Another week, another trip

By the end of this week, I'll have flown about 27,000 miles since January 1st this year.  It's a pace that can be tiring, but at the same time I get to see a lit of cool places.  This week started by heading to the sunny state of California, where I spent a couple days at Specialized, getting their pro triathletes riding on PowerTaps.  I also had some time to chat with them about why they should train with power and how to use the fancy yet not so complicated Joule computers.  Usually when you talk to pro athletes about product, their eyes kind of glaze over and they don't usually ask many questions.  This time, we actually had a pretty good conversation.  Training with power is key and triathletes really need to embrace it, so I'm glad they asked questions.  After all, they're training for three disciplines at once, not just riding their bike around a business park or empty country road.  Plus, when age groupers see the pros training and racing with power, they'll want to pick it up too.  

So after a couple days in Morgan Hill, I headed to the metro Dallas area to do some clinics to do some product clinics for the staff at Richardson Bike Mart.  They start tomorrow and then I head back on Friday afternoon.  Now I'm going to watch a show about shark attacks.  

I heart Tucson

Tucson is awesome in probably more ways than I know, but here's why I like it. It's 4 PM and the "wind chill" is 85. Without the 20 mph wind, it's 89. That's awesome. I wonder how hot it was when we were riding at 1? It also has mountains and the hotel's altitude is about 2700 feet. Cacti (I think that's plural for lots o' cactus) are 25 feet tall and are everywhere you'd expect a tree to be. They have gun shows. For my work friends that read this, that isn't referring to Thursday lunch rides. The riding is amazing. Roads go up and down and have swooping turns. There's hills that last for miles. For example, Mt Lemmon is a 2 hour climb. And my favorite thing about Tucson is the food. I think Mexico is about 50 miles away, so there's lots of Mexican food. Not Tex-Mex... The real deal.

So back to my job. This morning was typical for a camp. Breakfast, relax, hurry up and get everything ready, wait a bit, then ride. The campers are pretty easy to work with and seem interested in training with power. That's always a plus. After getting everyone setup, we headed out for a ride. I spent the first part of the ride hangin with the Matt Lieto-led group. He's a great guy with a great story about how he became a top-level triathlete. The second half I hung with Linsey Corbin and Matt Dixon's group. This one was a little faster pace and Matt was nice enough to have me leading the group for a while. It's a good thing I can ride at a steady pace... It was nice to get some hard efforts in, too. Then we went up the steep side of Gates Pass. Think 17+% for the last 1/4 mile. I crushed it. Seriously, I think they were a little surprised to see the guy from "flat" Wisco flying up the hill. Then 30 minutes screaming downhill. Also awesome; it's a good thing the Euskaltels gave me some practice last month.

Now time to watch the UW basketball game, which is a little more fun because of all the fellow 'Sconnies staying at the hotel. I can't have too much fun though, my flight leaves at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Ugh.
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March madness

Typically, March Madness refers to college basketball. For me and my com padres in the cycling industry, it means training camps and season opening sales. In past years I've done my time selling racks to all those buying new bikes. Now, I get to support training camps. Score! First March Madness reference. After spending most of the day on an airplane to Tucson, and as it turns out, the tourney is in town. Second March Madness reference. I was able to get a short ride in, which was nice. It's good to start short here. I mean, we're in the desert after all. After checking in with those running the camp, it's time to sit at the pool and relax a little. Oh, and the UW basketball team is staying at the hotel. Third March Madness reference. Well I'm starting to lose function of my thumbs (this is written on Blackberry). Thanks for reading.
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