Tucson Training Camp Day 6: Respite from the mountains

Day 5 left me wiped - I slept for about 10 hours and didn't want to go biking the first thing in the morning. But majority rules so we're meeting at 10am. (Yes 10am to me is first thing in the morning, it's a half hour ride to the meeting spot to boot(leave me alone I am not a morning person))

First thing Adam does whenever we meet is what any coach would do: How are you feeling? Cylcing is one of those sports where training based on feel is the way to go. Other sports might say, you're hurt? Get out there anyway and kill it! Cycling is more like ok so you're not feeling 100%? We're going to tone it back a bit today because the quality of the workout won't be high and your gains won't be as good. You're better spent off letting your body recover with an easier workout than kicking it while it's down. Cycling is about quality over quantity - don't get me wrong, you need to train a lot for cycling, but if you're always having shit workouts than you aren't making the most of your gains

My answer for Adam? ......meh...ugh. Yesterday left me wiped and I had absolutely no appetite this morning. I've been living with two people in close quarters for the past week and they've been sick since I've been here - I'm feeling a bit phelgmy. This means that we're not doing anything too hard today, keep everything at endurance pace and keep riding time closer to 3hours vs 4. Easily done

Our route today was to take us through Saguaro (spelled wrong maybe) Park. It's a one way road that winds through some Tucson countryside. I think it's only an eight mile loop, but it has plenty of pulloffs to the side of the road for people to get out of their cars and look at the dirt. Honestly it seems like this place charges you to drive through a part of the state that's no different than the rest. You can see cactus, and desert plants and... Well, there's a rock there too. Then again we have all that stuff in our back yard. Then again we're not here for the sights (nor are we paying.) We're here for a twisty, undulating one-way road loop that is plain ol wicked fun to ride. Here is the first road sign you come across as you join the loop...

Right at the beginning there is a steep down followed by a sharp turn to the right. The speed limit sign shows 5mph which is quickly ignored. No one fell onto any rocks like the sign shows...

The loop continues, up and down, left and right and you're steaming along at a pretty good clip. It's got a pretty good roller coaster feel to it. Eventually you come to the one and only climb on the loop - it's about a 6% grade that last maybe 10 minutes. Honestly it feels like a blip after what we did yesterday, nothing could feel easier right now. 

The loop takes you by a big rock (Oooooohhh)

And then you're pretty much done the loop. It's fun to do laps (so we did a couple) and finished up the ride in about 3:30. Adam and Emily are heading to the first US Cup of the season in Texas so we parted ways for the final time this camp. Kaitlyn and I have our pick of routes tomorrow and then that will be the end of my time here in Tucson. A lot of our post-workout time is spent at the nearby starbucks as it's the only place we can get wifi (it's still out at the house!)

After tomorrow's workout we'll have some cleanup to do around the house, then it's an early drive to Phoenix for the flight back to Canadaland.