So quick synopsis, I have been to LA three time, Chula Vista once, and AZ once. After the third LA trip I made the decision to go to Tucson and hang out with my teammates, Dave and Clark. In other words I decided that I would like to ride my bike outside and not in the little work room down stairs. I was so happy when I got off the plane and was comfortable in a light shirt at 8pm. That was also right after I got word that it was below freezing in Colorado Springs. I had made the right choice. I took a couple of days off and did this really nice loop ride that took just over an hour and a half. Greta arrived on Thursday and we got in one more ride just before leaving for Phoenix. Why were we going to Phoenix? We were going to go racing. Yes racing bikes in February, how awesome is that. This race is also my first able-body cycling race. The race was a three day stage race all around the Phoenix area. The Time Trial was first on Friday and I started at 10:06. I wasn’t expect a bad ride but the ride that I had was awful. It wasn’t miserable on the ride but I knew it wasn’t special either. Cool bit about the TT is that I was 16th out of 28. Not bad, knowing I had an off day. Next up was the road race. My longest race that I have competed in yet, 41 miles. Most are just around 50 kilometers. I did well for the first half lap and then we came up to a 4km climb. The field decided to sprint for some dumb reason and I wasn’t able to keep on. I did though keep my pace up as long as I could. I managed to pass those who dropped later and basically time trial back up to the field, which with the help of others we managed to do. The second time up the hill I made it half way with the group and then got spit out the back. I tried hard to catch up but the head wind was a lot worse. I ended up just riding the rest of the ride at a tempo and was happy with what I was able to do with the group at the beginning. For the Criterium I had a ton of fun. Greta was able to hold me so that I could get a really good start. I hung with the fast group for the first ten minutes and then there was a field sprint for a prime (pronounced Pre-eem) and I wasn’t able to match. I rode hard for another 5 minutes staying in between groups. By the end I pulled up and finished with the second group. By all accounts the weekend was a success for me. I finished 17th over all and was super excited. After the Crit we made our way back to Tucson, stopping off at a dirty Mexican restaurant 20 miles south of Chandler, where I got a 12 inch 9 pound burrito and a Mexican coke. It was wonderful. On Monday we took Greta to the airport and then had a pretty chill day sitting outside enjoying a cold beverage. On Wednesday before flying back to Colorado Springs Dave and Clark took me out on a ride through a local national park and it was beautiful. No cars, calm yet cool air, and good company. That last ride was a nice way to finish the week in the sun.
