Pre Tour de Scottsdale

Well about 20 insane cyclists decided to pre-ride the course for the upcoming (October 4th) Tour de Scottsdale this past Saturday. Most rides here in the Sonoran desert are...well...dry, but Saturday was quite the exception. The remnants of Hurricane Jimena provided driving sideways rain...lots of lightening...and water on the roadway up to 6-8 inches deep. It was a brutal and glorious day in the saddle...an epic ride.

OUCH

Was out riding the Santan Mountain loop on Sunday and having a great time suffering but had a small problem on the return home. I ran over some glass coming down Gary Rd. from the Santan Mountains. The front tire blew out, washed out on me, and I crashed. No real road rash and the bike (the blue cyclocross) was okay. I’m very bruised and stiff. This week of riding should be interesting.

End-of-Pavement

Deb and I took off from the Needle Vista this morning and tackled the ride out past Tortilla Flats to the End-of-Pavement. It was just as painful as I remember it. All in all we had a good ride and our times were not too shabby. The temperature was not too horribly hot and the scenery was sublime. One of the best rides in the east valley without a doubt.

Welcome Back Jim

Saturday was the welcome back ride for Jim after his six weeks off after surgery. Just as suspected by most of us mere mortals he returned with a vengeance. Allen managed to keep up with him early in the day while the rest of us clawed our way up La Sendas, and the front and back side of Usery in the rear. The second pass through the Usery torture fest was less kind to Jim and he rejoined the ranks of the mortals...this too shall pass.

Death of a Tree

Our beautiful Desert Museum Palo Verde growing out in front of the house was broken in half by the wind during our most recent set of monsoon storms. Luckily it did not hit the house or anything else of value, but it was a lovely tree and it will be missed. It was very depressing to saw it up and cart it off...

Morning Ride - Two Flat Tires

So the morning ride out to Wagon Wheel ended up being more of an adventure than I had counted on. I had a flat on the front about 7 miles out and realized when I went to replace the tube that I only brought one tube. Sure enough on the way back I got another flat and had to patch it on the road. First time in more than a year that I have had two flats on the same ride and of course one of the first times in recent memory that I didn't have two tubes. Lesson learned...again.

Usery Torture Fest

The group (Allen, Jeff, Deb, Jake and me) had another epic double torture fest over Usery and back...and back again yesterday. Deb said she saw saw a tee shirt with the new Nike slogan on it, "Just do it....then do it again!" and it reminded her of the ride yesterday. A good day in the saddle despite the heat with 3700 feet of climbing and 60+ miles. I went out again this morning at 5:30 a.m. at a much slower pace and with much cooler temperatures. About 30+ miles and temperatures in the mid 80s.