Calico: “what is God?”

Lindsey: ”well, some people believe that God created the universe and everything in it.”

Calico: “even clothes?”

Lindsey: “well, he created the materials and people to make clothes..”

Calico: “even…x,y,z…”

Lindsey: yes…

Calico: “ even dinosaurs?”

Lindsey: “ yes, even dinosaurs.”

Calico laughs for a long time…

Calico: “so, they believe that God caused the Big Bang, and eventually there were dinosaurs, and then…the dinosaurs went to Church on Sundays praising Jesus? That’s ridiculous…”

I am trying to do a better job of training for my upcoming October bike tour.

I was so busy with work last time that I didn’t do a great job preparing. And the tour was good, but I was physically and mentally exhausted at times. It didn’t help that I packed too much, either.

What did I do for the 12 weeks before my last big bike tour?

Week 1 – 4 rides over 4 hours 3 minutes (longest 2 hours 20 minutes)
Week 2 – 4 rides over 3 hours 4 minutes (longest 2 hours 3 minutes)
Week 3 – 2 rides over 1 hour 1 minute (longest 31 minutes)
Week 4 – 5 rides over 5 hours 27 minutes (longest 3 hours 22 minutes)
Week 5 – 4 rides over 5 hours 53 minutes (longest 3 hours 21 minutes)
Week 6 – 3 rides over 5 hours 29 minutes (longest 4 hours)
Week 7 – 5 rides over 3 hours 53 minutes (longest 2 hours 11 minutes)
Week 8 – 2 rides over 5 hours 5 minutes (longest 4 hours 30 minutes)
Week 9 – 3 rides over 6 hours 35 minutes (longest 3 hours 8 minutes)
Week 10 – 3 rides over 10 hours 41 minutes (longest 3 hours 18 minutes)
Week 11 – 4 rides over 3 hours 39 minutes (longest 1 hours 14 minutes)
Week 12 – Break.

Week 0 – Started the tour.

What have I done to prepare for this one so far?

Week 1 – 3 rides over 6 hours 15 minutes (longest 2 hours 6 minutes)
Week 2 – 4 rides over 8 hours 23 minutes (longest 2 hours 12 minutes)
Week 3 – 4 rides over 8 hours 48 minutes (longest 2 hours 28 minutes)
Week 4 – 4 rides over 9 hours 25 minutes (longest 2 hours 44 minutes)
Week 5 – 4 rides over 9 hours 37 minutes (longest 3 hours)
Week 6 – 2 rides over 4 hours 2 minutes (longest 2 hours 5 minutes)
Week 7 – 4 rides over 9 hours 28 minutes (longest 3 hours 21 minutes)
Week 8 – 3 rides over 8 hours 7 minutes (longest 3 hours 1 minute)
Week 9 – 2 rides over 6 hours 44 minutes (longest 3 hours 12 minutes)
Week 10 – 4 rides over 11 hours 26 minutes (longest 3 hours 11 minutes)
Week 11 – 3 rides over 8 hours 46 minutes (longest 3 hours 15 minutes)
Week 12 – 1 ride over 2 hours 7 minutes.
Week 13 – None

I hit a bad wall at 12, and needed to take a break. Plus my damn bike seat broke.

Notes

• So far, I am doing much better. I am putting in more rides to build a solid base. And slowly extending my longest rides. I’ve already spent more time in the saddle in 7 weeks than in the previous training.
• At Week 11/12, I hit a wall; not sure if it is overtraining, stress from some family health issues, or just the hard grind of trying to train/work/enjoy-time-with-family. I am taking week 12 off mostly.
• My bike seat broke at the end of week 11. It is the 2nd seat by that brand that broke, and I am super disappointed with them. The steel just snapped. I am on a new seat I like, but it is going to be tough to get used to a new seat on tour.
• I am doing two 2-hour rides during the week. I usually do these in the morning, and that is working well. Then I do long ones on the weekend mornings. I might try to squeeze in a 3rd week-day ride, but I will see how I feel. It is tough to do 3 hour rides and then a high intensity work day.

For reference for myself:

For my first bike tour, here are the 3 months leading up to it:

• Apr – 9 biking days / 173 km / 11 Hours (avg ride 73min)
• May – 12 biking days / 400 km / 25 Hours (avg ride 125min)
• Jun – 13 biking days / 508 km / 26 Hours (avg ride 120min)

My 2nd tour: 3 months leading up to this current tour:

• Jun – 18 Biking Days / 320km / ~28 Hours (avg ride 93min)
• Jul – 17 Biking Days / 324 km / ~28 Hours (avg ride 99min)
• Aug – 13 Biking Days / 554 km / ~32 Hours (avg ride 148min)

This one:

• Jul – 16 Biking Days / 778km / ~35 Hours (avg ride 131min)
• Aug – 14 Biking Days / 755km / ~34 Hours (avg ride 146min)
• Sep – (Incomplete as of Sep 24) 9 Biking Days / 539km / ~25 Hours (avg ride 166min)

It is funny, but after our huge trip to look at other cities, we decided that it makes the most sense to stay here in Viseu for a bit until we figure the next step out :)

We felt that the lower cost of living, the fantastic weather, the great biking, the easy access to nature, the amazing people, and the community that Lindsey and Calico have built were all things we didn’t want to lose. Plus, with the lower cost of living, we can take some fun trips during Calico’s summer breaks.

We still have some worries about the quality of the schools and their reliance on rote learning over critical thinking skills. But I don’t think those are big worries until he is much older. Portuguese is a great language for Calico to learn. We hope he can make the leap to Spanish and eventually have three languages under his belt.

Viseu is a bit small, and we miss some things bigger cities offer. But, for what we gain, we are happy.

We really liked Bordeaux, France. And we are waiting to see if we can maybe move to Spain at some point if they fix the tax bug. As of right now, our tax rate in Spain would be ~75% which leaves us no money for anything.