So, I headed out to Arizona this weekend for a 24 hr mountain bike race as part of a four-man team. We were all really exctied to do the race and we were looking forward to some sunshine as the boys from California have seen a lot of rain lately.
Excited, we drove down to Tucson with our cars fully loaded with gear. Things started to get a bit crazy when the rain started coming down and we hit the 8 mile dirt road out to the race site. The road was a mess...so muddy! Good thing I had my Prius =) b/c it just tore that muddy road up! I really thought we might get stuck!
So, after an interesting drive we finally got there and started to set up camp. It was really cold so, naturally, it started to snow. What?! Snow in Arizona! We came out here for sunshine. After we set up camp in the snow we all decided that it was time to get a hotel room for the night...we were weak and gave in =. Something about camping in the snow was not appealing. So, we all took off to a "beautiful" town, San Manuel and got a room. This "lodge" reminded me of a psych ward that was converted into a lodge. So, we were all a bit worried about what the night would hold. Turns out we all got some good sleep after some mexican food and made it to the race site well rested and ready to race. However, it was still super cold and snow was everywhere. Quite frankly, it was pretty miserable.
The race got under way at noon on saturday. Tom started the race for us and after a short period of time he was riding in the lead group. Unfortunately, after 2 miles he got a flat tire and took a huge crash. This crash led to a pretty serious cut on his knee. Tom did finish the lap but it was a nightmare plagued with more flats, mechanical issues, etc.
After his lap we checked out his injuries and after a trip to the med tent it was determined that Tom needed stitches. So, we abandoned the race and drove back to Mesa to an urgent care where Tom got patched up. Tom is fine and able to train, which is great news.
With all the effort we put out for this race it was a bit of a bummer to quit so early (I didn't even get to ride a lap) but, at the end of the day, we were actually all happy to have this adventurous race experience end.
We got a good night sleep saturday night and then sunday morning we went out for a sweet 5 hour road ride and a 1 hr run. Thanks goes out to James for pushing me way too hard on the last 25 mins of the run...I haven't run that hard since October of last year. While I was pushing really hard and it wasn't really necessary it felt good to "clean out the pipes." It is so nice to have some training partners. I don't really have anyone to train with in Monterey and I realize everytime I come out here how great it is to have people to push you and to make training more enjoyable. We have a great group of guys out here...Tom Obrien, Brian Barrett and James walsh.
Today Brian and I went out for a 3 hr recovery ride through some beautiful areas and then hit the pool for a recovery swim with some drills...recovery is key after a day like yesterday.
Things are going really well and I am getting stronger everyday!
Take care everyone.
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2 comments:
good times for sure! i would much rather be out there training my ass off with you guys than sitting in this stuffy classroom in Irvive... You guys better take some photos from Mt. Lemmon.
Sounds like the experience is all kept in good perspective. It's just one weekend of many more to come. "Tom can train" is more important than one race. So it sounds like the right team call. Besides if things like this never happened you wouldn't appreciate success as much, right? That's why mountain biking is more interesting and more fun than being on the road!
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