More time on the bike

Brooks,

I was glad to see your announcement this week that you're officially signed up for the Gran Fondo NY in May. But the news also woke me up to the fact that I better start training on the bike.  My running has been going very well since the first of the year and I've been averaging 35 miles per week with some good tempo.  But I did just 79 miles on my bike.  I've never done a century this early in the season and training outside in Maine in early Spring can be difficult.  I haven't even started reading about the "timed climbs", but I'm sufficiently worried.
So last night I prepared all my gear to be able to attend an indoor training class at a local bike shop, Gorham Bike and Ski.  Everyone brings their bikes, and they supply the trainers to pop the bike into and the instructors to lead you through the session.  They hold hour long classes during the week and an hour and a half "endurance" class on Saturday.  I was a little nervous as a first timer and planned to get there 10 minutes before start time thinking that would be early enough to pay and get my bike set up.  I pulled into the lot and thought, "uh oh, there are a lot of cars here".  And as I drove around the corner, I saw a store clerk pull the door shut and put a sign up on the door.  I ran up to the door to find the door locked, and a sign reading "class is full".  Maybe I'll have better luck with a mid-week class, but that means setting the alarm for a little earlier.
Coincidentally, a good friend gave me a present last night at Walker's swim meet.  He's the one that was trying to convince me to do the Harpoon Brewery-to-Brewery ride, and we've talked a lot about the boredom of winter bike training.  You've probably heard of these DVDs, and I know Cary and Lew have used them.  They're called Spinervals. I did the 50 minute work out called the Pain Cave.  Nothing spectacular about it, but it was better than watching an old movie.  Maybe I won't still be saying that after I've watched the Pain Cave for the tenth time.  So I think I'll be getting some more and I may even have to "invest" in some better basement equipment to take full advantage of this training.  They talk a lot about heart rates and wattage and cadence, plus there is a fair amount of gear shifting and some of the drills are done standing up.  My 1980's vintage set up of bike and bike roller may not cut it.  But I was on the bike and Troy pushed me to work harder and work smarter so that was worth it.
Goal this month is to keep the running about the same but up the bike to 250 miles for the month.

Take care.  I miss you and would love to get something else on the calendar before May.

Love,  Chas