Training for the RAAM by Andy Cooper

I started training for the RAAM on January 1, 2017. Call it the most intense New Year’s resolution ever — for me anyway. I weighed 205 pounds, had once biked a century ride (100 miles in a day) but that was 25 years ago, and didn’t own a real racing bike. Five months prior I’d broken my collar bone and still hadn’t fully recovered. But I had no doubt this was the race for me.

When Kevin and his daughter Sienna visited us in the fall and Kevin talked about the idea of doing the RAAM in memory of Cameron, I knew right away I was in. Kevin and I have been friends since we lived in Japan back in the ‘80s, and to get to do something in honor of Cameron, well, I would have done anything he asked, and a big bike trip across the country together sounded all-around perfect.

So, I set about training:

January and February: Training starts in my garage. I live in New York so outdoors isn’t an option in winter, and I need to get the miles in. I put my bike on a stand, arrange an old desk next to me where I put my water bottle and prop up my iPad to watch Champions League soccer games and start pounding on the pedals. I’ll be honest, those first weeks are rough. I feel slow and don’t see much progress. My doc has given me the go-ahead to work out again, but says to be careful - if I fall off a bike now, I'll likely need repeat surgery on my clavicle to replace the steel rod and screws holding my shoulder together. But, I'm in the garage, so not much risk there. I start the Whole 30 diet to try to drop some pounds. Two Month Tally: 400 miles over 80 hours (did I mention I was in the garage?)

 
March: All eight of us on the Cycling for Cameron RAAM team join Strava, an online app that lets us track each others’ stats, from distance travelled to elevations, time on the bike and routes taken. We feel like a team now, encouraging each other to get the miles in.  

My shoulder is holding strong and a friend introduces me to the New York Polar Bears, a local riding team made up of French and Swiss riders, and they kindly let the new guy join because “he’s doing the RAAM.” On our first rides, they ditch me more than a few times. I get lost getting home from Pound Ridge in the rain without my phone or GPS, but I’m outside riding and have a goal - to keep up. Bonus, I get to practice my French. Month tally: 533 miles

  

April: The best time to ride for me is the early morning. I wake up at 5:00am and head straight out or to the basement bike trainer. Outside the roads are clear, the air is fresh and biking full out is a great start to the day, inside I grind out intervals.  Either way, by 9pm I’m down for the count.

Our support crew has come together and they’re an incredible group. Our weekly calls cover the huge amount of logistics which makes clear that the crew is in training too. Month tally: 820 miles

May: I bike my longest ride ever - 140 miles and 12,000 vertical - and feel great (and even manage to stay awake for an anniversary dinner later with Emily). I’m finally in the Polar Bears peloton and the guys tell me I’m ready for RAAM. Month tally: 970 miles

June: I’m pacing myself, doing long rides on the weekend and mixing up morning and evening rides. I weigh 180 pounds, love my Cannonade Synapse bike and am packing my gear to fly to California in a week to join my team. I can’t wait to see everyone and get this race started. We are ready for the RAAM.

If you'd like to support the Cameron Bespolka Trust and our Racing for Cameron Team, we would so appreciate it! Please donate here. Thank you!


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