A Riding Report

Anybody that's trained for an event has hit this point...I'm not physically tired, just tired.  The routes are old, there's not a huge desire to climb on the bike.  I've been riding a lot, been through a 60 serving tub of Accelerade in the past month!  I'm faster and stronger than I believed possible, but that fact fails to charge me up, at the moment.

I figured that a good solution would be to ride a seldom-used route.  So I decided to drive to the town of Amado, Arizona, and ride to Arivaca.  This route I've ridden once as part of my first century ride, but today's route, since I'd drive to Amado instead of ride, would be just a touch under 50 miles.

My hope here is to share a flavor of the very unique pocket of southern Arizona that is Arivaca.  It's a full hour's drive from ANYWHERE.  Anybody that lives there does so on purpose.  Some are outcasts, socially inept.  Others just seek solitude and clear thinking.  Regardless, the people that live there, and in the outlying areas take a lot of pride in their community.  I could shoot hundreds of pictures of the little interesting things like an old hand water-pump mounted on top of a 20 foot pole in the middle of a field.  It's just funny, and cute.

Nothing to share beyond that.  Enjoy the pictures.

Amado is an interesting place, most known for the bar pictured below.

Also in the lovely town of Amado are the Cow Palace and the Amado Market, which has gasoline, but you have to pay the cashier inside, no debit machine on the pump.

If I had left early in the day, I'd have missed all of the wind, but as it turned out, I started just as the wind really started to pick up.  But I brought my camera and decided to not let the wind ruin my time.  After all, the return trip was sure to be a blazing fast ride.

One of the first things I always notice on this road (it's a favorite drive) is this huge cottonwood tree.  I often wonder how old it is, what changes have occurred around it.  It's a survivor.

 And how fun does that road beyond look?

Now apparently, the mailman out here is a Sasquatch, either that or this is a challenge to all major league mail-box baseball players.

Now I am patriotic, but not fanatic.  I am completely convinced, however, that the United States' flag is the most beautiful.  If it wasn't designed to look amazing in motion, it's a lucky coincidence.  This one has seen better days, but where would I be if all things tattered were discarded?

Here's another. Interesting side note:  Flags point the direction of travel of the intelligent.  I was going the other way.

Then there were these gardener/drinkers that decided to decorate their garden fence:

Now most of these pictures I took while riding, but the one below I actually stopped, turned my bike around and rode back to the sign.  If I was into sign stealing ...  it would be mine!

And today was over 80 degrees, as evidenced by the salt deposits I had after cooling off!

If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures, you can here.

The ride took me 2 1/2 hours, actually 2:32:13 to be exact.  There was 1500 feet of climbing.  The return trip took just under and hour's time, so it was very fast.

Solo Century

Last night I was excited and nervous about today's ride.  100 miles.  Alone.  New route.  My reliable rescue service (my wife) was out of town.

Yesterday I ate a lot of pasta and drank 3 beers (early in the evening), then drank lots and lots of water.  I stretched and prepped, developed my game plan, and hit the sack about 9:30.  I slept terribly.

I hit the road this morning at 7:35 and it was 57 degrees, with a slight northern breeze.   I made it without effort or issue to the town of Amado, the 25 mile point.  When I got there I noticed a huge bicycle event.  GABA was having their Tumacacori Century ride.  The riders had all left about 20 minutes or so before I got there, which left me a lot of people to catch, which I love doing.  I find I am a much faster rider with other riders around.  I did notice one thing; I am strong on the hills.  I'd follow a group for quite a while, until we hit the hills and then I'd pass them.  Hill work pays!

The GABA group turned around about 5 miles before of my turn-around destination.  When I reached their turn-around point there were two older gentlemen in volunteer shirts talking while their little dogs struggled to get at one another, their leashes tethered just about two inches short of an all out fight.  I wondered how the men just let that go on at their feet while they spoke.  About thirty seconds after I passed by, the volunteers yelled at me to stop and go back, one man in particular was in quite a panic.  It must've been one awesome conversation!

As I rolled down the three miles into Arivaca I forced myself to finish my fluids.  Once there I went to the store, bought more water and electrolyte drink, a granola bar and a king sized Snickers.  Ah, the perks of riding.

I found the road to be hillier than expected, but none of the hills as steep as I feared.  This is a beautiful ride, one of my favorites on my motorcycle.  On any given weekend, you'll find sports cars and motorcycles and cyclists riding here.  I hope you enjoy the pictures I stole from the web, none are mine.

I hit the wall shortly after the 60th mile.  I ate and drank some food, but it was getting hot outside, and the GABA group had moved out of that area in the extra 10 miles I rode plus the 20 minutes I took replenishing my stocks.  I pushed through it and hit a second wind between miles 70 and 85...I felt like a beast.  At mile 85 I stopped at the last GABA aid station.  They were packing up and I was running out of water.  I told them I wasn't part of the group but would like some water.  They offered me snacks and snacks and more snacks, perhaps so I'd have something for the water to chase!

I struggled from miles 95 to 100.  I had to do this mile and a half loop a few times to get to 100 miles. Silly chasing miles, but I didn't want to claim a century if I rode 94 miles.  I didn't want to say I rode 94 miles either.  All told, I returned home at 2:06, actual seat time exactly 6:00 on the nose.  My average pace was 16.8 mph.  Not bad considering the nearly 2000 feet of climbing.  When I was done, it felt every bit of the 93 degrees the thermometer read too!

I'm very thrilled to have done this today.  I am glad I had the conviction to head straight into the pain and discomfort I knew I'd endure because I know it'll pay off on race day.  I also know it'll pay off on my half marathon. 

Special thanks to the wonderful and helpful GABA people.  The riders were all pleasant and good spokes people for their sport and their volunteers were quite generous.

I can't believe I'm doing another century next weekend!