Roadie Dreaming...

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and make a bold statement, "If I was raised in Tucson I'd probably be a full time roadie".

Let me explain...
I started my racing "Career" as a roadie. Back in the days of steel frames and downtube shifters. Back when 10 speed meant two in the front and five in the back. Back when Greg Lemond was dominating the Tour-De-France. I lived down the Jersey shore back then and used to take my Nishiki out on epic all day rides, dreaming the whole time I would be racing in the tour myself someday. Well obviously that never happened. Somehow I ended up in Rutherford N.J. and after a few uneducated rides on those super dangerous Bergen county roads I gave up road cycling for running and ice hockey. It just wasn't the same. Until a friend at work introduced me to mountain biking. I was hooked and it's been full on ever since.

If I lived in Tucson would I ever been exposed to mountain biking? Doing a road ride out in the desert is awesome. The views, the other riders the endless rolling terrain all adds to the fun of road riding out here.

Leaving this morning on my mountain bike I decided to keep it on the road today. Following the endless parade of roadies out Old Spanish Trail was like racing in a time trial. Hammer a little, pick a few off and set your sights on the next group. I'm sure I took more than a few by surprise when I passed on a mountain bike, some try to jump on, sometimes successfully (I always make them pull through though). It makes me think what could have been if I could have ever attained this level of fitness as a roadie.

I'm almost sad to say but when I go home I'll soon be back to riding mostly in the woods maybe a little bit of mountain bike on the road just to get to the trails. Jersey has some great mountain biking, but the road? It's just not the same there.