Stages 3 and 4

So the first mock training in preparacion for AMC is over.
4 days, 17.5 riding hours, 185 miles and over 10000 calories burned.

Stage 3 was Saturday up in Flagstaff. I drove up with Art and Wendy then we met Dan and Darrin on the way. After a quick stop in Mayer to get gas, we made it to Flagstaff where we met up with Tom Ament on his singlespeed Jabberwocky.
Tom had already been riding by the time we got there and he was sporting an ear to ear smile. Soon we too were sporting the same grin, except for when we had to climb up Little Bear, a 3.5 mile climb to Mt Elden. We ran into the Schampa guys at the top on their Saturday ride.
The rest of the ride couldn't have been better. We connected to Secret Trail which brought us to Lower Moto which was part of the final MBAA race. We got back to the cars to refill while loosing Tom on the way. I guess he found some fun trails to ride back but eventually met up with us.
Tom and Darrin called it after the 3 hour mark, then Art, Dan and I went for a little more. Art and I rode Rocky Ridge then decided to head back as the skies started to look treatening. Dan in the other hand kept going. His plan was to ride 6 hours in preparation for Breck 100.
Wendy did a 2 hour trailrun from Buffalo Park and was waiting for us to get back so we could all get some deserved food. Pita Pit was the place. After the quick bite it was time to head down the mountain to the hot temps in the valley.
On the way down, I heard from Norma who was dealing with car trouble, so after getting to Art's house I had to go play mechanic in 106 degrees. Thankfully it just needed a jump.

Stage 4 got changed at last minute. Art had to do his time with the Mountain Bike Patrol at South Mountain and I didn't know if anyone else would join me for the Quad Bypass. In addition to that Norma took my car to a family gathering, so I decided to do a ride closer to home, so I could ride from my garage door. The plan was to ride to South Mtn and back with as little pavement as possible. The how was left out to improvisation. I found a gravel road (probably White-Parker) that took me to Casa Blanca then I connected with a canal trail thru the indian reservation. I crossed Hwy 347 and kept going thru the reservation until I made it to Riggs Rd. I rode about 1/2 mile on the road then found another gravel road the headed north and cut thru some farm lands until I made it to Pecos. I ran into fellow Proconers Patrick Rhodes and Ben Erlandson on Pecos.
I rode to end of Desert Classic then hike-a-bike up Telegraph. After taking a little break to let a snake cross the trail, I continued to the top. While I waited to get my breath back after a tough hike I saw Melissa Buhl go by on her road bike, fresh off of winning the ONLY US medal a the World Championships in Italy. Congrats!
The hike continued to the top of the western side of National which I followed all the way down to Bajada. These two trails were really loose due to recent rain, I had to dismount on a couple of dowhills. After Bajada I was running low on water and fuel, so I headed down to the Circle K on Central to refuel. After getting water, a liter of Coca-Cola, a Clif bar and a bag of peanuts with salt and lime, I headed up the road to Telegraph pass to start the ride back. Half way up the paved climb I saw another Proconer, this time it was Judah. He turned around and rode with me to Telegraph pass.
It was a little toasty on the way home, so I filled the now empty Coke bottle with water and poured some over my head every so often. The ride back thru the reservation felt a lot harder. Soft ground and sandy trails are tough on tired legs but I made it home after being out for a little over 6 hours to take a nice shower, get some food then watch Le Tour.
Sorry for the lack of pictures. I needed the pocket room for food and supplies so I didn't bring the camera.
Now I am ready for a day off tomorrow followed by another week of high volume but mostly on the road before heading to Minnesota for work.

Time to go to bed, I am beat after four days of endurance riding.
Pura Vida!
Jeff

Stage 2 - Mt Lemmon

No not the road ride, today we rode the backside of Mt Lemmon starting from Oracle.

5 hours and 15 minutes, 57 miles and over 5500 feet of climbing. Art, Bob and Jonathan joined me on today's "parade."

And the climbing begins. The goal is up ahead. The cows just stared at us

We made it to Summerheaven where Art went to eat a giant cookie while the rest of us climbed to the very top. Jonathan and I pushed the pace a little at the top until I couldn't keep up.

Here's Art on one of the switchbacks near the top

On the way down we refilled our bottles and headed back down. The last few rollers were felt more difficult than they were. I guess it had to do with the heat around the low 90s.

Tomorrow is stage 3 up in Flagstaff.

Pura Vida!

Mock Stage Race

So in preparation for AMC in August, I planned a 4 stage training simulating the race for this weekend.

Today's stage was supposed to be a 16 mile TT on Desert Classic. Bob joined me for the 5:30 AM start (even though I showed up at 5:40...sorry Bob) from the west end of Desert Classic. The plan was to ride to Pima Canyon and back. Unfortunately my Larsen TT 1.9 (the road tire according to Trever) got a leak and I discover that Stans dried up a lot quicker this time while sitting in a hot garage for the last few weeks. Anyway, we stopped and put a tube in while Bob did the Corona de Loma loop. We got going again but I pinch flatted shortly before the Pima Canyon entrance. Bob had patches, which I really hate using them because they never work for me. After one failed attempt, Bob decided to ride back to the car. I gave it another try with more patience. I cleaned the tube a little better and put it back in. It held up to 15 psi, so I rode to the nearest street and found my way back to the car.  I had to stop and pump some air but I made it to the parking lot just at the same time Bob was pulling out to go looking for me.

Anyway, I got 2 hours of riding including stops, half of it on pavement.

