It's official...the Clydesdale's doing Mt. Washington Hillclimb

Well folks, it's official. As of last Sunday, Feb 1 2009, I have committed to racing this year's Mt. Washington Hillclimb. I spent the past week digesting the commitment, along with my last 'megameals' that aren't focused for training purposes.

Today I officially started my training, 187 days before the actual event.

The plan:

• Two weeks of 2x1hr on the trainer with HR sub 70% MHR to build aerobic base.
• After the two weeks of aerobic base begin to include strength work on the bike.
• Concurrently work on ab strength and lower back strength after each workout.
• Come March, begin training outdoors, doing hill-climb repeats 2x per week - once on the Water Tower Hill, and once down at Blue Hills. Chris M. does his repeats on Monday nights so I'll plan on joining him. I'll work with Andy T. to work in the repeats at Blue Hills.

So, how did today go? Well, here's the data:

Date	Start Time	Duration	Avg HR	% Max	Max HR	% Max	Calories	% Fat burning
Sunday, February 08, 2009	8:00:00	1:03:16	122	64%	151	79%	821	45%
Sunday, February 08, 2009	19:15:00	1:04:55	129	67%	149	78%	954	55%

I'll keep you all posted on my progress. Note that the 2x1hr trainer sessions are going to be done in addition to all other exercise!

Happy, happy, joy, joy :-)

Here's the scoop on the race from the race webpage:
Just how steep is the course? The Mt. Washington Hill Climb is quickly becoming known as the toughest hill climb in the world at 7.6 miles in length, has an average grade of 12% with extended sections of 18% and the last 50 yards is an amazing 22%! Sprint that to the finish!
Mt. Washington Hillclimb home page link

A novel idea for road safety...perhaps

Check this out....

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/02/lightlanes-lase.html

While in theory it's a good idea, my concern is that it'll just tick motorists off more when cyclists pull their usual swerving-between-the-cars tricks.

Ahhh...South Africa

Hi folks. As some of you may know, this past January I headed off to South Africa for vacation - and a return visit to the country of my birth. This was the first time in 19 years that I had been back to South Africa. The country is still absolutely beautiful, however I still prefer the personal freedoms that I enjoy here in North America!

Here is the link to my album of photos from our safari near the Kruger Park:

http://picasaweb.google.com/BostonCanuck/2009_01_12KrugerParkSavannaLodgeNewington?feat=directlink

Note that from this album you can view the rest of my pics from South Africa by navigating up one level from this album.

Enjoy!

Now I know you're thinking....this has nothing to do with cycling. Ahhh, but how wrong you would be. You can use wonderful images such as these to help you through those tougher times on the bike. Next time you feel like you're suffering, just open your minds eye and visualize a wonderful scene of photo and....smile :-) Trust me, the smiling will help! (it sure can't hurt)