Training in Tucson

We spent 4 days this week in Tucson, training and overseeing work on Western HQ.

My ole friend, Steve Miller says, "It takes a little more to be champion." In Tucson, this means starting rides, this time of year, at 5:30-6:00 AM to beat the 100+ degree heat. We are in a 'go very hard or go very easy' mode leading up to FBC so we had two Break Through workouts. Twenty minute intervals on Wednesday went well.

On Saturday, 5:45 AM (we got up at 4AM) we lined up at the Arizona University (AZU) for The Shootout. Isn't the name just a little intimidating? This was our second 'go around' but this time a 10 mph wind would be in our face going out for the first twenty or so miles. Kinda sounds like my walk to school when I was a kid, uphill and into the wind. Yes, I am old enough to have actually walked to school.

Ralph, the founder of the ride some 25 years ago, started us off. The owner of Fairwheels Bike Shop and an icon in AZ cycling, Ralph still looks like a combat soldier at about 150 lbs. and 6% body fat. He is joined by about 50 more combat soldiers and 10-12 'fit as hell' women. Everyone is quiet, some are nervous....is this a ride or a race? The first twenty minutes, until we get past the last red light, really lulls one into a false sense to security. Then it goes and when we reach a bridge, we lose the the first 12-15 people, including most of the women. It seems that these people traditionally pedal back to Starbucks, beaten and abused. Teenie and I easily makes this selection.

For 45 minutes it goes above my threshold. At one point, I join another rider to pull the entire group up to a 4 man break. My HR is pegging and I need recovery. In a really hard effort up a small but steep hill, the field splits in half. I sense Teenie is in the second group, as I barely make the first. We have about twenty riders and I am hurting. I do recover and about 1:20 out, I see Helmet Peak Rd, pull over and wait for Teenie at this turn. We are only doing 50 miles today due to race peaking.

In about 2 minutes, I see a pace line top a small ridge in the distance. Approximately 15 riders are strung out in single file in the drops, going hard. There are only men but then, maybe 12th wheel, I get a glimpse of the B&W? "Good", I think, "She has made this selection."

I grab on just after the turn as several of her ride mates have taken the short course option. I go to the front for a long pull as we begin the 7-8 mile downhill at 30-35 mph. A left turn on Old Nogales Hgwy reveals only 5 of us left. We head back for the 20 mile flat ride to AZU at 24-26 mph., each of us taking our turn and doing what we can. Teenie, a Hispanic fella, and I prove to be the tip of the spear!

As we head under the underpass about 3 miles from AZU, we hit the sprint zone. Caught completely off guard, Teenie is 3rd and I am 4th. We both know we would have been 1/2 if we had seen it coming!

Ah! Then Starbucks. We laugh and smile and relive the ride! We are ready for FBC......one more hard effort of 3 laps at SCTAC will be the icing on the cake.

Hope to see ya out there.