We all search for it in one way or another and today I experienced it in full force. A good ride will always bring about a smile, but the days where everything comes together and makes perfect sense are few and far between. Their seldom occurance makes them all that much better too. The views, the terrain, the weather, the bike, the vastness, and the endless miles of singletrack were all mine on. I awoke just before sunrise and was on the bike by 7 am. Five hours later I had ridden each and every one of the trails available south of I -70 at exit 15. Incredible sums it up nicely; more than simply a bike ride for sure. The camera phone pics below don’t quite do justice, but it was my best option as the camera batteries died after only getting the above shot.

The Colorado River, several thousands of feet below.

Steve’s loop skirts around this impressive canyon.

I’ll be back for more of this.

Keeping it Real in CO, -TJ

Sunday I rode with a good friend and someone who helped get me hooked on the sport of cycling. Dave Gabrys was the super-fast high school role model for the middle school total-newbie that I was. He taught me that it was fun to hang the number plate on the bars. This is a shot of him and my dad enjoying some post-race watermelon at the Sayner Ridge Rider back in ’98. Dave and I later worked together at Riverbrook and have been friends since. It’s been sometime since we last met up for a ride or even have hung out much so it was great to have him visit Tucson. A ride up to Windy Point on Lemmon was a must as were the burritos to follow. It was great to catch up and talk about how cycling has remained a staple of each of our daily lives. His work has taken him to the team dinner tables of ProTour teams in France, so obviously he equally enjoys his opportunities within cycling.

Two flats during yesterday’s ride due to glass and another horribly-timed flat on Saturday’s Shootout has spelled the end my rear Hutchinson Top Speed OEM tire. The thing was rolling great for nearly a month, but now it punctures far too easily and I’m quickly running out of tubes. Saturday was my fastest ever non-CO2 flat tire repair. Paul’s SRM clocked it under 4 minutes and the final 30+ seconds of that was for a quick pee break before we chased like mad men, never to actually catch anybody else to ride with. I was grateful to have Paul wait up and I honestly thought the two of us would catch back on, but we weren’t so lucky. At least we both got some quality miles even if it didn’t have all those big spikes and dips in intensity. There is always next week…

As I knew she was prepared to do, Chloe went ahead and won the Pan American Continental MTB Championship in the U23 women’s field. Doing so by four and a half minutes is a dominant performance and a huge display of her hard work and discipline. The best part is that her intense preparations are “fun” and she just ”likestobike”. A modest champion who absolutely loves what she does – amazing every time.

The week is about to really kick off here in Arizona. We essentially lost an hour to the entire country since we don’t change the clocks, so there is no time to slack now that it’s Monday morning. Enjoy the Day! -TJ

Today was the all-time windiest day on the bike. Not only for me, but also for Jenna, Justin, and Paul. Sustained winds were in the 30-40 mph range with gusts up to 60 mph. We had a four person rotation going at about 8 mph all the way out to the Catalina Hwy. And this was at a tempo effort. Some how we still thought that we’d be able to ride up the mountain even though the first 5 miles would still be straight into the winds. With a sense of adventure and some good camaraderie, we persevered and made the best of the day’s conditions. In the end we each completed our respective workouts with success. I had intentions to do some more climbing post- LT intervals, but beyond mile 10 I could hardly stay on the bike and honestly I didn’t think I’d make it through the next canyon. After having some great LT work, the ascent was called short and I headed back down the mountain. The gusts were still extreme and made for a quick trip down the mountain, through town and all the way to the apartment. Finishing the day out at an easy 30 mph+ is never a bad way to finish a tough ride. Each of us would have likely bagged the ride had we of left solo so it’s cool that we fought the wind out.
It’s been five days since my first LT workout and the power is up 10+ watts as that maximal sustainable effort is found. The tough part is that I’ve got to do today’s effort all over again tomorrow. Such a challenge is a real motivation and makes for great training in the end.

Chloe’s mother, Kris, is in town visiting for the weekend and was ambitious enough to make enchiladas for the five of us for dinner tonight. Needless to say it was by far the best meal ever prepared in this kitchen. Thanks!

With only a month until the Norba opener I’m getting anxious to race at the high levels once again. The people, the events, and of course the competition all have a that irresistable appeal. Tristan has got himself a spot-on approach to the racing this year. I like it! More to come mid-week, -TJ

Lactate Threshold workouts are my personal favorite. Find where it hurts and set the cruise control right there. Doing such workouts up a mountain is even better. This is the current training regime and I’ve been headed up Lemmon the past couple of days. Today was my first ride on the Arizona Cyclist Cannondale CAAD 9 custom build. A deal I couldn’t pass up means a lot of sweet road equipment is soon to hit eBay. Most of today’s ride I forgot I was on a different bike – something that is a good thing. With nearly identical geometry, it was a snap to get the fit 100% right on. The only noticeable ride difference was that this one seemed more stable on the fast mountain descent. It was straight as an arrow at 45+ mph… A hard climb followed by a fast descent is the perfect way to test out a new machine and this one is all systems go.

