A friend and I were discussing an article in Competitor magazine on the BC Bike Race. I’ve added it to my Race Schedule. Truth is, it may replace my 2010 race schedule.

I am thinking of doing this Solo in 2010.

No joke, this is a huge challenge. Long, bold, difficult, advanced… and tons of climbing. Roughly 350 miles in 7 days and 50,000 ft of climbing.

The thought process? I’m down almost 50 lbs. In 13 months, I should be able to break below the 230s and have had a chance to put in thousands of miles. If I can do that, there is no reason I couldn’t finish it.

The closest thing I’ve done is 25 difficult trail miles on a Saturday, followed by 30 easy trail/road miles on a Sunday. So this would only be double that, times 3.5, and all difficult.

On top of the effort, I may be getting a new race bike sometime between now and the end of the year. We shall see…

If I were to take this on, I’d be looking at only two or three races next year: BC Bike Race, XTERRA West Cup, and Kona’s 24 HOP, in that order of priority. An Epic, an XTERRA, and a 24hr MTB race. Perfect schedule, really.

Seven days, six workouts.

Sunday - arms weight routine and a 40min interval run - both speed and incline
Monday - 750m swim
Tuesday - spin class
Wednesday - shoulders and back weight routine and a 2 mile fast run (9:15ish min mile)
Thursday - off
Friday - spin class
Saturday - 12 mile mountain bike around Flagstaff, AZ

Flagstaff is set up really well for bikes - which is to say it is a bike friendly town. I think this is in large part due to the centralized nature of the city, and the location and size of the college campus. A bike is probably the most effective way to get around.

There is the Loop Trail and FUTS, and there are active efforts to increase the trails system. Many main roads have bike lanes and there are significant number of bike/walking paths. This is a city that could easily be explored for days. And that doesn’t even get you started on Mt. Eldon.

Below is a screen shot of the random route from earlier today - total elevation gain was just under 1,000ft.

Elevation profile and topomap

As many know, Xterra Wetsuits are now on sale. Visit their sale website for 50% off all of their suits.

I know the sale has been going on since November - I believe early November - but I don’t know how long it will continue. It is something they do every now and then, but being the off-season it seems to fit the sale environment. REMEMBER - there is a more detailed sizing chart in their “Catalog” section. 

I took the opportunity to pick up a Vortex 2 fullsuit. Should come in handy at XTERRA Deuces Wild, XTERRA West Cup, the Lake Havasu Triathlon, and if I can make it, XTERRA Real.