The hotel has several high end Trek Bikes that you could ride around the island. We took advantage of this and did some intense riding. We eased into it the first day with a ride to the bakery 2 miles from the hotel to buy a baguette. What, with the really hot weather and all, we came back and had to have a nap after that first day of intense training.
For the 2nd ride we worked up our time and mileage (in fact, we DOUBLED the miles we rode the 1st day) and rode to the Gourmet Grocery to get a gallon of ice cream. The sun was really intense there, so having ice cream on hand was imperative for post training recovery. Since we doubled our miles from the first ride, we needed some serious recovery so we had our ice cream and spent the afternoon recovering on the lounge chairs on the beach. We were pretty worried about muscle soreness from the long ride, so we made sure to keep the blood moving by getting up every hour, walking the 20 yards to the water and floating in the ocean for a bit. The salt water and buoyancy (and definitely the ice cream) really made all the difference in the recovery.
We knew we had limited time on the island to get some miles on, so we really pushed ourselves for our 3rd ride and doubled our miles AGAIN! We really challenged ourselves this time and pushed it with a ride farther along the island to another hotel rumored to have a nice reef with good snorkeling. Exhausted as we were riding the long 4 miles to the reef, we were still able to snorkel for an hour or so. I wasn’t sure I was going to make the 4 miles back, as by then the sun was up and it was oh, 80 or so degrees. I knew I had to push myself though to get ready for the 150 mile ride, so I manned up (woman’d up just doesn’t sound right does it??), put on my sunhat and drafted behind Steve on the way back. You can imagine how beat we were, so a double serving of ice cream and a nap inside with the air conditioning on was the only option.
Since we’d really increased our mileage, we decided we shouldn’t push it so much on our 4th ride. We grabbed the bikes and rode 4 miles to dinner. We were famished by the time we reached dinner and had burned so many calories that we had the works at dinner. The long ride back about did us in and we had to go right to bed.
Now, training for the Bike MS isn’t just about the biking. It’s also about the eating. For those who have done a Bike MS, you know that we joke that it’s the only bike ride where you GAIN weight because there is so much food. Which is why this ride is so suited to me. I love to eat. You start off with breakfast before you ride. During the ride, there is a rest stop every 10 miles well stocked with snacks. About 50 miles into the ride, there is a huge lunch. Then more rest stops. When you arrive after day 1, there is more food. And then you have dinner. And then you repeat the next day. It was imperative, then, that we trained for the eating as well.
Rest is also a vital part of training and of the ride. We did exceptionally well with this part of the training while we were on vacation. We practiced resting in many different locations and many times a day; a morning nap in the room, an afternoon nap on the beach, a rest in the hammock. It is really very important that you train your body to rest in any location.
Now that I have a jump start on my bike training, I think I’m ready for at least a 10 mile training ride this weekend! And after being at sea level for a week, that just may be all I’ll get done!
