that with Valmont Road to the west of 75th Street, and the difference is stark.

Tim Swope, the county’s capital projects coordinator, said the stretch of Valmont will get the Full Shoulder Treatment—11-foot driving lanes and 5-foot shoulders—the whole way through. After some drainage issues are solved and culverts are replaced, reconstruction will begin in August and last through November. Other projects either nearing completion or set to begin this summer, Swope said, include:

Lee Hill Road from 4th Street in Boulder (just west of Broadway) to Olde Stage Road. That stretch is getting drainage issues solved, a wider roadway and 5-foot climbing lanes. That section of the popular cycling loop that includes the lung-busting climb up Olde Stage Road and 50 mph descent to Buckingham Park and out Lefthand Canyon Drive to U.S. 36 has been in need of shoulders since I commuted on that stretch daily beginning in 1987.

Boulder County has just begun adding 5-foot shoulders to Cherryvale Road between Arapahoe and Baseline roads; a project that should be done by the end of summer.

Completing a three-mile-long soft surface trail connection from 83rd to 95th Street near Niwot Road.

Engineering work and preparations will be finished this year in preparation for rebuilding Neva and Niwot roads from U.S. 36 east to 63rd Street. This includes side shoulders, too.
Other ongoing projects include working with the Colorado Department of Transportation on getting similar shoulders installed on Colorado 93 south out of Boulder. That stretch of highway is one of the few routes south to Golden, and while not a favorite with cyclists because of the precarious lack of shoulders, highway speeds and big trucks that use it, many riders still flirt with death and give it a ride.

But probably the most glaring place in need of shoulders is East County Line Road that forms the border with Weld and Boulder counties. The road offers a straight shot from Broomfield to Larimer County. Apart from a few sections widened for developments in Erie, the road is mostly a shoulder-less speedway. Boulder County hopes to get started on improving the Longmont to Erie section in the next year or two, according to Swope.

It’s worth pointing out here that all of these improvements are key to making the increasingly traveled road of Boulder County safer, both for motorists and bicyclists. And while progress may seem slow, it would be downright glacial without the .1 percent tax (a penny on a $10 purchase) that was passed by voters in 2001 and extended in 2007 to sunset in 2024. It generates about $3.5 million a year, about 15 percent of which goes toward regional trails and the rest is spent on road and transit improvements.

The success of Boulder County’s transportation tax is a great example of government being good stewards and improving our lives by using taxes. Next year, RTD will ask for a .4 percent tax (four pennies on a $10 purchase) to put some zoom in FasTracks and get that worthy project done faster. It’s money well spent and we should do much more because government can and does do good with our taxes.

The post Road Warriors appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Getting around Metro Denver and the Front Range is getting easier every day. But making faster progress may mean digging in to our collective couches for the pocket change to make it happen.

In the next 10 years, transportation issues will be among the top political and policy items our lawmakers wrestle with. In a world of limited resources and rising costs—fuel chief among them—there are projects large and small that will vye for our attention and money. Some may seem out of reach; others are no-brainers. But they all impact our quality of life, level of safety and air quality. Here is our list of the top 10 transportation issues on the to-do (or at least the to-talk-about) list of many Front Range lawmakers and citizens.

1. The “last mile” solution: B-cycle

Most of us could use a long walk. But one of the complaints about busses and trains is that they don’t go quite far enough. In fact, the deal breaker for many people using mass transit is traveling the mile or two to their stop or from their stop to their destination.

Enter B-cycle, a bike-sharing program that lets you “check out” a
well-maintained, robust bike for a $5 daily fee (or $50 annual membership). Just swipe your B-cycle card (or a credit card) and off you go. Ride to where you’re going and lock it back into any B-cycle rack when you’re done.

The program launches in Boulder May 20 with B-cycle stations in the downtown core and around CU. Denver re-launched its 500 B-cycle bikes in March. The program’s success will depend on its saturation and scope.

Get all the info at boulderbcycle.com. So, now there is no excuse for not
taking the bus.

