So we woke up in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Friday morning to find 2 inches of snow on the ground, and the town in a form of shambles/chaos that I really cannot describe. Being a wisconsinite, 2 inches of snow barely even gets the time of day to scrape off the car, we just figure that it will blow off by the time we get to the freeway onramp in the morning with the other people not really caring about the snow. But in Las Cruces, you'd be lucky to find a store that actually sells snow shovels, and if you did, they are probably closed because of the snow. So, my logical response to the situaiton as to really any situation involving bikes and snow: move to Tucson.
After a morning full of cleaning the house, i packed my shrinking number of possessions into the Matrix and set out. I saw a good month of training in las cruces, and i will really miss all the glass on the side of the road, but its on to warmer climate and Mt. Lemmon. I moved all my things in while the other guy who is living here was out of the house, and then I left so he would come back to find someone moved in, but not knowing who. It wasnt until the morning when he found a sleeping me on the other bed that he knew, "oh, jim stemper is apparently staying here, man im such a lucky person!"
So, in my new-found excitement for snow-less roads, in true stemper fasion, i overdid it. Climbed lemmon not once, but twice in a row. Theres something really ridiculous about riding up and down a mountian for under 2 hours (a-thank you), spinning the bike around at the base of the mountian, and saying "one" as if you were doing laps in a pool. The "one" really isnt as enthusiastic as the idea of 2 reps was the night before, but more reflective of your soon to be realizatoin of a horrible idea. But thats part of the job, sometimes the only way to get yourself abide by the Eddie Merckx wisdom of "Ride Lots" is to trick yourself into a self-centered ego-trip situation. A situation where you convince yourself that your a wuss if you dont do that completly senseless thing, twice. Naturally, my enthusiasm did not carry into my second day (today), where i again had to trick myself into a ride where the only place for water was 2.5 hours away, so theres no turning back after you get an hour and a half in and realize what an idiot you are. Tis a tricky life i lead.
But, despite the constant lieing to oneself, life is pretty excellent here in the old Tuc-son. No TV, 7 harry potter books, all the high-school books i never acutally read but hear are good, and an under-inflated workout ball have led me to think that somehow I will not only leave here in 3 months a better biker, but a smarter person to boot. Here you see another ploy to trick myself into doing something i may regret later, like starting catcher in the rye, again.
Well, considering the lack of a TV and a couch, i suppose those of you who read this will become overwhelmed with the frequency of similar posts. Just remember one thing, if its raining or snowing in tucson, your job is way better than my job. Otherwise, i pretty much got you on that one (unless you enjoy buying things, because then your job is pretty awesome).
Have a great day!
