Tortolita Popsicle

This past Saturday, I hosted another ride in the Tortolitas from my house. It's a popsicle from house. 50, Honeybee, Maus, Como, Cougar and then return the same way.



















Great ride and good post-ride chatting at the house. Look for this one to be a weekly or bi-weekly event for me, anywhere from a quick 2-hour to a longer 5-hour ride.

Tortolitas

Never thought I would be riding the 'Moth on XC trails in a manner that might be considered "training," but I have to admit, I am trying to get faster. Although, I have only done a pure "training ride" once in the past 2 weeks, I have to come clean and say that I plan to do more (if to only motivate me more by declaring publically). Partly inspired by Scott and partly inspired by my inability to eat my 8,000 calories/day, I am hoping to get at least one "training ride" a week.

Also, I have added a few more races to my schedule to help in the training:

Sedona Big Friggin Loop March 10
Prescott Monstercross April 21
Coconino 250 Stage Race Oct 5
Black Canyon Trail November 3
Kentucky Camp November 17
McDowell 60 Dec 15

APC and Tor de 50

The idea of a "getting in shape race" is an excuse I use often for that really long race that comes around where you are not prepared. That is my reasoning for doing the Antelope Peak 115 this year instead of the shorter 65-mile version.

The camera was going to be left at home for this ride. We opted for a later time this year, instead of the 3am start, it was pushed back to 5am. I felt good (but cold) from the beginning, staying ahead of Ray and behind Neil until we reached Bloodsucker.

I saw Aaron, Kurt and Max all descending from Antelope Peak, so I figured it was my turn to climb the peak also. The rest of the day went by fairly normal. At one point, I got excited when I could see Ray climbing up Ripsey. Although a quick break to send some text messages and some water issues put me farther back. I never saw any rider again after the climb up Antelope Peak. I finished with a respectable 14 hours, 2 hours off my earlier finish with Scott.



A recovery ride was in order, so I climbed A Mountain



and Sentinel Peak in downtown Tucson.



The next chore was to find a better route between Catalina and the Tortolitas. I was pleasantly surprised to find an existing double track that is used by a rancher. A few rides to cut back some overgrowth would prove to make the route rideable for the next event, Tor de 50 from my house.



A friend of mine from Oregon, Steve Westerberg, flew down for the event.





We headed to Starr Pass on Thursday for a semi-techy loop.



The Tor de 50 had 55 people show up for the 54 mile loop.



I led out for the neutral start and was feeling pretty good in the Top 10 before my pivot broke on Upper Javelina. As fate would have it, I met a nice hiker that gave me a ride back to my house. I have really taken a liking to cooking, so it only seemed fit that I would end the day doing one of my favorite things...a few changes in the course and setup for this ride is bound to make this ride a classic. Nothing says a good ride like good grub, especially carne asada tacos. The results hint at the difficulty of the race, as less than 50% finished the route in its entirety.

Great job to all the racers, especially Scott who killed it.

Ride Around The Santa Ritas (RATS)

It has become sort of an unspoken tradition to do (or at least plan) this ride every year. The first year was nothing less than a beat down. Check out that last picture of Max Morris spread out on the ground after the RATS ride back in 2008. This ride has become somewhat of a gauge for me to see how well I am really doing on the bike.

I got a nice wake up call at 4:15am from Max to meet him for breakfast. Biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, hash browns, toast, and coffee; these are all the things needed for a 12-hour day on the bike. After parking the car at the intersection of Box Canyon and Madera Canyon, we set out under the moonlight, with a light tail wind.

Max riding in front of Elephant Head

I love doing these 10+ hour rides on the bike. After doing a handful of said rides a year, I know just how my body reacts. First, you carb load in the morning. Then, reality sets in, so my stomach begins to do an awkward combination of butterflies (nervousness, maybe) and giddiness. After I begin pedaling, my legs begin to ache for the first 2 hours as I begin to warm-up. Does this happen to anyone else doing these big rides?

