I read up on the logistics of the China bike tour. The riders are going to be riding on mountain bikes as the routes are not all on paved roads. It makes sense, since the location is rural China, sparsely populated. This is perfect for my training since the only bike I own is a mountain bike.
My machine is a 2005 Giant Yukon with only about 600 miles on it. Components include Deore rear/Alivio front derailleurs (24 speed), disc brakes... not too fancy, but definitely not cheap.
Since most of my training will be on paved roads, I swapped out the fat knobby tires. The front tire is a semi-slick for side-side traction, and the rear is a full slick. These Continental tires roll quickly on pavement. Even against the wind this afternoon, my speedometer read that I was doing 15mph and I thought I was relaxing. Going in the other direction, I was easily clocking in at 20mph. Not bad for a mountain bike, and its rider who is just getting back on after doing things other than biking. But I need to push it harder, and I will also need to include some training days on looser terrain, so the knobbies will be back on.
I've ordered a pair of clipless pedals, Crank Brothers Candy C's. I'll need to pair them up with a set of cleated shoes and practice being clipped in and out. I've never been equipped with cleated cycling shoes before and I've heard that some go through a learning curve... falling over at a stop because they've forgotten to clip out.
The idea now is to ride as much as I can for the next few weeks since I signed on to this event fairly late. It'd be nice if I can get in at least 150 miles per week, with the bulk of that achieved on the weekends, but that might be taking it too easy. I'm thinking that I need to take my bike to work and ride around San Jose, otherwise it will be really late when I get back to Dublin.
