AZ Camp Day 5

This is one for the books. I don't know about the athletes, but I'm fried.

Today was a great day: the weather cooled off a bit more and we even had some arm warmer sightings; the athletes showed they are getting stronger every day; and the attitudes are remaining infectious.

We woke today to cloud cover and more normal temps for this time of year. The rest of the week in the 90s was tough. We rode out to the west side of town to climb over Gates Pass and hit McCain Loop and Saguaro National Park West. This route was ripe with rolling hills, but also with Saguaro Cactus and desert flora. It’s a tough ride, but a great one. Grasky Elite Brian Barrett joined us for the ride, and GEC’s Brian Nath and Bill Daniell helped lead the groups. This allowed all riders to have locals along, eliminating any possibility of getting lost.

Over 80 miles of steep rollers and the steep Gates Pass the group stayed strong. We cruised out to the climb, then up the east side of Gates. Leo wanted nothing more than to beat Kerri up the climb, so we devised a plan where I hold Kerri back and Leo took off. It started to work, but when I got the brunt of Kerri’s temper (wow!) I let her go. Sorry Leo, but I thought for a minute I’d get a right hook. Brian got up the climb first. We crushed it through McCain Loop, Saguaro Park, and McCain again, stopping only to take in the views of the Saguaro forest and fill bottles. Up the back side of Gates the ascent is only 2 miles, but gets to over 20 percent. I don’t know how, but Eric big-ringed it, so I now owe him Jamba Juice. We cruised back home, took a break, and began the always sad chore of packing up after a great week. We did pause the packing job to take a sunset run in Saguaro Park East. Always a good time.

Leo and Kerri were stronger than normal today, and were two of the three MVPs (they didn’t write their required blogs, so if you’re reading, I’m waiting!). It was a pure joy riding with them…mainly because I had some trouble and they helped me! Jim was the final MVP. His attitude all week was phenomenal. He just enjoyed being here and it showed.

Brian