March 16th first day in Tucson

Well since I last updated, a lot has happened. Sunday I did a couple hours easy after I realized my legs were toast. Monday was a 4.5 hour climbing ride that included Leehill, Super Jamestown, backside of leehill, and then a double climb of super flagstaff to finish things off. Legs were shredded but it felt good.

Tuesday morning I taught my usual indoor cycling class, and then worked with my last three clients before hitting the road for Tucson. We had clear sailing, minus a whole bunch of construction that appeared to be mostly a bunch of random cone in the road to slow traffic. Of the probably, 15 to 20 different construction zones, I think we saw one that actually had "men at work". We also witnessed a semi-truck that had run into a bridge, it was on fire and there were probably about 30 emergency vehicles there just watching it burn.

This morning was coffee, and a tortilla with peanut butter before hitting the road. Now I know probably the best thing to do right now would be to rest, but I just can't waste any days in the sun. I told myself that I would do my best to keep my riding under 300 watts and focus on endurance and just have fun. Well it was amazing! At 9 am it was already closet to 80 degrees and I was smiling from ear to ear. I did a very controlled, scenic ride up Mt Lemmon. My good deed for the day was giving a random guy one of my precious CO2 cartridges so he could get home. Legs felt great, and the only thing holding me back was my hydration. I don't remember the last time I ran out of water! Its funny how riding in Colorado all winter you take for granted the fact that you can ride for 80 miles on 2 water bottles. Even in the CompuTrainer room, I am a quick jaunt away from the water fountain.

I went through about 6 bottles of water and one red bull, and still pulled into the hotel pretty dehydrated. Put in about 800 liquid calories of recovery and now here I sit with my legs up and the AC cranking.

Tomorrow will be very easy. I most likely drive out and preride one lap of each course. From there it is rest, recovery and dialing in the TT bike. Caley Fretz was kind enough to lend me a set of Easton aero wheels to help me in the time trial. Beyond that, its time for the legs to do the talking. My start time on friday will be 4:37:30 pm. This means a nice easy 90-120 minute ride in the morning, food, nap, and then a long warmup prior to my start. Its only 3.2 miles and I'm looking to make my mark from day 1.

Here is the website for the race http://www.tucsonbicycleclassic.com/index.html

Pics from todays ride.

More to come soon.