2. For whom the road tolls

Negotiations over the proposed Jefferson Parkway—the 10-mile, $800-plus million road that would go from 120th Street and McCaslin Boulevard to Colo. 93 north of Golden—are expected to continue between the city of Boulder, Boulder County, Golden and Jefferson County. Boulder has agreed to drop its longtime opposition to the road if they can work out a deal over a piece of land, known as section 16, which would become open space. Proponents, such as the city of Broomfield, say the road would realize the vision of a completed beltway around the metro area and it would help transport workers from suburban areas to corporate facilities like the ConocoPhillips campus. The city of Golden doesn’t want the toll road cutting its town in half and has threatened lawsuits to stop it; Superior has also expressed opposition because of potential traffic impacts. Despite those concerns, Jefferson County officials have told area media that construction could start within a couple of years.

3. How much is too much fun?

Denver, Boulder and even Longmont are embracing the bicycle as a source of fun and socializing. As the number of participants increases, dealing with the volume of riders is becoming an issue, and an opportunity. The Longmont Wednesday night ride—May 18 to Labor Day this year—has increased over seven years from an average of six riders a week to 75. This is dwarfed by Denver Cruisers, which gets upward of 3,000 on a big Wednesday night. Both rides employ costume “themes” for attracting riders and generating enthusiasm. While the Denver ride makes no bones about being a bar hop, the Longmont ride aims for being family friendly, despite occasional stops at breweries. What both ride organizers do is emphasize safety and obeying traffic laws, endearing them to police and making the growing events avenues for education about bike issues.

4. FasTracks: Just build it so we can all move on

FasTracks is a noble vision that—to the extent that it has been realized—is an unmitigated success. The rail system that today connects much of south Denver with downtown is growing to Golden and DIA. Ridership has exceeded projections and people want more of it, not less.

No one foresaw the financial apocalypse that crippled the economy, sent tax revenues plummeting and slowed the flow of funds for FasTracks to a trickle. In response, RTD is thinking of asking voters in November for an additional 0.4 percent sales tax increase to finish FasTracks faster, as opposed to dragging it out over decades at a much higher total cost.

The tax would amount to an additional 40 cents on a $100 purchase and would be the best money we will ever spend. As gas heads to more than $4 a gallon, a comprehensive, effective and efficient transit system can’t get here fast enough.

5. High-speed Rail on I-25 and I-70 Corridors

Installing high-speed rail from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins and from Denver to Grand Junction would cost an estimated $21 billion, according to a feasibility study finished last year for the Rocky Mountain Rail Authority.

As is the case with most Big Infrastructure, such a sweeping project would also fuel an estimated $33 billion in benefits to the state, including thousands of jobs, increased economic development, higher real estate values along the corridors, more productivity and better air quality. Travel times make your mouth water: two hours from DIA to Vail; an hour from DIA to either Colorado Springs or Fort Collins. And while such a system won’t eliminate rush-hour congestion in the Denver Metro area, it would make a decent dent in the I-70 gridlock in the Mountain Resort Region. We can dream…

6. Apocalypse soon: $5-a-gallon gas

The cognitive disconnect is amazing: As long as it costs less than $40 to fill a 16-gallon tank with gas, life is good. But toss some freedom fighting Libyans into the mix and send a full tank north of $60 and we’re sure to see the return of standing-room-only busses, lighter weekend ski traffic and waiting lists for hybrid cars. It’s fine to put an extra $30 to $40 billion a year in profits into the pockets of Big Oil, but God forbid if we were to tack an extra 25 cents onto a gallon of gas to pay for more (or free) busses, light rail and expanded transit service. That extra quarter would be a burden, but the extra dollar or more per gallon that does nothing but make Big Oil companies rich is just fine? We haven’t increased the 22-cent-a-gallon gas tax in 20 years. Figuring out that bumping that up by a dime or quarter will be a benefit, not a detriment, is among our biggest challenges.

