Saturday , shoot out day! Wrong group , but looks like a Shoot Out !
Scramble to get ready a little earlier this morning , thank god for instant Country Choice Organic oatmeal !
This camp would not run if it was not for this Girl!!
Saddle up and roll down the hills to catch the ride , at least we thought we would ! We see the group, great ! Hum little small for the normal shoot out ??? It was about 25 riders that had missed the actual ride that had left @ 7.00 am and not 7.30 am as we all thought.
No Pictures , it was tooo fast to get the camera out of my pocket !
Oh well, we rode it anyway and there was plenty of action . The pace picked up pretty good after we got on Mission Rd and past the last traffic light , so no different from the real one . The camp boys threw it down and put the hurt on the locals , so it was fun and we all had a good time. We did the shorter version and after getting back to Starbucks we were all laughing about it over coffees ! Get er done , Kip kept saying !
Last day for some guys of the first week, so it was beer and pizza night ! A great ending to a great week !
Now it was time for airport pickups and drop offs again and a new crew stared to trickle in !Time to do it all over again ,week # 2 ready to go !
Some new guys on the couch !Roger
The roads were clear and no restrictions , sounded like it we would be getting the " Worlds Largest cookie " after all.
Drove to Saguro East again , skipped the roller coaster loop because our plan to was to go slow , but make it up to the top , so no wasting time on anything else.
Nice steady tempo and the miles was ticking off nicely , but the snow kept getting higher and higher on the side of the roads .The group got a little smaller , but a few of us kept going , after two hours we were at Ski Valley ( too bad we had no skis) the conditions were great and the mountain was packed with people enjoying the snow and the perfect weather.
Rolled down to Summer Haven and it was Time !! The $ 5.00 Giant cookie , calories for us to last for a week. After finishing that meal we now had to climb up to get down , weird! Legs were like tree trunks and now it was cold . We descended like rocks and flew like jets down the mountain . It warmed up dramatically and by the time we were back at the car it was hot . I was happy the guys made it up , Mt Lemmon has always been the staple of the camps all these years I have been out here . An another Pro day , we even saw a few pros on the climb , so this is the training grounds for the best , no doubt.
It is Friday night , the "shoot out " group ride in the AM !! The finally of the first week!
This ride is traditionally very windy on the way out to the actual climb , a few Coyotes and a never ending false flat made the ride out pretty challenging ! A few drills up the 12 mile climb and a little digging and pushing the limit was the theme of the day . Very impressive by the group of 11 riders . Coming back down was a thrill for most guys and we were flying , we do not have mountains like this on the East Coast. 
Nice stops at the "road kill circle K " on way out and same place again on the way back , great motivation to keep it rolling .
After slugging it for 57 miles we reached the Top!
Of course the day was not done . Back to Bill Peterson for a couple of follow ups with the guys .
Bill is straightening out Ian here , not an easy task ! A great day in the saddle once again !
We have to do a little drive to the start, Benson that is . Park at 
After we stuffed our "pie holes " with a little pie , it was just about doing the whole thing in reverse , simple ! Now it was slightly down hill and some places tail wind , we had a blast and made it back flying for the most part , " a good testing for the "Glue" , nobody came unglued and with a little suffering we were back at 
Notice the stack on this one , Louis turn out to be an 
Everybody were riding strong and the group stayed in tact for the most part of the 14 uphill miles . We hit some snow and slush at about 5000 feet , so the roads were wet and we were a little concerned about coming back down ! At the windy point was the end , road closed and plenty of snow ! Mark G's wife was a trooper and drove up to meet us with some Cokes , snacks and some warm clothes for the ride down . A life saver and appreciated by all of us . The roads were actually almost melted by the time we rolled back down, but a little wet for sure ! It warmed up quickly and the ride back to the park with a couple attacks thrown down and one more loop in the park now in shorts and lighter clothing was a nice way to finish of the day !! 4.15 hours on the bike , not bad !
Little check up with the boys! Bill really knows his stuff and explains everything as he goes along!
As I said before , I wanted to make this camp very Pro like and Bill is the man with with some incredible experience in fitting and foot bed building with 
Some guys will need a little more adjustment than others , but Bill will take care of it , no doubt there!
Thanks Bill, everyone loved the 
Time flies and a quick overview of the day and it is time to hit the hay !! Big day tomorrow , start in Benson and ride to Tombstone ( OK Coral) and then onto 
Well , the weather Gods were not on our side today for sure ! We kind ot though we would have a window in the morning and escape the rain , so we loaded up the bikes and drove up RT 77 a little ways to beat some traffic and parked in Ora Valley , still not raining , but not looking good either
The ride is a simple out and back , nice wide shoulder , but a slight incline at a 2600 feet start and by we got to Oracle we were at 4500 feet , soaking wet, freezing cold and 4 flats . After huddling around in Circle K for 20 mins we were ready to back out and get hammered by some nasty head wind and numbing freezing rain , are we in AZ ?????
The group was tough as nails and we grinded it back to the car , if someone had stopped and offered us a ride back , I would have considered the option , but since I am the captain I guess , I would be the last man to abandon ship !! Made it back and it got warmer and of course stopped raining by the time we had the bikes back on the roof .
Some lunch and time to chill , well almost everyone ! Kyle spent the afternoon washing the bikes and Kim cooking and washing clothes. The best part was the sprint relay XC skiing race at the Olympics , what a race !! Little R&R for the team and computer time and before we knew it , it was dinner time! Fish with oven roasted potatoes and the greens of course , some good eat'n !!
After dinner , mine and Kyle ' s presentation to welcome everybody and get as much detail about what his camp is all about . Practical advice for rides and some house rules, but also a more scientific approach to the time spent here. Nutritional tracking , power and HR files analyses daily and a lot information , but I am sure it will all make sense by the time the week is over .
Good stuff, bed time , well I have to pick up another bed for me and Kim before that will be a reality, nobody said it would be a vacation -:)
We just hit the Arkansas border, my wife is from here , so I have been here a few times before did a few races even back in the day .Too bad we did not have time to stop by Grace Land in Memphis , but I am sure Elvis did not mind. Yes Memphis not Egypt!
This is a long drive , about 2500 miles and we only covered 1137 so far so we have to keep moving , well a quick stop at Cracker Barrel for some pancakes !!
We arrived at Tucson at 6.00 pm , all in one piece and no trouble with really anything ! First night in Days INNNNN , right at the Speedway and RT 10 , nice for a short ride over in the morning to the" Shoot Out ", the world famous group ride !! We get our bikes out of the trailer and get some supermarket dinner and that is pretty much it for that day , very tired after the drive and just need some sleeeep!!!
The drive way is like climbing a wall, but we managed to get up there with the trailer , amazing house !
After 3 hours of unloading and sorting out the bikes and god knows what , the first clients starts showing up . I go and pick up my wife Kim from the airport and then do some more food shopping , there will be a lot eat'n and riding the next 3 weeks! Still working all night and finally have dinner at about 10.00 pm and we are open for business ! Mark and Lindy from England and Mark G and Pam from New England all went for Mexican and now everybody start to get exited to get on their bikes and do some riding !!
