Coaches at Wisconsin Camp June 6-13

Wisconsin Coaching Week June 6-13
All the coaches at Wisconsin Coaching Week have been invited to attend because of their cycling knowledge, but also because they are the type of people you can talk to as friends. They are just a personable talking about bikes at the dinner table as they are when giving an organized seminar. We are fortunate to have their mix of knowledge together for one week to help riders of all abilities at Wisconsin Coaching Camp.

Jim Langley
Jim lives in Santa Cruz, California with his wife, Deb. Jim got hooked on riding when he was 10 years old, and it led to a career in the bike biz. He now works out of his home office as the content director for SmartEtailing.com, a company that helps about 1,000 bicycle shops in the USA and Canada with their websites.

Jim's probably best known for his wrenching and writing. He worked for 17 years as a professional mechanic in shops from New Hampshire to California , and then became the technical editor for Bicycling Magazine, opening a west coast office, where he worked for 11 more years. Jim has also written for Velo News, California Bicyclist, Inside Cycling and Self, and he's published three books including the bestseller Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair and his new ebook, Your Home Bicycle Workshop.

Jim maintains an extensive cycling website and blog (jimlangley.net and jimlangley.blogspot.com) where he offers a lot of free and expert cycling help, and he's also a contributing writer for roadbikerider.com. He has also worked as a USCF mechanic and coach, and also as a coach for Team In Training. Of course, when Jim's not working for SmartEtailing, writing or updating his website and blog, he's out riding and racing (mostly the road these days). He also has a passion for cycling collectibles, is an accomplished table tennis player and coach, and has ridden his bicycle every day for over 14 years.

Each afternoon at Wisconsin Coaching Camp Jim will be demonstrating bicycle repairs as part of his “Shade Tree Mechanic” seminars. He will covering practical topics such as solving your bike’s click and squeaks, wheel building and repair, index shift adjusting and lots of other repairs every cyclist should be able to do themselves. Jim’s knowledge and humor makes him an interesting teacher everyone can learn from.

Bob Olsen
Bob got involved with long distance cycling in 1983 as a crew member for Lon Haldeman and Susan Notorangelo on their cross cross country record attempts. He worked in bicycle shops since 1985 (23 years experience) and has been fitting bikes for over 15 years (Fit Kit Systems Certified). He has also worked with area Physical Therapist and Orthopedic doctors on medical fits.

In 2005 Bob opened his own high end bicycle store focusing on building custom bikes and specializing in customer bike fitting. He is a member of the Serotta International Cycling Institute. Bob has a practical approach to fitting bikes as a mechanic and cyclist. He knows the compatibility of components that work together for the best fit application.

Bob has been a coach and bike fit specialist at the PAC Tour Arizona Camp. His practical common sense approach to fitting riders to their bikes has been a popular addition to these camps.

At Wisconsin Coaching Week Bob will be giving a seminar about practical bike fitting. He will be offering each rider a free 15 minute fitting session with suggestions and changes to their bike positioning. Bob will be available for further in depth personal positioning appointments for an additional hourly fee.

Fred Matheny
Fred has been a cyclist and cycling journalist since the ‘70s. He was the Fitness and Training Editor for Bicycling Magazine and has written hundreds of articles and a dozen books and ebooks including Fred Matheny’s Complete Book of Road Bike Training. He co-founded www.RoadBikeRider.com (RBR) with Ed Pavelka and continues to contribute to the website and weekly newsletter. He began racing in Colorado in 1976 and has won several Colorado State Championships and been on the podium at Masters Nationals. He was on the 1996 Race Across America team that set a 50+ record of 5 days, 11 hours.

He has worked with hundreds of riders at PAC Tour Training Camps, Carpenter/Phinney Bike Camps, and Dirt Camp and has coached at every Desert Camp since its inception in 1996. He is also a speaker who has given presentations at cycling events around the U.S. including El Tour de Tucson, the Hotter’n Hell Hundred and to business and professional groups.

You can buy Fred Matheny’s Complete Book of Road Bike Training from www.RoadBikeRider.com. It provides detailed instructions on how to analyze your strengths and weaknesses then capitalize on those strengths and overcome any liabilities. It also includes sample programs to help you plan your own training.

At Wisconsin Coaching Camp Fred will be giving nightly entertaining seminars about his practical insight about training and equipment. He has seen many myths and philosophies change in the past 30 years. He has a good perspective about what really works.

Wisconsin Coaching Week is proud to offer these three coaches as a way for all cyclists to improve their cycling knowledge.

