We figure cycling through a continent is going to require some level of physical fitness and stamina. We have three options with regards to training.
Option 1) Worry about it in Egypt. This entails doing little to no training before the start and using Egypt to get in shape. Not a bad option. It seems like there have been a few past TDA riders who have opted for door number 1, not to mention that as each week passes we seem to have less and less available time to train anyway. However, the average cycling day according to the TDA website is 124 km a day. That’s a lot and cycling is much more enjoyable when you are not exhausted. We would feel too guilty.
Option 2) Denial. Convince ourselves that the TDA made a calculation mistake and we really won’t be cycling 124 km a day. Now, I thought this option showed some promise. We wouldn’t need to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to exercise AND we wouldn’t need to feel guilty. I thought we had us a winner! But, luckily I have Spiros to keep me honest. So, we decided to go with option number 3.
Option 3) Train like mad. We have been training as often as we can (about 350 to 400 km a week)…and now everything hurts. Shoulders, arms, back, gluts, calves, thighs, toes, eyelashes…you name it, it’s sore. The real kicker is we are still only doing half of the mileage we will be doing on the tour! 
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September 26th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
I TOTALLY know what you are taking about with option 3. Just the other day, I had to walk to the bus stop. It had to be 3 or 400 yards from my front door. When I got on the bus, it was full! FULL! I had to STAND for my entire trip. I tell ya, I was pissed. Then there were no seats at the Starbucks so I had to WALK outside with my piping hot coffee. What more could go wrong! I finally had to wake up some homeless guy from the park bench to get him to slide over so I could rest my feet.
Man, people just don’t understand what us athletes have to go through. We need to stick together.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Man, thats like riding to Maple Ridge and back each day…what a wonderful thought. 20km a day to/from work seems like enough for me. Good call on option 3 I think…something about having to get your riding legs together while pedaling through the hot and dry desert that doesn’t seem appropriate.
Its pretty sweet what you guys are doing, I can’t decide if I’m jealous of you or relieved that I’m not doing it