Packet pickup and pasta

This week has flown by.  On Wednesday we went to the El Tour Fitness Expo to pick up our rider's packet.  It has our numbers (7351 and 7352) and our little ankle race timer thingy.  The expo was pretty cool.  Greg got an 2009 El Tour Jersey and some cycling socks.  I loaded up on Tram bars and Shot bloks at Mac's booth.  We also got a lot of cute freebies from the UMC booth.  Sunscreen, blinky lights, bandaids, water bottles, key chains, etc.

On Friday we went to the BTE pasta party.  It was fun to hang out with all our group ride buddies...although it was pretty difficult to recognize some of them in plain clothes.  I got the low down on all the hard parts of the race.  Everyone says that the 66 milers (that us) have to ride the hardest part of the tour, but the only scary part I haven't ridden already is Snyder Hill.  Who cares though. If I have to walk it...I walk it.  Bring it on!

We head to the starting line in one hour and 15min.  Wish us luck today!  May the wind be at our backs and our tires never flat.

Next stop: El Tour

Back in the saddle again.  Sorry for the forced hiatus.  I was at the 14th International Conference on Harmful Algae in Hersonissos, Crete.  It was a great trip.

Sadly, it was my first week completely bike free since August. Then I caught a cold! Finally got back on my bike today for the last BTE group ride before El Tour.  We met at 6:30 am to ride the upper portion of the tour route.  It was cold out...for Tucson.  Greg and I need our winter cycling gear asap.  Everyone was all bundled up with their leg warmers and arm warmers and ear warmers and toe warmers.  Lucky for Greg, he was able to pick up a nice wind breaker at the Bike Swap yesterday.  Unfortunately for me, they didn't have my size.

I can't remember the last time my toes were that cold.  They were little toe-cicles that felt like they were going to snap off my foot with every bump in the road.  Mac suggested I try putting a layer of plastic wrap between my socks and shoes next time.  Galen recommends duct tape over the shoes.  Those ideas sound good, but a nice pair of neoprene toe warmers for christmas sounds even better.

We rode 56 miles!  That's only 10 less than El Tour.  And poor Greg was getting over the flu.  He was bedridden Wednesday through Friday.  What a trooper.

The Commuter

There was a time, before the Nishiki, when Greg had an aluminum bike that was too big for him.  I wasn't ridding my Raleigh, so he stole it from me.  That wasn't a big deal to me at the time because I was out of shape and didn't want to ride the thing anyway.  Still, one must have a bike just incase, so we picked up a 1984 Club Fuji for me.  I never rode the Fuji either because it had down tube friction shifters and wasn't pretty.  Some crazy person at one point had wrapped all the cable housing in electrical tape, which became all sticky and gross looking.

In the end, Greg got his Nishiki and I went back to the Raleigh and the Fuji was looking like just a waste of money...until BTE.  Now all I can think about are bikes.  If my advisor ever found this site and saw how much time I was spending on this new passion...eh he probably wouldn't care too much.

Now that I'm crazy into cycling, I need two bikes, one for races and weekend rides (the Thoroughbred) and another for hauling things to and from work and shopping (the Clydesdale).  Enter the neglected Fuji.  We picked up some sora components on ebay, new cables and housing, awesome yellow handlebar tape, a pannier, and here she is.

My first grocery run on the Fuji.  Chicken breasts, cereal, milk, pasta, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and mushrooms

Are four bikes a bit excessive for two people? Maybe, but I think we're making some really positive lifestyle changes.  And we are thinking very seriously about selling the CR-V and going back to being a one car family.  Stay tuned.

BTE yard sale success

We are half way to our fundraising goal!  Big thanks to everyone who sent us their treasures (a.k.a. useless crap) to sell at the yard sale today.  People ate it up.  We started the day with two tables overflowing with nicknacks and a full row of boxes of books underneath.  By the end of the day, we only had three printer boxes of stuff left.  I wish I'd taken before and after photos for the blog...I'm sure it would have been riveting for you all.

If I could use the ongoing currency war as an analogy for the day's yard sale prices...it was Greg and me as China versus everyone else as the world.  What can I say?  I'm from the W. R. Hughes school of yard sale prices...just get rid of it fast.

In the end we raised (drumroll please) $136

Score!

Oro Valley to Oracle

It's getting chilly out there!  Well, chilly for Tucson.  We sported long sleeves for this 42 mile Saturday ride with Tami and Nancy.  The BTE yard sale is this weekend.  So the four of us headed out a day early in order to make big fundraising bucks tomorrow morning.  We started at the Home Depot up in Oro Valley.  A lot of other groups were meeting up there as well.

