TransIowa is a 300+ self-supported mostly gravel race with a pretty aggressive time limit. Most people do not finish. Below are some of my daily thoughts as I get ready for this beast of a challenge.

More info about the race can be found here: http://transiowa.blogspot.com/

Feeling pretty good on a 4.5 hour gravel ride the day after Skyway. The body was a little achy but not horrible. Busy day after getting home late from Birmingham, riding then heading to the airport for a quick work trip to Vegas.

Such an awesome day on the bike! I really surprised myself and pulled out the win for the mens 100 open category. This was a great mental boost heading into the home stretch of TransIowa training.

Just about three weeks out from TransIowa and I am working hard to get my head in the right place. The only other real thing left to sort out is what to wear.

Rest is not fun but very important. How do you handle rest and recovery?

Not even a broken pedal could keep me down yesterday. Adapt and overcome. I had to do some one leg drills to get back to the truck and make a pedal swap.

What challenges have you overcome while out on a ride?

New gear day! Totally stoked to finally have a need to work with Joe Stiller at BarYak LLC. We had a great conversation a few weeks ago to talk about a few pieces of kit I needed for TransIowa to help with navigation and comfort. Such a good dude!

Now I need to get Trans South (not North) Dakota on my list so I can get aKokopelli Packraft :)

A day in the life of food. This is a pretty accurate snapshot of what I eat in a given day. One of my favorite things to do on Sunday evening with my wife is planning out meals for the week. We normally just plan dinners then get other staples to round out breakfasts, lunches, and snacks.

After a bit of a video hiatus I remembered to do these in landscape! Today was a tough workout but one of my favorites to knock out inside. I rolled my ankle last night playing football with the family and was a tad nervous about it's stability for this ride but I crushed it. Follow it up with a great big bowl of oatmeal and I am ready for the day!

Workout on Strava here: https://www.strava.com/activities/1462357371

Some times you just have to gut it out. Legs were flat and dead today.....couldn't make a lot of power but I could get it done. Sometimes it is just about finishing and getting a mental win.

These are the rides a love. A little solo ride to the Bike Crossing, awesome group effort, an easy urban spin back into the city, and a popsicle treat with Wendi and the boys.

A few weeks ago I talked a little bit about the strength work I do off the bike. This video digs into the routine I do on a regular basis. I have no desire to get large but developing strength is key to endurance cycling.

Sometimes we look for every excuse to not get out there. Discipline is doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t want to do it.

I do believe there are always things you can find as motivators. Once upon a time I wanted to go to engineering school at MIT so it was cool to run through the campus this morning. It was also pretty sweet to run through Harvard yard. Find the spark that gets you out of bed or off the couch. It’s a big, beautiful world out there.

Strava activity here: https://www.strava.com/activities/1317437260

Social media makes our lives seem 100% awesome and easy. In reality, it takes a hell of a lot of hard work, planning, and help. Here are three big areas that make it happen for Wendi and I.

Core strength, stability and mobility are key to an endurance athlete’s success. Here are some of the tools I have used to put it all together. Today I also discovered that shooting a video in landscape looks a hell of a lot better.

Over the years I had become more and more focused on performance which had some pretty negative impact to my social life and overall emotional wellbeing. This year I am going to incorporate more group rides and try to be a better guy to be friends with.

Hey look at me! I am blogging again....sort of. TransIowa is months away but moving into the holiday season and the prospect of some good time off of work has me motivated to get focused and organized for this race. This is the beginning of my journey.

The Road to TransIowa v14