A Reason to AZ

The biggest difference in my season last year was adding 2 base periods to my training. Before hiring a coach I knew nothing of the base period and had a hard time understanding the big hours for short races. After the completion of 2 base periods I saw a dramatic improvement in my fitness and ability to finish races which lasted throughout the year. The year before I had start power but could never finish without a cramp or decline in power. This past year I had my same start power and made it much further into races. With so much success with base the plan was to build on last years program. After looking back on the training log, even though an improvement, last year's hours were sporadic and I still achieved the purpose. "The Plan" is my reason for 26 days in AZ this year. To build on my program from last year and not allow anything to get in the way of achieving it. Sure it can be done from home but 20 hour weeks with 40 hour work weeks and unpredictable weather is, well...unpredictable. I have the fabulous support of my employer, sponsors, and family to do 3 weeks in AZ so why not give it a go. I'm on my way home now and the trip was a success. The brief stats are 70+ hours, >1,000 miles, >70,000 vertical feet, and all via the MTB. All the data is everything I was looking for and adds up to my largest month on recorded and I still have one week to add to make it a complete 4 weeks.

The training started in Phoenix where I became very familiar with the Trail 100 and the canal. In addition, in the Phoenix area I did McDowell Mtn and South Mtn both with Danny Hill. I also rode plenty of the pavement with the knobbies left on. The tread on my Bontrager 29.3 can prove that. On the other hand my Maxxis Ikon shows little wear. Maxxis has always been my tire of choice and this is good validation. By the end of my trip I would have made a darn good GPS. From Phoenix I headed North to Black Canyon City where I rode the most continuous single track trail I've ever ridden. It's a 25 mile out and back trail, all single track and all up and down the mountains. I joined Chris Peariso and Ryan Krayer for the ride. Chris killed the first half of the out and Ryan used all his gas on the second half. That left me with no gas for the 25 mile return. They dragged me a long which ended up being one of the best single track rides I've been a part of. From Black Canyon I went back South for a few days until I returned North to Prescott. I waited to go to Prescott until the 20 inches of snow they received cleared. I was hosted by the friendliest team on the circuit, Adventure 212 and the Peariso's. They had a condo at the base of all the trails in Prescott. These trails were fairly similar to Black Canyon as they are a lot of single track along the mountains. Chris and I smashed a 4 1/2 hour day with 7,700 feet of climbing in 43 miles. That hit us hard enough where we both were zombies on the next day's ride. We could not resist the trails though and still managed 3:20 with 6,000 feet in 33 miles. Even if it included a 30 min nap and complain session on the sturdiest picnic table known to man. After rides of those magnitudes all that consumes the mind is food. We had our fair share and be even got questioned twice in the same day by 2 different severs if we knew how much food we were ordering. Our response with a smile, "We know. We are hungry." The Pearsios bolted town and I stayed for a morning ride via the winding roads from Prescott Valley to Jerome. I may have just become the most beautiful ride I've done. The roads are smooth and winding up one side and down the red rock faced hills of the other, all leading to the Ghost Mining town of Jerome. I found a fabulous place for Espresso and back to Prescott Valley. Thank you Trish Riutta for that suggestion. My 2nd to last ride I mounted the Shwalbe Marathons and did the BOS Road group ride. A fast group ride in Scottsdale. I received quite a few comments about rolling up on a MTB bike but the chattering stopped when I made the break to the first rendezvous point. I quickly became known for 3 things. The guy from the same town of the fastest man in the Valley, Eric Marcotte, the MTB who survived the group, and the guy who made everyone hungry by my Butter Burger kit. The ride consists of two attack points. I made the first but could not make the 2nd. A good and fast ride. A good way to end the camp. A side note: I didn't like how the group thought they owned the road. The group consistently blew stop signs, rode 3-4 wide, and cut in front of cars. With moves like that I can understand the impatience of drivers. Im a believer we deserve the road just as much as motorist but because we are a group of 30 doesn't mean we own it. I hope they work on that problem. 

My iPad will not allow me to upload pictures so come back in a few days where I will have plenty to share. In the mean time it is an off day for travel and then back to work and then finishing off the final 2 weeks of base back home. With the bulk of this period in I hope I can grudge through the spring weather and call 2012 base a success.