The ride itself was also a success as I’m starting the LT training at about 5% more power than where I started similar workouts last season. We’ll see if I come out of the month still 5% ahead, but I can only improve from here. Progress comes slowly year to year and it doesn’t seem as if I’m going any faster out there, but it’s good to know that improvements have been made.

Recent rider sightings out on the roads have included Todd Wells, Sue Haywood, Chloe Forsman, Iban Mayo (just his look alike perhaps), and about 30 or so 50-something year olds descending the mountain in matching neon green wind jackets. Everybody in Tucson loves the ride. Enjoy yours, -TJ

Sunday was a big day on the bike for me. An early morning interval workout on the road bike was followed up with an MTB ride that somehow turned epic unexpectedly. Chloe and I were setting off for a 40 mile ride that encompassed two loops off of Reddington Rd that would end with us near our starting point of Agua Caliente Park. I figured that it would be 4.5 hours or so, figuring some time for a couple brief stops and perhaps a mechanical adjustment of some sort. All standard procedure when you leave for such a ride.

I got the first flat of the day, about 20 miles into the ride. I had put a small cut in my rear tire, but the Stan’s sealant seemed to do the trick and I only had to add air. I had to stop a couple times to top it off, but no biggie at it would hold for 20 or 30 minutes at a time. Flat number two also had my name on it. This time I gashed the front tire while turning over an outcropping of sharp rocks. This one went flat quickly and required a tube install, only after I pulled out the 20 odd cactus thorns that were in the tire. The tube was aired up and we were on our way, but not really since my rear slow leak was now also 100% flat. Pumped it up and we were rolling down the Bellota Trail.

With some sweet downhill delight going on, the clouds darkened the skies and rain began to fall. Chloe says, “At least it isn’t hailing!” I say, “You should ask for that.” No more than two seconds later our backs were being pounded with pea sized hail. I could only laugh at the perfect sequence of events. It only lasted for a couple minutes, enough so that we were completely water soaked.

Now we are finally descending La Milagrosa Trail and I’ve got two slow leakers since I’ve picked up multiple cactus thorns in my front inner-tubed wheel by now. More stopping and more pumping. Chloe managed to pick up her first-ever sidewall slash, bringing our cut up tire count to three for the day. It was a good cut and required a tube, which we had. More pumping and we’re rolling again, over many more pointy rocks and cactus debris. With my tire pressure dropping too low without me realizing I managed to bounce off the trail and land my right side into a prickly pear. Of course my front wheel hit if first and received about 20 thorns, all hitting the tube I’m sure. I wasn’t hurt anymore than the 20 or so thorns that also went into my forearm and hand. By now, my riding was pretty much over. I didn’t want to pump up my tires any more and I didn’t want to crash again due to the 15 psi. Chloe’s tube had been punctured enough too that she wasn’t able to ride more than five minutes without needing more air so we started walking it out at hour 4.5.

Over an hour later we had reached the bottom and made it out to the roads. I pumped up my slow leaking tubeless rear and swiped Chloe’s front wheel so that I could go get the car from the park. The sun set on my way and I found that the car had been locked in behind the gate. ‘Park closes at Sunset’ it says on the sign out front. I called a series of phone numbers mentioned on the sign, but the lock companies all claimed to have dropped this particular account months ago. Paul came to the rescue and got us out after our mis-adventures. We had had our fun, but were happy to finally get out of the brush.

All of this happened of course, after nearly spending the night out there just earlier this week. That one was with Paul and ranked much higher on the ‘you’re lucky you made it out scale’. To hear more about this one, you’ll have to read his post – pictures included.

So not much luck with the mountain bike rides lately. Let’s hope the road riding continues to treat me well through this weekend. I’ll be racing the Valley of the Sun in Phoenix. Stop by for the first race reports of 2007. Now I’ve got something to blog about,

TJ

That’s been the story as of late. I’ve been training with some seriousness once again and I love to feel that internal propulsion driving me forward on the bike. I’ve been riding 20-23 hours a week this month and the only rides at a mellow pace have been the short recovery rides; everything else contains some efforts of sorts. Some serious rest and recovery will be the goal of the coming week. A calm before the next storm perhaps…

Off the bike, Momentum Endurance has been doing well, thus I’ve been able to help out some others with the starts of their own seasons. It’s awesome to share in everyone’s enthusiasm for the coming season. Knowing how disciplined my clients are only helps me out there on some of the tougher rides. Let me know if you might be interested in pulling together the loose ends this season and perhaps I can help you out with some coaching or a training plan.

And if training and coaching weren’t enough I’ve picked up some extra hours at Arizona Cyclist as this seems to be a busy time of the year for cycling here in Tucson. It’s been fun to spend some time in a shop once again and only good things can come from the connections I make there. The picture of sponsors and supporters is vaguely coming together for ’07, but there is little news to report and I’ll once again be riding self supported this year. I’d love to have more to report on this front, but that isn’t the case. None the less I’m as motivated as ever to get to the races and go for it once again. Some changes are in the works for this website too. A version 2.0 is in the works…

Thanks for checking in and I hope your new year has gotten off to an excellent start. For those of you training, remember that you have to do more than your body’s currently adapted to in order to further improve. It sounds simple enough, but many of us fail to push the envelope and really go for it.

Keeping it Real, -TJ