End

Interview with David Rowe - author of “The Ride of Your Life”

Lots of riders dream about what it would be like to “go long.” Most will attempt a century and stop there. Those that want to ride through the 100-mile barrier learn that physical conditioning can only prepare you to a point. The challenge of a multi-day, ultra-endurance event is mostly mental.

A few weeks ago, author and road cyclist David Rowe released a new book called “The Ride of Your Life.” His goal in writing the book, he says, is to help others achieve great things on the bicycle and in life.

His goal-centered approach helped him break the 100-mile-barrier and attempt routes in the Washington Cascades, the Columbia Plateau, and the Oregon Coast Range. As a randonneur, he has completed some of the most challenging road cycling events in the Northwest, including the Cascade 1200, the Portland-to-Glacier 1000, and the Rocky Mountain 1200.

With his son Evan, David created Ready to Ride® in 2005 with the goal of helping cyclists who, like himself, do not have a background in road racing, but want to excel at long distance riding.

Aside from his avocation for road cycling, David's professional life has centered on a career in magazine publishing and Internet marketing. He has held executive roles in product development and marketing for leading companies in the magazine and Internet industries. For the past nine years, he has been an active participant in the emerging online health and wellness industries as a vice president of marketing with WebMD.

David holds a Masters in Business Administration from Portland State University and is a frequent guest lecturer in the Graduate School on topics ranging from Internet marketing to consumer engagement.

We are pleased to welcome David to PAC Tour, the third stop on his “virtual book tour” in support of his new eBook released by RoadBikeRider.com on January 8. We put the following questions to David, and we hope his answers will better prepare those coming to a PAC Tour camp for success.

Lon: Can your program work for something so major as a month-long transcontinental pac tour?

David: I have never ridden a ride as challenging as a coast-to-coast PAC Tour, but I imagine that at some point along the way, every rider will question his or her own motives for being there. When those moments arise, it is vital that you know the answer to that question, and that it as compelling to you then as was the day you sent in your deposit. These are the moments of truth. If your motivations are thin, you may start looking for a way out. If your motivations are rooted deeply within your core values, you will find the inner strength to push through the pain, because it is worth it. You know the pain is temporary, but the memories - the feelings of accomplishment - will last a lifetime.

The importance of a using a values-centered approach, such as the one I've described in my eBook, only increases as the rides get longer and more difficult. So I would say - yes, absolutely yes - riders who take the time to clarify their core values, and link the completion of a transcontinental ride to those values, are the ones who are most likely to finish.

Lon: Pac Tour training is based on building up to 150-mile rides back-to-back on weekends. How can you prevent a spouse from resenting that commitment?

David: You have to get permission from those who are important to you before you sign-up for a challenging event like this. Whether we're talking about a spouse or any person who is in relationship with you, you need to understand that they, too, are going to be making a sacrifice for you to achieve your goal. You need to carefully explain why you want to complete the ride, and you must be absolutely transparent about the requirements in terms of its impact on your time, your finances, and your ability to carry your fair share in the household - especially in the last 8 to 10 weeks or so before the event begins. A lot of people seek the support of their spouse or significant other. I recommend that instead, you seek permission. Permission is a pre-requisite. Support is a bonus.

Lon: What tips can you give for dealing with the fatigue of long, hard training and its effect on your off-bike life?

David: I subscribe to the “periodization” theory of endurance training, where rest periods are designed into the schedule. I try to get completely away from cycling during those respites and reinvest in my relationships. Taking long walks with my wife on the beach or through the neighborhood are great ways to recharge and reconnect.

Occasionally, you may find you need a rest from the riding before you reach a planned rest period. My attitude is, if you don't feel like riding the bike - don't! Let's face it. Most riders have love affairs with their bicycles. If you can walk past your bike and you don't feel like looking at it, you certainly aren't ready to get on it and ride.

Of course, there is a danger in letting this go on too long. Sometimes, just the opposite will work. If I am burned out and I don't feel like riding, I will just grab the bike from the rack, hop on it and pedal in the driveway; no helmet, no gloves, no spandex or cycling shoes. Sometimes just reconnecting with the feeling that riding bicycle gives me will stimulate a desire to resume the hard work of training.

Lon: Pac tours never have a rest day, which may be as challenging mentally as physically. What's the key to confidence?

David: I think the first thing to recognize is that everyone is feeling the pain! Not everybody will show it, or admit to it, but they are feeling it. Even the guys at the front of the ride are suffering. They just have a better grounding in the important of riding in their lives, and have a greater tolerance for pain, as a result.

