Wouldn't It Be Cool If ...

Endurance sports can be a lonely endeavor.  There are very few people I can call and say, "Hey, I just rode Gold Hill in under 15 minutes," and have it mean something to them.

Of course the internet has made it less lonely, and I could share with internet friends, "Hey, I had a PR or KOM."  But, unless they're ridden Gold Hill, they don't really understand.

This is a view from Gold Hill

Lately I've been riding with a friend of mine who is new to the sport, but eager to get into it.  I've been showing him my favorite local routes and when he pauses to appreciate some view or vista, it makes me see it all over again.  And living where I live, one of the biggest pluses in the cycling category is the stuff you get to see!

Last night I bought a bottle of wine, to celebrate and reward myself for a monster week.  I put in over 230 miles on the old bicycle this week and am feeling very great.  As wine often does to me, I woke about 3 AM.  I wasn't sick or hung over, just not sleeping.  Ugh.  I started on of my favorite hobbies under such conditions, imagining different routes and courses.  I got to thinking, what about a Tour?

You know ... a tour, like several days, covering the challenging and scenic routes in the county.  Maybe it could be a week long, maybe spread over a few weekends.  I started thinking and planning, how would it work, wondering if it would work, wondering if I really cared that it would work, it might be awesome to do alone anyway (though company would be better).  It would be a come one-come all type of thing, amateurs would really be the focus.  I remembered reading in a magazine how people were getting very tired of spending $120 to run or ride a race ... yeah, it goes to charity, supposedly, but whatever.  The article was showing how there was a trend of small groups getting together and running their own events at the actual cost of the support for the event.  Applying that idea, here's what I came up with:

• The Santa Cruz County Cycling Tour would take place over four weekends, including seven total rides and a party.
• Minor support would be provided, but each rider is essentially responsible for themselves. 
• Riders could participate in any portion of the rides, but a point system will be assigned.

While it would be a Santa Cruz County Tour, not all rides would be 100% contained inside the county.  After all, this is the smallest county in the state!  Here's how it would work:

Weekend 1:  Date:  TBD
Ride 1:  Pena Blanca to Kino Springs to Josefina to Pena Blanca  (90 miles)

This ride obviously needs a better name!  This ride contains some incredibly scenery and challenging terrain and quite a bit of climbing.  The ride begins at Pena Blanca Lake, which includes a Cat 4 climb, that is way harder than any Cat 4 I know of!  After the Cat 4, it's a fast and smooth downhill for about 7 miles, before hitting some rolling hills and then Gold Hill, which is a Cat 4 climb as well.  This would undoubtedly be a much higher category if it weren't for an incredibly steep quarter-mile down hill right in the middle of the whole thing!

After Gold Hill, there's a fast downhill for another 5 miles or so before the winding Cat 4 climb heading past Kino Springs Golf Course to the village.  Then the ride shoots down the very fast and smooth River Road before entering the Rio Rico area where the ride hits a Cat 3 and a Cat 2 climbing on Camino Josefina.  The ride finishes by returning to the starting point at the lake.

Elevation Profile, Categorized Climbs Inaccurate Here

Weekend 1, Ride 2:  Patagonia - Elgin (50 miles)

90

Day 2's ride is shorter and easier than the first day's ride.  The ride starts in beautiful and historic Patagonia, Arizona, loops through and around Sonoita and Elgin and then back to Patagonia.  There are no categorized climbs on the day, though the scenery is stunning.  Sonoita and Elgin are rich in agriculture including livestock and vineyards.  On a lucky day one may spot prong horn!

Weekend 2, Ride 1 (3rd total):  Whipple Visitor's Center to Madera Canyon (63 miles)

The second weekend of riding will begin at the Whipple Observatory Visitor's center, as pictured above.  The ride will begin very fast as the course will drop down to the valley below some 300 feet in about 7 miles.  Then the ride will make it's way up the most significant climb of the entire tour as it winds up Madera Canyon (category 1 climb).  It's common to see wild turkey and sometimes coatamundi in the canyon.

The route will descend from the canyon and return back up to the observatory's visitor's center, which is a category 2 climb.

Weekend 2, Ride 2 (4th total):  Tumacacori to Tubac Loop (22 miles)

Time trial!  Flat, fast and beautiful!  Tumacacori and Tubac are beautiful and very interesting.  After the short ride there's plenty to see and do. 

