When life serves you lemons, make lemonade with a COOKIE of course. Sometimes we forget about the little treasures that we have in our very own backyard. My husband and I planned a trip 2.5 hours south to Mt. Lemmon for a late anniversary celebration and training weekend in Tucson, AZ which has one of the toughest bike climbs in the US. It was very hard to find a weekend that we could get away for one reason or another, so we made reservations at a bed and breakfast and put it in PEN on the calendar
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I attempted this climb back in November when I was down in Tucson for the USAT Duathlon championships. I was getting over a long bout of illness back then and just started training again. After a 10 mile run and the race that weekend with friends from Seattle who wanted to climb Mt. Lemmon, I just did not have enough energy in my legs to push myself up the mountain so I turned back at mile 10 as they went on to the top. Since then, I had a car accident and post concussion syndrome which interrupted my training again, and I was finally on a positive streak with about 2 months of training under my belt.
I woke up on Thursday morning with a very sore throat and achy body. My latest "comeback" was coming to a halt either due to running in an AZ Haboob (dust storm earlier in the week) or from being around many sick children at my job which is more likely. I was done with my work week and I spent the next 2 days in bed missing my favorite workouts, trying to kick whatever demon was trying to take over my body. On Friday morning when I woke up, I was ready to send my husband without me, but I said, let's wait until noon and decide. I got on my rollers for a half hour and ran for 20 minutes. The legs held me up and so I decided I could at least go down to Tucson and would decide the next day whether I would attempt the climb.
We arrived in Tucson late Friday night at Jeremiah's Inn, a bed and breakfast that many cyclists have stayed at due to its proximity to the climb. It turned out to be a nice little gem with beautiful views of Mt. Lemmon. Our friend Jay met us bright and early to make the climb. Many of our other triathlete friends were racing at Oceanside 70.3 or participating in local running races and triathlons this weekend. The pressure was on to do something "big" to keep up with the Jones' (though I am not sure why nobody else wanted to join us for the adventure). I was not 100% but I knew I had to tri it since we were right there!
We had less than a mile of warm up before we hit the beginning of General Hitchcock's Highway to the top of Mt. Lemmon. The guys slowly pulled ahead as I just pedaled at my own happy pace. The new 11/28 cassette I put on my bike was supposed to help me spin and conserve energy. I did not really notice anything "easy" about the climb. The first 9 miles offer no reprieve. You are just going up, up, up (did I mention you are going up). Around mile 6, my legs were really tired and I thought this feels no different then the last attempt and that I was not going to make it and "who would do this for a freakin' cookie anyway". I stopped and removed my jacket which was drenched in sweat, had a quick drink and some honey stinger chewies with "natural green tea caffeine" and decided I would at least try to get past where I turned back before. It never got easier, but I thought about my friends that I rode with last time and where I saw them. There were always a few cyclists passing in either directions a few times an hour. I was starting to get into a rhythm, slow, slow, slow. I just thought about how I did not want to come back a third time to get to the top, so I would just stop and rest as needed even if it took me all day. Once I past mile marker 10, I reached the pine trees and I could have kicked myself, except that I was clipped in, for not making it this far last time where it just starts to get even more beautiful. There was some relief for a few miles through Bear Canyon, but I noticed to my left something that resembled a retaining wall and road up above. I tried not to look up. I passed one lady and shortly after I stopped at mile 17 for a bonk bite as my energy was going down and so were my fluids. I checked my phone and Dennis had sent me a text to KEEP GOING. I tried to let him know where I was but I had no service. My next stop was mile 19 where I was going to do a HAPPY DANCE at the visitor center because I thought I could get some water along with another group of cyclists, but the ranger had put a sign saying "BE BACK in 5 minutes" Everyone was looking for water and a really nice guy was doing sag for a group of cyclists threw out a bunch of water bottles and he also said, it will be all down hill in another mile. He saved my life. I thought if I could get to mile 20, I would make it. He was right, at mile 20, there was a steep fast downhill, but that was just a teaser because there were a few more ups and downs. Dennis came back to find me as I was speeding down one of the hills (there were very few times on the ascent where I was speeding) and he turned around and rode the last few miles with me into the town. He had gone up to the Ski Resort for a few extra miles of climbing while our friend Jay was lounging at the COOKIE CABIN. I had mixed feeling about the down hill into the town because I knew there would be some climbing before you could enjoy the fun fast downhill home!
YES, I GOT THE COOKIE. Or at least we bought one for the picture and took a few bites. It took me 3:33 to ride 26 miles to 8,000 feet just to get a cookie in the town of Sumerhaven! It was by far, one of the hardest rides I have ever done and one of the most beautiful rides. I thought, wow, I could do this again, but then I stood up and had to get back on my bike. The first 2 miles were a bit challenging, but nothing like the climb up. Once I got back to the 20 mile marker, the fun descent began. I went at a speed that I felt I could control my bike as there were a lot of S curves. It took me less than 90 minutes to get back to the B&B. We all sat down and shared our descent stories, rested, and hydrated. Jay went back home and Dennis and I settled in and enjoyed the rest of our day at the B&B.
This was definitely a TEST of the MIND and the WILL. I hit several rough patches and you could take yourself into or out of making it to the TOP. I knew if I wanted to be a 2 Time Ironman, I had to toughen up. I was so close to turning around in the first 10 miles. You have to earn your bravery some times. You don't necessarily have it with you every time you go try something hard but you have to dig deep. I was explaining to my husband that just because you finished an Ironman in the past, you still have to earn each one. For any locals, this was a great Mental Training Day and of course that is 90% of the race. Hopefully my body got a little bit stronger too.
The next day, I was still not feeling great, but I wanted to get a 10 mile run in. I looked at a map so I could make a loop with views of the different mountain ranges. In the meantime, Dennis did his RECOVERY ride up to the 15 mile marker on Mt. Lemmon. We would meet back at the B&B for breakfast. My 10 mile run turned into a half marathon as I learned that just because 2 roads are parallel does not mean they are the same distance.
So even when you are handed a bunch of lemons, you can still make lemonade even if it tastes a little sour! Who knows, you might even get a cookie with your lemonade on an Island in the Sky!
http://www.go-arizona.com/Mt-Lemmon-Scenic-Byway/
http://www.bikegaba.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=307669&module_id=137250
www.jeremiahinn.com/
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