Riding in Belize

David_Zen

Hi all,

I am new to the forums... joined about a week or so ago but have been mostly reading everybody's posts trying to learn something about cycling. I hope to bring new flavor to the discussions as a new rider and as a foreigner since most of you seem to be from way Down Under but most of all I hope to learn from you all as much as I can about the sport.

For those of you who don't know, Belize is in the heart of Central America, once the center of tha ancient Maya Civilization.

Cycling is one of the biggest sports here. In fact, our Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic is the Bigest sporting event in the country and is slowly becoming an International cycling race with riders from other countries such as USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Cuba. It's no Tour De France but it's big enough to create a lot of excitement once a year in our little country.

In my opinion, the only thing keeping the sport from developing as fast as it could are the bad drivers (unsafe roads). This has been the only reason why I am starting so late (at the age of 27).

My goal is to compete in next year's Cross Country race. Until then, I have a lot of training to do. Recently, I bought a mountain bike to start out with. In a few months I hope to purchase my first road bike. I've been riding now for about 3 weeks... putting in about 100 miles/week or 20 miles/day. In about an hour from now, I am going to start my longest ride yet... about 42 miles.

I'll let you all know how it went when I get back.

I might even have some pics to show.


Later,

Dave

David_Zen

I'm the guy in the middle
We did the ride in about 2 hours. I figure I would be able to get more mileage with smoother tires but I was advised to keep riding with the off-road tires for a while... more resistance will only make me stronger they sat. What do you all think about that concept?

There won't be any group rides tomorrow but I plan to do about 20 - 25 miles solo.

Seecyd

Well after you get your road bike, keep using your mountain bike for your cross training. I've just started cycling on a roadie after being on my mountain bike [on trails not on the road]. I go back and use my MTB just so I don't get bored for one, and two, more resistance as you said, and if you train on trails you learn balance and quick reaction... to avoid roots, trees, falling and everything else. I'm training for a duathlon, so I have to incorporate different training programs. However, I have been reading that more and more prof riders, including Mr. Armstrong, do their cross-training on MTBs. Good Luck! and don't let the bad drivers stop you from being out there!

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