El Tour de Tucson

[Rover-Rich]

Hey guys, anyone planning on riding the El Tour de Tucson this weekend?

http://www.pbaa.com/Home.html#ElTour

I'm flying in to Tucson from Chicago to meet up with an old cycling buddy and his wife for the ride. Any forumites want to try to get together? :beer:

[Jeff N.]

Not this year, but did it a few years back. Good Century (110 miles, actually), I thought. Solvang's still the best. El TdT is mostly flat, but some gnarly headwinds in spots. It also helps if you love the desert, which I do! Those two areas where you had to dismount and walk the bike across dry riverbeds kinda sucked though. Maybe they've changed that, but I kinda doubt it. Anyway, have a great ride! Jeff N.

[EnduroFit]

with a group from NC. Second year now and thought it was great last year! We are at the River Park Inn.

They had the two river crossings last year and it seems as though again this year! I liked the El Miriachi (sp?) band after the first one except it took up about 10 minutes to listen. Oh well...

I have obligations but call if you like.

Brent
336-253-7940 :beer:

[Idris Icabod]

I will be doing it. I am a Tucson resident, so if you need any information just send me a PM. My company (sanofi-aventis) is sponsoring it's employees to ride, so if you see a guy in a sanofi-aventis kit on a Moots then do stop me (any excuse for a rest). I believe our company will be having a hospitality tent at the finish and will be giving out freebies (not our drugs) so stop by.

[sjbraun]

My wife and I will be riding the 67 miler (Hey, its the thinking man's century.) on our Santana tandem. We'll be sporting Jim Click team jerseys.
Sat looks to be a very nice day, hig of about 82 degrees, low 40s at the start. They expect 10,000 rider this year, so be careful.
The wash crossing remain, as always, though this year they should be dry.

Have a great ride.

Steve Braun-I'll be at the Team in Training booth Weds from 4-6.
I used to scoff at all the disease riders in El Tour, until I was diagnosed with leukemia 7 months ago. Now I'm grateful for their efforts

[dbrown]

I'll also be riding the 67 mile route, on a Lemond Zurich. I'll look for that Santana tandem at the start. I fly in tomorrow night (midnight).

[Ray]

We'll be sporting Jim Click team jerseys.

Sorry to hijack for a second, but Jim Click Ford brings back memories. I grew up in Tucson and remember when Jim Click first opened a dealership there. You couldn't avoid the guy on TV or radio. The "announcer" on the commercials was some guy named Hank, and absolutely BURNED in my brain is Jim Click answering him "Well Hank...." and then off he'd go selling whatever Ford was hot that month. That and he'd always sign off in his garbled southern accent, "today couldn't be a better day to come on down to JIM CLICK FORD". He was a youngster back then and I believe his dad (also Jim Click) had a bunch of dealerships somewhere else and was helping his kid get into the business in backwater Tucson (hey, this was the late '60s or early '70s - it was pretty sleepy). I guess 'young' Jim is a bit of an institution around there now.

Sorry folks - I know this is of no interest to anyone, but you can't just casually mention Jim Click to someone who grew up on his commercials. Cool to see they sponsor a cycling team.

-Ray

[sjbraun]

Despite his desire to sell cars, Sr Click really supports cycling in Tucson.
He rides quite a bit, though I've only seen him on the road a few times myself. Rumor has that a few years back he plunked down some major change to buy 5 or high end road bikes for himself and his riding buddies.

[Rover-Rich]

Cool to see at least a few folks going to be there. Those of you who have done the ride before, is there a place where we might have a chance to meet and say hi?

If not I'll be riding the http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=17220&highlight=pig
and wearing my club's jersey "The Bike Psychos", stop me and say hi! :beer:

[EnduroFit]

wearing my TNT jersey. I ride an Arancio (orange) CDA. Maybe we'll all get to meet.

Brent

[jharsha]

I'm not riding El Tour but will probably stop my ride somewhere along the route to watch it go by. I'll keep my eyes open. I'll be on a blue/white CIII. Have a great ride.

[Rover-Rich]

Hi folks, just an update on this tread.

The El Tour was a great ride. I mean really great! This year there were about 9000 people who rode. The ride was broken down in to 110, 80, 60 and 35 miles- something for everyone. As I hadn't really put in the miles after the Chicago Marathon, I opted for the 80 miler.

First the course. The ride is put on by the Perimeter Cycling group and as the name would suggest, the route encircles the city of Tucson. My 80 mile "loop" had about 3600 ft of climbing with 4000 ft descent :-) all at about 2500 ft base level. The course was very well thought out! Roads were really great, very unlike my usual midwestern beat up roads. Furthermore, the AZ highway patrol did an exemplary job making sure all 9000 riders finished safely. It was cool, along just about the entire route, there were spectators cheering you on. At the rest stations, girl scout / boy scout troops / volunteers manned the rest stops and provided water and other goodies. I especially appreciated the efforts of the girl scout troop that decorated their rest station in a pirate theme AAARGH MATEY! Only criticism of the rest stations would be the lack of electrolyte drinks. More on that later...

