Ride Guide- July 2023

RIDE GUIDE

This monthly newsletter will contain information and tidbits to help you prepare for the 2023 Tour des Trees. For more information, visit www.treefund.org.

Tires, Trees, and Tahoe!

The deadline to register for this year's Tour des Trees is Monday, July 31!

Pass the word around to those that need to know and, if you haven't signed up yet, you only have a couple more days to do so. Remember to see below for other important deadlines, too, as some of them are coming up quick.

Important dates:

Registration: Now until July 31

Jersey Order Deadline: August 6

Event Dates: September 26 to October 2

Rider Fundraising Deadline: October 2

Campaign Ends: October 18

Stay Engaged:

We want you to connect with our other riders! If you have not yet joined our Strava group or liked the Tour des Trees Facebook page, be sure to do so now and prep for this year with everyone else.

TdT 350/350 Challenge:

TdT 350/350 Challenge participants, remember, you have until August 31 to complete your fundraising and riding milage goals to earn your shirt. Jonathan will send out more emails as we get close to that date to remind you of your status or send your shirt ordering information but keep an eye on the calendar. Good luck!

Reno Shipping/Parking Info

The host hotel in Reno (the Whitney Peak Hotel) has asked us to collect the names of anyone that will be shipping their bikes to the hotel and anyone that plans on parking their car at the hotel.

If you are planning on shipping your bike or parking at the hotel, please reply to this email and let Jonathan know so he can get you on their list. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

The address for the Whitney Peak Hotel is 255 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89501. Anyone shipping their bikes should make sure to put ATTN: Tour des Trees on the label so that it ends up with our collection.

Arborwear Gift Card Giveaway!

To help out the fundraising efforts of those that recently registered- and to help those that registered long ago- we have a giveaway contest going on this week. Anyone that makes a donation to a rider, 350/350 participant, or team at www.tourdestrees.org between July 24 and July 31 will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of two $50 gift cards to Arborwear.

Fundraising Pages:

If you have not yet created your fundraising page on www.tourdestrees.org, be sure to do that as soon as possible. Not only will it check one more item off your list, but you'll be able to start your fundraising efforts. Hit the FUNDRAISE button and either sign in or create a new account.

If you have created your page but have not yet added your name to your chapter's/ company's team page, be sure to do so. You can do that by logging in (via the FUNDRAISE button) and then going to the team section from the EDIT button in the bottom left corner.

350/350 Challenge participants: Be sure you have connected your Strava account to your fundraising page so we can track your miles. Do so by logging in (via the FUNDRAISE button) and then going to the team section from the EDIT button in the bottom left corner.

Safety First!

Once again, RoadID has provided our group with a nice discount on their products to help keep our riders safe during their training and during our ride. Use the link below to get a 20% discount on RoadID identification tags and accessories. It will ask for your email and name and direct you to a code to use when you order.

https://roadid.com/?rfsn=6533527.e07ed7&of=6X8Y4

A Note From Paul:

I hope you had a chance to watch the Tour de France this year. Watching the very best is both inspiring and humbling. It is really hard to wrap your head around climbing at 7+watts/kg for sustained periods of time.

We are now a little over 60 days from the start of the real “Tour” :), so I hope you are well into your preparation. And after glancing at our TdT Strava Club page I feel pretty confident most of you will arrive well prepared.

Each year I publish a message about the principles of preparing for a multi-day ride like the Tour des Trees. This year's course will present very similar challenges to our Colorado Tour in 2021, so revisiting my recommendations for that Tour will be helpful. Below are some general observations I've gained over my 19 years of the leading the Tour.

In preparing for the Tour des Trees it is important to:

Understand the demands of the Tour.
In previous Ride Guides, I have outlined the course and the specific demands presented this year.
April Ride Guide
June Ride Guide
Train for the demands- there are a two primary approaches for doing this.
Follow a plan.
There are a couple generalized plans listed on Participant Resource Page of the Tour des Trees website, under Cycling.
Or maybe a bit more productive would be to work with a coach or purchase a plan from Training Peaks, FasCat, CTS or create your own plan in Trainer Road.
Roughly follow the plan on the Tour des Trees website but use your local group rides to archive the recommended intensity and duration. You’ll get fit as a byproduct of having fun on the bike with friends. Although, I caution you to watch out for the training stress this type of “training" can produce, it is easy to caught up in making every ride a race.
Focus on getting the necessary rest to take full advantage of the extra training you are incorporating.
Be consistent on when you go to bed and create and environment conducive to sleeping.
Strive to be in bed for 8 hours knowing that some of that time will be not be fully restful.
Develop a nutrition plan that will allow you to meet the demands of your training and your event.
There is a new emphasis on the importance that fueling plays in the success of long cycling events like the Tour. While most of these recommendations are for competitive or self-supported events, the strategies can be incorporated for events like the Tour, also.
The most accurate method for determining your fueling needs is by measuring your energy expenditure with a power meter. The highlighted article does a good job of explaining the strategy for fueling when measuring this data.
If you don’t have a power meter a good strategy is to aim for a bottle (24 oz) of fluids and 30-60 gm of carbohydrates an hour.
The tricky part of managing nutrition on a supported ride is making sure not to over fuel. With two aid stations and a picnic lunch along the route it is very easy to overdo it during the ride. Just be mindful of the potential for this.

Thanks for reading and, as always, if you have any questions about the information in this newsletter or have any other questions about the ride please feel free to shoot me an email at pwoodbba@gmail.com.

Paul

Paul Wood- Tour Director

Black Bear Adventures bicycle tours

pwoodbba@gmail.com

And Finally...

We know everyone is out on their bikes training for what should be an epic year for the Tour des Trees and a few of our riders have tackled some other big events in their preparation for this year's ride.

Steve Geist, Nolan Jones, and Jon Elliott completed yet another edition of the Triple Bypass, climbing over 10,000 feet of elevation over 118 miles in the Colorado Rockies. (Steve's 19th time!)

Kris May rode 163 miles in one day during the Ride Across Indiana.

Doreen Crenshaw completed the Dust Bowl 100 and got to ride with Indiana Pacer legend Reggie Miller.