Team In Training

[midgetcycler]

I have read the website and the pamphlet about Team in Training, and I am very interested in learning more, but I don't think I'm ready to tell them that until I get more information!

If there is anyone here that can answer these questions, I would be very grateful!

How much time do you need to devote to "group" training?
Do you really have to ride the whole 100 miles?
How many rides do they send you on per year?
How do they suggest you go about raising the donations?
Of course, the most appealing ride to me is the one in Hawaii. What are my chances of actually getting to go to that one?
I am married with two kids -- 7 and 13. Will I be pretty much deserting my family if I do this?

If I joined, I would be joining the Gulf Coast chapter.

[Maxine]

How much time do you need to devote to "group" training?
Do you really have to ride the whole 100 miles?
How many rides do they send you on per year?
How do they suggest you go about raising the donations?
Of course, the most appealing ride to me is the one in Hawaii. What are my chances of actually getting to go to that one?
I am married with two kids -- 7 and 13. Will I be pretty much deserting my family if I do this?

Not all chapters do things the same way, so it would be best to talk directly to the folks in your chapter. Don't be shy about asking anything -- it is a big commitment, and you should be comfortable going into it.

But FWIW, here was my experience (Maryland chapter, 2003, for century ride in Lake Tahoe):

Group training: We got together to ride as a group every other Saturday. Before each ride, we would have a brief informational session on a particular topic (nutrition, equipment, clothing, etc.)

Have to ride 100? Why, yes, of course, or you'll be hauled off to jail! No, of course not, but finishing the century is the goal, and if you follow the training plan, you *will* be able to do it! It doesn't affect the fundraising, though, if that's what you're thinking -- your donors aren't entitled to a refund if you don't do 100 miles.

Sent on how many rides?: Not sure what you meant by this. Each TNT chapter may sponsor several events per year -- we usually had two -- but you pick what events you want to ride in. You're not "sent" to any rides.

Donations: We had people and resources available to help with ideas and materials for fundraising. We also helped each other out as a team. One of my teammates enlisted several of us to bring our trainers to a local gym. We set up on the sidewalk outside, and pedaled for about five hours or so, collecting donations in a big pretzel barrel. (We brought lots of baked goods to sell, too.) Whatever you can dream up to raise money!

Chances of going to a ride: Again, I'm not sure what you mean by this, and I don't know exactly how your chapter works, but for us, if you signed up for a given event, you were going to that event. Now, if the event itself has some sort of lottery thing to limit entrants, well, I'm not sure how that would work.

Deserting family: The training schedule we were given had us riding 5-6 days per week for 16 (I think) weeks -- relatively short rides on weekdays, longer ones on weekends, with all the rides getting progressively longer as the weeks went by. If this will be your first really long ride, it's pretty important to stick to the schedule as much as you can -- in particular, the weekend rides. That's not to say you'll DNF if you miss any one day; we had an absolutely horrible late winter and spring, weather-wise, which impacted our training schedule, but I finished -- it *was* a challenge, though! -- and had a great time.

[maillotpois]

Ditto what Maxine said - but I can add some more insight.

When you say "the Hawaii one" do you mean the Honolulu Century or something else? Your chances of doing Honolulu this year are not good since it was last weekend! However, as Maxine said, if you sign up for an event, you will do that specific event.

In terms of "group" riding, it is typically once a week, with progressively longer riders. Depending on your speed, you might be out til about 2 or 3 in the afternoon for your team's longest ride, which is generally 75 - 85 miles. During the week, you'll train on your own.

My husband and I have both coached for TNT for about 5 years now. We have a you child also, and often make the events a family affair by bringing her along (with helpful grandparents, etc.) So bring you husband and kids to the event.

I can also highly recommend the Tahoe ride, in June. It is a beautiful location. The Honolulu century was a great success, though it can be warm and humid. Being from the Gulf Coast, that's probably pretty usual riding weather for you! The terrain at Honolulu is pretty flat.

There is support for the fundraising. They make it as easy as possible for you and with the advent of the online fundraising sites (where you just go to a site to make your donation) it is a lot easier for people to donate than when I first started with TNT in 1999.

Good luck!

[midgetcycler]

Thanks for the feedback ladies. I really think this might be something I want to do. I was looking at the Gulf Coast chapter website today, and they don't have any rides coming up in the next several months. They only list running and triathlon events that they are training for. I guess I will have to contact them to see what's up. Maybe they don't have any cycling events coming up anytime soon.

The reason I asked about the 100-miles is because I'm a fairly new rider. I just started riding a road bike in early July, but I'm doing about 40-50 mile rides on the weekends and then about 15 miles during the week about three times a week. I'm sure I could get to the 100-miles eventually, but that seems far off right now!

So if I raise my donation money and they have six rides scheduled for the remainder of that year, I could sign up for all of them or however many of them I wanted? Is the number of rides I do totally up to me?

maillot -- yes, I meant the Honolulu Century, but I was thinking of next year's ride. I know I am nowhere near ready this year for that! And I'm not worried about humid weather -- it is routinely 100% humidity where I am. (PABadger, are you back to enjoying the dry weather yet??) And I like flat. Flat is where it's at! (I live in the flattest part of flat ole Texas! -- we have to MAKE our hills here -- overpasses and such!)

Right now the scariest parts of the whole deal for me are time available for training and raising the money. My girls are heavily involved in scouts and I am the leader for both troops. Each troop usually does a field trip each month in addition to their weekly meetings and junk like that. And then my DH is a high school football junkie so we go to EVERY high school football game for our school. I usually get in at least one long weekend ride every weekend, but it is not guaranteed that it will always be a Saturday or a Sunday.

Oh, one last question -- I have a VERY inexpensive road bike -- the Motobecane Mirage Sport. Will I be laughed out of the training sessions?? I love my bike, but I know it's not the best one out there.

[maillotpois]

The type of bike you have really doesn't matter.

you would typically sign up for and train for one event per year. I expect Tahoe is the first event. you have to raise funds for each separate event you do, generally. so it's not like you join and then do all the events they do.

[Maxine]

I'm doing about 40-50 mile rides on the weekends and then about 15 miles during the week about three times a week. I'm sure I could get to the 100-miles eventually, but that seems far off right now!

Don't sell yourself too short! If you are routinely doing 40-50 mile weekend rides, you are way closer to being able to finish a century than you seem to think, particularly if you pick a century event that is similar in terrain/weather to what you're used to riding in. For most folks, if they can consistently ride 65-75 miles, then they can finish a century. As maillotpois noted, even TNT's training schedule takes you up to only 75 or 85 miles, and you'll probably only do that distance once.