TagTeam4 Training

In our last entry we fund out that the Taggart Family of Roseville, CA (TagTeam4) has been accepted to a week long summer bicycle ride across Iowa this July. The ride is nearly 500 miles. Riders dip their tires in the Missouri River on the first day and in the Mississippi River on the seventh day. Each day riders cycle about 75 miles. Each night they spend in a "host" down that rolls out all the welcoming possible to show off the best of the town's people and atmosphere. There are free carnivals, music, parties. Free camping is provided and many Iowans open their houses to the cyclists as a show of friendship.

TageTeam4 found out they made it into the Ride on May 1. Since then they have been doing weekly training which included cycling, running and hiking. For the first three weekends of May they have ridding 30 miles, 37 miles, 35 miles and a short "sprint" ride of 12 miles. "We try to stick to the American River Bike Trail to avoid traffic as well as have great scenery" says Scott, the Father of TagTeam4. Scott says he is slowly working the team up to a "comfortable" 75 mile day ride in preparation for the Iowa ride. He figures of they can easily do 75 miles in one day they will be well prepared for a week long event. This years ride across Iowa is one of the more hilly rides - it has a total of 22,000 vertical feet of climbing (that works out to about 3,000 feet per day of "ups" that have to be climbed. "A mile of cycling up followed by one down is very much harder than 2 flat miles" says Scott.

TagTeam4 is also doing training runs. They did a local 5K (3.1 mile) run last week and regularly do 2-4 mile training runs in Roseville. "We aren't trying for sheer speed but rather stamina and cardiovascular workouts" say mom Julie. They are also using a week of strenuous hiking in Yosemite during June as training.

Many people think TagTeam4 are in better shape or somehow more athletic than that average family with young children but both Scott and Julie insists this is not true. "We believe that with just a modest amount of exercise and commitment, most anyone family can do what we do. Sure, it looks daunting when a family normally never gets on their bikes for more than a few mile ride, but if you set some modest weekly goals and work up to it, it is not all that difficult" says Scott. Scott remarks "With regular cycling - once to twice a week, it isn't hard to work up to 10, 20 and then 40 miles in a day. Children adapt quickly and their young bodies easily build new muscle and coordination. We make our riding fun for our kids by stopping for the sights and a special treat at the end such as Jamba Juice. And, every minute we are on the bikes or hiking is one less minute in front of the video games or TV for our kids".

TageTeam4 welcome you to come and join them for a ride and talk about their adventure. They publish their riding schedule online at "tagteam4.blogger.com".

Our next entry we'll talk about bike maintenance, diet and more.

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