The first of MANY

It was highly recommended that I do a lactate threshold heart rate { LTHR} test to establish my training zones. I feel like I am learning a new language. It turns out that the old rule of "220- your age" is not always accurate. Mine was a little off, so I am glad I did this simple test. Basically you ride like hell for 30 minutes. After 10 minutes hit the lap button and finish the last 20 minutes. Your biking zones are based on the last 20 minutes. Lucky for me I have a 'self professed' numbers geek in my corner this year . I was able to send Jeff my Garmin link and he hooked me up with my numbers. I should probably be paying this guy huh?

I loaded Felix in Stella, the van, and took the 15 minute drive to Busch Wildlife. Busch has 3 separate loops to ride as well as many other off road options. There is low traffic, I only saw 5 cars, and sometimes you can score a beer from the fisherman. I did my 30 minutes and felt like I could puke afterwards. There are several hills and some challenging gravel. Many stretches that looked like this.

Since I was already there I did a couple laps of the A loop. I ended my day with 26 miles and lots of smiles.

I started using dailymile in November to track all my workouts and see what other athletes are doing. I even have friends in Alaska and Switzerland. I would call it a facebook for athletes. I recently added their training widget to my blog to help keep myself accountable. Go to http://www.dailymile.com/ to sign up. Its free!!

Damn, thats a great bike! A picture doesnt do it justice.

My first week of training may be a challenge. Sydney is on spring break and the weather looks awful. Just a couple obstacles to overcome. Thank goodness I have a Cyclops. I plan on doing this http://gravelgrinder.blogspot.com/ next weekend. You should too. I am looking to carpool so hit me up if your interested.