Mt Hopkins Road looking south toward Rio Rico

It was a similar start for me this year. The entire time climbing up Mt Hopkins Rd, my legs ached and begged for some relief. No such relief with Max off the front. I tried to keep up as he sped ahead. No luck. Max was ripping it up.


Nearing the top, we rested to take in some of the views. This one looking southwest toward Rio Rico shows most of the climb up (far right, middle).




Greeted by singletrack and snow, my legs were slowly beginning to wake up. Things got interesting after the snow.








Steep...that is how I sum up this ride. There was a recent thread on TucsonMTB.com about the steepest climbs in the Tucson area. A few of these climbs were mentioned multiple times. If Max was beating me on the climbs, then I was going to leave him on the descents...and so, that is how the day continued. Max would jump ahead on the climbs, and I would catch up with him on the ascents.



The big unknown was some of the "immigrant trails" that are used to connect the dirt road. The condition was, to our dismay, very poor and mostly unrideable. It made for about a 45 minute hike-a-bike. There were some signs of some recent hikers, like this "Naranjada Borbon" that intrigued me. It does not take a Spanish teacher to guess what that translates into.



We bombed down...







...climbed up...




and climbed down. Repeat process until you have around 13,000 feet of climbing.



As we neared Kentucky Camp around 3pm, that 20% chance of rain seemed like it was creeping up. The temperature dropped and clouds begin to accumulate. For the next 2 hours, we got a light rain, just enough to make it necessary to wear arm/knee warmers.



Previous rides have all pointed to a 12-14 hour finish. The plan was to rest as little as possible and ride at a descent pace. The Kentucky Camp AZ Trail contoured singletrack went by in a flash.



11 hours, 20 minutes later we got back to our car. No mechanical, about four 15-minute stops and a descent pace contributed to the faster than expected pace. At days end, it was a beat down on my body. Although not in the shape that I want to be in, I am happy that the hopeless "survival mode" was never needed. The next couple of weeks (APC and Tortolita) should help in getting me back to where I would like to be with respect to fitness.

AZT Jamboree and Outside Magazine Bike Testing

 The Arizona Trail Jamboree is in its 3rd year now.  The trail has expanded so much since then, in part to monetary donors that see the trail in a similar manner....a gem that can be used by many users.

 With a little under 100 people signed up this year, shuttling was going to be the easy part. As in the years past, SW Trekkers donated their time and vehicles for the shuttling. SDMB had a killer aid station, beer, water food and above all baked pizza on demand from their oven! (Thank you Vern, Cat and Brian)




Scott showed up as the shuttles were leaving us a little under 3.5 hours to play around on the bikes doing an out-n-back before the shuttlers began their tumultuous arrival back at the camp. 



Tire choice seems to be a hot issue these days....




With two sides of the argument being hotly contested....weight vs. sidewall protection. We are still not sure who is winning the debate.







After the ride, we grilled and drank, and above all talked and laughed all in the name of helping out the Arizona Trail. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. So, thank you to everyone that helped. I am still waiting for a final figure for this year, but I estimate it to be around $3500 for the AZT.

If you want more pictures from the event, check out the following:

AZ MTBR Thread
TucsonMTB.com Pictures

The next day, Aaron Gulley from Outside Magazine invited us to demo bikes at Starr Pass. I was able to do this last year for Aaron and really enjoyed it. This time is was 29ers. Similar to last year, you ride a loop and then rate the bike.



 

We did two different loops... Cat Mtn or Hooligan/Stone House (both from from the Genser TH). I was able to ride some great bikes, among them the Sultan Turner(below), Cannondale Scalpel and the Niner Jet 9 RDO (below). It's interesting to see how these differ from my current Lenz Sport Behemoth and Leviathan.
 


We had a good group running loops during the entire morning and afternoon.




The Hooligan Loop was a hit with some of the testers. Check out Aaron with that smile! A few more pictures from the day.




Starr Pass really is a special place to be. I was reminded this as the lighting began to set and the moon started to come up over the Catalinas.