Off-season training: Arizona cruisin’
On Wednesday I found myself at JFK, loitering in Terminal 2 and sipping an overpriced coffee. I’d decided to take advantage of some unexpected time off and head down here, to Tempe, Ariz., to hang with my buddy Dave and my uncle for the better part of December. I figured why not take my road bike with me and get my sorry ass in some kind of shape for the new year.
So after running around Manhattan and Brooklyn most of Tuesday morning, frantically packing and lugging around a bike case in the subway, I checked in and was soon Phoenix-bound, and happy to get out of the Big Apple for an end-of-year sojourn.
Last time I was down in this neck was in February, when I stupidly attempted to do some mountain biking on some mountains that were clearly not meant for inexperienced mountain bikers like me. On the second day of my weeklong stay I went up and over the bars as I was going downhill and over some big rocks, and I landed on my knee. That hurt, and it was a bloody scene. My friend had actually suggested the trail, thinking it was a lot less intense and “technical” than it was. So quickly ended my little scheme to sneak in a good week’s training in the sunny environs of greater Phoenix before heading back to frigid NYC. Brilliant.
On a previous trip I tried extreme MTB, with sad results.
This time I’m sticking to my much more familiar road bike and, well, roads. Since I didn’t ride or race the previous, um, eight seasons before 2009, I can just keep riding and cross-training. I’ve taken on a cycling coach for the first time, too, and he tells me I don’t have to worry about what seasoned veterans of the sport must consider: wearing themselves out and taking the necessary time off from year-round training to rest and recharge.
To boot, I just finished up a pretty full season of cyclocross racing, and so I enter the off-season in okay shape. When I was here last I was almost 200 pounds; some 10 months later I’m now 180. I’m hoping to shed some more weight this off-season. And big miles in the Copper State should get me started right. I’m also generally unimpressed with the restaurants in the Phoenix area, so I’m eating in a lot, and that should help my cause.
There are tons of amazing rides you can do around here, so I’m spoiled with options. You can go climbing one day, spinning on the flat roads another, or mix it up, all in pretty warm temps. This week the highs are about 70 degrees F, or close to it, though the locals are complaining about the “cold.” Even if it drops closer to 60 and it rains a bit in December, it still beats riding in real cold.
As I just got here a couple of days ago I’ve ridden only once so far: a nice 1.5-hour recovery ride from Tempe to Mesa along University Drive and past all the colorfully dressed school-spirited ASU students. Today I’m heading to South Mountain for some climbing; tomorrow I’m fixing to do a group ride.
Here’s to a more fruitful off-season—and fewer (or no) wipeouts.
