The Polar Heart Rate Experiment

I have been having a virtual discussion about indoor cycling versus real cycling with my pal Bob and it has me wondering what is the difference. The only way for me to really find out is to go ride a bike outside for the same time and see how I do. Now if I owned a bicycle, it would be helpful, but as I have yet to find the one I want I am going to just go for a walk up the mountain this afternoon. The Temps are just over 100 degrees here and there is a bit of a breeze. In other words perfect for a walk about the desert.


The image looking up the hill on my street. This hill used to be a major cardio killer for me. Now I don't even think about it as I climb up to the trail.

Today, I decide to go counter clockwise. It means I walk about 1/2 mile further down the street to a 2nd entrance to the Park and will walk back up to the main entrance through the desert. The reason is simple. WATER. There is a water fountain at the main entrance and I have enough water to get there with reserve if I go this way. If I go Clockwise I have just about a mile more to go to get to it. Safety my friends is nothing to mess with in the desert in August.


As I get to the trail it is pretty hilly but empty. As a matter of fact other then 1 Mountain Biker, I have it to myself.


Pretty soon I am pretty much climbing an easy grade up to where the this trail meets the Telegraph Pass trail which takes me back to the house.

It is hot out and I am going through my water at the proper rate. The reason for this was to see about how it compares to my bike riding at the house. So I am about 40 minutes into it and take stock via my cool new Polar Heart Monitor.


I am cooking at about 94% and have burned about 750 Calories. Not bad and I really do feel really good.


I look even better. You can see the houses in the distance where I started up in the top left of the picture.


Funny it rained two days ago here.....honest


By the time I get to the junction of the trails I am feeling good, but the weather is there and I still have about 1.5 miles to get back to the house. Most of it will be down hill but still not a lot of shade.


Back on the street for the walk back down.


The final tape as I walk into the garage. My heart rate was down to 83% of max and I had burned just under 1200 calories in just over an hour. Average Heart Rate was 146 and max was 170 which must have happened as I was climbing out one of the steeper washes. So a great workout but not all that more than the Mighty Schwinn to Nowhere.


The AC inside felt pretty good though

See ya next time.

Tommy

Paradise Found

August is probably the one month of the year that I tend to like the least all year living in Phoenix. It isn't the heat which is no worse then July, but more the fact that it is a time where work becomes somewhat more stressful, Torrey is just around the corner but not here, and the Tour is over for another 11 months.

Nick, just back from the Land Down Under, is a bachelor again for a few weeks and we decide to take a trip to Fossil Springs this morning for a chance to see if we can find a swimming hole. Temps this morning are in the mid seventies as we meet at 6am.

After a quick gas stop in Fountain Hills where I see a few of the local moto folks headed North, we are on our way. Knowing that I have several BMW motos in front of me screaming up 87 ahead of me allows me to not worry about the cops


A first NO DPS along the road at all this morning! This is the first Leo I see


We stop for some provisions at the one place I know Nick will eat. Having custody of a picky eater is not easy let me tell ya!

So as we drive up, I tell Nick, I know of a place sort of that is rumored to be as nice as Fossil Creek but is a bit more remote.


Nick looking at my recently reclaimed AZ Gazetteer to see if he can find out a fix. I have in my email, a vague set of directions and we decide to forgo Fossil Creek in order to see if this new Mystery Area is worthy. You all know how much I love a good adventure!


Pretty soon we find our way onto a forest service road and heading into part of Arizona I haven't spent a lot of time exploring. Very Cool

We find a few cars parked along the road in the area where we think the trail should be. We hop out and get ready to go scout it out!


PHOTO BY NICK PURZER
Since this is a pretty steep decent to the water, I take the hiking sticks. Also this is a great chance to use my little GPS with the Topo Maps loaded. This is gonna be great!


This may be the only level section of the trail. Right away we head down about a 5% grade and the trail is pretty rocky.


As we get closer to our target it gets steeper. If you look in this picture, you can see that in the distance there are the tell tail signs of a steep valley dropping off.