Weekend 3, Ride 1 (5th total):  Amado to Arivaca (46 miles)

This out and back begins in Amado, goes to Arivaca and returns.  This ride weaves in and out of Santa Cruz and Pima counties.  The route is full of winding road, rolling hills, interesting properties and majestic views.  The ride is challenging but fast.  There's one significant climb, though it is uncategorized.

Weekend 3, Ride 2 (6th total): Parker Canyon Lake (60 miles)

 This is the only ride I've not personally done, on a bicycle.  I've ridden it on a motorcycle several times, as well as in cars.  It's a beautiful ride.  There's quite a bit of climbing, several categorized climbs.  The software MapMyRide uses to calculate elevation is highly inaccurate, so I'm not sure exactly the nature of the climbs, but it's a hilly ride.  Certainly not as tough as some of the other rides in the tour though.

Weekend 4, Ride 1 (7th total):  The Santa Rita Mountains Loop (115 miles)

This route loops around the Santa Rita Mountains.  It is by far the longest ride on the tour.  It's a beautiful route, lots of rolling hills and scenery, including two very prolonged downhill segments!

By the time it's all said and done, the tour will have covered about 450 miles in seven rides

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.

Events for 2012, None after 12/21/12

In 2011 I got my feet wet with a few races.  In 2012 I'm looking forward to participating in more races, performing better because I'll have prepared for the races, as well as participating in a few races just because they're fun atmospheres!

I'd like to throw in two or three more 10K's as well as at least one more half marathon.  There are a few that are the same weekends as major bicycle races (which are quite fewer), so I'll keep my eyes open for future races.  

I've targeted races that I think I'll be really serious about, others I'll just show up and run.  The races in blue font are races I'll take seriously, but not train for specifically.  Those in red are things I'll train for specifically and make a real shot at accomplishing one of my time goals for the year, or a PR.

1. 1/7 Sabino Canyon 5K
2. 1/14 Great Expectations Academy 5K
3. 1/29 Old Tucson Trail run 4 Miler
4. 2/18 Duathalon 2 mile run, 17 mile ride, 2 mile run 
5. 2/25 Rangar Del Sol Relay
6. 3/4 10K with no name, SAR
7. 3/? Lucky Clover 5K
8. 4/28 Tour of the Tucson Mountains (bicycle)
9. 5/12 Nogales Bicycle Classic
10. 6/2 Tucson Downtown Night 5K
11. 6/9 Colossal Cave 5K
12. 7/8 Run with the Roosters 5 Miler
13. 7/21 Breeze Through the Trees 5K
14. 8/4 AZ Dirt Hog 5K XC
15. 8/12 Tombstone 10K
16. 9/22 Catalina Park 10.35 miler
17. 10/14 Great Pumpkin 5K
18. 10/21 Everybody Runs Half Marathon
19. 11/17 El Tour de Tucson
20. 11/22 Thanksgiving 5K
21. 12/9 Tucson Marathon
22. 12/15 Vail Jingle Trail 5K

Now I really like to just wake up and know what I'm doing that day, without thinking.  I don't like schedules, don't like to remember what's going to happen next Thursday. 

That's one more thing to get over, one more change in my new lifestyle!  Especially since I'm doing two sports, being organized is paramount.  So, as I've shared before, I'm developing an excel spreadsheet to manage everything.  It's a bit ugly, but it works.  Not only do I make sure I get planned down time, alternate intensities appropriately, but when I'm actively training for an event, I can click on the distance in the main book and it takes me to a brief description of the workout for that day.

Here it is.

 
Now of course, since the last day of the existence of this planet is 12/21/2012, I've not planned anything after 12/15!  That gives me a week of eating pork rinds and mainlining Oreo ice cream cakes.  

Whipping Post

My theme song for participation in El Tour de Tucson was Whipping Post, by the Allman Brothers, recorded live at the Filmore East.

I'm tied...to the whipping post, tied...to the whipping post.  Sometimes I feel like I'm dying.

Too appropriate.

Yesterday I ate so much food and drank so much I was rather miserable.  I ate dinner at 3:00 pm, hoping to have cleared everything by race time.  I didn't want to have to invoke Gandolf's fight against the Balrog, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" during the race.

But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I had it all planned out...what to take for fuel and when to eat it.  The only thing I wasn't sure about was if and when I'd have to stop for water.

