What an OSSM day!!! Ryan and I had a great time today. The weather was gorgeous here in Tucson and we sure made the most of it.
We took our time getting ready this morning and headed over to the base of Mt. Lemmon around 1pm. I haven't ridden this highway for probably 20 years and it sure didn't let us down. What a beautiful ride. I knew the entire 25 miles was going to be asking a bit much from Ry so we were shooting for the first overlook which was about 8 miles up.
There's a little shopping center about 3 miles from the base of the climb so we parked the truck and left from there. These first 3 miles are uphill but only about 4 percent. It allows for a good warm up and with Ry today, it allowed for some good conversation. At about 2.5 miles, there's no question that the road starts upwards. I thought for sure Ryan was going to wear himself out, as he was already breathing hard and not looking too excited. As the road turned upward, I told Ry I was going to head up about a mile then turn around and go back to him. So I turned up the gas a little. I finally got the power wheel on my working so I wanted to see what kind of power I could maintain on a climb. Seeing as how I've never used a power tap before, I don't have a clue as to what is good and what isn't. I think I averaged somewhere around 245 watts (Lance Armstrong could ride at 500 watts). I maintained a heart rate of about 165 which was better than what I thought I could do, especially with what little I've been riding.
Anyway, I rode up for about a mile then turned around to go get Ry. Well once I turned around, I found that Ry was only about 50 yards behind me. Holy cow was I shocked. He was doing amazingly well. Not one complaint from him and not once did he ask to turn back. There were quite a few cyclist on the mountain and one guy that we later talked to while taking a break at the turnaround, said that he's been riding this mountain for 15 years and has never seen someone as young as Ry ride this strong on the climb. I know he's my kid, but I really was impressed. I'm thinking by next year he may be dropping his dad in his wake.
I took some good pictures with my camera but like a dork, I brought the wrong cord to download the pictures. Instead I'll post a few that I took with my phone.
It's getting late so I'm gonna crash too. Nighty night.
We took our time getting ready this morning and headed over to the base of Mt. Lemmon around 1pm. I haven't ridden this highway for probably 20 years and it sure didn't let us down. What a beautiful ride. I knew the entire 25 miles was going to be asking a bit much from Ry so we were shooting for the first overlook which was about 8 miles up.
There's a little shopping center about 3 miles from the base of the climb so we parked the truck and left from there. These first 3 miles are uphill but only about 4 percent. It allows for a good warm up and with Ry today, it allowed for some good conversation. At about 2.5 miles, there's no question that the road starts upwards. I thought for sure Ryan was going to wear himself out, as he was already breathing hard and not looking too excited. As the road turned upward, I told Ry I was going to head up about a mile then turn around and go back to him. So I turned up the gas a little. I finally got the power wheel on my working so I wanted to see what kind of power I could maintain on a climb. Seeing as how I've never used a power tap before, I don't have a clue as to what is good and what isn't. I think I averaged somewhere around 245 watts (Lance Armstrong could ride at 500 watts). I maintained a heart rate of about 165 which was better than what I thought I could do, especially with what little I've been riding.
Anyway, I rode up for about a mile then turned around to go get Ry. Well once I turned around, I found that Ry was only about 50 yards behind me. Holy cow was I shocked. He was doing amazingly well. Not one complaint from him and not once did he ask to turn back. There were quite a few cyclist on the mountain and one guy that we later talked to while taking a break at the turnaround, said that he's been riding this mountain for 15 years and has never seen someone as young as Ry ride this strong on the climb. I know he's my kid, but I really was impressed. I'm thinking by next year he may be dropping his dad in his wake.
I took some good pictures with my camera but like a dork, I brought the wrong cord to download the pictures. Instead I'll post a few that I took with my phone.
Almost to the 10th Mile
Now he's wore out.
Below are some of the cool things you can monitor with a Garmin. It's crazy what you can do with technology now. You will see that Ryan doesn't think too highly of going down hill. It's a completely psychological thing but he really hates going fast down hill. What he was shocked to see was that he pedaled faster on the flats coming back then he did coming down the mountain. Normally on a climb like this, you can hit around 40 mph coming down. Today that wasn't going to happen. I'm sure as Ryan grows and gets more used to the bike, he'll be flying down the mountain, but for now I'm happy just getting him to the bottom safely.
Click on Details at the bottom so see more info.
After getting back to the truck and getting cleaned up, we were ready to have some chow. There is this cool little place called Le Buzz which is a major cyclist hang out and the food was awesome!!! Sticking to my 4 week vegan plan, I had this sandwich called the Market Veggie and holy cow, it was soooo good. It had roasted sweet potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, onions, and peppers with a guacomole spread on whole grain toasted bread, and a side of fruit. This was the best sandwhich I've had in a long time. The picture doesn't do it justice (how pathetic is it that I took a picture of my food).
After lunch, we went over to Barnes and Noble. I've got a Kindle, but sometimes you just can't beat reading the real thing. Get this.....they had some kind of sale where if you bought 2 cd's, you got a 3rd one for free. Here's the 3 I got....... Harry Connick Jr, Chris Tomlin, and here's the kicker.....Justin Bieber. I know I'm pretty behind the times, but whether you like him or not, this kid can sing. I had never heard him before, then the other night as were channel surfing, we came across the Justin Bieber movie. I have to admit, I was pretty impressed. I know I know, I'm a 40 year old guy with a Justin Bieber CD. I have no excuse. It was humbling to walk to the checkout counter with the thing, but now I can officially be a closet Justin Bieber fan:) .
After my brave purchase, we were still full from lunch and it was too early to head back to the hotel, so we opted for a quick game of miniature golf. I learned that going to play golf on a Thursday evening is the time to go. We were one of about 3 other families in the whole place. After 18 holes, I came to the conclusion that neither of us will ever be golfers. We pretty much uhhhh Suck! I think I would have more success using a baseball bat. Either way though, it was a good time and great way to finish the evening.
Getting back to the hotel, Ryan wasn't in the room for 30 minutes before I noticed he was already fast asleep. The kid was wore out. What a great day. Tomorrow, though he doesn't know it yet, we're going to shoot for 20 miles up the mountain (that's if we can move in the morning).
It's getting late so I'm gonna crash too. Nighty night.
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