did Tortilla Flat on Sunday. omigawd i can’t believe its been so long since i’ve done this ride. omigawd i can’t believe its been so long since i’ve done this ride and i have not become a fat sack of crap. Its the best ride and best workout of all the road rides in the Valley. Oddly, this was only the 2nd time I’ve done the full 65 miles from the house and back instead of the 42 from Apache Junction and back. Its always seemed so long, and so remote, but when it takes 25 minutes to drive to the start and just 45 to ride there…well i’m just kicking myself i finally figured this out with so few months left on this part of town. Saguaro Lake has a lot of climbing in the same mileage, but its up and down and full of traffic. Tortilla is big s-curves up and down that flow into each other really well.

and its a big effort. I was hurting at the start, not realizing how much climbing there is going through Mesa and AJ, and my legs were out of roadie shape. The slow pace diden’t bother me since i left before dawn at 4:50 and spent the first 30 minutes in the pre-dawn, mentally and physically foggy. But it flowed off me surprisingly easily and it wasn’t til the final big climb out that I really started to hurt, and that was completely expected no matter in what condition I arrived at that point – that climb always hurts.

my log shows that I am more-or-less on the same pace for roadie hours as last year. Not as many 2 hr rides, but now I’m commuting some. The real difference is i have only done Tortilla about twice in the past 2 years. I rode a smart race at Tour de Scottsdale, but i am weak.

it was soupy at the beginning and all ride long, but the overcast that held the soup in kept the sun more-or-less out through the whole ride. I figured out how to carry 4 20oz bottles of gatorade, and even had some left at the end. I worked hard, but am way psyched that i was not crushed by this ride. I did the 42 miles from the VFW Post to the end-of-the-pavement and back in 2:28, only about 10 minutes off my best times. I had less than a 5 minute break at the top, under 4 hours door-to-door.

Animals seen:

• 1 dead rattlesnake
• 1 coyote
• 7 live rabbits
• 1 dead rabbit
• 1 turkey vulture, eating aforementioned rabbit
• about 14 dudes in a crotch-rocket Club, who scared me but not too bad on the stretch form the town to the top, and then i left at the top fanning themselves and smoking cigarettes

The traffic was not at all bad on the way out, other than the motos but they were mostly just noisy and were the only traffic after the lake. One the return, there was a lot of traffic going outbound, but as long as I kept my eyes out and didn’t catch them in any blind turns I felt very safe. Back home before 9, ready to cook some banana pancakes and do it again next weekend.