Day 4 MVP Scott T

Mt. Lemon (AKA The big hill)

With our legs sufficiently tenderized from four days of 4-hour hill rides, mountain trail runs, and long swim workouts (oh, and let's not forget strength training with plyometrics), we launched our assault on Mt. Lemon. The Mt. Lemon ride is 26 miles of up, climbing over 7000 ft. in elevation, on a beautiful winding road that takes you from the parched desert of Tucson, through narrow rocky canyons, up into lush evergreen forest and snow. The winter time road ends at the ski area, however, Mike (AKA The Mayor) ducked under the gate at the ski area and road the additional 1.5 miles to the radio towers. We hear he has photos to prove it, but nobody was paying much attention, because we were all too busy eating the cow patty sized cookies at the Cookie Cabin, just down the road from the ski area.

I now know that the main motivation for riding Mt. Lemon is not for the workout of climbing for 2:15 hrs, but for the 0:45 of descending. What a rush it is to get into a tuck and roll down the road at 40+ mph and not have to hit your brakes. The road is so smooth and the curves are gentle enough that you can just let it rip. Where else can you do this in early March?! It has been the best day of the camp for me.

Scott Tucker