Globespotting: Time in a Bottle at the Whiskey Off-Road

JD was the first one I saw at the Phoenix airport. (I bet the oversize luggage drop is a great place to meet guys...) So glad to see his friendly face. I hadn't slept enough leading up to the trip, was too anxious and excited for it to begin. Before long, Tony, Azul and Elizabeth strolled by - and the adventure was officially on.

After an airport shuttle ride courtesy of Don Johnson, "the friendliest shuttle driver in the universe who greeted us with love in his heart" and an honest effort to make us laugh, we met the Blackburn crew and a few new Blackburn Rangers, then we piled all of us and all of our bicycles, gear and stuff into a couple of vans. Elizabeth scouted an amazing Mexican place (Carolina's) that quelled our hunger and readied us for the 2 hour drive to Rancho Relaxo.

Blackburn rented a 5-bedroom ranch house - for real, horses included - for all 20 of us. We camped on the lawn, a couch, or car, and a few of us lucky ones got actual beds. Any shyness I've retained from childhood disappears whenever a bed (or dessert) is up for grabs, so I had a bed to myself. Except for the night my buddy Jackson (Laura and Robin's dog) joined me.

We got to preview Blackburn's cool new 2014 product line, and watched a couple of the original Ranger videos. I cried as I always do when JD made it to the Mexican border. Just knowing the emotion and pride I felt when I made it to Mexico on my own shorter, easier but still tough ride, it gets me every time. After a sweet ride into Prescott that afternoon, we watched a few bike touring movies in the park. Tequila and bourbon helped keep us warm.

Then it was off to the Whiskey Off-Road! We started at the festival grounds, then rode up, up, up, and up some more. Elevation gain was something like 4,000' or 5,000'. My sherpas Rob and Billy escorted me up the gravel fire road; neither I nor my trusty Voodoo cyclocross bike were prepared for the official course's gnarly single-track.

Easily the most exercise I've gotten in the past 8 months thanks to a couple fractured bones over the winter, the ascent kicked my ass. But it was fun! The most gravel grinding I've ever done, and I'm afraid I'm already looking for more. The view at the top didn't hurt either.

When we arrived at camp, food and chairs were already set up ready to welcome us home. The wind made pitching tents a little tricky, so that turned into a bit of a team effort. Hatchet-throwing was that evening's main event. I was one of the first to hit the target during set-up, but sadly didn't connect with it again all night. Someday maybe I'll aspire to Azul's somersault-throw combo.

I woke the next morning to rain, as was predicted. Not wanting to get up, I lazed in my comfy sleeping bag a while longer until the rain started sounding… sharper. I peeked out to find sleet. Yikes! So I did the only sensible thing, and put on another layer of clothing before burrowing back in my sleeping bag. But the sleet was here to stay, at least longer than my bladder could hold out. Much scrambling ensued - to pee, to get breakfast, to tear down my tent and prepare for the day. With only short-finger gloves, and an impressively runny nose, "scramble" is an exaggeration with a lot of stopping to warm my hands and blow my nose (which sadly did nothing to warm my hands).

Once camp was packed up, I and a few others hiked down to the Blackburn bacon station, on the 3-hour delayed race course. Thank god Mark and Katie welcomed all of us into their heated van, stocked with dry wool socks and ziploc bags to rescue my soggy cold footwear ensemble. I took a few turns handing out bacon to riders as they zipped by, sometimes completing a successful handoff and once sticking a piece right in a guy's mouth. I don't know how any heterosexual male could have resisted Laura, with her gorgeous smile and fistful of bacon, as they came down the track. Indeed, few did.

Eventually it was time to head back into town, and JD gallantly rode with me down the fire road. We found some amazing views that hopefully my memory will hold - my phone battery didn't withstand the sleet and snow. We found an ice cream shop and continued to swap bike tour stories. Having both completed first-time epic bike tours last summer, it is so great to have someone to share those stories with - someone who gets it. I'm excited to have made a few new friends and looking forward to hearing their stories soon. That's the cool thing about the entire Blackburn family - they all get it, they all have stories and I'm just grateful they keep wanting to hear more.