Arizona Repoart #3

Ahhhhh, the Tucson  Saturday "Shootout" ride.  A ride that attracts pros who winter in AZ (like  Wiggo, Contador, etc...), top amateur racers and schleps like me.  Actually, the  A group departs at 7:30am and the "senior" group departs at 7:15am.  I slot in  with the seniors, even though most of them are not literally seniors but those  who are, think of Farmer Mike on HGH.  These guys ride every, no exaggeration,  every day so what chance do I have against these guys and a few gals?  Kind of  cool that everyone pulls in along 4th street's retail area, parks and then  gathers, waiting for Ralph, the dean of Tucson cycling to call us out with a  shout of "Let's ride".  Temp is 47 at the start, kind of chilly but once the sun  crests the horizon, it will warm nicely, eventually to 78. 
Damn I like it out  here.  Dude on the left is a grad of Michigan State and  a big football  fan.
  
We head out through  a convoluted maze of stop signs, street lights and detours but eventually reach  the outskirts of town and approach an intersection.  We are in a long line of  about 60 cyclists as the light changes to yellow, the peloton keeps going, then  red, the peloton keeps going but I stop.  Yep the only person who stops.  I once  broke a collarbone because I did not stop at an intersection and ran into  a cyclist who skidded to a stop because a car ran the sign.  Probably that's why  I take such a dim view of the couple of dim lights who populate our rides and do  stupid stuff at lights and signs.  You just can't rely on the driver observing  the rules of the road even as you are not. Fortunately, today's group was still  in the soft pedal mode and after a mile of chasing, I rejoined, just as we  reached Valencia Road, which signals the ramping of intensity.  From there, the  road rises gently at first, then steeper and steeper.... I asked a gal next to  me, "How far to the bridge" which signals the end of the climb.  "Seven miles"  was her reply!!!  People began to drift back, then more, down to about 20  now...then I drop, CRAP!!!! about 50 yards from the bridge.

There is some regrouping  at the top and I slot in with 7 people.  About 2 miles from the turnaround, I  shoot this image of the desolate landscape....

....then the A group  streams by.  They are the real deal.  I catch back on with my returning group  and return to downtown Tucson with 60 miles and an invite to join them on Sunday  but alas, I'm hooking up with 11 crazies who are off trail hiking into the  wilderness.  Will have that story tomorrow.