... and why you should do them.

I schedule the warm-up rides for a reason. You may think it has to do
with training and getting mileage in, but in fact, it is really to
make sure you have debugged your bike and riding gear. For example, in
a previous year on the 100 mile ride, I made the mistake of taking my
commuting riding gloves, instead of my newer riding gloves. After the
food stop, I realized my hands were getting a bit numb. With a newer
pair of gloves, this would not have been a problem.

The warm-up rides also allow everyone to get to know each other. You
get a good idea of what speed you can ride, and then you can figure
out who you are compatible with in terms of pace. This will be
important, as the double century is essentially an individual ride. We
try to keep groups together, but sustainable individual paces are more
important than riding as one group. So it helps to find and ride with
others who want to do a similar pace.

The warm-up rides also provide an opportunity to make sure your bike
is functioning correctly. Make notes of what needs to be looked at as
soon as you get back to the car, and get them taken done before the
next ride. A loose water bottle cage will be a bigger annoyance on a
longer ride.

The warm-up rides also show you some of the route of the double before
you actually do it. You get an idea of the terrain, and the roads.
Since you have ridden some of the roads before, you have an idea of
how far you are from the end of the ride. The hardest part of the
double century is the last part of the ride. You know you are at the
end of your physical limits, and you know the end is near, but not
coming fast enough. It helps to have ridden the roads before you know
what to expect.

The other thing about long distance riding that the training rides
help with is the concept of riding without stopping. Stopping is the
enemy of long distance riders. If you are stopped, you are not getting
to your destination. A big part of finishing the double century is
taking short stops and getting back on the bike to continue the ride.
The 125 has two food stops. The first stop is 62 miles. This is the
same distance we do before we stop on the double. If it is a really
hot day, we may need to add some water stops as well, and if it is a
cool day, I would be happy to skip the second stop in Bedford. Think
about the double metric as two back to back metric centuries without
stopping. It is possible to do. We will have to see how it turns out.

So these are some of the reasons to do the training rides. The other
reason is that the training rides are just good rides and lots of fun
to do, so please take advantage of them and come out and ride.

Bruce