Nick and I are having a glorious time though! We saw 2 cars up where we parked and so far on the trail we have had the forest to ourselves! Very Worthy

We come to a section that has a series of switchbacks and I worry about them more then stopping to take a picture. So you have to trust me when I say while not super high, they are challenging to descend. Nick being more agile then me gets down about 5 minutes ahead of me. Since he is the first into the valley, we are going to call this place Nick's Swimming Hole. It is amazing!!


Nick makes short work of finding a place to soak it all in and claim the place as his own!


The water is crystal clear, cool and seems to go on forever!


Real Pebble Tech


Nick is still being very possessive of his swimming hole.


He won't acknowledge the neighbors even. Actually they were very nice people who had camped here the night before. He said he saw a bear near the camp site around 3am. I explain that with me in the valley, no bear will show. As usual, I am correct.


I put the gear down on the sand and take out the big camera and we set off to explore some more of the area.



We wander along the creek bed some exploring the great geology and each corner along the river bed reveals some wonderful things.


Incoming! I get buzzed by this monster! He was amazingly beautiful though and I watch him for several minutes.


It is about here that Nick and I realize that we are feeling ZERO stress and this was the best decision we have made in a while. The place is a hidden gem for sure


PHOTO BY NICK PURZER
There is even a pretty cool water slide!




PHOTO BY NICK PURZER
The only other neighbor we see is working really hard on his fishing skills.


Our Hero is one happy hiker here.

We pack up and head up the big climb. Riding the mighty Schwinn to nowhere every day is paying off big time about now. I set a pretty good pace and while my heart rate is about 130, I make good time up back to the Jeep. In the end it is just over 2 miles and I have had a great workout. Within about 10 min my heart rate is back to normal.


Nick finds some shade at the top by the car.


PHOTO BY NICK PURZER
It is still only about 80 degrees at the top and we take some time to really cool down before heading back to town.


The road out is pretty rough for the first bit but nothing for the Jeep.


Our Hero very happy with the discovery of Nick's Swimming Hole. It will be a trip he makes again real soon as there is still a lot more to explore!

See ya next time.


Tommy

Whats 24 Years Between Friends?

Ok so the last time I saw Mike Jenkins was May 25, 1985, when the powers that be allowed me to leave the public school system wearing a dress and a level hat on my head with a tassel. This morning will end that streak right around 8800 days.

Mike found me on Facebook, and has expressed interest in moto touring. He currently rides a Harley and has been asking me about ST1300, RT's etc. I told him a few weeks ago to come by and he can ride both my bikes and see if he likes it. Today is the day.


The RT all ready to go for Mike. We have to jump start it though since it has been such a hanger queen in 2009. But in the end we take off and head out to meet another person who I may have known 26 years ago.... but there is no streak involved if you can't calculate the start date.


We pick up Travis on Idaho Road and head on out to Superior for breakfast.


Ok not the usual pace but better then the Torrey Bike Race most of the time and I actually enjoy just looking around at the lush desert from all the monsoon storms. The temp at 7:30 was only about 90F


See I wasn't making that up


Mike in a Full Face Helmet, not something I bet he uses a lot

After breakfast at Superior's finest eatery (thanks again Mike for the meal) We decide to go towards Kearny a bit since the fellas haven't been there before.


See how worthy the desert is after the summer storms? Travis' moto is really nice. Almost would love to have one for tooling around town with.


Travis's Scooter.


Mike riding the RT. We switched for a bit and he rode the GT. I took off on the RT for a quick Italian Tune UP and Mike kept up with me pretty good. I forget how much I enjoy the RT's handling.

In the end Travis takes off, Mike and I head back as the temps are now starting to creep into Triple Digits. At the house Mike is gracious and we agree that we will not wait 8000 more days to meet up again. It is a worthy day.

But wait, it is only noon. I need to work out still even though I have been riding all day. So I take off on a hike up the mountain behind my house. A short 3 mile walk in the bright cloudless low humid Southwest Climate I so love in August.


The wash leading up to the trailhead near Casa Kaisr.


At the trail head I fill up my bottle again so I have plenty of water and make my way up Telegraph Pass. My battery on the camera is almost dead or just tired from the heat. Not a cloud in the sky, but there is a breeze which helps a lot.


Yeah baby its a dry heat

See ya all next time.

Tommy