Cycle Oregon 2009

Well... I sent a note to a friend of mine asking if he's going on Cycle Oregon this year. I'd ridden it with him in 2005 and 2007. They announced the route on the 7th and the ride has already sold almost all of it's 2000 slots. Steve said that he was going and so... I'm now "all in".

At the moment, I am in the throws of complete self doubt. It's a very different sort of riding that I do here in Fly Over, aka Iowa. For example, the total distance of RAGBRAI this year is 442 miles and about 22.8k feet of climbing. I'm thinking nothing about this, *yawn*. In contrast, CO 2009, is 437 miles and by my estimate, just about the same amount of climbing. Nothing on that route is at altitude. So why the self doubt? Maybe it's a day like this:

By eyeball, my "guess-ti-mate" of the climbing for the day is about 5500 feet. The real difference, in riding here vs. riding there, is that it done in two climbs, the first being something on the order of 9 to 10 miles long. Then there is that descending stuff. In Fly Over, it's up and down, sapta again, rinse and repeat, ad nauseam, until your legs have been properly tenderized and morphed into useless stumps of quivering jello.

Well... I now have the proper motivation for cranking up the training this year. I'll be hoping for 20 mph winds out of the west now and then so I can simulate the climbs... Just ride straight into it for two or three hours. Now... Where did I leave that 27 tooth cog?