Less Than 100 Days... Cycle Oregon Week Ride (2011)

Much like last year, there seems to be a change in the space - time continuum when the timer ticks below 100 days for Cycle Oregon. As I type this tonight we are at 93 days. If it is to be like all of the previous years, these last 90 days are going to rip by and soon we will be "going coastal" on CO 2011!

Just one of the many sites to be had via bike (trike) - in less than 100 days

The image above was posted via the Cycle Oregon Facebook page, and is actually taken from one of the lunch stops. Well, I'll say that it looks like a killer place to have lunch with 2,200 of your great cycling friends if you ask me!

This begs the question - with less than 100 days to go, how is the training going? Riding the trike, I have not been into much mileage riding so far this year, but I am not too worried about it. Comfort is not an issue. Endurance? Maybe - but with scenes like that above to feed off of there could be an unlimited source of adrenaline just from the awesome Oregon views alone. After a few recent local training rides the legs are feeling the itch for those awesome open and quiet Oregon country roads.

Now is the time that you should be hitting some climbs. If you are going on this ride, take a minute to download the route profiles from the CO site and check them out. The detailed full maps are not out yet, but the profiles look to be complete. There will be some hairy steep sections this year - though no super long prolonged climbs. Still, when the map shows sections of 11% grade or more - and YES there will be short burst sections well over 11% - it is a wise move to find a hill of a similar grade and ride it. Ride it over and over and over to see how it feels. You will know right quick if you need to begin a leg strengthening regimen, shave some weight (off the bike or the engine), order up a triple (chainring not cheeseburger), or any combination of the above. 

How about your steed? Getting it dialed in I hope. For the diamond frame riders out there getting that seat time in is key. Gotta be "broken" in down there I guess.... :)

Fenders? Ill be sporting mine this year, we will be on the Oregon coast after all. 

Locked and loaded in CO 2011 dress

How about camp arrangements? Tent? Sleeping pads? Cot? 

With days counting down into the double digits time will start to pick up pace. I can already imagine myself taking in the views in person - having ridden there in the greatest cycling ride on Earth!