DAY 6 - SV BACK TO TUCSON

What a beautiful day today. We had record lows upon arrival and experienced record highs prior to departure. Over a 50 degree swing in temperatures, which adds to the excitement of it all. Susie tells a better story, so I'll just post a few pictures and let you read on.

My recovery tray.

Pat Seely, Jon Batek, me, Rob Welsh, Andrew Puddy and Susie. 

Here's Susie pulling us through the home stretch.

Susie's Day 6: Yeehaw! 81 miles, baby! I rode with three knights in shining armor today: Randy, Jon and Rob. All three completed the Elite PAC Tour in 2010 -- 3,000 miles across the country in 19 days. You all know Randy is a total stud on the bike, but so are Jon and Rob. They pulled my sorry ass the whole way today and I couldn't have been more grateful. They were very kind and patient with me, and I couldn't have made it to Tucson without them. Well, I could have, but I'd still be out there! We averaged 18.5 mph with some nasty, long climbs. Every time we'd climb, they would say, "That's the last big climb, Jake. It's all downhill from here." Then I'd look ahead and see another hill. Poopyheads! "Oh sorry. Forgot about that climb. Seriously, this is the last one." Other than my cycling partners lying to me, it was a great ride with mostly favorable winds. No tummy issues today and my legs felt pretty good, with the help of my magic pills again. The funny thing is, when we pulled in to the parking lot, all I wanted to do was yell with joy, make a big deal, dance around a bit. But there was so much activity -- the support crew taking care of cyclists' need, cyclists tearing their bikes down and finding their luggage. No one really seemed to notice when anyone arrived. And when I mentioned to a few people that it's the farthest I've ridden in seven years and I've never ridden four days in a row in my life, they just sorta looked at me -- "Yeah, so what?" We pulled in, found our bike boxes and our luggage, and tore the bikes down to get shipped home. We met up with Rob, Jon, Bill and Steve for dinner at Chilis. Don't judge me -- it was the best we could do on short notice. The whole week was quite an adventure! To begin the week with record low temps and end with record high temps is just plain wonky. And what a great group of people. Lon and Susan really do a great job and it was very cool being in their presence. They are legends in the sport and I learned a lot this week. Not sure if I'll attend another PAC Tour in the future, but perhaps after the pain in my everything heals up, I may consider it.

DAY 5 - BISBEE, MCNEAL, TOMBSTONE

Susie's story pretty sums up the day, so I won't elaborate. One of my highlights was briefly riding with Bob Stapleton, former HTC Columbia owner.  Bob spoke last evening and showed a movie on the behind the scenes of the Tour de France from 2009. He came out to ride with a few former coworkers. They appeared to be having a great time!

Susie, me and Bob Stapleton

Lon, me, Susan, and Susie on top of Mule Pass.

Susie's Blizzard post-ride treat!

Susie's Day 5: 70 miles today. Hooray! That's the farthest I've ridden since 2005. It hurt, I bitched a fair amount, my body aches but I finished and I got my Blizzard treat, so it's all good. A lot of climbing today, but we took frequent breaks. After a three-mile climb and a nice decent, we stopped at the Bisbee Cafe for a smoothie. A few other riders from the group joined us, which was nice. By the time we got to Tombstone, I was really feeling the fast pace we were keeping. Randy is classic for telling me and everyone around us,"Oh we're going to ride real easy, you know, take our time, enjoy the scenery and get there when we get there." We head out and within five minutes, my speedometer reads 23 mph. Scenery my ass. All I can see is the white line on the road and Randy's back tire about six inches away from my front tire. Just trying to hang on to catch the draft. If I lose my concentration, I lose him and then I'm screwed. Beautiful day, warm and sunny. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at IHop and peanut butter cookies for desert. Eating and cycling, that's about it!

DAY 4 - SV TO PATAGONIA

Today's ride took us out through Ft Huachuca with a lot of rolling hills. It reminded me a lot of Back Rd, which runs parallel to route 11 (back in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley).  Though the accumulative climbing wasn't that impressive, it was hard work.

Susie working one of the short climbs out of the fort.

The peloton.

We would work our way back to Sonoita for lunch and return back along the same route as day one.  Susie has been riding stronger as the week rolls on.

