Tucson is known for poor roads. Because of this, David has taken to bringing a cyclocross bike and fat tires – seen here with his brand new disc brake-equipped Felt.

Unfortunately, the weather was unseasonably cold when we arrived. SRAM had a group ride planned for Monday, but cancelled it when pouring rain and snow blew in. David modified his schedule to include a second swim that day in lieu of the ride.

Tuesday brought drier conditions. David prepares to roll out for a ride with Gear West Bike and Triathlon owner, Kevin O’Connor. They would eventually ride for 8 hours, to the snowy top of Mt Lemmon.

David is sponsored by SRAM. He races on Red, but has Force on his ‘cross bike.

Felt is on the disc brake bandwagon. David has Avid BB7 Road calipers, with 160mm front and 140mm rear rotors. Wheels are tubeless-compatible OEM models from Felt, as Zipp (his wheel sponsor) does not yet officially offer a disc brake wheel.

In his own words – “I’m not afraid to roll the fatties.”

David rides with a 175mm Quarq S975 crank on his cyclocross bike.

After a few days with the crew from SRAM, we transferred to our base for the remainder of the week. As you can see, David travels in style to swim practice.

David swims in the evenings at the University of Arizona outdoor pool.

This is a very familiar view for Tucson residents – from Mt Lemmon.

The road climbs up, up, up.

Unfortunately, flat tires happen.

The culprit? A thumb tack.

After fixing the flat tire, we continued climbing.

Sometimes the brain demands caloric density in any form available.

The blur that is David Thompson.

After several long days, David gets massage and acupuncture at Descending Dragon Health Center in Tucson.

This is a scene that David Thompson knows well – packing up the bike.