The best way to build confidence is to gain experience. In my book, Kent Petersen talks about chunking-down long rides into pieces he knows he can do, because he's done them before. That is how he went after all of the long rides in his career - one leg at a time, knowing that leg was no longer than a section of road he'd ridden before. From there on, completing a ride is simply a matter of stringing together a series of shorter rides, which he knows he can do. That approach is like money in the bank.

Never think about the distance to the finish line. Think only about the distance to the next control. If that's too much to handle, think about the distance to the next turn on the cue sheet. If that's more than you can handle, then get your head up and find a landmark - a fence post or a tree in the distance - and promise yourself you will keep the pedals turning until you reach it. Play that game a time or three and you'll probably have forgotten what it was that was bothering you. The rough patches always pass.

The key to success in long distance cycling is knowing why are you out there in the first place. If you have that squared away, then you're going to be prepared for the mental challenges. You will just keep on searching for a way to get your head and your heart pulling in the same direction, toward that finish line of the ride of your dreams.

Lon: Thanks, David. We appreciate your thoughts about long distance cycling, about PAC Tours, and about the mental preparation that's required to be successful in the longer rides we support.

We would like our readers to know that David will be our guest at Desert Coaching Camp, which begins on February 28. He will be riding with us, and sharing his thoughts about how riders can prepare for the big rides of their 2009 season.

If you would like to learn more about David, or about his new book, The Ride of Your Life, visit his Web site at http://www.rideofyourlife.biz.

New e-book review

We are happy to announce that PAC Tours will host an interview with author David Rowe about his newly released eBook, The Ride of Your Life. It will be available to readers on February 4 on Lon's Blog.

The Ride of Your Life is a book for sport-recreational cyclists who want to increase their mileage and their enjoyment of events of 100 miles or more.

What should you know about David Rowe?

David Rowe is a road bike rider who lives, works and rides in the Pacific Northwest.

His goal-centered approach helped him break the 100-mile-barrier and attempt routes in the remote Cascade Range and Columbia Plateau with cyclists called randonneurs. What he learned while riding with these highly skilled cyclists helped him complete some of the most challenging road biking events in the Northwest, including the Cascade 1200, the Portland-to-Glacier 1000, and the Rocky Mountain 1200.

With his son Evan, David created Ready to Ride® in 2005 with the goal of helping cyclists who, like himself, do not have a background in road racing, but want to excel at long distance riding. Ready To Ride® is a Web site for sport-recreational cyclists who want to balance the demands of career and family with the physical, mental, and equipment demands of long distance cycling.

How can you participate in the virtual book tour?

David will be discussing the sport of endurance cycling, particularly how riders can prepare mentally for completing rides of 100 or more miles in a single day. He is also happy to discuss his own experiences riding in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in the Oregon and Washington Cascade Range.

So if you have questions for David, simply post a reply here. If you want to explore his book more carefully beforehand, you can visit RoadBikeRider.com to get more information, including a free, 34-page preview edition. The Ride of Your Life page at RoadBikeRider.com is located at http://www.roadbikerider.com/royl_page.htm.

Why not visit the web site now while it's still fresh in your mind, then shoot me your questions so I can include them in my interview on February 4.

How you can win a free copy of The Ride of Your Life

David is collecting stories from readers who overcame physical, mental, or equipment challenges to finish a challenging ride. Readers of Lon's PAC Tour Blog can win a free copy of the Ride of Your Life, simply by telling their story in 200 words or less.

David is going to publish a compilation of the best stories in an eBook, which he will make available free in the Spring of this year. If your story is selected for publication, you’ll win a free eBook. It’s that easy.

You can download an entry form here: http://www.rideofyourlife.biz/my_ride.zip. Be sure to mention that you learned about the eBook giveaway on Lon's PAC Tour Blog.

END

Peru Bike Race

Nauta to Iquitos Bike Race
This 60 miles of road was finally paved in 2006. It is the only paved road within 300 miles in the upper Amazon region. We thought it would be a perfect place to promote a bike race since no one drives cars and there are only a few buses and taxies on this road. During the past year PAC Tour riders have donated over 200 old cycling jerseys and shorts to the Peru Parts Fund. We took these items to Peru to give as prizes for the race. PAC Tour donated another $1,000 as a cash prize. The winner would receive $400. Since the average monthly wage is less than $350 per month in Iquitos there was a lot of interest in this race.

