last week was spent under sunny skies in Tucson, Arizona, familiarizing
my body with real training again. Not
exactly "fat camp," but my firstlegitimate bike riding for quite a while. It was exactly what I needed
to jumpstart my season after committing to race Abu Dhabi in March. With
the 120 mile bike segment, I am going to need the big early season
miles...
is the third year that I have decided to spend a good portion of winter
training in Tucson, and each time I make the drive down a smile forms
as I crest the final climb out of Mammoth and head down through Oracle
and see the valley city open before me. The promise of outdoor swimming
pools, sunny weather, good company with my homestay and friend Brian,
and countless miles of open road in beautiful desert scenery lifts my
spirit and prepares me for long weeks of hard workouts. I stopped on the
way down to run a few miles at the Salt River canyon, and then joined
Brian for an interesting evening out on the town. We had a great sushi
dinner at new place downtown, and then met up with friends at one of the
strangest bars. Ever. If you get a chance, have "God" give you the tour
at Meet Rack... Enough said.


one was a nice mountain bike ride in Starr Pass with the Honeybee.
Saguaro, barrel cacti, ocotillo, saguaro, palo verde, prickly pear, and
host of other hearty desert flora dot the landscape. If Brian wasn't
trying to turn the screws and prove that he's better at something than
me, I might have had a chance to look around a little... Oh well, maybe
in January.

next few days were a nice blend of solid training, drinking
beer/watching football and basketball, doing a stretch session at Yoga
Oasis and catching dinner at Wilko, watching Woody Guthrie's American
Song at the beautiful Temple of Music and Art venue, and waking early
for some swimming at U of A's Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.


had some wonderful rides, including an interesting day on the Shootout
loop (Mission road) where I saw three illegal immigrants running by the
road (I know because I stopped and asked). Managed a couple great rides
with Chris McDonald and his training posse (Hillary Biscay, Maik
Twelsiek, Sam McGlone, Marilyn McDonald), and several solo rides with
just the wind and my thoughts as companions.

names Kitt Peak, Sonoita, Madera, Mt. Lemmon, will become regular
vocabulary, utterances in dreams, weekly journeys. I head back to Tucson
in January to continue the build towards a successful 2011 season. In
the meantime, I will enjoy the holidays and build some reserves for the
next round of flogging.


