120km with 20min threshold test on Mt Lemon.

So today was day five 120km ride that i fitted a 20 min TT to test my FTP for the first time of the year.

Not ideal testing conditions due to the previous days hard ride (normally you are meant to have 2 days off the bike) but i felt i wanted to see where i was at and although it wasn't quite what i had hoped for i was pretty happy to see that i was actually about 20w above my level this time last year. So by all intense and purposes i'm doing pretty well.

Gotta watch that ego!!!

My weight is down, my relative power is up the two together mean that my power to weight ratio will be even higher, nice!

Anyway the ride up Mt lemon was awesome, actually the ride down, the ride up hurt like a mutha fecker! but a nice 60+kmph descent for 6 miles made up for it, along with some awsome views over the valley, and city of Tucson.

Tomorrow is a rest day a gentle 50km spin up to the foot of Mt lemon again. Then next week
will be a harder week again.

The rest however will be welcome

heres the details

Tucson Shootout!!!

So today was the local "shootout" 170km of unforgiving riding across the desert and up to Madera canyon and back .

Quite the experience, with its fair share of pro riders putting the hammer down and an average body fat level of 7%.

The first 40km out side the city limits was a gradual false flat with heavy roads and a steady 2-4% gradient, which meant there was little place to hide from the heavy pace being laid down at the front of the group.

I made the cut though, holding on for dear life at the back of a group of 30 riders thats had made it from the original 150 or so, chasing a small break away of the front.

Thankfully after the first main climb the tempo settled a bit before a short respite for refuelling.



Then it was a slow 30km slug uphill to the canyon. With the 130lbs grimpeurs setting a pretty unpleasant pace up the 4% lead up to the base of the climb. All to soon that became a 7% grind and then a 15% nightmare that left me spat out the pack and on the rivet wondering how the feck i was going to make it back home ; still another 100km away.

Anyway luckily that 100km home was pretty much all down hill at around 45kmph avg.

have to say i felt pretty good by the end, having survived the shootout intact and with some semblance of honour.

Over all it was an amazing experience, awesome landscape, with a very friendly and amazingly talented bunch of riders.

i love it here, wish i could stay!

heres the details: shootout

Day 3 active recovery

Just a gentle jaunt up to the foot of mount lemon: here the details

An active recovery day, so the legs are fully rested for tomorrow. on the way we passed some members of team BMC, they will most likely be out on the local shootout ride tomorrow.

early start about 6am - 7hr ride up a canyon and back with about 150-200 riders ...sweet.


The other lads said to treat it like a race day...

day 2: if i was 150lbs i'd climb that fast as well

DAY 2: tempo followed by climbs.

today seemed harder but all the more enjoyable due to the sunshine making an apperance and the amazing scenary.

It was another 1000m+ vert day and just alittle over 100km at a fairly hard pace.

at time i was pushing 360w on a false flat holding my own on the front with the Cat I lads, thinking there is no way i'm going to be able to maintain this kind of output for another 3 hrs!!!

Then we hit our first major (for someone from ontario) climb, a long false flat then it kicked up to 4-5 % before ramping up to about 15% at the top. About 2 miles in total.

i'm begging to understand that yes i am indeed in cycling terms too fat! If i put 50lbs on the back of those kids i'd whip there ass on that climb...alas however it was the other way round.

still its early days and i love a challange.

also it was my first ride in the new bike posistion felt like my feet where floating! amazing difference!

tomorrows an easy day, then saturday is the local hammer fest! ...oh dear ;0)

heres the details of today.

Day 1: easy (?) tempo ride

So i hooked up with Merik Mazur an ex US team coach, canadian team coach and ex pro rider from Poland. Its his training camp i'm on at the moment.

For now there is myself and three young cat I cyclists from around Canada. Some of whom i've raced with and one lad from Abitsibi in north Quebec.

Within about 5 mins of being here he told me i was too fat! ,although i'm actually the leanest i've been for some time. But i guess thats pretty much par for the course in cycling where power to weight ratio is everything!

Anyway we're placed at the foot of the mountains in Tucson Arizona. Pretty much every where is up hill even the downhills.

Anyway i'm pretty stoked to be here, its going to be a really great experience. And riding with those Cat I guys is going to be excellent.

Merik helped me with the set up of my bikeFit yesterday, which has already resulted in some significant changes, he rasied my saddle over 3cm, a huge increase, it'll be interesting to see how it rides later today, it certainly makes my bike look very different.

anyway day 1 was an easy (?) tempo ride around the foot hills of Mt Lemon, 96km 1000m+ vertical ascent.

day 2 will be a little longer, however saturday is the local blatt, 150+ riders doing 160km, described to me as the "donut" on steriods, and its not unusual to have several pro riders turn up. apparently the first 50km is a steady gradiant of 3-4% up hill then it gets crazy.

i have to say i'm a little intimidated, but thats fine its not the first time i've found my self i nthat kind of posistion.

anyway i was minus my power tap for the first ride as it was still MIA but i had my garmin so
here the details of day 1

the wonders of travel

SO i set off at 4.45am EST got through customs with only a minor hitch (was called back over the tannoy due to C02 in my baggage) boarded no problems after a terrible TGI fridays breakfast and promptly got told to get off the plane again due to mechanical issues.

missed my connection, got back on the same plane 30 minutes later and then tranfered through Dallas, 12 hours later i was In Tucson. Only minus my bike and baggage.

which thanksfully arrived about 24hrs later intact....thank heavens for bike boxes!!!


now i'm all about the cactus and snow capped mountians!!!

Tucson Training Camp.

Spent the afternoon running around after work getting last minute supplies to take with me to Arizona.

Bulk eNERGY gEL bottle

CO2 refills for my puncture kit.

Spare tubes.

Then spent the rest of the evening packing all my crap into my Bike box and luggage.

Next stop Toronto airport for 5.30am, change in Chicago, then in Tucson by lunch time.

Who knows might even get a ride in, providing all my gear arrives with me!!!!

anyway can't wait, and luckily i don't have to really. My alarm is set for 4.5hrs time at 4am.....

I'll keep you all posted...