Marla Streb - Bicycling Magazines Century Training Program: 100 Days to 100 Miles

To my father

Bicycling MAGAZINES

Century

Training

Program

MARLA STREB

Notice

The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper road cycling and mountain biking training. Like any sport involving speed, equipment, balance, and environmental factors, cycling poses some inherent risk. The editors and publishers advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the skills described in this book, be sure that your equipment is well maintained, and do not take risks beyond your experience, aptitude, training, and comfort level.

Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book.

Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press.

2005 by Marla Streb

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

Bicycling is a registered trademark of Rodale Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

Rodale Inc. makes every effort to use acid-free , recycled paper .

Cover photograph by Stephen Alvarez/Getty Images

Interior photographs by Mitch Mandel (exercises only), David Smith, and Steve Sortino

Book design by Drew Frantzen

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Streb, Marla.

Bicycling magazines century training program : 100 days to 100 miles / Marla Streb.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13 9781594861840 paperback

ISBN-10 1594861846 paperback

eISBN 9781609616656 ebook

1. CyclingTraining. I. Title.

GV1048.S77 2006

796.6dc22

2005031319

Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 paperback

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I like plans. Complicated and detailed ones. Plans with contingencies and multiple backup scenarios. Timetables and bullet points and checklists. Multitasking and tight scheduling are always necessary. However, my plans allow for improvising and so much initiative on the fly that to those uninitiated to my system, it seems that Im making it up as I go along.

This particular plan has a few major components. My brother, Dave, has a big part, and my boyfriend, Marc, has a supporting role. And the whole plan hinges around riding 100 miles in 1 day.

Marla Streb

I nodded to myself. If this southeast wind continues to massage the soft rolls of this building southern swell, in 36 hours on the other side of the Gulf Stream, Ill be on a bike ride from somewhere in Georgia to somewhere else in Georgia. Yup, just planning for a little bike ride.

Shakedown Street was shimmying from the stereo speakers through the salty air. I was lounging on the aft deck on a sailboat anchored in a shallow curve of a blue and white Bahamian Key, a glass of wine in one hand, my legs splayed out in a full hamstring stretch, the sun still yellow setting into the wide, shimmering glassy sea all around me.

A sunset Zinfandel had become a standard ritual during the past month. My fingers left greasy SPF imprints on the stem of the acrylic, unbreakable wine glass. I rocked from side to side a little with the gentle actions of the waters swells. The wine splashed now and then on my thigh, but on a sailboat you learn quickly not to sweat the little things. Down below off to the starboard, where a real sailor would expect to find berths for crew, reclined three of my bikes: Two mountain bikes, one set up for urban assaults and the other for cross country, and one road bike were staggered side by side fork mounted onto quick-release skewers. They appeared ready to ride at a moments whim if one could ignore the beach towels draped from the bar grips, the bikini tops dangling from the seat horns, and the snorkels, flippers, and scuba masks jostled in among the drivetrains.

The AAA road atlas of the American Southeast spread out on the nonskid surface of my boats deck like a picnic blanket. Strewn on top of the road atlas were various sailing charts of the same regions. Interesting. If you look at a road map, there is plenty of detail. Usually, more information than you really ever need. Skinny lines demarcating interstates all the way down to unimproved dirt roads. Route numbers, mileage markers, rest areas, elevations, tolls, weigh stations, city, county, and state lines. Areas of Historical Importance. The names and boundaries of parks, forests, and wilderness areas. Train tracks, tunnels, bridges, and lots of other data. But road maps dont really provide much information about the waters. Rivers might be named, oceans or bays sometimes are colored blue, but their boundaries fall off the page an inch from the shoulder of the nearest road. The road maps point out how many feet high the mountains are but never reveal how many fathoms deep the bays are. The maps indicate the distances along the narrowest gray ribbon of road but not the miles of winding blue waterways. Funny.

Conversely, nautical charts have symbols for every navigation light, lines for every contour of depth, each submerged wreck, and even shades for good fishing grounds or poor anchoring areas. The nautical hieroglyphics whisper the story of the waters currents and tidal flows. The charts warn of hazards and encourage the sailor to stick to the safe passage routes. But the inland regions a scant inch from the waterways are blank. Bridges are drawn, but not the roads that lead to and from them. They just float magically over water unconnected to any surface road. The nautical chart displays the name of every rock that pokes through the waters surface, but provides not even the abbreviation of a citys name. Absent are multicolored lines thick and thin of the freeways, undivided highways, surface roads, and those roads left unimproved. Where to ride a bike? Ashore of the water is the blank terra incognita of another era. Wouldnt be a surprise to see written in a flourishy hand, Thar be dragons here.

The road maps and the sailing charts are of the same place but two different worlds.

After we reach shore, Ill ride 100 miles and see how it goes, I said to myself. Its only the width of five thumbnails, referring to the state of Georgia from border to border south to north.

Mountain biking is my specialty. On a singletrack you really dont need to know much about the trail you plan to ride. Its nice to know if the soil is muddy, rocky, or sandy, because tire choices can make all the difference between a morning of boundless joy and a day of frustration with your double-shot minipump. But you really dont have to know in advance where youll be riding. No mountain biker ever writes on their sleeve a recipe of lefts and rights to follow on their ride. Most mountain bike rides are an end unto themselves: pointless by design. Getting lost in the woods is the understood goal. No one really rides trails to work or school. In that sense mountain biking isnt really a practical form of travel. Okay, in that sense its like sailing.