I am writing this on my way back to cold weather from sunny Tucson after a week of fantastic riding with the US Military Endurance Sports Team at their annual training camp.  The camp was top notch all around with outstanding organization and 6 days of fully supported rides for over 50 riders on some of Tucson’s most iconic routes including, Madera Canyon, Kitt Peak, Gate’s Pass, Saguaro National Monument and of course the 26 mille climb up Mt. Lemmon.  The camp was open to all US Military Endurance Sports (USMES) members and their families and participants ranged from elite level cyclists and triathletes, to accomplished adaptive athletes to recreational riders and beginners.  In its first year of supporting such a large crowd, they did an excellent job ensuring there was something for everyone.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was fortunate to be picked up to be the team director for the USMES Elite Cycling Team for 2014.  After a few weeks of conversing with the 6 selected elite road riders plus our sole mountain biker via social media, email and phone, last week was my first opportunity to meet the team in person and ride and talk with them face to face.  Fortunately I wasn’t ”Catfished” and the positive online vibe I got was indeed supported in person.  It’s a great crew with a lot of potential and I look forward to the season ahead working with all of them.

In addition to “team building” and bonding with the riders as the elite director, I was also in charge of leading the “A” group on each of the day’s rides which ranged from 12-20 riders each day depending on the course.  While I was born in Tucson and was familiar with the area, I actually had seen very little of it by bicycle and was a bit nervous as I didn’t 100% know all the routes.  In addition, anytime you get 10-20 elite level cyclists and triathletes in a group, there is bound to be a little bit of flexing of muscles.  Given this, I had some concern about trying to keep the group together and safe, but allow folks to have fun by dropping the hammer a little at the same time.  In the end, armed with some .gpx files, a stern word here and there (the occasional “GET OUT OF THE ROAD!” was required at water stops), and help from others with local knowledge, we were able to navigate through without a hitch (ok except for that one wrong turn…) and strike a nice balance between keeping the group together and allowing a few fireworks to fly in the right places.  Thanks to all who helped keep things in check and for all the rider’s understanding and cooperation.

It was also great to finally meet many of the club members and hear about their backgrounds and stories.  Of particular interest was the adaptive athletes, talk about an impressive bunch.  Watching them climb every day was absolutely amazing.  Climbing Mt Lemmon on a bike took on average about 1:40 to 2:15 of sustained effort, imagine, 9 hrs on a hand cycle scaling Mt Lemmon, absolutely incredible.  One of the most memorable quotes all week was the very man who accomplished that, Scott Wells, who said “You should aspire to inspire before you expire.”  Great words to live by and a great week.  If you spent any time in the military, guard, reserve or active and have any interest in endurance sports, I highly recommend signing up for the club and joining us at camp next year, more info is at www.usmes.org  Until next time.

As I somewhat expected, coming up with content and motivation to keep a blog updated regularly is more challenging than it may seem.  In addition, winter isn’t exactly a bastion of inspirational anecdotes, so I am taking the easy route and going with a general update.

In my defense, it HAS been a busy several weeks.  It started off with a trip I had been planning since last November.  I first travelled to Santa Fe New Mexico to attend the USA Triathlon Coaching clinic in order to improve my formal certifications.  To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from the 2 days of lectures.  From my government service, I have found training can sometimes, well, be “challenging” in terms of how interesting it is.  In my normal, “hope for the best, expect the worst and take what comes” attitude, I was prepared for it to be a needed box to check on the way to certification.  However, I was pleasantly surprised, it was absolutely fantastic.  All of the speakers and topics were relevant and excellent in addition to great offline discussion with many of the participants.  It was great learning new things and validating hunches and directions you were already heading in.  It was well worth the time and investment, and I look to put the experience to great use in working with all of my clients regardless of discipline.

From Santa Fe, I moved on to Tucson and eventually to my folk’s place outside of Tombstone AZ to spend 10 days visiting my parents and riding on the relatively lightly traveled roads of Southeastern AZ.  Who knew I would have picked the perfect sweet spot for weather.  As the east coast was entrenched against the assault of multiple snow and ice storms, I was fortunate enough to enjoy consistent 70-80 degree days and light winds, unseasonably comfortable even for AZ.  Rides often went by seeing on average 1 or 2 cars an HOUR, absolutely amazing and charmed trip, so grateful for the good luck.

With a solid block of training in, and one last batch of my dad’s secret taco recipe in my belly, I was off again to Phoenix for a visit to the FASTER bicycle shop and wind tunnel.  As an athlete and coach, I am always interested in new and different techniques in all aspects of endurance sports and how they are applied.  So I spent an afternoon there going through their fit and wind tunnel process to learn what I could.  It was extremely fascinating and a great experience, look for some additional info in an upcoming post.

I settled in Phoenix for 3 more days to attend the USA Cycling Level 2 Coaching Clinic.  Another outstanding use of time and resources.  The USA Cycling class had a different format than the USA Tri one, but was equally if not more enjoyable with a mix of both on the bike skills development (aimed at how to instruct other riders) and lectures on a variety of topics.  The group was small and vocal, with coaches of all levels sharing their collective experiences.  In addition, the instructors were well spoken and entertaining.  Again, the 10 hr days flew by and it was another rewarding experience.

Finally, as I write this, I am once again on a plane headed west.  I was fortunate to be offered a position as Team Director for the US Military Endurance Sports elite cycling team and am traveling to Tucson for the larger club’s annual training Camp.  USMES is a non profit organization that essentially establishes an nationwide club/community for endurance sports athletes with military ties (plug alert, more info at www.usmes.org)  One of the main purposes of the elite team is to give active duty and reserve Cat 1 cyclists exposure to national level events and learn the ropes as they step up from regional and local competition.  As I came up as a cyclist I felt I had to learn a lot on my own so its great to be able to share some of my hard lessons learned (some from doing it right, and some from doing it wrong) with a new crop of riders so they can hopefully get “there” sooner.

All in all, not a bad winter, looking forward to consistently good weather and to see how my client’s winter training pays off!  Thanks for reading if you made it this far.