Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Mt Lemmon Century Ride


I had to wait for a phone call today. So instead of doing the planned overnighter on Mt Lemmon this weekend (mountain bike), I decided to ride Lemmon today on the road bike, not really planning on doing something epic today. I blame today's ride on the Tour de France, as usual, I always seem to begin riding more road about this time of year.

I started about 11pm today, despite temperatures expecting to be 100+ degrees in Tucson. The hottest section of the ride up was Molino basin. I managed to ride the entire way up to Summerhaven without really stopping for a break, something I almost did last week (flat tire at Alder, if you recall, slowed me down a bit along with some rain)

At the Summerhaven General store, I brought a tall boy Coors Lt with the $5 that I had bought. $2.11, not too bad for being on the top of Lemmon. I began to descend Lemmon, contemplating the idea of riding back up to Summerhaven. At the bottom of Mt Lemmon, I turned around and began to slowly climb Lemmon for a second time.

Honestly, the first time up Lemmon was somewhat of a breeze...not the second attempt. It was hotter at Molino this time as the sun began to sink down and hit me right in the face. There were few sections on the road to escape the heat, save Bear and Molino. I had to stop and cool down at Bear and Molino; soaking my jersey and headsweat/helmet. Ahhhhhh..... I stopped at Palisades each time I passed, up and down, to refill my bottles. Additionally, I managed to limit the amount of sunburn by reapplying sunscreen/chapstick 4 times during the ride.

I got up to Summerhaven during this second attempt a little after 5pm. I still felt pretty strong. Another $2.11 and I was off to check out the view out Windy Point. A few people laughed as the rode by me. I guess putting the beer in the bike of my jersey was not the best idea I had all day. Windy Point, 86 miles into the ride, and a Coors Lt. Good times.

Check out the profile below. The colors represent my speed. It is interesting to see how I descended faster (shown in red) the second time down the mountain...with beer on my mind and then in my belly...



With no hurry to really get back to my car, I enjoyed the view for a little bit before finally descending to my car off of Snyder.


Stats from today's ride:
100.25 miles
Moving time: 7:35
Elevation climbed: 13,754**
Average Speed: 13.2mph
Max speed: 40.6 mph

**conflicts with last week's elevation

Another view of the profile


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome dude! I will post this on the forum and we're gonna do this in a few weeks!

Wrenchette said...

That's what happens when you watch the Tour? Ok...I'm never watching the Tour. ;)

Kevin R Thomas said...

You should have selected a Newcastle...my own opinion.

Chad said...

Newcastle..Very true. Def top 3 in my favorite beers to drink. However, I had to buy something in a can and economical since I only had $5 to my name. Next time, I will come more prepared and drink a Newcastle or a Fatty.

YuriB said...

hot+bike/desire for beer = coors light. nicely done.

Anonymous said...

Whhooo... Chad you are my hero! I wont be impressed until you do 5 loops. Miss you!
-Ryan

Darren said...

You are an animal I am impressed.

FixieDave said...

mmmm big climbing on pavement...

Then beer

My kinna road ride!

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