Tucson Training Camp Day 2: Disaster Strikes

Day two and it's the moment I've been waiting for! Today we're going to establish a baseline up Mt. Lemmon. It will still be considered an endurance ride so we shouldn't be pushing too far outside of our aerobic thresholds. 

Plan was to meet at a café called Le Buzz for 9:45am. It's near the base of the Mt. Lemmon highway. 

7 of us were in the group today. We would all make our own pace up to mile 20 of the climb, regroup and then bomb the descent together. The climb itself isn't all that steep, we all found an easy rhythm at around 14-17 km/h and stayed together for pretty much the whole thing. I was definitely noticing a difference with the thiness of the air - it wasn't like it was making things WAY more difficult, it just made it feel like each breath was a little bit less full. The road starts to turn up a little bit more around mile 11. It was around this point that disaster struck...

I was in the middle of our group when I stodd up just to give my butt some reprieve. All of a sudden my crank stopped turning and the rear wheel completely locked up. My bike quickly came to a stop and the others had to scramble to avoid riding into the back of me. I assumed it was chain suck so it would just be a quick matter of reaching down and resetting the chain. Alas, this was not the case...

A cracked chainstay - this is a ride ender, there's no way around this one, ESPECIALLY considering that the way home is a 1000m descent, with speeds potentially reaching 80km/h. This damage is not the result of a crash - if you're a bike mechanic, you've heard the explanation "I was just riding along" or JRA for short. 9 times out of 10 their JRA explanation is a crock of shit and they were actually doing something stupid. This was one of those 1/10 instances. No one in the group, all experienced racers have ever seen anything like this. One of the most bizarre equipment breakages we've ever seen.

So here was my dilema - Day 2 of a 7 day bike training camp and all of a sudden I have no bike. Also I need a way downt he mountain. While some of the group continued on the route, Adam kept me company at the side of the road while Emily went to get the truck

Once I got back to the house, I had to figure out getting a rental bike. Prices per day seemed to range from $55 to $88 a day. Five days at $55 plus tax and that's a $300 expense that I really don't want. Elyse mentioned that a friend of theirs rented a bike from a shop called Miles Ahead. I checked their website, which to be frank, wasn't the most informative. I decided to check it out anyway. BEST DECISION EVER. They're a relatively small shop but they're everything a bike shop should be. The guys I dealt with there all provide amazing service and really go out of their way to get you riding. Right now, there are loads of people renting bikes, for which they need to make a reservation. I walked in and they were able to get me on a properly sized bike and so I could have it for the rest of my stay here. They had me bring in my old bike, from which they took all the important measurements and copied them onto the rental. They also swapped over my seat and pedals all free of charge. Oh yeah, and they told me to help myself to the beer fridge while I wait. (I did) 

Now here's the kicker - They gave me a rate of $40 a day, and he further discounted the tax so I only had to pay an even $200. They're a seriously good shop. Upon my return I think I'll bring em donuts :D

So now for the remainder of the camp I shall be atop this...

A Cannondale SuperSix! It'll be interesting to see how it compares to my Venge.

So after only 2 hours on the bike today I'm feeling pretty rested. Today we'll have a few options for what we'll be doing. Until then, more food and sleeping!

PS: So jealous of everyone back home getting to watch the hockey game! The tv where we're staying isn't working properly and the cbc streaming app doesn't work in USA! Wish I was there to see it