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

New job=longer commute

Rough scale of the new route: Orange Grove-La Cholla-Rillito Bike Path-Mtn-Bike Path-UA Tunnel-3rd Bike Path

The new bike gig is now 14.5 miles away from my house, good news for the daily workout. Today, I logged in 70+ road miles since I went to work and did my nightly ride. The new commute has 3 different bike routes on it (3rd, Rillito River, and Mountain), 4 water fountains, and 2 public restrooms available. Tomorrow, I have an interview for a Spanish teaching job at a nearby private school. This Wednesday and Thursday are my last two "vacation days" of the summer. I am planning on a overnight trip with the Leviathan on Mt Lemmon. I need to make the tyvek bivy sack tomorrow (stole the idea from Siren's Brenden) and put on the new saddle that I got from The Path Bike Shop. More info and pictures later.

Ice Cream or bicycles?

I got tagged from Nathan for this bike survey....

If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?
My two dream bikes are a Lenz Leviathan or Mooto-X YBB with dropouts, i have the former and now content with not every really buying the later. My next bike most likely will be a Siren singlespeed 29er.

Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?

Yes, it is everything and more.

If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?
The Arizona Trail end-to-end would be a great route to ride continuously. I ride some of the AZT on a weekly basis. A quick recap of the history that this trail and I have: 2 DNFs on the AZT 300 and another during the Kaibab Monstercross. The only two races that I have ever DNFed in AZ were on the Arizona Trail. I plan on riding a time trial on the route someday, if not this fall then later in the Spring.

Also, any route on the Adventure Cycling website would be tons of fun.

What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride for the rest of her / his life?
Sick, that is not sick. Sick, by definition, is attempting a race like the GDR, CTR, or AZT 300.

Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrowminded?
I prefer mountain although I do ride the road bike throughout the year. The mountain bike allows me to see the outdoors and go over obstacles. It is basically like a downsized monster truck for me.

Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent.
Nope.

Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss?
Yes, I am in fact a triathlete. I came into the sport of mountain biking as a runner, a damn good runner before I got injured. After the injury, I picked up mountain biking while living in Mexico. It only seemed natural to add swimming. I like doing triathlons since it allows me to switch up my weekly routine. Anyone that thinks they have what it takes to do a triathlon should do this in La Jolla on September 7th.

Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why?
That is easy, ice cream. I never eat it.

What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not? Also, answer it.
What is your favorite color on a bike? Can you post a picture of the color?

You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do?
The situation is a little vague. Assuming it is far enough off the trail, I would try to slowly ride by it. Otherwise, I would be very cautious in retracing my steps back if it was on the single track.

Now, tag three biking bloggers. List them below.

Rhino
Dave S
Cat
Elaine

If you rode a bike, you'd be home by now

"You know what Washington DC need....? More vigilante bicyclists."

John Stewart on the Daily Show in response to the cyclist that stopped Robert Novak after hitting a pedestrian. Oh but wait, there is more.

He [Novak] says he didn't realize what happened and continued driving until a bicyclist stopped him. David Bono, the bicyclist who witnessed the incident, told The Associated Press that the pedestrian was hit in a crosswalk and was splayed across Novak's windshield. Read more here.

More noteworthy bike-related links:
Critical Mass in NY get aggressively chased by NYPD.
NPR: All things considered... Riding bikes around high gas prices.
Ghost bike stolen
If you rode a bike, you'd be home now. Cycling on LA Freeways.

Treehugger Hammock

With new plans for overnight bike trips in the works for this fall, I have been combing the internet for the best way to sleep after 10-15 hours in the saddle. I found the Treehugger Hammock online today. Not sure if I'd rather sleep on the ground or above, but this seems like a lightweight. Anyone have any experience with biking and sleeping in a hammock? A search on MTBR results in a thread on shelters, the hammock or an a-frame tent that doubles as a poncho were suggested.

Stage 17: Alpe d'Huez

If you have not watched any of the stages this year in the Tour de France, don't worry because the best stage is tomorrow. Make sure to watch it tomorrow. If you do not have cable, I highly recommend you ride your bike to a bar, drink a beer, and watch one of the re-runs that is on in the evening.

Hot-Rain-Hail-Hot

I have been taking the GPS during rides the past few weeks in hopes of providing some insight on the amount of climbing I do during a given week. Additionally, a few big races in the next few months at high altitude (VT125 and Tab) pushed me into doing more climbing during the week (riding up Mt Lemmon once a week). Weekdays work the best since there are less cars (somewhere in the range of 30 cars passed me today, whereas on a given weekend, 30 cars pass you in about 10-20 minutes). I was also one of 5 roadies on Catalina Highway today.

The ride started out humid from Udall Park, before becoming hot, after it was cold and rainy, before finally becoming hot again at Prison Camp while returning to Tucson. I peaked out at Alder Picnic area before succumbing to a flat tire (I left the old tire on the bike when I bought a new set, it seemed like it still had some life in it) as some dark clouds moved in.

I changed it fairly quickly in hopes of continuing on to Summerhaven, although loud thunder made me make a quick U-turn back down the mountain. After passing Bear Wallow, the rain and hail began. I escaped under a tree for the first onslaught, then I rode down to the visitor center in the rain to escape the cold. Wet and a little cold, I waited about 20 minutes for the onslaught to slow to a sprinkle before shooting down the mountain, enjoying the waterfalls that cascaded onto the highway.



61.17 Miles
9107 feet of climbing
1 flat tire
4 hours 11 mins moving time

Next Tuesday's Mt Lemmon Ride: Udall Park-Palisades-Summerhaven-Palisades-Summerhaven-Udall Park... It should be in the neighborhood of 75 miles with 11-12k of climbing.