It's been a while since I've been on a bike (close to 3 weeks) and that was my road bike (the last time I rode my mountain bike was Thanksgiving Day) so I took it easy on this morning's ride. My brother's home in Scottsdale is 5-10 minutes (depending on what access trail you choose) by bike from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve which makes it extremely convenient when time is limited. The fact that the trails are a ton of fun and located in some of the most beautiful desert around makes them even harder to ignore.
This morning I left the house just before 9 am wearing knee and arm warmers, a sleeveless base layer, short sleeved jersey and a wind vest. Ten minutes later the vest was unzipped and it wasn't long before the arm warmers were pushed down. With temperatures in the low 50's conditions were practically frigid for the locals but for me, coming from a week of snow and freezing temperatures it felt balmy in comparison!
Compared to all of my past trips to Arizona I probably have the least amount of form that I've ever had going into the week of riding. After riding for 1:40 I feel good, which tells me I still have a decent base of aerobic fitness. Where I struggled on the ride was climbing. When the trail would go up - especially the short, steep, rocky sections - I could really feel the lack of high-end fitness. I turned up a steep, rocky climb with the thought of continuing until I had to put a foot down. However, after a minute of climbing I made the decision to turn around as I didn't want to toast my legs on day #1. My descending skills were also rusty but that's to be expected and not a problem. My goals for the trip are modest: Log 8-10 hours of low to medium intensity riding/hiking. Since I'll just be returning to winter and shifting focus back to skiing there isn't any reason to "train" this week.
3 comments:
I hate you.
Had to say that since it's a full-on blizzard here (Wasatch front) right now. You know I don't mean it. Just jealous.
With your (modest) goals, I hope you have at least a little FUN riding. There should be a little sweetness derived simply from being able to ride dirt when at home it's a snowy "wonderland".
The pics look good. Yes, I wish I was there. I might do a night snowshoe, but it's not the same as dirt.
I am sooooo jealous. But at least my tires are clean from riding around in the snow.
Please bring that sun back with you so we can have dirty tires again.
It's hard not to have fun when you're riding in December while it pounds snow back at home!
Just to make you feel better I should note that it did rain this afternoon.
Post a Comment