Tomorrow is going to be a suffer fest up the back side on Mt Lemmon in Tucson for Stage 2. I need to put a new tire in the back.

Saturday we'll be heading up to Flagstaff for some riding around Mt Elden.

The last stage will be on Sunday with a 4+ hour ride around the McDowell Mtn Preserve area.

Pura Vida!

4, 3, 2, 1

Those were the results from this weekend racing the Summit Center Stage Race in Flagstaff.

Norma and I left Phoenix and its 100+ degree temps on Friday to go up to Flagstaff and its 7000+ feet of elevation and crisp air.

So this is how it went...

4th

My placing on stage one. Snow bowl hill climb. I rode with the leader group then at 3k to go tried to chase the winner just to blow up and get passed by two other riders.

3rd

Finish on the Lake Mary road race on Sunday. The race was pretty uneventful for the first few miles, then a group of eight of us went on a break but couldn't get organized, so we got caught by the group.  Jonathan and two other guys gave it a try about 4 miles before the turn-around point but he and one of the guys gave up on one of the climbs. The other rider which was wearing a Discovery Team jersey stayed just off the front. No one was interested on chasing him so he slowly build a pretty good gap. A few miles after the turn around an NAU rider went off the front and I followed him. Surprisingly no one else came with me, so we worked together until the spring on my right Quattro pedal broke. I considered waiting for the group but seeing how big of a lead we had, I continued just pushing down with my right leg and making the left leg do the full circles. Eventually I lost the NAU on one of the hills, so I put my head down and did my own Time Trail. The leader of the race and a couple of other guys finally decided to chase me and two of them caught me at the 3k to go sign. I stayed with them as we started the final climb. We never caught the Discovery guy but the leader and I dropped the other guy on one of the switchbacks. I couldn't get off the saddle, so I pushed the pace as hard as I could seated to try and drop him but at 200 meters he went by me.

Jonathan clawed his way back to 5th.

2nd

After counting the points I finished 2nd overall, not without a little help from....

1st

Place I took on the intermediate sprint. The sprint line was a the top of a climb just 8 miles after the start and I timed it pretty good and started the sprint just past the 200 meter sign. I went around two NAU and one ASU guy to take all three points.

 

There were no prizes or medals for Cat 5, except for the overall leader, however they did let us stand on the podium...with empty hands. 

 

I'll add some pictures later.

 

Now that I can say that I have done a road race, it's time to go back to the knobbie tires and train for certain race in August....no, not the Olympics; AMC that is.

Pura Vida!

Tortilla Flats Tuesday

Yesterday I decided to give this race a try. It's a 40 mile out and back race starting at the Mining Camp Restaurant in Apache Junction and heading up to Tortilla Flats. The 5:30 PM start meant we were in for a hot ride. Yesterday the temperature was 112 at the time we started. About 25 crazy guys showed up. The first few miles were uneventful as the group stayed together. The first attack was right before the first downhill and only one guy responded, I stayed in the group and conserved energy.

Then the climbing began. Slowly the group was spread out to a single file and eventually fragmented right behind me but we got back together on the next downhill. On the second climb I saw this guy in my race (B -race) go off the front, so I went after but he gave up as soon as I caught up to me however I had used a little too much energy and a bunch of people went by me. I slowly recover and starting climbing at my own pace. By now there were small groups of 2-3 riders all over the road. On the third climb Jeff Kluve, one of my team mates, offered me a pull to get up to the leaders of the B race. I wasn't quite ready to go with him but I did. He pulled me around 6 or 7 riders but I couldn't keep the pace. The effort had put me in the red zone and with the high temperatures my heart rate was pegged at 195. Eventually I got on the wheel of the race leader and follow him almost to the turn around point. Near the top I lost contact so I decided to recover for the trip back. My other team mate, Keith who was in my race caught up to me and offered to pull me down the hill. I hesitated but decided to get on his wheel. We were flying doing the hill at near 40 MPH. By the time we got to the bottom we had caught the lone leader, Mark from Focus Cyclery. I felt recovered and did a couple of pulls. The three of us worked together. Near the end I started doing my pulls as well as Keith's so he could be fresh for a potential sprint.  We made the left turn onto the finish while I was still pulling, with Mark and Keith in tow. The finish is on a gradual climb, so I pushed the pace waiting for any of them to go. Keith went by at about 200 yards but the Focus guy was right on his wheel so I jumped on their draft. I hung there for a couple of seconds and since Keith couldn't get a gap and the Focus guy couldn't go around him, I decided to give at go. I sat down and looked back to find that none of them had responded so I drilled it again and coasted in for the win. Keith was able to get a gap and came in second for Procon 1 and 2.

 

One of things I learned at this race is not to freeze my bottles all the way. I started the race with three frozen bottles, one with Cytomax and by the time I finished only the Cytomax had melted complete. The other two had a big piece of ice in the middle, so even though I was thirsty I couldn't drink. Not a good thing on a hot day like that.

After the race I started to get early symptoms of heat exhaustion: goose bumps, chills, nausea and sleepiness. Thanks to Jonathan Cavner for a gel, so I could get my glucose level up. After the race, I treated myself to Chipotle for dinner.

 

I had ridden my bike to work that morning, so I picked up Norma from work on the way home and gave her a recap of the race. I think I fell sleep almost as soon as I hit the pillow. That's what two-a-day's workouts do to you.

 

It was good practice before the road stage race this weekend in Flagstaff.