Mix it up, the training advice goes.

Don\’t always ride at the same intensity level, lest you become \”a one-speed wonder\”. Even when your weekly training schedule includes a variety of speeds and intensities, it\’s better if you don\’t always do: off on Monday; force work on Tuesday; easy on Wednesday, and so on.

Mix it up, and keep your body guessing. \”Surprises\” help it to get stronger. So that\’s what I\’m aiming for in the training schedule that I drew up for Tour de Cure.

Yes, I know. TdC will be virtual this year. And I keep forgetting to check and see whether my Garmin can download ride data to my Mac.  I sure hope it can; I don\’t want to have to buy a new one.

Even though TdC won\’t be \”live\”, I don\’t see that as a reason not continue training up. I\’ve wanted for years to increase my cruising pace, anyway. TdC training should help with that.

Another mix it up: food, on and off the bike. Always using the same thing for ride long-food gets most monotonous, and kills the appetite. That isn\’t good when you\’re out pedaling for several hours, and need the fuel.

I\’ve tried Clif Bloks; Kind Bars; Quest Bars. I\’ve tried rice cakes à la Feed Zone Portables. I\’ve always enjoyed trying out different on-bike foods. Some seem to be more sustaining than others. Take Combos, for example; I like them, but when I\’m on a long ride they lack \”oomph\”.

For off-bike food, I vary it, too.  Here\’s an example: I\’ve been a brown rice aficionado for many, many years. After my diagnosis of pre-diabetes I ate it so much that, after three months, I realized I needed a break from it.

I fixed boxed mac n cheese (with tuna and some peas stirred in) for supper. It made enough that I could eat it for breakfast and lunch the next day!

So go ahead and mix it up. Variety is the spice of life, they say.