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I think "hell" would be very similar to this past week, except for the fact that this "week" has finally ended. I have to start way back at last Sunday when I raced Usery Pass near Phoenix. It was a 74 mile race and the course was as if we were in a large bowl going up and down the sides from the center. It was dark when we arrived, and because this is the desert it is nearly freezing when the sun is down. Sure 54 degrees isn't freezing, but it's all relative if you're used to 80 degree days. "Hell" I guess started somewhere between working Saturday evening and waking up at 3:30am Sunday to get to Phoenix for the 7:30am race start. Anyway, the entire day we were either going 20mph uphill or 50mph downhill. Eight really freaking strong pro riders including an ex-Discovery rider pretty much solidified a break, IN THE FIRST 3 MILES!!! Fortunately Josh made it in the break, but unfortunately was dropped after the first climb, as he is "vertically challenged." More unfortunate, I was not in the break knowing Josh was up there but not knowing there was a bada$$ climb so early. However in the end, Josh was dropped after the first lap and I was stuck sprinting for 12th in a widdled down pack. They only paid top five and pointed seven deep, so nobody in the group bothered sprinting up the last climb. I only cared at that point to beat the guy laughing at anyone pointlessly sprinting, and I did to finish top 20. Oh yeah, and then after bringing my legs to a cramp and resting two hours in a van chair, I had to go to work at 3:00pm. I haven't been so wasted since my 21st. Good thing Monday was a rest day, and I only had to ride easy for 1 hour and work 7. Tuesday it finally rained here. However they didn't count it because it wasn't measurable. I've never seen it rain anywhere and the streets remain dry, Weird! So the drought is going on 119 days! Now Wednesday was fun! I woke up at 6:30am not to go to work, but to ride at 7:30am. The group ride lasted about 35 miles before I got dropped in a nasty cross wind. I was able to get a good 5 hours of intense training in before I had to work at 2pm. Thursday I don't really remember. In fact I think perhaps maybe it was Thurs that it rained and I have it mixed up with Tuesday. I do know for a fact I went out with Johnny to a few bars Thursday night on campus. There was a Wildcats game so the bars got pretty bumpin afterwards, despite midterms (I remember those!). Friday I rode for an hour and got nailed by an orange from Johnny. It was after I nailed him and left a nice bruise on his leg though. The law is that you have to pick them up off the ground while on your bike, but he can't so he picked one off a tree. Bastard! After a fun recovery ride I got to go to work again for 9 hours. Then crazily enough I went out with Johnny and Peter till the bars closed because I was so tired I couldn't sleep. (Watch for a future blog, "How much does a Polar Bear weigh?") Saturday there was no way in "hell" I was waking up to ride the 7:30am "Shootout." And obviously I didn't. I slept in till 9:30, ate, and was at work by 11am. I got done with work at 10pm after serving a wedding of 271 people. Sure it was a beautiful wedding but our ballroom only holds 250 people! Another crazy night, and knowing I had to podium in 1 of 2 races the next day. That didn't happen! Today, Sunday, I raced once again near Phoenix, actually nearer to Mesa. I was going to race the separate Cat2 race and then race with Josh in the Pro,1,2. Today was a 2.2mile circuit race in a park/desert. The road was narrow and all chip&seal crap! Rocks were flying everywhere from the gun so I decided to get out because I wasn't going to be grated down like a sorry piece of meat today. After one lap I soloed to take the first prime but then got dropped after two laps off the front. My lungs were seared instantly and I kept thinking I should not have gone out this week, but the ladies are so persuasive. Like an idiot I chased back on and made it to the front again. After a sharp turn on the backside of course, I got out of the saddle and snapped my chain. I was fourth wheel and luckily managed to keep it upright while not going into one of the many cacti surrounding the roads. So I WALKED back only to get a flat somehow between the backside and start/finish line. Unfortunately the prime wasn't a chain, so my day was cut very short. I watched the Pro1,2 race and then we headed back home, unpodiumed and unable to race the Valley next weekend, :( I didn't have to work this evening, SOOOO, I'm here at Epic writing to all my blog people about how this cycling life is going, sort of. Sorry people, I don't intend to make this a diary, so hold off on the comments. I swear I have a point to all this hell come next blog. See you then!