I had enough lights on my bike to fire up a Christmas tree. I wasn’t really sure why as who expects traffic at 4:30a.m. on a Saturday. Nonetheless I was flashing front-and-back as I pulled out of the drive and started working my way through the neighborhood. Less than a mile out of the neighborhood the first headlights peeked over an oncoming hill. In all I’d run across three cars before my turn heading toward downtown. Over the next five miles about 1/2 dozen cars lit up the darkness making me glad I took the time to get myself well lit. Fortunately less than two miles of the route did not have a designated bike lane; lights or not it’s a rather significant risk taking on roads with only a gravel shoulder and 40-45MPH posted speeds.
By the time I hit downtown to start the trek west a bit of daylight was breaking. I’m still adjusting to the very early daylight (daylight still occurring by 5:15/5:30a.m.) and early darkness. A smattering of individuals seemingly randomly placed throughout the downtown area; notably 3-4sitting with a coffee outside a small cafe/club (now at just around 5:15a.m.) on a weekend. I wondered if they were just getting up or hadn’t turned in yet from the prior night. I was surprised to not run up on another cyclist until close to 5:30; I would have thought on this popular road a few clubs/teams would have been out by now taking advantage of the (relatively) mild morning temps. Relative as it was already nearly 80 degrees.
An uneventful last half of the out-trip landed me at Saguaro a few minutes after the group run start. Turns out that was ok as I worked hard on the ride out and already running a bit of a high heart rate. I needed the few minutes to transition into running gear and lock up my bike. A solo run with NPR was fine by me; it meant I didn’t hold up anyone or finish at the back of the pack. This workout was intended as my long-workout prior to the upcoming Labor Day run.
It’ll be the third consecutive year I’ve done this event. As such it should be a non-event…at the same time it’ll also be the first timed event* since my was worked on six months ago. That wouldn’t be such a big deal–shouldn’t be such a big deal–but the course is brutal. Elbow to elbow on a relatively narrow park road that is eight miles of non-stop hills. It starts with a two-block long winding downhill (think Warhoop and Dog Leg–the downhill versions) and I’d not done any downhill work on my knee–prior to this training run.
I took it easy for the entire eight-mile loop run; soaking up the massive sunrise over the mountain peaks and admiring the greenery of the Rincon foothills. Miles 3.5 >> 6 are constant winding uphills and I actually yo-yo’d with a couple casual cyclists up the hills which helped burn through time.
At the finish I ran into a few of my (running) group who were still hanging out….one particular guy is injured and rode out with a friend. Chatted them up and they invited me along for the ride home with them. I took ’em up on it—it was nice to have some company after nearly 2.5 hours of working out solo already. The three of us took off at a conversational pace which was nice as it gave me a chance to meet Mark’s friend who turned out to be a Vet. Made for good conversation on the trip home. I clocked out for the morning with 54 miles on the bike and just over eight on the run. A decent effort in conditions there were uncomfortable from the start and become progressively more difficult after the sunrise. I’ll be ready for the Labor Day event—it just won’t be one that’ll result in an outcome anywhere near the last two years on the same course.