You know, I don't know when or why we decided to first come out to this race. I must say, though, as much as this race does not suit me at all, it is my favorite of the season. Most guys race the four stage race as a warm up for Gila. And although we have quite a small crew out here this time, the race has actually grown.
The race consists of an uphill Time Trial, a more or less flat Road Race, another flat out and back Time Trial, and then the more or less Queen stage that ends with an 8 mile climb up into Bisbee. For those of you that don't know, Bisbee is home to the largest open Copper mine in the country and is just about 20 miles away from my favorite place to stay for the race, Tombstone. And, yes, Tombstone is for real. We are just a quarter mile from the OK Corral. Wikipedia it....it has quite a history.
You will see below that for stage one, the Razor was modified. I added a Ventoux 190. I will probably run this set up throughout the weekend as it is extremely windy out here and I prefer the Ventoux for all the climbing.
There are a few essentials for a Time Trial, you know. Below you will see a few of mine. Now even though this Time Trail is a 2.7 mile 900 foot climb, there was a significant head wind and so this gave me a reason to wear my new kick ass LAS TT helmet. I love this alien looking thing. It fits well and is very light. Also, you will notice the Lightweight branded shoe covers. If you are gonna rock the wheels, these are a must.
To get myself all cracked up I have the Enervitene. I use this in conjuction with EAS Catapult to provide myself with a near-diarrhea-inducing-crackhead-roadrage movitating effect. It is a little more powerful than your average coffee. And on that note, the Wet Ones come in handy! Just kidding! Those are for sweat and general race grime that you don't wanna deal with on your way back home to the Holiday Inn Express Tombstone. Oh yeah, and the Fluid recovery drink. The best recovery drink there is.
