This year I’ll be participating, for the first time, in the Conquer The Coast bike ride in Corpus Christi, Texas. I’ve signed up for the 65-mile mile course and am looking forward to the sights and sounds on this ride.

The ride should be an incredible experience with a dawn climb of the big Harbor Bridge, a ferry crossing about midway through the ride, crossing the JFK Causeway, cruising through the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station and ending the ride on Ocean Dr. in downtown Corpus.

Bill, Joel and I went on a training ride Saturday morning out of Bullis Park, a familiar starting point for many rides and cyclists. We completed a section I call the Timberwood Loop when Joel indicated that he needed to head back due to some commitments later in the morning.

Bill and I decided to keep riding since he’s training for this year’s Valero MS-150 and I needed the mileage for the aforementioned 65-mile CTC ride. We headed north on Blanco Road and encountered some pretty solid hills as we climbed rising terrain on our way to Guadalupe River State Park where we planned to turn around.

We arrived at the park with about 25-28 miles done and could feel the impact of not adequately preparing for a longer ride. We raided a candy machine which refused to give us two bags of peanut M&M’s. We split the one bag and downed a Dr. Pepper for some much needed energy – not a very healthy way to obtain calories but it beat nothing at all.

The ride back was mostly downhill with a few rolling hills to keep us honest. All-in-all, a great workout and a positive sign that with adequate hydration/nutrition, I feel prepared for the CTC ride in a few weeks!