Here is another wild dream of mine. In fact, we can all dream of riding off into the sunset, at the end of a 200-mile day!

For me to daydream about that is probably just plain crazy. A double century is no joke. Training up for such a ride requires  more time than I can realistically fit in around my work schedule, especially at my current average speed.

Maybe I could get in the required mileage if I did part in the morning and the rest in the evening, but I suspect that proper double-century training would give that the thumbs down. Probably I wouldn\’t be able to develop the necessary endurance at the necessary speed using such a method.

Even if training that way would be adequate, it\’s too much heavy exercise too close to bed time, especially later in the program. If I were trying to train during the Summer, I would have another problem as well. The heat index can be over 100 degrees in the afternoons; sometimes as high as 117!

I would need training partners so that I could learn how to draft. And become comfortable riding close to other riders at the pace a double-century rider needs to maintain in order to finish in time. I would need to do a lot more work to improve my force, and therefore my average pace.

I can always put \”Ride Double Century\” on my bucket list, but I\’m not even sure if any doubles take place anywhere near to home. Eventually I might be able to go out and ride 200 miles in one day all on my own, but it wouldn\’t really be the same thing, would it? Oh, well. It might have to remain merely another wild dream.