Artic Vortex. Winter Weather Advisory. Federal Government 2 Hour Delay. Snow. Sleet. Computrainer. Sufferfest. PerfPro. These words describe the last few months in the life of cyclists on the East Coast.
Sunny. 70s. Arid. High Desert. These words describe the last few days in the life of this cyclist. Sunday began a week long training camp for the US Military Endurance Sports training camp in Tucson, for which I provide bike fitting during the hours when we are not riding. Over the next 6 days, we will climb Mt. Lemmon, Gates Pass, Madiera Canyon, and Kitts Peak. Lots of miles which provides a challenge for most of us due to the horrible winter weather, making trainer miles something about which we are all too familar.
Most of my "race report" blog posts attempt to incorporate my witty sense of sarcasm with a description of mistakes made and lessons learned during some road race or criterium (or the TT where I finished off the podium by 1/10 of a second). As I pen this piece (well, keyboard it), I would rather convey how humbled I am by the men and women in this pelaton, so to speak. Thank you for the oppurtunity to ride with you this week. Now off to the ride report...
Each day has four ride options: hammerfest (A) , sporty (B) , no-drop (C) and adaptive athlete. Today I selected the B ride - along with about 20 others. 70 ish miles with relatively little climbing, temps in the 70s, some wind and variable road quality. As the only female in the group, I felt pressure to represent my gender well. I prefer roads that have a gradient and today's ride, with flat roads, would present a challenge. A local bike shop, TriSport, provided support so we could refill water bottles, get food and wheels if anyone flatted.
We rolled out on time, riding in a double paceline through the city until we passed San Xavier mission. I rode at the front with the Camp Director, Jim Weinstein, since riding over roads with patches of sand and gravel with a group of mostly unknown XYs induces some anxiety. In a race, the safest place is at the front and I applied this principle to this ride. Once we left the Mission, the roads became less traveled and the pace picked up, which popped a couple of people, who migrated to the C ride.
The ride took us through Duval Mines and then toward Colossal Cave. Terrain was flat with minor wind (for Tucson) and a couple of little bumps. In the rotating double pace line, I hoped for an uphill when it was my turn to pull through. I learned a couple of things riding with a bunch of unknown males: (1) give me a hill (2) a guy code exists which states that, if a girl pulls longer than you do, you loose your guy card. When on the front, I found the occasional guy riding alongside who would continuously half-wheel me, increasing my pace, more half-wheeling, increasing pace...etc. and (3) these guys are much larger than my race pelaton and I cannot see the things in front of me. Luckily, all these gents were reasonably good at point out obstacles.
On the steepest hill, Jim, Chuck and Ian attacked. All are sprinters. I am a hill climber. Long hills but....I so wanted to chick them. I was just off this KOM podium, keeping their pace (thank you for that gradient), but unable to do anything else. After a downhill with some major sand which created a gap as I slowed to make sure that I could cross safely, I was popped as those boys hammered. As I thought, I have to chase and close the gap, I remembered....no race, Day 1 and 40 miles still to go.
The other sporty part of the ride, as Jim became a bit barn happy, was on the run-in to the hotel. Down one of the cruddiest roads I have ridden, at 24 mph, bouncing around and praying for the absence of flat inducing potholes, someone threw down the hammer. About two blocks from the hotel, Chuck blasted by us all, with Ian responding. I started to follow and then thought, "ummm....hello....what are you doing?" We rolled into the parking lot, only a couple of mechanicals and crash free.
