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 Testing Our LimitsBack to 100 Mile Training RideBy Chris Thompson - 2008-10-17
A team that doesn’t know how to work together falls apart, and individuals that aren’t prepared for the challenges ahead make poor team members. Creating unity and strong team dynamics has been a major focus of Daniel’s planning. This is made particularly complex by the 14 month duration of the trip, as well as the mission of producing effective content from the road. With all of that in mind, Daniel engineered a series of training checkpoints presenting us with progressively more difficult challenges: mentally and physically, to prepare us all for the long road ahead.
Our second checkpoint was a 100 mile ride through the relatively flat and forgiving terrain of the Delmarva peninsula. A "century" can be an intimidating ride for a lot of people, so it provided plenty of incentive to train hard that winter. One thing I learned on my cross country trip is that mental barriers are often more restrictive than physical obstacles. Not only was this 100 mile team-ride a motivation for individual training, but it was also a display of what we are capable of, to build our confidence. When we are struggling in the future, it’ll give us something to look back on; "If I did it then, I can do it now". We will know how easy it is to bike 100 miles.
After a drive down to my parents house in Georgetown Delaware, we decided camping out was the way to go, so we trundled outside with our tarps and sleeping bags, and set down to the very serious business of catching some ZZZ-s. Waking early before the dawn, we set off down quiet back roads, with the soft glow of pre-dawn, and our LED lamps showing us the road. There’s nothing that can beat a fast paced drafting line in the cool, dark, early morning. We started off heading east towards the rising sun and the ocean. Once we hit Rt. 1, we turned south toward our ultimate objective of lunch at Assateague National Seashore: a long, low spit of land on the east coast of Maryland. We cycled through the farmlands of Southern Delaware, and the relatively busy streets of Ocean City Maryland. Everyone was keeping a good pace, and we were really moving, stopping briefly to nab the occasional shot for a video that Mike put together.
A quick 5 minute nap and bite to eat in a hot parking lot gave us a chance to stretch out our muscles after a solid 30 miles of riding.
Mike Takes a Well Needed Break from Lunch After we reached Assateague, we looped back inland, passing through quaint Berlin, MD for a quick bite to eat, and then pushing hard and fast back home. We pulled into my driveway tired, hungry, sore, and closer as a team. For some of us, the trip was a fun ride and a chance to get to know each other better. For some of the more newer riders, significant challenges were presented by the traffic, distance, and pace. But everyone did wonderfully. Daniel settled into his role as a team leader; keeping tabs on the pace, looking out for the team, and facilitating some group and personal reflection time during our break on Assateague. Overall, a great success.
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