Planning For The VTBC Ride

The Veteran's Day Ride was a great training ride for the VTBC.

In less than two weeks I will be challenging myself to do at least a metric century ride. Maybe I'll have to spread it over three days, maybe not, but I am well into preparing myself to get it done again this year. 

If you are not understanding what I am talking about here, this is all about the Virtual Turkey Burn Challenge (VTBC) ride  It isn't too late to consider joining us, so if you are interested, see THIS LINK for all the details. Essentially this is an excuse to use your bicycle at this time of the year when most cycling events have shut down for the season. 

The recent Veteran's Day Ride I did with N.Y. Roll was a great opening up on preparations for this challenge. We were out in "not very ideal conditions", I would say. Conditions which might just reflect what it will be like for the VTBC. It was quite windy, with consistent winds in the 20mph range with higher gusts. It was cold, with a starting temperature in the mid-30's and rising into the 40's as we went along. Thankfully it was mostly Sunny, but this is rare in November. So, I'm not banking on this to happen again. 

Last year I did the VTBC over four days on my fat bike due to the cold temperatures.

Last year was brutal here. It was very windy, and VERY cold. I ended up riding every day, on Thanksgiving through the following Sunday, to get a metric century in. I did this all within the confines of the local soft trails and bike paths, so it was definitely a big challenge to get all the miles in! 

My bicycle choice was pretty much forced upon me by the weather last year. This year I haven't seen enough evidence to make a definitive choice. I could easily end up on the Ti Muk 2 again, or a gravel bike! Some weather prognosticators are calling for a big storm to hit around Thanksgiving. So, no decisions on the bike just yet. 

I am getting out now though and pedaling as much as I can before Thanksgiving. It is difficult to prepare for a situation which remains fluid. Late November here can be tranquil, or very stormy. It can be warm, or very windy and cold, like last year. You just cannot predict it easily. Nothing like say, June, where you know you most likely can ride barring lightning being present or for some other severe weather which is pretty easy to predict ahead of time. (Relative to Winter forecasting)

So, I have ideas, but making any solid choices will have to wait for about a week.