Look at that 20 mile climb!  So much fun.

The ride out was a steady uphill schlog with no places to rest out of the saddle while coasting in order to rest one's backside.  However, I am probably a little too pleased to announce that I FINALLY figured out how to comfortably stand and pedal while standing.  I rock!  See, I told you I was too pleased.  It may sound like no big deal to you, but seriously folks, before, I would try to stand and climb, take two wobbly and weak pedal strokes, and pretty much fall back down into the saddle...pathetic.  But not anymore.  The trick for me was shifting into a higher chain ring in the front to increase resistance...oh and going to all those spin classes to build up my leg muscles.

The ride back was crazy fast.  I think Greg and I were coasting at about 25 mph most of the way.  We both felt like we could have ridden another 20 miles easy.  Bring on the Tour!

Old Spanish to Colossal Cave

Greg here. Today's training ride was the longest ride either of us has ever been on. Forty-three miles. It was a blast. The BTE group headed out with Mac from his shop Sabino Cycles at 7 AM. I think the email the BTE cyclists received last week from Mac served as a warning because there ended up being only 10 riders in the group. We took the same route as a few of our previous training rides, riding along Old Spanish Trail, but continued all the way up Pistol Hill out at Colossal Cave Mountain Park.

I also rode my new bike on this ride... Wait, did I say new bike? Yes I did. You might remember the multiple posts before about the improvements to my beloved Nishiki Cresta. Well that bike is still awesome, but Jen and I want to set up a couple bikes as commuters/utility bikes to get groceries and such. The Cresta has rack mounts and long chainstays making it ideal for this use. Plus, the number of bikes a person needs is equal to n + 1, where n is the number of bikes the person currently owns. So on Friday night we went on a little drive to Phoenix and picked up a 1999 Cannondale R500 that is virtually in brand new condition.

Jen here now:  Greg didn't tell you half of the exciting things that happened on this ride.  First, he's smoking fast on his new bike.  When we were first dating, I would get a little competitive/hurt when it was obvious he was better than me...glad I'm over that!  He slows down and waits for me sometimes, which is sweet.  I enjoyed cruising along out to Saguaro East, chatting with Greg, taking in the views, along a route that kicked my ass a month ago.

The ride out to Pistol Hill was described by a fellow rider as a false flat, meaning the road appears nearly flat, but you're climbing.  She wasn't kidding.  I think I was averaging only 9 mph.  On the way back we helped another rider fix a flat, which gave me confidence for fixing my own flat someday.  Back at Sabino Cycles, Mac worked on the new bike for Greg.  A decade of dried/crusty grease can really mess with your shifting.  Thanks Mac!

We had to deal with quite a few angry drivers today, which was disconcerting considering we rode past a ghost bike (a memorial for a fallen cyclist).  The motorists were mostly upset about cyclists riding two abreast, even when there was plenty of room for the car to pass.  They'd yell or honk or drive as close as they could to the white edge line.  That's how people die...  Anyway, it was sad and frustrating because, apparently unbeknownst to many Tucsonan rednecks, cyclists can lawfully ride two abreast ARS 28-815.  So the next time you pass a cyclist, show them some love and give them the 5ft of clearance they deserve...oops, not that you're a redneck...whoever you are.  You know what I mean.

I'm stepping off my soap box now.  Jen out.

Oro Valley loop

There are a couple of places on El Tour route that scare me a little bit.  Oracle road up through Oro Valley is one of them.  It's about a quarter of the way into the ride, it's uphill, and I know there is a long downhill section ahead.  I tell myself that if I can make it through Oro Valley, I have the tour in the bag.

Today we rode that scary section...in reverse, so the hills were more in our favor.  There was still quite a bit of climbing...the most climbing I've ever done actually.

This is a route I like to call Up and Around in Oro Valley.

I had my new 155mm shorty crank arms to test out.  They are supposed to make it a bit easier for vertically challenged people like me to keep a higher cadence and put less strain on the knees.  I think they worked beautifully, and I love them.  I can really feel myself improving every week.  I'm using parts of my lungs I didn't even know I had!

We took in some amazing views around the 14 mile mark.  I made Greg stop and take a picture.

Tucson is way off in the distance behind me.  What do you think of my fancy new cycling shorts?  Remember my pretty-in-pink-first-group-ride outfit?  I think I look awesome now :)

We averaged 14.5 mph and went 29.5 miles.  I just want to give a shout out to my fantastic husband.  Greg, I can't believe we're doing this, and I feel so lucky to be sharing these rides with you.