Today was an amazing day. Dare I say it might have been a Hanukkah miracle! I rode with Lance Armstrong and the rest of the team RadioShack riders.

Lance Armstrong and Team RadioShack are in Tucson for their first training camp as a team, so my friend Rob and I decided we would try to get a few photos and ride with the team for a little bit. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect it to be as awesome as it turned out to be.

Last year, when El Tour de Tucson came around, I had only been riding for four months and was still closer to 300 pounds then 200 pounds. Last year my goal was to complete the 35-mile route of El Tour de Tucson. Here is a photo from last year's ride.

This year's El Tour provided its own set of challenges. Two weeks before El Tour I registered for a GABA ride, which was 90 miles. But the night before that ride, I hurt my back and couldn't participate. Up until that point, the longest I had ridden in one day was 70 miles. I had been riding 150 miles a week, but hadn't done a really long day ride.

I brought home my newest steed yesterday afternoon.

In the last year and a half, I've had a lot of awesome experiences on a bike. But, Saturday's Alley Cat Scavenger hunt is by far the most fun I've ever had on two wheels.

Here is the flyer for the ride:

This is the beginning of my new addition to the bike stable. I put a deposit down on this Andy Gilmour bike yesterday. It should be done soon, but I have to save the rest of the cash for it.

This will make my third (likely last for a long time) bike. Very few people understand, but each bike will have its own purpose. The new bike is going to be a light road bike that will be my racing bike.

My current road bike will become my commuter and grocery getter and my single speed is going to become the bike I ride to coffee shops, breakfast and whatnot.

I am super excited to get it finished and on the road.

Lately, it seems like the only think UAPD cares about is "educating" cyclists about the rules of the road. There was an article in the Wildcat where bikers were made out to be scum of the earth. There is also the web page UAPD has linked to from a banner on their home page. And don't forget about UAPD's twitter feed, which uses 3 of its 11 tweets to remind cyclists they have to follow the rules of the road.

As part of their "Bicycle Safety & Education Campaign" UAPD picked four locations on five different days to set up shop. I decided to ride by this morning to see what it was all about. Today they setup at Highland and 4th.

I have a new love in my life, but it is OK because Irene gave it to me for our anniversary.

A buddy and I took a nice ride out to the San Xavier del Bac Mission, which is south of Tucson.

The ride ended up being about 40 miles roundtrip with a fast pace. I've managed to get in 130 miles over the last few days.

Just about every other week, I take a trip up Mt. Lemmon on my bike. I start from out house and ride a little way up.

I sold my truck yesterday. To commemorate the event, I rode my bike home from Casa Grande.