NEVIS CYCLE & TRIATHLON CLUB

Day 7-10

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to do an Individual Time Trial called The Colleen Wheldon-Haught Memorial Time Trial. George was part of the organizing committee so he did not race; it was Kathryn, Reggie, and me as we settled in for a long drive about 1 hour to the race venue. We had to leave home 6:15 to get there with enough time to warm up for an 8:00 am start. The categories were cat 1/2 cat 3/5 and Merckx, Merckx meaning you are not using a TT bike just a normal road bike.

The course was a steady climb all the way to the turnaround; the entire distance being 30k. Kathryn was the first of the three of us to go competing in the women’s cat 1 / 2. Reggie followed shortly after competing in the cat 3 male division. I was last to leave and I was competing in the Merckx division (without a TT bike). It was a hard 30k in the saddle that morning according to the testimony of many of the riders. But overall it turned out that we did pretty well in our divisions as the results will indicate.

Cat 3 results male

1 Nathan Franke Focus Mesa AZ 40 151972 0:43:18 25.83

2 Matt French Tribe Racing Phoenix AZ 39 157544 0:43:29 25.72

3 Reginald Douglas Nevis Cycle Club 32 19770713 0:47:53 23.36

4 Kyle D'Auria Not Affiliated Tucson AZ 22 206249 0:48:36 23.01

Merckx Mens Open

1 Chris Goldsmith Le Scomparse Tucson AZ 48 53715 0:49:55 22.41

2 James Weekes Nevis Cycle Club 38 19720418 0:50:14 22.27

3 Yves Khawam Le Scomparse Tucson AZ 46 303466 0:50:33 22.13

4 Dan Funsch Le Peht Outre Wheelmen Missoula MT 49 285428 0:50:45 22.04

 Womens Cat 1/2

1 Ashley Koch Allsport GPS AZ Women Racing Scottsdale AZ 32 287717 0:45:01 24.85

2 Kathryn Bertine TriSports cycling/eclipse racing Tucson AZ 35 Intl 0:45:25 24.63

3 Catherine Dickson AllSport GPS AZ Women Racing Glendale AZ 46 177668 0:45:27 24.61

4 Cara Bussell TriSports cycling/eclipse racing Portland OR 30 295070 0:46:58 23.81

Day 8

Today we went riding up Mount Lemon, George, Kathryn, Reggie, Greg Green and me. It was as usual a hard ride; Kathryn’s training for the day was to do 8x8 intervals going up so we decided to do it with her. Apart from the pain the scenery was breath taking as we made our way 17 miles up this beast, with the altitude where we stopped at windy point being 9000 ft. After we took some pictures and were saturated from absorbing as much of the scenery as we could it was time to head down the mount, the part we enjoyed the most with top speed of well above 45 mph.

We regrouped at the bottom and started the long journey home all 20 miles of it. Another great day in the saddle and a well deserved rest.

Day 10-11

This was another planned ride of Mount Lemon but unfortunately it rained on the mountain and areas in close proximity so that ride was cancelled, thank god! So we went to visit Old Tucson where most of the western movies were made. We had a guided tour and history of the place and all the movies and famous western stars that starred in movies there. Then we had the pleasure of watching  two gun fights as played in the movies right on site, brilliant acting with real guns and western attire and dialect, the whole works. It was a fabulous day at Old Tucson the thing about that was Kathryn had never been there so she was just as exited and amused as Reggie and me.

Day 11

This was the normal race simulation called the Tuesday ride. Wow! a fast paced ride with one gear, which is full throttle, with a short break on the top of a hill that cracked most people, me included. This time around we were able to do much better than the last one so if we had 2 more weeks we would be right there breathing down the neck of the leaders, but we must give them credit and thanks for helping us and riding with us as their own. Two small islanders making big moves in Tucson, another fabulous day in the dessert, now we must put our feet up and watch the sun set, I think we deserve it.