Rides in Phoenix, AZ?

zaskar

hey tom, i lived about 40 miles from mt clemens, i never rode
there but i can imagine how there would be no respect for
cyclist. here in tucson i have ran into a few idiots, one guy
at a red light in left turn lane got pissed because i got in front of him. he got real close to me and cussed me for so called cutting
him off, so i kicked a dent in his truck!

tomdavis80

lmao! I used to want to kill the bloody hell out of dem stupid motorists but usually, I just give them a half incredulous look that says, "IDIOT!" and a half pissed-off look that says "Get outta my way!" Also, I'm curious, are there any laws or regulations concerning throwing foreign objects at cyclists? I have had a soda can thrown at me twice but they hit my backpack and not me. I never say anything usually unless it's at a stop light and a driver's being stupid. Usually, the motorists are pretty generous to cyclists and as long as I respect the rules of the road as they apply to cyclists, they don't bother me. Usually, the things I tend to worry most about is when I'm on the left side of the street on my mountain bike in my daily commute to U of A for about a block and I hit a light and I gotta be careful about cars turning right there cause they usually don't see me.

It also helps that I'm deaf because cars passing me don't distract me or pull me off course because I'm completely focused on keeping where I'm going rather than worrying about whether a car will pass too close to me. It helps to develop this fearlessness by riding down 1st Ave, trust me, it's a bit nutty but it works.

Thomas Davis

zaskar

>>I used to want to kill the bloody hell out of dem stupid motorists but usually, I just give them a half incredulous look that says, "IDIOT!" and a half pissed-off look that says "Get outta my way!" Also, I'm curious, are there any laws or regulations concerning throwing foreign objects at cyclists?


there should be some kinda of a law about throwing @ cyclist
or anyone else! if that can got caught in the spokes you would
see a bad day. i find myself becoming more and more pissed
at motorist i find myself flipping them off as they go by me
passing so close the wind from there car gives me a push!
i get this a lot on oracle, the bike lane is there but they ride
line or cross it! since that idiot @ the light i now carry pepper
spray.

back to the el tour, it realy bums me out how i flatted out
i trained hard for that race. the gaba rides i was doing on
the weekends realy helped alot, the group i would finish
with was fast, our last ride we did 89 miles in 4 hours,
and i do by my self 66 miles in 3hours 15min so dammit
i should have won that race! it was my fault on the flats!


do you plan on riding EL TOUR Phoenix, OR THE TOUR of
Tucson Mountains? them 2 races are my next goals
looking at the times of Tour of Tucson mountains race
i dont have a chance for 1st or top 5 maybe top 10
i see that Rob Alverez has been dominating that race
i guess he has a coach and is amature pro.
since the EL TOUR i have changed my diet i bought a
book on endurance nutrition and it has helped alot!
not making me faster but 3 hour rides are more of a
breeze and recovery is a snap, i never thought eating
the right stuff would make such a differance.

tomdavis80

The flats you had probably cost you at least 10 minutes and I think you probably would have gotten in the top 5 at the lowest with a perfect day.

Don't succumb to the road rage issue and besides you're on a bike, the other guy's on a car, what's gonna happen to you? Your bike's dead and you're in the hospital, just keep your cool and keep on riding, if you get close calls, don't get pissed, instead just thank your lucky stars that you're still alive through all these close calls. Less stress that way I think.

I'm going to focus mostly on the Category races and I don't know how old you are but you could race in Cat. 5 and judging from your performance in the El Tour, you should be able to win or place in several events especially the time trials. Of course, that's not to say that you'd have to contend with me, hehe, but it depends on your age, you may want to race in the Masters 35+ if you're old enough and I think the competition would certainly be to your liking since many of them are veterans of cycling.

I plan on entering the Tucson Bicycle Classic Cat. 5 race in March. Let me know if you wanna ride with me on some days when I come back from vacation which will be around Jan. 10th or so and I'll be there to tear some road.

I don't know if my nutrition is poor, it consists of very carbohydrate heavy diet with plenty of spaghetti and the occasional pizza and usually oatmeal and such for breakfast. I feel that I need to eat more veggies and fruits than I do now though.

