El Tour de Tucson - CycleRoad Race


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Tucson, Arizona
United States
Perimeter Bicycling Association of America, Inc
Total Time = 7h 41m 7s
Overall Rank = 2036/3169
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Arrived fairly early at 4:30 a.m. to get some decent parking only to find the paid parking lot at TCC empty. Hung out at the car for a while hoping to get to the start at 6:00 but my regulated system determined that I better get to a restroom quicker than that. We lined up in the middle of gold and off to the port-o-potty I went. Dark and I had bibs on - enough said. As it got closer to start time the energy ramped up to a high level. It was great weather but before the 7 a.m. start time the temp dropped about 5 degrees so everyone was cold.
Event warmup:

Port-o-potty...
Bike
  • 7h 41m 7s
  • 111 miles
  • 14.44 mile/hr
Comments:

3800 cyclists started the century and it looks like 3169 finished. It's rad starting with that many people. I was initially freaked out about what it would be like to start a race with so many shaved legs in spandex but it was no problem at all. For the first 10 miles or so the roads are shut down so there is plenty of room to ride. The mariachi band at the first wash crossing was pretty cool.

I felt good for the first 51 miles and then my legs reminded me that I haven't ridden further than 50 miles on a single ride my entire life and that I bought my road bike in August. So it became a mental battle. The bad: I can eat just about anything. I have an iron stomach, however my stomach seems to always start rejecting race nutrition after 2.5 hours so I fought nausea for nearly 5 hours. I quit the EFS, Cliff Rocks and Blocks and stuck to oranges and bananas at the aid stations. The good: Police presence - they shut down the perimeter of Tucson, it was rad; Snyder road wasn't all that bad; the climb from Oracle/Ina to Rancho Vistoso was better than I thought; Tanagerine Road was sweet!!! The worst: Silverbell road was very rough and there was a headwind in every direction. This was the toughest time of the race for me. It was a total mental battle. The best: Riding into the finish a few riders gave me props for the century which was nice. My emotions let go approaching the finish and I cried like a baby. It's one of those accomplishments that I'm proud of. You always remember the first century. With the crowd cheering me on I pumped my arms and smiled as if I just won a stage on the TDF. What a feeling.
What would you do differently?:

Bike, bike and bike again.
Post race
Warm down:

A big Carne Asada Burrito from Nico's Taco shop. Shower. 2 hour nap...

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Legs and stomach.

Event comments:

I'll be back...




Last updated: 2011-09-14 12:00 AM
Biking
07:41:07 | 111 miles | 14.44 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/3169
Performance: Good
Wind:
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5