There were 85 riders who entered the race. The riders met in Iquitos at 6:00 AM and were transported by bus to Nauta for the start at 8:30 AM. It was already over 90 degrees when the race began. The pace was fast from the start the lead pack quickly was reduced to twelve riders. I was able to stay with the leaders and ride my Bike Friday in the middle of the breakaway. A lot of the racers had never seen a bike with 20 inch wheels and they were surprised I was staying with them. The whole race caravan was like a big stage race with police escort motorcycles and ten other support vehicles behind the
lead group.

There was pack crash during the last 20 miles and I got tangled up in the mess. The first eight riders including Alessandra got away. I chased but couldn’t catch them. I rode mostly alone the last miles. The day was really hot near 100 degrees by now and I was cooked too. The broom wagon came by piled high with bikes from riders who quit the race. I estimate only 30 riders finished. It was a tough race because of the heat and rolling hills. Alessandra won the women’s race and collected $100.

The police gave everyone a neutral escort the final ten miles to the plaza downtown. There was a big stage for the awards presentation. All the riders got to come up on stage and select a jersey or shorts from the display of donated clothing. Overall it was a good event and something worth doing again. Next year we might change the start time to 7:00 AM and race the reverse direction from Iquitos to Nauta in the cool early morning and take the bus back in the afternoon. All the racers want to say thank you to everyone who donated parts and clothing to the PAC Tour Peru Parts Fund. The chance to get real cycling equipment is very much appreciated by them.

What’s Next?
We are continuing to support the projects we started. Your donations have helped a lot of people this past year. We are evaluating new projects we know we can control and finish.
Donations can be sent to:
The Christ Lutheran Church Peru Fund.
Questions can be sent to me: haldeman@pactour.com

END

New Peru School part 7

New School at Kilometer 46
The road between Nauta and downtown Iquitos is 100 kilometers. It is the only paved road within 300 miles in the Amazon region. The new school we built is located three miles off a dirt path at KM 46. The village is in the middle of no where. Even the rural schools along the river see more action going past their door. The final hike to the villages takes about one hour from the road on a red clay trail. It is not a bad walk on sunny days, but in the rain the trail is as slick as a ski slope. There are 15 creeks and bridges that flood the low lands and turn into swamps.

The planning for the school began last November when our group visited the village to ask about their desire to build a school there. We made a plan with the architect and the construction began in January. The new school foundation was cut into the hillside by hand shovels. It was a lot of work to move a basement load of dirt by hand. The real work began when it was time to bring the cement and sand to the village on the trail. A five gallon pail of sand weighs about 60 pounds which is a lot of weight to carry three miles. The school needed about 300 pails of sand to mix with the cement and mortar. All the cement blocks and bricks also needed to be carried into the jungle. One person could make about three trips between the road and school each day. By the end of the day they only moved a small wheel barrow of materials.

It rains a lot in the rain forest. In the rainy season from December to April it rains ten hours per day. In the dry season from June to September it rains only two hours per day. On the days the trail was wet they didn’t move materials. The reality of moving materials through the jungle was becoming a big problem. They tried using a 4 x 4 pick-up truck on the dry days. That helped a lot but the truck cost about $30 per load to move $10 of sand. We were getting desperate to get the materials to the job site and get the school built. The deadline to get the school open by March 2008 had passed. The villagers would rather spend their days picking $2.00 worth of bananas to sell in the market than moving sand and bricks across the jungle. We reorganized a work force and said we would pay them $3.00 per day to move materials. We needed to hire better brick masons from Iquitos and pay for their food and transportation. Gradually by August the village was working again to get the school finished.

When we visited the school this past November it was 90% complete. They still need to add the lattice style block windows that allowed ventilation while being secure. We were impressed with the size of the four classrooms. The brick walls are straight and thick and the cement floor is as smooth polished as in any Walmart. The hundreds of wood planks and boards I saw them cutting in April are now part of the rafters hidden inside the attic space.

The plan for the next four months is...

December: Complete all the building before Christmas
January: The government will inspect the school
February: The government will assign teachers
March: The new school term begins

There will be four teachers and four classrooms. Younger kids go to school in the morning. Older kids go in the afternoon. There will be about 100 kids total with an average class size of 15 kids. When we asked the mayor of the village how many kids will attend when the school opens he said “When a monkey in the jungle finds a tree with good bananas he tells his friends. When the first kids arrive at this school they will tell their friends. The school will grow when more kids learn that it is here”.