But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I had also mapped out a cue sheet of when I expected to be where on the course, and what I expected to do next (effort-wise).

But, the best laid plans of mice and men...

I did exactly what I didn't want to do.  I started out too fast because I was too far behind the fast groups.  I had to skip between packs and as a result I was cramping well before mile 50 (of the 111.7 mile ride).  I spent a lot of time punching and massaging my left thigh to get it to loosen.

That early start forced me to be very weak at my strongest point...hills.  In fact, someone I'd been riding with said he looked forward to the hills so he could catch up with me.  We were tooling up the biggest hill, I'm just trying to avoid hitting the cramp stage again, so I'm not working very hard at all.  We're talking and sharing stores, in particular riding experiences.  I mentioned it was my first tour.  He asked how long I'd been riding and I shared that about 14 months ago I was around 300 pounds.  That almost cause a small accident as riders ahead jerked their heads back to see me.  At the time we are pace for 5:20!

I caught my second wind and the cramps went away for a while.  I cooked along with a group for about 45 minutes and we smoked at a steady 28-30 mph!  That was freaking sweet.  During that portion of the race a young lady asked to buy me a beer after the race.

I stopped to get water and use the bathroom before the last 28 miles, which are always the toughest of this course, and in particular today because of a strong wind directly in our faces.

After stopping for water, a few of us rode a half mile down the road only to be stopped at the train.  Not a bad thing as a large group formed, which allowed us to make better time into the wind and up the hill.  The group proved very fast, almost 30 mph uphill into the wind and I soon began to cramp again.

I dropped out of the group after 12 miles.  I still had 16 to go and found myself facing the wind and steady climb alone with cramping legs and that internal heat that says I've redlined too many times already.  I rode along pushing as much as I could.  I looked for my last cliff bar...couldn't find it (it fell out in the car!).  I recovered on the bike and went along as best I could before eventually catching another group.

When I finished I had a decent push, pulling ahead of my pack for a while...but then the cramps struck again and I just coasted in, not pedaling at all.

My unofficial time was 5:49:20.  My chip time will be quite a bit faster.  Either way, I wanted to break 6 hours and even if I hadn't, my effort was superior.  I've never worked that hard at anything.  I pushed and pushed and had nothing left...then I'd push some more.

I didn't ride alone today.  My brother-in-law, whose company sponsored me, joined me.  He's been riding just 3 months.  He did the 111 mile route and completed it in 6:40!  Wow.  Quite a special day.

The highlight of the day:  Seeing my wife at the finish line.

Yeah, that was tough.

Today I took a little lap around the Santa Rita Mountains. It turned out to be 119 miles and took me 7:15 of riding time.  I took pre-scheduled breaks and a few unplanned potty breaks.  It was an awesome experience, one that is unique in difficulty of all of the things I've done, and one I won't likely do again any time soon.

In the picture to the right you can see the mountains on the horizon, about 30 miles away or so.

The ride started at 7:40 this morning.  My hands froze for the first 6 miles.  I tucked them behind the handlebars and tried to protect as much exposed skin as possible by pulling my arms in tight against my sides.  I love running in cold weather, but riding a road bike is a bit different.

There was a slight breeze in my face as I made my way into the town of Patagonia.  I had really struggled, despite the beautiful route.  Many times I wished there was another GABA ride so I'd have people to chase.  But as it turned out, I managed just over 15 mph average.  I've not been that slow since ... March?

I hadn't planned on stopping in Patagonia but I needed to use the restroom and to think about why I was struggling.  My legs weren't tired and I was rested and had good fuel.  I was just kind of emotionally flat.  Not an appropriate state of mind for what lay ahead!

Patagonia is a neat place.  Everybody lives there by choice and it's community reflects such.  Above is a picture at the public restroom in the town park and it's obviously nicely decorated. When I walked into the restroom, I became aware that a previous rider had been having a crappier ride than I was.  Warning, it's kind of a gross picture, you've been warned.

I realized that my cadence had been too low, so I focused on keeping it over 90 and had much better performance for the rest of the day.  As I left Patagonia, about 4000 feet in elevation, to head the 12 miles up to Sonoita, about 5500 feet elevation, I was very disappointed to find that the top layer of the highway's asphalt had been removed.  ADOT was apparently going to resurface.  Ugh.  This was sure to be the hardest part of the ride anyway, as the wind is ALWAYS in my face on this ride, and the climbing is steady and relentless.

