Day 1

Here is what Day 1 of Tour de Awesome has in store.*






Note the flatness, we only ascend 417 feet in total, and descend an equal amount (406 ft). 44 Miles is a lot easier over flat terrain, and over half (more like 2/3 I reckon) is on a bike only path, meaning no worries about cars or what have you.



I've been reading in bike & outdoorsy mags that nutrition plays a huge role in endurance and total output. That shouldn't be too surprising, but there are a few good things to keep in mind.



One popular idea is that you should carboload before a big outing or sporting event. Partially true. Carboloading is good to do, but the way most people do it is wrong. Instead of eating 3 lbs of pasta the night before, you should carboload for the whole week or so leading up to your event. This allows you to do it slowly, a little bit extra per day, so you body can better digest everything. For many, old fashioned means of carboloading can cause sleeplessness and indigestion and other GI issues. And GI issues are not what you want to be worrying about when you spending 45 miles on a bike saddle.



Also, it'll be important for our group to consume lot of calories while on the bike. We'll have to load our pockets with bars and maybe even some gels. And loads of water. Dehydration and bonking (no calories left to burn) can kill a fun group ride, we don't want anyone to be miserable on the bike or feeling like they can't go on. And once those things set in, it's too late to fix them, so we'l lall have to be dilligent about eating and drinking a lot as we go. We've got a long weekend ahead of us!

)

This is gonna be awesome.


*Note: We are not sure if the Tour de Awesome will make it all the way to D-town, we may cut it off at Jame's cabin, do more boating and swimming and partying, and then just pedaling back from there instead of having to get a car ride back from Duluth.. stay tuned, more ride details to come.