Training is a word that rattles around in my head and justifies many of my decisions to do what I do. Not all bicycle riding is for fun, far from it. Often it's done in lousy weather, alone and maybe even in traffic. But all preparation may lead to a warm, sunny, windless day spent riding with friends. However, those rare days aren't possible without training.

So what is training? It's an abstract term that has no beginning or end and so its definition is elusive.

For me, training takes many forms and it serves as a psychological safety net, for as long as I am training, there's still plenty of learning that can take place. As long as I'm training, I'm trying.

Some days I train in the big chain ring and on another day, in the little chain ring.

Riding through the airport, I've trained with jets as they taxi on the runway that parallels Sawyer Road.

In the early days of my riding I would drive to Canal and just ride up and down Slough Road a few times. Now I sometimes climb Clark State Road, a gentle climb of two miles, that leaves out of Gahanna and do it again and again and again and then go home and feel completely spent.

I've trained my legs to stand just by pushing myself to the next mailbox, and then further.

In Ohio there is always another road you can take so you can lengthen any ride or you can make loops. More miles can be done and that is mental training.

There are around 630 muscles in the human body and to keep those in tip-top shape or even just the skeletal ones, takes a lot of training. The job of training is never done but I go out and ride, or lift weights because I trust that "…some day my chance will come."

By Julia Schmitt