Tucson- Travel Day and Day 1

It seemed like one of the longest travel days ever, but now we are in Tucson, Arizona. We were supposed to leave Winnipeg around 3pm Monday. Up until then everything had gone smoothly. We arrived early enough at the new airport to have a nice lunch and get checked in. The Westjet people were super friendly and we got away with really minimal bike box charges. Then the flight was delayed and we barely had enough time to get through security and board the plane. Well, most of us anyways. The plane almost left without a couple of people from our group, and for a little while we were quite stressed. We were standing at the gate being told we had to get on the flight immediately if we wanted to make it and that the gate would be closing, leaving Darian and Eleanor behind. Once on board we argued with the flight attendants but since it was security being stupid, not Westjet, there was nothing they could do. It was a relief to see the two of them finally board the plane at the last minute, because it would have been quite inconvenient for everyone if they were left behind. That would have been a great way to start our training camp. But all our people, luggage, and bikes managed to get to Phoenix.

Then while the chaperones went to get the rental vehicles the rest of us waited around at the airport. It seemed to take a long time and we managed to grab some food from the limited selection before most things closed for the night. It was a little tough to fit all the bike boxes and everything into the vehicles as well as people, but we got cozy and tried to settle in for the 2 hour drive to Tucson. For the millionth time I really wished I was able to sleep in vehicles or planes, but no luck. We managed to find our house in the dark and get inside. We didn’t know there would be an alarm though, and we stumbled around in the dark trying to find the code to shut it off. Apparently this house doesn’t have light switches in convenient places either.

We are still trying to figure out this odd little place. It’s quite small, with no hallways, places to store bikes and bike boxes, or space to sit down and eat. The bathroom is also quite sketchy. We decided to call it “vintage,” especially the shower. We were also confused where the last bedroom and bathroom were. It turns out you have to walk behind the house to get to it, and that is now where we hide the three guys from the team. My dad sleeps in the porch. Ashlyn and I are sharing a room, and it is actually decent, we are getting used to it already. The bed felt comfortable and it was a relief to finally get some sleep. By now it felt like 3am to us, which meant it was 1am local time. Awesome, set the alarm for 7am to go swimming. We were exhausted and shut off the lights. Then we noticed how noisy it is. Our house is a few steps away from a highway and the whole place shook all night with the sounds of cars, trucks, and trains. I’m hoping later into the training camp we won’t even notice anymore if we bike hard enough every day.

One other problem we ran into was that the wifi in the house wasn’t working. This was a priority for all of us technology dependant teenagers and we are happy that by the next morning the chaperones dealt with that. After breakfast and getting sun-screened up we were off to the pool. It is a different one than prior years, but still on U of A campus, and still nice. Next few little issues... Gary wasn’t ready to get us in the morning so the chaperones drove us there. I was a bit worried about being late but this wasn’t an issue, since we waited for a long time in the lobby of the pool with the Alberta team. They wouldn’t let us in because we are all minors, and apparently are never allowed into this pool. Also, the Alberta coach Angie had gone to get her coffee and it took both coaches quite a while to join us, to argue with the pool staff to let us in. Once in we had tons of space, two to a lane. I was very happy my swim practice for the first time in a long time. I joined an Alberta athlete with similar shoulder injuries and Angie gave us a personalized shoulder-friendly workout. We did a warm up of 7 x 100m from swim to kick (if you don’t know what that means don’t worry) and 20 x 50m on a minute with various drills and swimming. There were some 200’s on the workout sheet after that but I was done. It was already more swimming than I’ve done and I was happy with it. It was also good to have a training partner at the same speed for those things. The injury club will continue for our next practices and I’m hoping to get some decent swimming in.

Once back at the house we grabbed some snacks and got to work building the bikes out in the sun. It will be good to have lunch, and then get out there again. Today we will be doing a ride on Old Spanish Trail, a road we’ve biked in previous years. Not sure anymore how many kilometers we will be putting in today; we are likely condensing the workout a bit as well as starting later in the day. The day after will be a big one, Mount Lemmon with Alberta. For now I have to remember to keep hydrated and sunscreened.  That’s all for now, just chilling for a bit. I’m just happy to finally be here.