I learned a few valuable lessons from the ride. Desert and arid riding climates especially at some altitude require MUCH MORE hydration than you think! During the ride, the temps were in the 80's, bright sun and little or no breeze. The conditions seemed perfect and I was aware of the dryness but I screwed up. I didn't think that I was behind on fluids until about 40 miles when the cramps started. At that point I had already consumed about 24 oz of fluid, but obviously was behind. My friend had a camelback and by then consumed 64 oz. Needless to say I couldn't catch up despite pounding fluids. Second lesson was the loss of electrolyte. Usually on rides around my home, I sweat alot and can feel the dampness on my clothes. In the desert, there is little or no moisture on your clothes, all you get is salt residue. I should have known better to replace lytes, but the ride only provided water and I brought a few endurlytes, but obviously not enough. By 60 miles I had to stop and stretch as my legs were cramping so badly that I would "freeze" mid pedal cycle and nearly crash. Ouch! Never had that happen before!

Anyhow got through the last 20 miles at a slower pace and by the time I finished, I felt almost back to normal. Shows you what about a gallon of water and tons of salty pretzels will do for you.

Finally, during the expo, I got to meet Serotta James! Super nice and friendly guy! I saw the new HSGs in Ti and IT-- long, low and fast looking. James had also brought in a Meivici. Wow that frame is much nicer in person than in pictures. With all the new carbon frames out there it is hard to stand out, but the Meivici surely does-- well at least in my book.

Ok, thats it for a report, take care and :beer: :beer: RR

[PurpleBikeChick]

Resurrecting this very old thread.

If anyone has ridden El Tour de Tucson more recently, please provide your impressions, suggestions, etc.

A few of us are interested in going this November.

Thank you.

[rccardr]

Great ride, well supported, well worth the trip and $.
Done it three times, every one was a gas.

[eddief]

the most amazing state park with cave tours that will blow your mind...completely. An hour from Tucson. The story behind their discovery is a great one too. You can thank me later:

https://azstateparks.com/kartchner

[Jeff N.]

Done it. Enjoyed it for the most part. It was 110 miles long, IIRC. That extra 10 miles was a beoch! Ha!

[jamesdak]

Hmmm, my kids live in Tucson and it's just a day's drive away. Maybe I'll make this a goal for the year if the knees are still functioning by them.

[OtayBW]

Not recently, but rode it ~12 years ago and had a BLAST!

[Bob Ross]

I've done it twice, in 2011 and then just last November 2022. Did the 102 mile route both times...which was a completely different route, I don't think there was any overlap those years.

The Good Stuff:

- Roads are entirely closed to auto traffic for most of the day, and partially closed for the latter part of the day, so it's a wonderfully safe ride in that regard, no mixing it up with traffic. (Just have to watch out for all the cyclists with no clue how to ride in a pack!) The police presence and whatever other infrastructure is required to shut down 100 miles of road in a major metropolitan area is impressive and greatly appreciated.

- Rest stops are plentiful. Almost too plentiful: The first year they were every 10 miles, this past year I think they were mostly every 20 miles. You will not run out of water (but it is the desert, so bring 2 bottles anyway).

- It's a huge celebration, and the non-cycling community comes out en masse to support it. Lots of folks on the side of the road ringing cowbells and cheering/encouraging you. (My favorite this past year was a kid in a wheelchair holding a sign that said "Worst. Parade. Ever.")

- There's something invigorating about participating in a ride with so many other cyclists. Attendance was ~7,500 riders this past year. Massive.

The Bad Stuff:

- you would think an event that involves 7,500 participants would realize that some of those participants might get a little hungry after riding 40 or 60 or 100 miles. With one exception every rest stop along the route offered only Oranges, Bananas, and Oreo cookies. But most egregiously: At the finish line celebration [sic] where they had a massive party-like atmosphere with hundreds of vendors set up to show off (read: sell) their wares, there was only one food vendor. Who had just ran out of burgers when I finally got to the front of the line that took 35 minutes to wait through. But was happy to charge me $4 for a hotdog after I'd already spent ~$180 for the ride registration. Unconscionable.

[OtayBW]

The Bad Stuff:

- you would think an event that involves 7,500 participants would realize that some of those participants might get a little hungry after riding 40 or 60 or 100 miles. With one exception every rest stop along the route offered only Oranges, Bananas, and Oreo cookies. But most egregiously: At the finish line celebration [sic] where they had a massive party-like atmosphere with hundreds of vendors set up to show off (read: sell) their wares, there was only one food vendor. Who had just ran out of burgers when I finally got to the front of the line that took 35 minutes to wait through. But was happy to charge me $4 for a hotdog after I'd already spent ~$180 for the ride registration. Unconscionable.My experience was different. It seemed like the whole town turned out and set up tables and vehicles with food and good cheer ~all along the entire perimeter of the 110 mi route. That, for me, was one of the best parts of the ride. I may have pre-dated you by some years, though, so who knows what might have changed...

[bigbill]

We're in Benson, AZ this weekend for an equestrian event. My wife is the horse person, but I'm bringing bikes. The roads aren't good around Benson, but I can be at Saguaro East in about half an hour. I'll get a Colossal Cave loop in this time.

[PurpleBikeChick]

I appreciate the feedback and am planning to go.

....With one exception every rest stop along the route offered only Oranges, Bananas, and Oreo cookies....

I wonder if the very poor financial situation had something to do more recent limitation of food at rest stops. At least a new CEO (Charlene Grabowski now former) brought the sponsoring organization back into the financial solvency.

https://www.kold.com/2021/11/19/kold-investigates-saving-el-tour-de-tucson/