Susie's Day 4: What a great day! The weather was gorgeous and with the help of magic pills called Sport Legs, I had energy to go 70 miles today. I had some minor tummy issues after lunch and I think it's because I don't normally eat a big ol' meal during a ride. Yesterday was a honkin' plate of spaghetti and turkey meatballs. It was delicious, but it sat like a lead balloon. And today was yummy grilled cheese, but within minutes of leaving the lunch spot, I was getting cramps. The road back to Sierra Vista was gently rolling and with me drafting off Randy, we were making good time. It felt great, but I wish my tummy felt better. I've decided to go with my usual bike food fare of Clif Shot Blocks and Nuun tablets that I put in the carbohydrate  drink. We stopped at Sun 'n Spokes, a cool bike shop near our hotel on the way home and I got what I needed to get me through the last two days. Bike shop, DQ for a blizzard and then a yummy dinner with friends at Vinny's pizza across the street. I've met the nicest people here -- everyone is so supportive and friendly. Looking forward to tomorrow -- I may actually be able to start the ride without toe warmers, jacket and skull cap!! Yeah! Sunscreen tomorrow, baby!

Day 3 - SIERRA VISTA (SV), BISBEE, TOMBSTONE, SV

I realize this is a vacation and enjoying some of the small towns that we are riding through makes it more enjoyable.  So our option for the day was to ride out to Bisbee and enjoy the town. We'd bypass riding out to Tombstone, since Sharon Stone wasn't shooting Tombstone 2 today.

Heading out of SV.  Front to back (Jon B., Susie and Rob W)

Departing company with Jon.  Bisbee is just over the mountains in the background.

It was a nice ride out to Bisbee.  We had breakfast at the Bisbee Breakfast Club and when I asked why they weren't tuned into the BBC on the radio I was given a strange look.  Oh well...

Rob and Susie outside of the Bisbee Breakfast Club.

We also hit the Bisbee Coffee House and the Bisbee Bike Shop and Brothel.  Need I explain more? A great day of riding and entertainment.

Ken Wallace's bike shop and brothel. One could spend an entire day in here.

Susie's Day 3: What a beautiful day! The start was a bit on the chilly side -- 35 degrees -- but it was sunny and not too much wind. We headed out with Rob leading the way and for me? We were cruising! Bisbee was a quaint little town with a lot of character. I got a cool hat and funky necklace at the bike shop. Then we climbed and climbed and climbed and I gasped and gasped and gasped. But I made it to the top -- 6,000 feet elevation. We finished up with a very fast pace into Sierra Vista. Faster than what I would have ridden, but you know -- riding with the boys and testosterone. Always super fun. I was very pleased to have finished the 60 miles and even more pleased to have been treated to a Reese's and Snickers DQ Blizzard upon our return to the hotel! Yum!

Weather grows increasingly warmer and staying dry.  It's going to feel like we're in Arizona soon.

Day 2 -- Sierra Vista to Tombstone

The morning forecast called for a 10% chance of ugly weather and would progressively get worst (an 80% chance of more of the same).  Rob Welsh, my roommate during the Elite PAC Tour in 2010, and I teamed up and headed out for Tombstone.  The weather was cooperative until we left Tombstone. A snow blizzard was passing through. We had just picked up another rider, Vaune. She had trouble seeing as we rode out of town and decided to turn back and get sagged in. Rob and I pushed on and eventually the blizzard let up to just a spit and mist. We just rode steady back to the hotel and arrived just in time for lunch.  Rob and I had a nice trek and shared old stories of our Endless Mountains and Elite Tour rides together. A little damp, but a nice day.

Mandatory bike washing, so we don't track dirt through the hotel.

Susie's Day 2: I decided to chill -- Ha! Excuse the pun -- for the day. After Randy returned from his excursion to Tombstone, we took a cab to do some shopping for warmer clothes. The weather dudes are calling for record lows tonight. Twenty-nine degrees so it'll be chilly willy at the start. We went to Sierra Cycles -- retail for motorcycles -- but they had what I needed: a balaclava, beenie, silk gloves and another pair of glove liners. I'll need it for at least the first three hours until it warms up a bit. We did some laundry, ordered a pizza and then met everyone else downstairs for a presentation from the owner of BikeTires.com.