When I pulled into Sonoita, which was my first scheduled stop and 40 miles from home, my feet, seat and hands were all numb.  I grabbed a few goodies and replenished my fluids.  How is that for a healthy mid-morning snack?  Chocolate milk, snickers and nutter butters?  The joys of riding.

I hit the road going north with a bit of anticipation.  I'd never ridden this route before.  It had the single largest climb according to the research I'd done.  I just knew that the scenery would be unparalleled.  The high desert grasslands are incredible.

This road, AZ highway 83, was in excellent condition, though it had a small, ever narrowing shoulder.  The surface was smooth and flat, a welcome change for my rear end.  With the new surface my speed picked up and I rolled along at an easy 18 to 19 mph until I hit the hills again.

In the picture above and right you can see that I'm now on the other side of the Santa Rita Mountains.  I really enjoyed this part of the ride, though I had to pee again only twenty minutes after leaving Sonoita again.  I've been trying to become more efficient with fluids by hydrating more fully before a long ride.  Today was the first time in a while I had trouble.

It was all fun and games until I hit the hills.  I'm not sure if this picture will really capture the climb.  It's not that it was so steep, I've ridden steeper, but this was steep and long, about a mile and a half without break.

I love climbs like this though, really.  When I'm at the top it's an accomplishment to be sure.

Now of course what goes up, must come down.  And down I came.  For the next thirty miles I was cruising downhill.  Unfortunately the shoulder completely disappeared and the road became in disrepair shortly after leaving Santa Cruz County and entering Pima County.  But, what a rush.  That first downhill made the entire ride worth the effort.

How sweet of a sign is that for a cyclist?

I dropped in elevation from just under 6000 feet to just over 2000 feet pretty quickly.  The road wound down through a narrow canyon, the road carved out of solid rock on each side.  Eventually I shot out onto a gently downhill sloping flat covered in cactus.  It looked like something in a scene from The Hills Have Eyes.
I pulled in for my second planned stop at bought some sunscreen and some more fluids.  I was waiting in line to pay when some young teenaged girls asked me if I'd ridden there.  They shared that they too had ridden, and almost died.  It was TWO HORRIBLE MILES!  I didn't share how far I'd gone.  I was at 68 miles.

At this point I was beginning to create small goals.  Get here and maintain your average pace all of the way and then we'll evaluate how things are and make another goal.  I continued down the hill into the Santa Cruz Valley and the temperature continued to rise.  I couldn't wait to be done.  This road was getting worse, the traffic heavier and the sun was ROASTING!

I finally reached my turn and headed south through some pecan groves.  The groves are interesting as they add some humidity to the local area, which has a cooling effect.  The road again was smooth and the shoulder was sufficient.  There was a slight breeze at my back and I hoped it would remain there for the final 45 miles of my ride.

I stopped in Green Valley and bought pretzels.  They sounded, and were, fantastic.  I was also thirsty for just water.  No more Gatorade or Powerade.  Weird how that happens. 

Now I was really at the point of just picking places to stop.  I had one more scheduled stop in Tubac.  I made it there going well.  I was tired but strong.  I bought a peanut butter cookie and a banana.  I hit the road just wanting to make it to the north side of Rio Rico, then I'd evaluate what I had left and create a game plan.  

The last five mile stretch before I hit the residential area is on the interstate.  The frontage road is flat dangerous, busy, fast and has no shoulder, often the white line is painted over broken asphalt.  Over the last two miles on the freeway I decide to open it up with whatever I had left.  I had been maintaining between 16.5 and 17.5.  At first I'd have been happy maintaining that as the road began to incline.  But, I pushed and brought the speed up to 20, 21 and sprinted to finished at 22.5.  That was a hugely taxing effort that will have a huge dividend to be collected on 11/19 (El Tour de Tucson).  

When I got home I was as tired as I can ever remember being from a bike ride.  My wife said a friend of her's husband rode a lot in California, touring the Sierra Madres.  The story went, he was used to elevation and chose my route today as his first Arizona ride.  It turned out to be his last serious ride in Arizona.  Too much climbing and too much heat, he said.

Next weekend I'm riding El Tour's route with my brother-in-law.  That's going to be no walk in the park at 111 miles, but by comparison, shouldn't be nearly as bad.

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!