Thomas Davis

zaskar

your right i do need to keep my kool, maybe putting the bike
down for a few days may help. where are you getting the inside
info on the races? i would be more then interested, i hear a about
cat races but thats all i dont see them advertised.

when you get back e mail me xtrmountbiker@comcast.net
we can ride together, i would love to find a partner who
wants to ride a century as fast as we can take turns pulling,
hell maybe we can team up for next years EL TOUR.
sounds like your on the right track with your diet, just as
long as your carbs are complex and stay away from empty
calori foods, are you back in mich now for vacation?
it's been in the 50's here i hate to ride in the cold, yea 50s
is cold to me, i love to ride on them hot over 100 days lol.

wildearth2001

I am from Tucson where we have plently of nice climbs (Gates Pass, Mt Lemmon, Mt Graham and Kitt Peak, just to name the big ones) but does anybody know of any good climbs other than South Mountain near the phoenix area? The closer to 101/Shea the better, but If you know any anywhere in the area please tell me. I am a fit young rider looking for some nice challenges when I am up in the valley (about one weekend a month, and that doesnt include trips for races). Thanks

SLS

Sorry I haven't tried this one yet - but I hear the one at Bartlet Lake is a good one (It could be Lake Pleasant but I am sure it is Bartlett)
You could ride the Tour de Phoenix route found on www.PBAA.com
, or ride with the Bicycle Ranch on Saturday (somewhat hilly) www.bicycleranch.com located @ 101 & Frank Lloyd Wright. If all else fails ride with them on one Saturday & some of the riders that live in that area will be able to give you some other good areas to ride. Hope this helps

Steve Meachum

I live in Ahwatukee but I only ride trails. If you decide to give off road a try I'm always looking for someone to ride with.
I don,t check in here much so if you want to beat up on an old man you can reach me at smeachum@qwest.net

larry barr

SLS is correct, Bartlett Lake makes for some good climbing. It is not Mt. Lemon, but still very good. The Bicycle Ranch ride goes up there and is a good group to ride with.

Another good direction to head is out the Beeline towards Payson or the road to Saguaro Lake, which is off the Beeline. There is a 16% grade in Fountain Hills that is always fun. I think the name of the road is Golden Eagle. It is right off Palisades Rd.

Hope this helps.

__________________
Remember, pain is just fear leaving your body.

wildearth2001

Yeah, I found that one by fountain hills quite by accident. I knew that there were a few rollers over there and I went for a ride. I hit that one and a few others around it. Not terribly long but if you make a nice loop thru the area and do some repeats, it could make for a good workout. Thanks, I will have to check those ones by bartlett out. I knew about Humbolt but that dirt section to the base turns me away, but I just looked on a topo of bartlett and it looks like a nice one, and the USPS team rode thru there back in January-February and also last spring, so it has to at least be a nice ride, if nothing else.

larry barr

A little farther out is the ride to Canyon Lake. The ride is a traditional two lane mountain road with switchbacks climbing up. I would recommend riding early so that you have fewer cars to deal with. The ride is challenging and the scenery is spectacular.

__________________
Remember, pain is just fear leaving your body.

shming123

i agree that the AZ weather is awesome. I have been out there once, and compared to Southern Wisconsin here, that is awesome. The humidity here is close to 100% in the summer, and when it is 85 degrees or hotter, it is very hot and muggy. Anyways, i am going to transfer colleges to Phoenix this year. I can't wait to bike and not have to worry about rain as much! and snow, etc..

sirtainty

hey i am thinking of moving to tucson for a while to do some training--road bike. how are the roads there? how do you deal with the heat? i am from maine, where it is impossible to cycle now(winter). you can get a few days in here and there...i laughed when a person said that 45 degrees was too cold for cycling. are you kidding me? 35 degrees is NICE in maine this time of year by comparison. try 7 degrees sometime. the problem is the snow, the bitter cold days, the lack of road space. pretty hard to do 400 a week in this crap. tucson HAS to be better than this.

wildearth2001

The roads here are great. The NW side of town, as well as the E side (near MT Lemmon and Sabino Canyon area) all have great roads to ride on, many are hilly. Once outside of town the roads are great in all directions. You can take SR-83 south toward sonoita (very hilly). There are many great rides on the far west side of town, in and around Saguaro National Park West. Avra Valley (extreme NW) has some nice road that are very flat. ANother option are the State Highway system roads north of town. Basically what I am saying is you wont be disapointed, especially if you like to go on longer rides. If you like climbing we have plenty of long climbs in the area. The heat is tricky, and the sun is worse. The best way to deal with it is to get up and start riding early, before the sun rises (it rises around 5:30am so leave around 5am) and be back before it tops over 100degrees (usually be back home or car by 9:30). Plenty of water, sunscreen and sometimes even a lose fitting long sleeve coolmax jersey to protect from the sun.