Tucson sun!

// January 6th, 2009 // pz racing

Just back to windy Boulder after a ten day stint in Tucson where I put in some great rides and increased the fitness. Wasn’t quite exactly sure how the legs were going to be after a winter of riding in the cold and mixing in some xc skiing. Turns out that the legs are pretty good. Put in some long days on the bike and was able to mix in a good amount of intensity as well. Riding in shorts and a jersey every day was a huge motivator! Here is a picture from one of my solo rides out west of town. I’m sure a few of you will recognize this road as the west portion of ”the big square”. If you look closely you can see the road trailing off into the mountains in the distance. tucson Met up with Saul Raisin and rode to the top of Mt Lemmon with him and the Armed Forces cycling team. The team is made up of cadets who are still very much cadets even while riding. When their CO would ask them a question it always included a “Sir, yes Sir”. So a great liesurely ride up Lemmon with the cadets only to have the ride end in disappointment. Stopped off at the Mt Lemmon Cafe for a slice of pie, pie that I rememeber as being beyond comparison. Pie worthy of a 25 mile climb up a mountain for. Unfortunately the pie is now horrible, not sure what has happened in the last couple of years but the once famous pie is now no better than a Safeway pie off the shelf. Oh, and it costs $8 a slice!

Stretched the legs on the Shootout, always a good fitness indicator. Managed to get off the front with Kirk Carlsen and Curtis Gunn and stayed away from a quick peloton led by a very strong duo of Jon Chodroff and Chad Beyer. Gunn led me out in true teammate style and I took my first Shootout victory of 09!

Back in Boulder now and missing the warmth of Tucson! Always good to be home though and I am enjoying a few easy days to let the last hard weeks training settle in.

6 Responses to “Tucson sun!”

Captain Chaos says:

January 7, 2009 at 8:07 am

Come Phil, CO has the Chinock Winds to keep it warm!

Good luck in 2009!
someone who wants to know says:

January 8, 2009 at 10:22 am

“true teammate style”…? Who you riding for!?! Inquiring minds wants… err… need to know!
Flying Scotsman says:

January 11, 2009 at 4:32 pm

Hey Phil.

Great to see you blogging on the interwebs again… It’s been a while! Seems like everyone has been coming over to Hawaii this winter.. The one and only Flying Hawaiian was out here for a bit.. More recently, Tom Danielson, Lance Armstrong, and Ryder Hesjedal were here (He broke Vaughters record for Haleakala… 2:32! 349w avg. Intense.
Chris says:

January 12, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Phil, the owner of the Mt. Lemmon cafe died. Yes, it is sad but true that place is not longer what it once was. And the service is absolutely horrible. I’ve sworn them off.

For some who wants to know….

The team, which combines the forces of the Australian Fly V squad and the American Successful Living team, will be a very considerable force on the road this year:

Hayden Brooks (AUS)
Jonathan Cantwell
Scott Davis
Ben Day
David Kemp
Benjamin King
Bernard Sulzberger
Steven George (USA)
Phil Zajicek
Michael Grabinger
Curtis Gunn
Alessandro Bazzana (ITA)
Charles Dionne (CAN)

3 winners of El Tour de Tucson. How cool is that?
Simone says:

January 27, 2009 at 8:20 am

You American man are strong. The legs of yous make my mind think wowsaree. You strong for white rider. I root you this years at the races. I fan of you now for long time.

Buenos suerte mi amore
Snowy Boston says:

January 27, 2009 at 7:11 pm

Phil. I bet you’re missing Boston this time of year. Glad to hear you are feeling better. Email N or I and say hola!