Day 3 is supposed to be record cold temperatures.  Lon announced that the agenda would be pushed back 1 hour to allow temperatures to warm up a bit.  Starting temps should be mid to upper 30's, but DRY!!!!! Bring it on!

DAY 1 - TUCSON TO SIERRA VISTA

The day starts out packing up for the ride to Sierra Vista (81 miles).

Susie in from of the PAC Tour van.

Typically one would fly out to Arizona to escape the east coast winters for some nice, warm weather to ride.  Day 1 would prove to be the exact opposite. Virginia weather was nice and toasty in the 70s.  Tucson - 25 mph winds, 43 with a high of 51 and rain, sleet, hail and snow.  We had it all. Of the 50 riders that started only eight completed the ride.

After my second flat, Susie was getting cold, as I could not find the culprit that caused the puncture. She would end up sacrificing her ride by giving me her front wheel, so I could complete the ride.

I was the last one in. I would have another flat about 5 miles from the finish. The flat culprits were due to the deteriorating steel belts of blown tires on the side of the road.  Virtually impossible to see on the road and equally impossible to see in the tire, making flat repair a lengthy process. I noticed many others with flats along the way. I'm sure it was another record flat day and much of the reason why many riders had dropped.  Once you took your gloves off to change the tube, it became too difficult to rewarm the hands. Breaking and shifting would be extremely difficult, making riding dangerous.

The top photo below is near the summit (4,500' EL) heading to Sonoita.  You can't see it in the photo, but it is mixed rain and sleet.  The descent was a chilly one.

This is Mike at the second control. Notice the playtex gloves. Mine are green.

Gina at the Shell Country Store. 

48 miles into the ride is a Shell gas station in Sonoita.  It would be the warming grounds for wet, very cold riders. Gina brought us towels and directed us to everything that we needed. For making a mess of her store, she was really just too nice.

Susie's Day 1: After I gave my front wheel to Randy, I stayed in the sag vehicle and shivered to the first rest stop, about five miles away. We'd planned to fix his wheel so we both could continue, but it was chaos. Many people had decided to bail and wanted rides to Sierra Vista. It was cold, rainy and the winds were howling. Fixing the tire didn't seem like an option b/c the support crew (who is totally awesome) was just too busy tending to cold riders. It didn't take long for us to decide that I'd get driven to Sierra Vista and Randy would continue on.

At first this seemed like a yummy option, given the conditions, but it took several hours to get to the hotel, and I was wet and shivering. Once we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express, it was still several hours until our room would be readyl. I went to the little girls room, peeled off my wet clothes, put my rain jacket back on -- the only dry piece of clothing I had -- and wrapped a towel around my waist. It was a very fetching outfit, I must say, but at least I was dry and warm. I traipsed around for the next three hours in this get-up until our room was ready. Congrats to me for making it a whopping 16 miles in crazy ugly conditions!

Day 2 is calling for much of the same weather and there is talk of an extremely early happy hour in room 215. We'll see how things unfold.

ARRIVED IN TUCSON

Susie and I arrived in Tucson before noon.  Assembled the bikes.  And then met up with Connie, my RAAM massage therapist, and her husband, Rich.  They drove 2 hours from Gilbert, AZ to meet up with us.  Once a crew member always a crew member!  LOL!  Thanks Rich and Connie.  You really made our day.  We sat and had a wonderful chat and then had dinner at Pita Jungle.  Food was delicious (Mediterranean).  Rich and Connie were good sports about eating a little early (AARP time), so we could return for a PAC Tour meeting.  45 degrees and rain!  Perfect weather to start the tour.

PAC Tour THIS MONTH

I almost forgot how to post to my own blog.  I'm transitioning from ultra cycling to ultra running and have been having a rough time making the break, which will be necessary to be successful.  One of my last events will be Century Week of PAC Tour with Lon and Susan.  Their tag line is to make good cyclists better and that is exactly what they do.  Not only do you reap the benefits of their knowledge, but you also have the opportunity to learn from all of the other cyclists participating in the tour.

Though we've had an extremely mild winter in Virginia, I'm looking forward to some warm weather riding.

Wishing all the RAAM 2012 riders the very best.  Train, train, train and believe in yourself and your crew.