Physicality, Training for Europe

Do you work a desk job? I do, and on top of that I'm physically lazy. I live in Florida, but hate to go outside 8 months of the year because of the heat. But I know it is a necessity if I want to survive (and actually enjoy) my upcoming trip to Europe.

In a previous posting I discussed themed travel, one of my themes is cycle tours. I will be taking 5 cycle tours in 9 days. The scheduled tours mean I will have quite a bit of riding in a very condensed amount of time:

Day 1-Amsterdam city tour (urban, ~3 hours)
Day 2-Amsterdam countryside tour (urban/county, ~4 hours, 22km)
Day 3-Rest (no cycling, walking only)
Day 4-Brussels city tour (urban, ~3 hours)
Day 5-Rest (no cycling, walking only)
Day 6-Paris city tour (urban, ~3 hrs)
Day 7-Paris/Versailles tour (urban/country, ~8hrs)
Day 8-Rest (no cycling, walking only)
Day 9-Return home

In addition to the cycling, my wife and I will have quite a bit of walking to do. To ensure our legs are not turned to big sacks of jelly will require some work ahead of time. That is where the training comes in. Today my wife and I rode our bikes for 10 miles, with one 5 minute rest stop, in 1 hour and 15 minutes. This was meant as a test to determine our level of endurance and see how quickly we will recover in the next couple days. I can say that already my rear is hurting, due to the previously mentioned laziness, but everything else is recovering just fine. In fact, it has now been an hour since our ride and I feel I could go for some more (which is good since our longest ride will be 22km/16 miles in a 4 hour period).

In order to maximize our recovery time when we are in country, we will continue to ride and walk here at home over the next 5 months. This will make the trip more enjoyable for both of us, since we will not be sweating messes recoverying in our hotel room. It will also increase our energy levels, allowing us to take in more sights. If you have an itinerary featuring a lot of walking, I recommend getting started on your own training regiment at least 3 to 6 months ahead of your travel dates. And remember, hydrate!