Serious riders have a “trainer.” An indoor thing-

[mouakter13]

“The training beforehand was probably the most important thing,” Lucier said. “And then having a plan and trying to stick with it.”

Said Giangrande, “Heron got a good gap going into the second half for me. So I just started to jump on that gap and then Hudson caught me right at the end but I had the fresher legs, so yeah, got him in the sprint.”

Added Land-Gillis, “He’s our coach so he might try and tire us out before the next race.”

Ivanowicz and Bursell tried to alleviate my constant fears, concerns and nerves as well as my thoughtful questions, such as, what happens if I have to pee? And most importantly, “How do I train?”

To train in Juneau’s weather, especially to compete, is a difficult task when working a full-time job so my newfound admiration of families or significant others who support cyclists is tenfold.

Douglas’ “Crazy A’s” — Adam Moser and Alisha Falberg — placed third out of 22 teams in the two-person mixed division in 8:12:49 and 26th overall.

Falberg said the key was “finding a group to ride with, that I could stick with the whole time.”

Moser agreed, saying, “Finding a good Peloton is always phone number list key and very helpful. Keeps the spirits up and makes the ride a lot easier.”

The duo trained with lots of rides out North Douglas and a few rides out the road.

Falberg said riding with the Freewheelers was also helpful — “and a lot of hours on the trainer because the spring this year has been pretty crummy in Juneau.”

Both agreed “time in the saddle” is important for the race.

“Pretty simple,” Moser said. “You have to be on the bike to ride it well … Come and do the KCIBR.”

Added Falberg, “It is just fun. It is so beautiful.”

The beauty of the rugged Three Guardsmen Pass, Chilkat Pass and the Jarvis and Saksaia glaciers were lost on my “long bike ride.”

It was a journey that actually began in December. Finally conceding an Achilles injury that dropped me from running last summer, I bought a fat tire bike for the winter and chugged around a bit, managing to slog through and past my 65 birthday miles the day before Christmas. That was around the time my gurus suggested the Kluane as a goal.

I chugged a bit more as spring blew in and signed on to Kluane with the support of the aforementioned duo above, who were my mentors and support during the ride.