Tucson Training

Old Spanish Trail, Oracle, Gates Pass, Kitt Peak, Madera Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, Colossal Cave, Saguaro National Park, Rancho Vistoso, Catalina Highway, Sonoita Pass, Picture Rocks...

It's been another great training trip to the southwestern desert city of Tucson. I was connected with a friend of friend who lives right downtown in the Armory Park neighborhood, so I was in striking distance of the U of A pool and the start of all group rides. I used to pass through Tucson on my way south to Mexico during spring break, well before I even considered the cycling possibilities. Starting last year, I was able to break away from work long enough to explore some of the roads and get a much needed respite from the snowy Colorado winter. This year I went back with a little more knowledge of the rides and runs, and was able to log some good training despite some rough weather.

I spent a couple days in Scottsdale, riding on parts of the Ironman course and enjoying a run in McDowell Mountain Park before heading down to Tucson. My first days were challenging, trying to time rides properly to dodge the rainy weather, but swimming at the outdoor pool at the university was a nice change of scenery. I have always been able to deal decently well with adverse weather on bike rides, but starting rides in the rain is demoralizing. Fortunately, the meteorologists were about a half day behind on their predictions, so even as parts of Arizona experienced their worst winter storm in 17 years, most of the rain in Tucson fell at night, and I found windows each day. Runs along the usually dry riverbed through town became more interesting, as chocolate milk churned past with each big rainfall, and several city streets were closed due to flooding. The highlight of the trip was battling a windy day as I rode out to Kitt Peak and back, climbing high above the Saguaro and Ocotillo flats to an altitude that felt more like home.

Although it wasn't the best trip in terms of weather, I was able to put in more mileage and build good strength in the time I had. Given that Durango had 35 inches of snow fall in town while I was gone, there is no question that it was a prudent choice to for optimizing training in this Ironman build. With an always enjoyable spotting of the infamous Silver Fox, plenty of wildlife, and some spectacular sunsets, it goes down as another valuable block. With a little luck and planning, I should be back down in mid-February for some more miles in the pool, on the bike, and on foot. Until then, it might be time to get out the skis...