Desert Rain!

Crazy couple of days. Phoenix Coyotes game was a great time. We got a flat tire on the way there which added some stress for our drivers. Replacement wheels have a limit of 80km's an hour so even in the slow lane we were being chased down and passed by massive trucks every couple of seconds it seemed. Made it home though, great time was had.

Cleaned my bike yesterday only to wake up this morning to it pouring rain in the desert. Not unhappy about it at all though because the temperature is just fantastic and its very refreshing after 15 days of no precipitation whatsoever. Apparently Tucson has been experiencing a drought for the past decade and hasn't gotten more than about a foot of rain.



Wet Arizona!





Breakfast this morning was delicious.

1. Started with 2 egg omelet filled with:
spinach
tomato
onions
green peppers
red peppers
mushrooms

2. Some thinly sliced baked white sweet potatoes.
3. Carrots, an apple and a banana.
4. Half an avocado

Should be great for the three hours planned today.





Since we are on the topic of 'fillers' I recently read a great article in Bicycling magazine regarding all those salad toppings that most would assume to be nutritionally baron, ie. onions, cucumber, celery, iceberg lettuce...and so on. The article goes through each vegetable and outlines the importance that each one has on your diet. Needless to say, DO NOT underestimate these vegetables. You can pick up the latest Bicycling magazine at the Trek Bicycle Store in Toronto or Barrie to read more. I think the article was called 'All Vegetables Count.'

So today will start with a bit of strength similar to yesterday but instead of sets of different workouts, we are going to alienate one, ie. push-ups/sit-ups/lunges and and destroy one of those instead. I'm thinking of doing these things that were shown to me by my good friend Zach Tatem last year while he was training to become provincial downhill champ. They are called 'Spider-man' push-ups. They entail you positioning yourself in a push-up position but elevating your legs on a coffee table or couch (something not too high). You then do a push-up but reach with one knee until you touch or come close to touching your elbow. After doing a few sets of 4-10, you will understand that it's like a super push-up and works the side of your core like crazy. If you are superman, you could also try elevating your legs onto a small exercise ball to test your stabilizing muscles. I will try to get a video up for you within the next day or two of what it should look like.


Really looking forward to riding my mountain bike which arrives in the next couple of days. I started to plan out my race schedule for this year and will be heading to Fontana for the opening of the US cup or PROXCT or whatever it is now which takes place on the 28th of march. Chances are Cycling Dirt will have some pretty awesome coverage so definitely check that out if you are around then.