02.16.10 -Tucson Winter Training Camp - Blog Entry #2 – Feb 16, 2010

By: MTB Athlete Evan Guthrie

I had a feelin' that today was gonna be a good ride, that today was a gonna be a good ride, a good good ride...Anyway today was a grand old time on the dirt bicycles. We had a good group of riders out, all were eager to finally ride their mountain bikes, as most were coming from climates that are a little more snowy then to Tucson's 25 degrees and sun. We rode 50 year old trail for warm up until we hit this little loop we were going to practise our skills on. Did two loops of a twisty up and down little trail, where riders rode with peers of different abilities and I think I speak for all when riding behind technical wizards like Geoff Kabush and Max Plaxton we all learn and few pointers. Kabush gave a few words of wisdom to us all, about just conserving energy over little sections and using that on more important sections like climbs, and different riding style's of riding for different conditions and courses.

Personally I like to play a lot while riding bike, like drifting corners, doing wheelies and the occasional donkey to heel clicker, but while riding behind some of the older riders, not to point any fingers or anything, I just found how they ride their bicycles like civilized people and focus on being efficient and smooth, which is what you need to do for races, and it finally struck me, of course you need to have fun, but if I'm always doing cool things all the time that means I never get time to practice what I need to do for races. And of course now that I am no longer a junior I have to ride like a MAN. I served my two years of being the june or stupid junior so its now man time!

We then headed off again into the cactus forest to ride some more trail, I must say I have been ancy to get out on the dirt for the past month, so riding up and down rocks faces, railing corners, crossing creeks, well I shouldn't call them creeks as much little gatherings of water per say. Some riders got flat tires, other burped tires and some even got lucky enough to encounter cactus friends that had latched onto their gloves, shoes, arms and fingers.

Most of us enjoyed the cosmic rays the sun was putting out today. Maybe some enjoyed it more than other, as myself I have been trying for over a year to loose my tan lines, but I have to come to the conclusion it will never happen, so keep trying. If the ladies don't like it then so be it.