Tanning Bed
Kincaid Park was full of the usual crowd. It was a warm, 25 degree March day under the unveiled Alaska sun. The top layer of snow was slowing yielding to the rising ambient temperatures making my ski session a little dicey at times. Most of the trail was still well-groomed, though, and 12k went by pretty quickly. As I unclipped and made my way back to my car, a 737 flew just overhead, taking off from Ted Stevens a few miles away, just like I'd be doing the next evening.
As soon as I saw that first Joshua tree and the warm, Arizona breeze hugged my body with a happy welcome, I couldn't wait to get my bike back out and enjoy some long, long overdue time in the saddle on roads far away from the likes of ice and snow.
The US Military Endurance Sports team has been growing quickly over the last 12 months and this year's training camp brought us to the southwest, to the land of cactus and sand. After a meeting Sunday evening, the 60 or so riders hailing from all over the country made their way to the DoubleTree's spacious hotel rooms in an attempt to adjust to the new time zone. I'd only ever known one other team member since joining over a year ago so I was very happy to have the chance to finally mingle in a medium other than facebook.
There would be four groups riding the loop today and after some deliberation, I opted for the A group. If for no other reason, the B group was leaving at 9:30 instead of 10 and I didn't feel like waiting an extra half hour, so...
Once we navigated over some sun-baked neighborhood roads, we made our way out of town and headed west. The day's route was flat and fast, a chance to make sure our steeds were ready and able to roll after all that travel before heading to the hills later this week. Knowing I'd have some adjustments to make in my nutrition compared with riding on snow, I had to make a concerted effort to drink plenty and often. The follow car was a huge help, replete with water and Honey Stinger products.
After some mildly rolling terrain, we passed over I-17 and cruised on long flat roads, taking turns defying headwinds, desert mountains far off to the front and sides. We refueled once more at a gas station before crossing I-10 and heading north for home. Miles passed quickly by and we were back at the hotel in a quick 3.5 hours.
My pale, arctic skin, white as the snow I left behind, ended up not faring too well under this sun. After a cool splash in the pool, I noticed I had definitely missed some spots with my spf 50, but maybe the burn was a long time coming anyway.
Bring on the hills.
As soon as I saw that first Joshua tree and the warm, Arizona breeze hugged my body with a happy welcome, I couldn't wait to get my bike back out and enjoy some long, long overdue time in the saddle on roads far away from the likes of ice and snow.
The US Military Endurance Sports team has been growing quickly over the last 12 months and this year's training camp brought us to the southwest, to the land of cactus and sand. After a meeting Sunday evening, the 60 or so riders hailing from all over the country made their way to the DoubleTree's spacious hotel rooms in an attempt to adjust to the new time zone. I'd only ever known one other team member since joining over a year ago so I was very happy to have the chance to finally mingle in a medium other than facebook.
There would be four groups riding the loop today and after some deliberation, I opted for the A group. If for no other reason, the B group was leaving at 9:30 instead of 10 and I didn't feel like waiting an extra half hour, so...
Once we navigated over some sun-baked neighborhood roads, we made our way out of town and headed west. The day's route was flat and fast, a chance to make sure our steeds were ready and able to roll after all that travel before heading to the hills later this week. Knowing I'd have some adjustments to make in my nutrition compared with riding on snow, I had to make a concerted effort to drink plenty and often. The follow car was a huge help, replete with water and Honey Stinger products.
After some mildly rolling terrain, we passed over I-17 and cruised on long flat roads, taking turns defying headwinds, desert mountains far off to the front and sides. We refueled once more at a gas station before crossing I-10 and heading north for home. Miles passed quickly by and we were back at the hotel in a quick 3.5 hours.
My pale, arctic skin, white as the snow I left behind, ended up not faring too well under this sun. After a cool splash in the pool, I noticed I had definitely missed some spots with my spf 50, but maybe the burn was a long time coming anyway.
Bring on the hills.
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