Birthday Ride Update

Finished out the week inducting myself into the "road rash" club. Planned to go riding up Mount Lemmon as far as I could go. Instead, I ended up leaving some skin and blood on the road right at the beggining of the ride, laying waste to any plans of riding. Figures...

"Happy Birthday to me...."

Oh well, as I was remindered, "Now is a good time to get that wheel rebuilt".... Thanks John!

Hopefully, it will only keep me off my ride for a week or so...

2006 Birthday Rides

Completed a couple of good rides for my birthday week. Last Saturday took a hard, but rewarding 24 mile ride. Rode out with a few riding buddies from Performance Bikes (east side) heading east on Broadway out to Freeman Road (hell of a climb...) to Old Spanish Trail to the Saguaro East Nation Park. After a rest stop at the pavilion, we headed out to do the "East Loop". After a grueling 'backside', I finally caught up to my fellows, who are MUCH better riders than I am back at the pavilion. Much to my surprise, I was able to hang at a sustained 27 mph push back in OST and posted a best average of 14.4 mph.

Today, I joined a co-worker on a good, but windy 20 mile ride down in Sierra Vista, only to be beat around by a wicked head and cross winds. On the way back after the turn-around, I continued my luck with my crappy wheels. Broken ANOTHER spoke on the rear, and rode the last 7 miles back to the car on another 'wobbly'. But my luck held until a few blocks from the car, when the rear tire finally started going flat. All in All, it was good riding, even with the hills and mechanicals.

Mount Lemmon Ascent

This is a scenic and very challenging (at least for me) road ride out of Tucson. Definitely the local "challenge" spot... If you choose to go all the way to the summit of 9,157ft Mount Lemmon it is a total of 26 miles, with almost 5,000ft of elevation change. The average grade of the ascent is about 5 degrees, with a few 10-12 degree spots.

Views on the climb out are spectacular and well worth the effort!

I will have a link to a map very soon...

Directions: Take Catalina Highway from Tanque Verde Road, on Tucson’s east side, and travel north 4 ½ miles to parking area at National Forest boundary (Milepost 0), 1 mile north of intersection of Snyder Road and Catalina Highway. Catalina Highway eventually becomes Mount Lemmon Highway. Mileage is 26 miles to the top!

Fantasy Island - Mountain Bike Trails

NOTE: You need a State Trust Land Permit to ride this trail.

NOTICE : Fantasy Island is under serious threat to development,
please see www.savefantasyisland.org
to see what you can do to help save this valuable community and
economic asset.

Fantasy Island is a mountain bike playground in Tucson, AZ. It
features over 16 miles of twisty desert singletrack that was built by
mountain bikers for mountain bikers. This map covers all of the many
loops available and has some of the cool features labeled (half-pipe,
over & under, etc).

View Fanatasy Island Map in Jpeg format.

Time for "Winter Training"

It is time for me to start getting ready for the two up-coming rides that I want to enter.

1. The El Tour de Phoenix - April 1, 2006

2. Tour of the Tucson Mountains - April 30, 2006

I am shooting for main event for both events of 70 miles. 3 rides during the week, a mid distance ride Sat. and a long ride Sun - for 12 weeks ... At least I have a goal.. I will keep updating as things go along.

The main runs for training are the "East Loop" found in a earlier post and a sweet run I was turned on to this weekend. Nothing fancy, rolling hills, a few good climbs, and quite a bit of open flats to really roll. The "Camino Loma Alta Loop" takes you on moderate ride futher out the Old Spanish Trail run east of Tucson. 20 miles total - Start at Harisson & Old Sanish Trail - Head East out OST to Camino Loma Alta Road - turn around and head back - Best rest/water spot: The Pavillion at Saguaro East