7. Solutions for I-70

Congested I-70 traffic in the mountains isn’t just aggravating for drivers. Businesses from the Red Ram in Georgetown to the Dillon Dam Brewery in Dillon suffer. According to a six-year-old Denver Regional Council of Governments study, I-70 congestion in the Mountain Resort Region costs Colorado a couple of hundred million a year in lost business (people don’t want to exit and “lose their place in line”), lower productivity, personal lost time, sales tax revenue and air quality. One solution would be to poke additional tunnels next to the existing ones at the Eisenhower Tunnel and Twin Tunnels west of Idaho Springs as well as improve several interchanges (Cost: $16–$20 billion). The new tunnels could be used for rail in the future, but the cost is huge.

8. Boulder don’t need no stinkin’ Light Rail

The U.S. 36 Corridor—from Boulder to Westminster—is the backbone of Boulder’s transit system. Long before the promise of connecting Longmont and Boulder with Denver via commuter trains lured voters with rail lust to pass FasTracks, there were buses and EcoPasses that put butts in seats along one of RTD’s most heavily used transit corridors. Local officials, along with RTD Board Representative John Tayer, are twisting arms so money flows for improvements to make U.S. 36 slog faster and easier. Pending projects like Bus Rapid Transit (which includes more slip ramps like the newly opened one in Broomfield, High Occupancy Vehicle lanes and bike paths) will continue to need vocal support to ensure Boulder County doesn’t become a transit backwater as we wait for the train.

9. Smoother roads ahead for cyclists

If you want to see smart taxation at work, check out Boulder County’s transportation department schedule for road improvements for the next two years. The 0.1 percent sales tax (10 cents on a $100 purchase) will put wider shoulders for cyclists on Lee Hill Road and Valmont Road from 75th to 95th streets; Cherryvale Road between Baseline and Arapahoe; on Colo. 93 from Marshall Road to Colo. 128; and on Niwot/Neva roads from U.S. 36 to 63rd Street. The 2001 tax, extended to 2027 by voters in 2007, has put dozens of vital county transportation projects into high gear that would have taken decades to complete without a dedicated funding source. In addition to wider shoulders—which are nice for both cyclists and drivers—the work includes trails and drainage projects. Check out bouldercounty.org for a complete list, maps and schedule of work.

10. Crank up the fare box feedback

As RTD finally gets around to installing new fare boxes and Smart Card readers on all its busses, the transit agency will at last begin to get an accurate picture of its ridership and detailed information about who rides its busses, when and where.

This kind of information has been missing forever and the information vacuum led RTD staff and board members who oppose the EcoPass program to wrongly claim it loses money and should be cut. But with no hard data to prove otherwise, keeping the popular (at least in Boulder County) EcoPass program alive involved a full-time fight.

Now, as better information becomes available, RTD will be able to collect the fares it is due as well as fine tune its routes and schedules to maximize its service. And who knows, maybe better information will lead to an expansion of the EcoPass program.

The post Down The Road: Ten Transportation Issues Impacting You in the Next 10 Years appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

I ask Ksenia Lepikhina when she has time to sleep. She giggles and shrugs. Her parents laugh. The 8th-grader at Boulder Country Day School has classes and homework like any other kid her age.

But she’s also busy training in preparation for this year’s mountain biking national championships as well as dozens of mountain biking and cyclocross races throughout the spring and summer.

Lepikhina is the two-time junior national champion in mountain biking in her age group—in both 2009 and 2010. She joined Singletrack Mountain Bike Adventures when she was 9, and she now trains every day of the week. In the summer, mountain biking is practically a full-time job. She also trains for cyclocross two days a week and will spend most weekends this summer competing. She placed fifth in the cyclocross nationals last year; she rides for Boulder Junior Cycling. She also runs cross country, and she took 10th out of 445 kids in her age group in the 2010 Bolder Boulder. She’s competitive in skiing as well.

“A lot of people think it’s all about the competition,” she said. “But it’s fun. I love being outdoors. It’s a good way to get to go places, to travel.”

There are not many girls competing in cyclocross and even fewer in mountain biking. While Lepikhina competes against other girls her age, she trains with boys. Through the years, she’s pushed herself to keep up with them and has improved nicely—“I like riding with the boys.”

