The family and I took a mini vacation this week back to Tucson.  My wife has lots of friends down here and we came down for a little family r and r.  That does not mean the bike did not come along.  I have started my Philly prep and Tucson has some great loops for that prep.  I spent a fair amount of time working the hill repeats.  It was nice to see some old friends down here and log some good rides.  We head back to Cali today and Monday I am headed for Hood River, OR for the Mt Hood cycling classic.  Mt. Hood will be more of a training race for me.  There are a few of us from BMC going, but we are on our own for the week.  I plan on using the the hilly races of MT Hood as my final prep for my favorite week of racing:  Philly week.  I am bringing the foam roller as my massage therapist, and I hope it is a good week.  Sometimes it is really good to go to a race on my own so I can remember how lucky guys like me are to have all the support we have from our BMC staff.  I hope it is a tough week and I hope I can get some good racing and good relax time.  Thanks to Express Jet there is now a direct flight from Sac to Tucson, the two towns I consider my home.  So thanks Xjet for making it easy on Sayers Family.