10 to Go

10 days remaining in Tucson.  Snow back home, 85 degrees tomorrow in the desert.  Before heading home we will swing by Athens for another Gravel Rouser Classic.  Athens is always a good transition to prepare for the bad weather that Sheboygan is sure to have for the next 2 months!  I always question my reasoning for vacationing in Tucson and then going home to start the training for the year....seems kind of backwards.  So I'm actually kicking around the idea of heading back out to Tucson for the month of April for my first block of training....that might make me a little too soft???

This week I did cheat a little and partake in two pretty serious training rides.  Not that I really wanted to go training but the Kenda 5 Hour Energy Pro Cycling Team pb / Gear Grinder training camp is going on about 50 meters from my front door and I couldn't pass up on the opportunity for a new learning experience.

So last Wednesday I suited up and joined the team for a big day out to Madera Canyon.  120 miles w/ a 15 minute TTT up Helmet Peak Road 2 hours into the ride and then a pretty tough 45 minute climb half way through the 6 hour day up Madera.  I felt OK sitting on the back of the TTT and AVG'd 372(whoever was pulling up at the front was frickin' strong!), but 45 minutes later on the climb I was hurting a lot and got popped before it started to get steep.  My HR was jacked from the first real effort of the season and never wanted to go back down after hitting 190 on the run in to the climb.

I was pretty thrashed after 120 so I took it pretty easy on Thursday and then joined the guys again Friday for the big day up Mt. Lemmon.  Whats kind of cool about road riding w/ the guys is that before hitting Mt. Lemmon they go out for a 2 hour loop.  Normally my training rides are two hours!  So I just sat on the back of the train and enjoyed the scenery.  We rolled to the bottom of Mt. Lemmon with 45 miles on the legs(nice and warmed up) and divided into three groups for the climb.

Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 all decided by team director Frankie Andreau.  I jumped in the back of Group 2.  G1 got a 5 minute head start - then our group - then G3 another 5 minutes later.  We were racing to the 14 mile mark on Mt. Lemmon.  We were off and I knew it was going to hurt.  I was in the group w/ Paul Mach, Jim Stemper, Jon Murphy, Roman Kilun, and last years Elite road race National Champ Max Korus.  I was hoping I gained all my fitness back after Wed's big ride and was ready to climb with the best of them....My best ever time to the 5 mile mark was 18:41 - we rolled through at 18:46 but still had 9 miles to go.  These guys were crushing it....I took one pull early on, but that was all.  At the 8 mile marker Frankie drove the Hyundai by the group and told us to stop holding hands....the group shattered and I had to jump across to the front of the group...then I was over my limit..I was able to hang on for another 2.5 miles but popped around mile 11.  The last 3 miles were solo and hangin on for dear life.  I did 356 for the first 40 minutes until I popped and then 315 for the last 15 minutes.  Even though I slowed down my HR was still jacked from the effort and the altitude and stayed at 180 for the 56 minutes of climbing!

It was awesome to go and jam with the guys, but now its back to the off-season and time to enjoy the last 10 days in Tucson - on my Top Fuel!  Thanks KendaProCycling for the great rides.