Her parents instilled a passion for sports and the outdoors in the 13-year-old, who was born in Russia and came to the United States as a baby. As a family, they ski, ride, climb and run together. Maksim and Marina Lepikhina said they want her to grow up with a passion for sports. They enjoy seeing her work toward a goal (or goals) and achieve them. More and more, they say, they can’t keep up with her.

Ksenia Lepikhina attributes her athletic successes to the hard work she’s put in.

“This is something I’ve talked with my parents about. I don’t believe that you are born with natural talent,” she says. “You have to practice. You have to work hard.”

“It’s the desire not to quit,” Marina adds. “There are races when the wind is awful or there is snow, and she is still going. She’s crying but she’s still going.”

She knows her strengths—endurance and climbing—and she works to have good all-around strength. In four years, she wants to go to the mountain bike world championships, and someday she would like to compete in the Olympics.

Any thing else, I ask?

“I also love to paint,” she adds with a smile.

The post Wonder Girl appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Elizabeth Train started with a turquoise tricycle. Then it was a yellow Schwinn with a banana seat and stars. Today, Train owns seven bikes and, as the director of community development for the fledgling Boulder B-cycle, she will soon help launch a fleet of bright red, high-tech bikes into the Boulder community. In the next few months, Boulder B-cycle will develop a system of bike stations throughout the community; residents, visitors and students will be able to buy a pass, take a bike, use it for a few minutes or a few hours, return it to any station and be on their way.

Bike sharing has been popular in Europe for years and just recently became visible in the U.S. B-cycle stations pimple metro Denver. It’s common to see groups tooling around town on the flashy velos. Train says Boulder B-cycle is helping to create a structure that coordinates the B-cycle stations with bus stops, businesses and popular spots, such as the Pearl Street Mall. The stations will be positioned in places where people need bikes the most.

Train is most proud that B-cycle has its roots in Colorado. During the Democratic National Convention, Boulder-based Bikes Belong Coalition, where Train worked at the time, created a bike-sharing program to help visitors and locals travel around the city and through the crowds. Not long after, Humana, Trek and local Crispin Porter + Bogusky joined forces to develop B-cycle; Denver was the first city with a system. Boulder-based Amadeus software, KIOSK Information Systems of Louisville and Gunbarrel’s Crispin Porter + Bogusky all had a hand in designing the technology behind the bikes. In May, Boulder B-cycle hopes to be up and running.

“We are bringing it back home,” Train says. “It’s really now come full circle.”

Boulder is the smallest community in the U.S. to implement a B-cycle system; as an independent nonprofit, the local outfit must raise the funds to execute the first phase of the B-cycle plan. Unlike the bigger cities, Boulder doesn’t have a huge corporate sponsor to bankroll the whole program. In March, the Google Community Grants Fund donated $25,000. Boulder B-cycle is also aiming to raise $1 million on top of getting a $250,000 federal grant.

“I’m most looking forward to the launch,” she said. “We are just full throttle. Anytime we find someone who contributes, anyone who gets it, who wants to participate, who wants to donate, that’s what excites me.”

Beyond money, there are small barriers to making B-cycle a success: namely awareness. Although Boulder is known for its bike friendliness, there are still those who will find bike sharing a new experience.

“If you get on a B-cycle, it will ignite a flame. They’ll go home and get their bikes fixed, and they’ll start riding again,” she said. “It’s like they say. It’s getting back on a bike.”

In Their Words:

On awareness: “We want to be up and running before Bike Week and before the Bolder Boulder,” Train said. That includes a lot of community awareness before the launch. “We want to align with every festival that’s fun and green in the area. We want to become a part of the fabric of the community, even before we launch. We want people to love us before the bikes hit the streets.”

Favorite bike:
Her Yeti 575 mountain bike.
“I love it,” she said. “It makes me feel like a rockstar.”

Bridging the gap: “One thing that a system like this can do is bring people into the culture. The people who are not acclimated in to it,” she said. “People or businesses who have nothing to do with bikes can get into it. They can sponsor us or get memberships for their employees. It bridges the gap.”

