Cycling House - Day 1 - Saguaro Park

I arrived at the Cycling House in Tucson on Monday evening. Great 3000+ sqft house in NE Tucson area at the base of the mountains. Desert, coyotes, and ALOT of cactus. The trip started great with an awesome salmon dinner. We reassembled the bikes and got them ride ready.

Our hosts include a few national pro road and mountain bike racers. So, these guides are more than worthy and full of knowledge. I just hope to gleam a small amount of their "tricks of the trade" this week.

Tuesday started with a nice breakfast and we rolled out. We headed SE through town and out to Old Spanish Trail Road. We made a brief stop and started the climb for the day. It started out with an attack from a couple boys blowing out the cobwebs. 5 of us started a rotating paceline to catch them and we were making good progress.

Then, the wind started to blow. A headwind. A good 20-30mph at times. Our paceline broke up and Ty and I were exchanging pulls into the wind. I think we were holding our own very well since we kept pace with the boys up the road that included the legs of one of the national pros pulling the train. We turned the corner for another mile of climbing and the headwind turned into a nasty cross wind. Whoa, that breeze can blow you over when you have the 32mm wheels.

We regrouped and the top and had alittle re-fueling break and headed down the hill. I'm not sure if it was the smooth wind, the tail wind, smooth road, or a combination of them all - but we were smoking. I'm not sure if a 20 minute threshold pace going downhill was the best idea since we have 4 more days of riding, but DAMN it was fun.

We finished up with an 8 mile loop in the Saguaro National Park . Wow, what a beautiful ride. 1 way traffic with rollers and alot of prickly cactus on the side.


Elevation Gain: 3780
Ride Time: ~3.5 hours
Miles: ~60 miles
Personal Records: I'm sure everyone broke a couple today - must be the Vitamin D overload!




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