We have $3,000 left in the building budget to finish this school. I expect they will need additional classroom supplies like writing paper, pens and chalk We still have an extra $1,000 available to spend on classroom materials. This has been a difficult project, but not any worse than the Jack Wolff School we built five years ago. I expect the KM 46 School will have similar growing pains as the teachers, village and students all learn how to include a new school in their daily routine. The next six months will be interesting as the new school year begins. Thank you to everyone who continued to support this project during the past year. You have now made a school for 100 kids where there wasn’t one before.

End part 7

Peru Part 6

Street Kid Party in Iquitos
Probably one of the busiest and most meaningful nights we have on the tour is the party for the kids who live on the street. Some of these kids are homeless and live under the cardboard boxes of back alleys. Some are sent downtown to beg for money or food for their families who live in the poor neighborhoods. Either way they have a tough life.

For the street party we invited 40 kids divided between boys and girls, big and small. This year David and Debbie McFadden sponsored the party with money they raised from their business. Before the party David and Debby bought shirts, shorts, hats and sandals for the various size kids. One hour before the party was to begin we all walked the back streets of Iquitos and gave out invitations to the location of the secret party. We tried to match the size of the child to the size of clothing purchased. A restaurant had agreed to make a meal for each kid of 1/4 chicken, salad, fried bananas and drinks. Jordan Butturini donated two huge birthday cakes.

The party began at 7:00 PM and the doors of the secret restaurant were opened. Only kids with an invitation were allowed inside. The restaurant did a good job of having the food ready to serve. Member of our group were the ushers, and servers to keep everything on schedule. Considering most of the kids hadn’t eaten a full meal in weeks, they were very well behaved while sitting at the table. Most of them asked for a doggy bag to take half their food home to their family.

After dinner the kids lined up to receive their new clothes. Based on their size they got a new shirt and pants and some sandals. Some of them changed into their new clothes at the restaurant. They had entered the restaurant looking like rag muffins and the departed wearing shirts from Spider Man and Whiney the Pooh.

End part 6

Peru Part 5

Part 5

Jack Wolff School in Iquitos
Usually the boats depart Yurimaguas in the evening and arrive 36 hours later in Nauta in the morning. Since our boat departed at 1:00 PM and made good time down the river we arrived in Nauta before midnight. It was too dark and early to ride bikes the final 65 miles to Iquitos. There were ten cyclists plus our guide Clara in our group. The other seven people stayed on the boat the remaining eight hours to Iquitos. We had a decision to make about stalling some time until sunrise. The cyclists decided to stay at a hotel in Nauta until 6:00 AM. Our group of riders got off the boat wearing only our cycling clothes. We rode through the desolate streets of Nauta to the nearest hotel. They had three rooms for six of the people in our group. Since these hotels usually rent buy the hour it wasn’t unusual for us to arrive without any luggage. We only needed to stay for six hours and the cost was about $13 per room. The rest of our group found a similar hotel a mile away. At 6:00 AM we arranged to meet and ride the final miles across the jungle to Iquitos.

We rode 65 miles in about six hours including breakfast at a roadside stand and a lunch at a swimming resort. By the time we arrived at the hotel the boat had arrived and the group had moved all the luggage into the rooms. We had a leisurely afternoon in Iquitos. Since we had hustled to get on the early boat leaving Yurimaguas we now had an extra day and a half to to visit some traditional Indian Villages near Iquitos.
The next day we made the 12 mile trip to the Jack Wolff School at the Village of the Dolphins. This is the school we started building in 2004. It has continued to grow from 200 students to over 500 kids now. They started with nine teachers and now need 23. The school was built on the far edge of Iquitos nine kilometers further out than the next school in town. The Village of the Dolphins is very poor and even the teachers would rather commute an hour by bus to Iquitos than live in the village.

This school had some growing pains in past years as the directors, teachers, parents and kids learned how to make a school where the concept of going to school was new. They had seven directors in the past five years. All of the teachers have been replaced at least twice. There is no tax support for the school and the students do not pay tuition. A teacher is paid $335 per month (the national standard in Peru) and teachers are expected to pay the school phone bill and buy classroom supplies from their wages. The education situation is not good but probably not any worse than the other schools we visited across the country.

The support we give them goes a long way in keeping the school repaired and stocked with supplies. Every year we visit there we see the changes and improvements. This past year we gave them about $3,000 to use for over twenty different projects like roof repairs, a new motor for the water well and repairs for the sound system. We will continue to support them on an item by item basis. This year some of their teachers met with members of our group Dan and Debby Berg. They went on a shopping trip to restock the library with books and buy an assortment of educational DVDs. Dan and Debbie paid for all the products from funds they collected from their school at home. We expect the Jack Wolff School to continue to grow in the years ahead.

END Part 5