Biking inspiration: Train’s dad was a cyclist and he taught her to love bikes early. She’s been more of a mountain biker than anything. Still, at B-cycle and at the Bikes Belong Coalition, she’s also been an advocate for bikes of all kinds.

On connecting: “We are connecting to transit, so transportation will be easier: relieving parking congestion, helping commuters who are under time constrictions,” she said. “And it’s great for people who just want to get outside and get some fresh air.”

The post Elizabeth Train appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

If your workouts are in the doldrums, set one of Colorado’s big September rides as a goal. There’s still time and it could be the boost you need. Call this the 7-minute abs of cycling.

The plan entails a four-week block of riding commitment with a century ride in the fifth week. Here’s how to start: Inform your mate, kids and dog that you’d like to train for a century. Tell them this isn’t the usual 12-week plan. Choose a century. Follow the plan of exercise physiologist, coach and owner of Davanti Cycling, Luisa Sullivan. A few of the keys to success, Sullivan says, are making “volume a priority over intensity” and to “simulate the terrain” of the century in your training. Here’s the rest of her plan:

Prereqs: You’ve ridden between 5–8 hours per week this summer. If you haven’t ridden this year but aren’t starting from fitness scratch you can still prepare for a shorter ride like a metric or half century using percentages of the century schedule as a guide. So your fourth week Sunday ride would be 50 miles (80 percent) assuming a 62-mile goal.

The Route: How many climbs? How long? How steep? You’ll want to progressively increase your climbing until you can almost simulate the profile of the course. For ride distances and grades check out mapmyride.com.

Your Gear: If you’re shorts are translucent with wear, splurge on a quality pair with a good chamois. Don’t forget the chamois cream. This combination will pay huge comfort dividends. Wrap your bars with gel bar tape—another contact point that will cushion your ride. Make sure you have plenty of gearing for the hardest climbs.

The Plan (training plan above): The Tuesday tempo section is between a moderate pace and your threshold—a pace where you focus more on your breathing than on talking to your partner. The climbing on Sundays is the percentage of the total for the century. Threshold is where your legs are burning and your breathing is heavy. Switch up these days to accommodate your schedule.

Below is a sample training schedule for a climbing-intensive century like the Good Sam Bike Jam.

The Week of the Century: If the ride is Saturday, ride 1.5 hours Tuesday with 40 percent climbing; Wednesday and Friday ride one-hour moderate. Three days before eat meals that are 75 percent carbohydrates. Drink lots of water. The morning of the ride eat a bagel and banana, not a burrito. More water!

The Century: Eat something every 30-45 minutes. Drink at least a bottle an hour, alternating between water and an electrolyte mix. Ride at your pace, not the pace of others. Don’t spend more than 10 minutes at any aid station. Change your hand positions often and stretch your neck, back and arms often.

[training plan]
+ Week 1: Mon off; Tue 1 hr. w/20 min. tempo; Wed 1 hr. moderate; Thur 1 hr. w/10% in climbing; Fri off; Sat 30 miles, flat/rolling; Sun 40 miles w/20% of goal climbs; 5 min. at threshold.

+ Week 2: Mon off; Tue 1 hr. w/20 min. tempo; Wed 1 hr. moderate; Thur 1 hr. w/20% in climbing; Fri off; Sat 40 miles, flat/rolling; Sun 55 miles w/40% of goal climbs; 10 min. at threshold.

+ Week 3: Mon off; Tue 1 hr. w/20 min. tempo; Wed 1 hr. moderate; Thur 1 hr. w/30% in climbing; Fri off; Sat. 50 miles, flat/rolling; Sun 65 miles w/60% of goal climbs; 15 min. at threshold.

+ Week 4: Mon off; Tue 1 hr. w/20 min. tempo; Wed 1 hr. moderate; Thur 1.5 hr. w/40% in climbing; Fri off; Sat 50 miles, flat/rolling; Sun 80 miles w/80% of goal climbs; 20 min. at threshold.

The post A Ride of the Century appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.