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.
Sent from my mobile device