The Grand Tour is getting closer

Me wearing an old Grand Tour jersey

Amber, Edgar, and I have been training for the Grand Tour in June. They just opened registration and the route has changed a lot. Mostly for the better, I think.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27799496

The ride now starts in Port Hueneme at the Holiday Inn Express which is way more convenient and safer that driving 20 minutes from the end of the ride in Malibu to our Comfort Inn at Calabasas. It's a double loop, the first being 41 miles and the second being 150 miles. Yes, I know it doesn't add up to 200 miles 😢 and it's also slightly flatter.

This will be Edgar's first double century. He has a new Lynskey titanium gravel bike which will be ideal for him. It has 40mm tires with light tread so he will be super comfortable. I don't know what brand tires they are, but they puncture too much. Need to upgrade to Schwalbe.

It will be Amber's first major ride since giving birth earlier this year. She's naturally very fit so she will not have any issues. She will be riding her titanium Lynskey with 32mm Schwalbe tires.

I'm getting old and even though I rode a 300km brevet a couple of months ago, I'm slightly nervous about this ride. I will be riding my trusty Serotta titanium road bike with 28mm Gatorskins.

My wife will be baby sitting for the event. Because it starts at a hotel, Amber and Edgar can drop Camilla (their baby) off with my wife before the ride and hang out for a while afterwards. They live about a 40 minute drive away so they don't need a hotel room. It all works out really well*.

* Ask me again after the ride 😁

I've been watching a GCN video about tire pressure on YouTube. That's why I'm kind of fixating on tires right now. I've always known that wider tires are more comfortable but now it seems they can be more efficient too.

The SRAM online tire pressure calculator says I should be running 72 and 76 psi front and back. It has taken me ten years to reduce my tire pressure from 115 to 100 and I'm still too high. I'm not going to change the pressures for the 200km training ride this weekend, but I might try it on a shorter ride later.