sjbraun
11-22-2009, 06:03 PM
Yesterday, I rode El Tour de Tucson, a 109 mile route around the perimeter of Tucson. El Tour, as we locals call it is an annual event that draws upwards of 9,000 riders on routes ranging from 35 to 109 miles. Usually, we ride the 67 mile event. It has all the fun (ie challenging) parts of the 109 mile route and none of the pain.
But this year, me and the Thursday night, beer drinking, riding boys decided we'd do El Tour fixed. The five soon became two, (something about beer fueled promises...)
K and I debated gear choices, (there are a few challenging hills, one short beast and a 6 mile downhill.) We settled on a 75 gear inches, 42x15.
Our "training" consisted of our normal riding, (mostly commuting,) a series of long rides on the Saturdays, and Thursday night beer consumption.Our longest fixed gear ride had been 85 miles two weeks prior to the event.
Yesterday was beautiful, 49 degrees at the start, 75 at the finish with clear skies and moderate winds. We faced a bit of a headwind in the first flattish 20 miles, but after that we had tailwinds for the climbs and headwinds for the downhills.
El Tour is unique in that it involves two river crossings, actually the crossings are hike-a-bikes through dry washes. The first one is a quarter mile, the second is closer to a half mile. Including the walking, our riding time was 6:38, averaging 16.5 mph. Our overall time, including stops (which in addition to bathroom breaks and munchies included 15 minutes of attention we gave to a fallen rider at mile 8,) was 7:43. We could have finished faster, but K started cramping with 30 miles to go. We stopped several times in the last 10 miles to ease protesting muscles.
With our ride to the start, to post ride refreshments, and the ride home, I ended up with 118 miles for the day; my biggest mileage day ever.
I must say, that riding that distance fixed was not really a big deal. I can't imagine it would have been much easier on my geared bike, though I would most likely have finished sooner. Of course, the downhill sections would have been easier. We chilled on the two particularly steep downhills, keeping our max speed to 36mph. (A few weeks ago, we exceeded 38mph on one of them. Let me say once and for all, 173 rpm is not a pretty sight.)
All in all, a great day and a great ride. After the first 20 miles, my legs felt great. I was strong on all the climbs. (I rather enjoyed passing guys riding lightweight, geared, wonderbikes on my lugged steel, front racked, commuter fixie.)
I can't tell you how much it meant to me to ride so well yesterday. A year ago, I'd just finished six rounds of chemotherapy for CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia.) I rode the 35 mile event just to make a statement, (the statement being F^#k you, cancer!) But to come so far in a year is profoundly satisfying.
Now my only concern is what crazy ride do me and the Thursday night crew attempt next?
Steve-who saw a few nice Serottas along the way
Tucson
But this year, me and the Thursday night, beer drinking, riding boys decided we'd do El Tour fixed. The five soon became two, (something about beer fueled promises...)
K and I debated gear choices, (there are a few challenging hills, one short beast and a 6 mile downhill.) We settled on a 75 gear inches, 42x15.
Our "training" consisted of our normal riding, (mostly commuting,) a series of long rides on the Saturdays, and Thursday night beer consumption.Our longest fixed gear ride had been 85 miles two weeks prior to the event.
Yesterday was beautiful, 49 degrees at the start, 75 at the finish with clear skies and moderate winds. We faced a bit of a headwind in the first flattish 20 miles, but after that we had tailwinds for the climbs and headwinds for the downhills.
El Tour is unique in that it involves two river crossings, actually the crossings are hike-a-bikes through dry washes. The first one is a quarter mile, the second is closer to a half mile. Including the walking, our riding time was 6:38, averaging 16.5 mph. Our overall time, including stops (which in addition to bathroom breaks and munchies included 15 minutes of attention we gave to a fallen rider at mile 8,) was 7:43. We could have finished faster, but K started cramping with 30 miles to go. We stopped several times in the last 10 miles to ease protesting muscles.
With our ride to the start, to post ride refreshments, and the ride home, I ended up with 118 miles for the day; my biggest mileage day ever.
I must say, that riding that distance fixed was not really a big deal. I can't imagine it would have been much easier on my geared bike, though I would most likely have finished sooner. Of course, the downhill sections would have been easier. We chilled on the two particularly steep downhills, keeping our max speed to 36mph. (A few weeks ago, we exceeded 38mph on one of them. Let me say once and for all, 173 rpm is not a pretty sight.)
All in all, a great day and a great ride. After the first 20 miles, my legs felt great. I was strong on all the climbs. (I rather enjoyed passing guys riding lightweight, geared, wonderbikes on my lugged steel, front racked, commuter fixie.)
I can't tell you how much it meant to me to ride so well yesterday. A year ago, I'd just finished six rounds of chemotherapy for CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia.) I rode the 35 mile event just to make a statement, (the statement being F^#k you, cancer!) But to come so far in a year is profoundly satisfying.
Now my only concern is what crazy ride do me and the Thursday night crew attempt next?
Steve-who saw a few nice Serottas along the way
Tucson