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El Tour de Tucson - CycleRoad Race


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Tucson, Arizona
United States
Perimeter Bicycling Association of America, Inc
65F / 18C
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 01m 8s
Overall Rank = 863/3169
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Got up at about 3:30 and ate some oatmeal I made the the hotel room. Got all geared up and my friend and I drove down to the start line. Got to the start line about 4:50 AM. Kept warm until the start and just chatted with a few people from around the area. I had organized a team of about 100 people from my work (Intel) to participate in any of the 4 different length rides offered at El Tour. Most of us signed up for the big dog, 111 miles.
Bike
  • 5h 59m 58s
  • 111 miles
  • 18.50 mile/hr
Comments:

This was my first century ride. I had been training primarily for the Soma Half Iron tri for the past several months, so biking took a back seat to swimming. I had only gotten up to 65 miles in training and that proved to be a bit of a problem. I was going to ride this the entire way with my friend from work, but we got seperated not long after the first wash crossing. (Marachi band was awesome, BTW) I ended up riding alone for a very long way. I just couldn't seem to find a pack of riders that were similar to my speed. I ended up riding along with several of my fellow Intel employees. After the second river crossing, I was on the steep climb and at the top a lady was trying to get somebody to take a can of Coke from here. I snagged that thing and stuck it in my jersey pocket for later. At mile 65, my left hamstrings cramped up hard. I was really worried. I got off the bike and dug out my endurolytes and took a few of those. My hamstring settled down after a bit and I kept on trucking. I got another cramp about mile 85 and it again cleared up after a few minutes. Finally I was on the final 25 miles of the ride on Silverbell...the worst road imaginable. Uphill (gradually), into the wind and on rough roads. I couldn't wait for that to be over. I really wanted to get my gold medal, but it was going to be close. On the last several miles, I ended up riding with two other Intel employees that I had recently met while organizing our team. We decided to finish the ride together and cross the line at the same time. By the end, if I stopped pedaling, my hamstrings would cramp immediately, I just had to keep moving. It was nice to finish with my co-workers. My official finish time was 6:01:08.11. You had to finish under 6 hours to qualify as 'gold', so I just barely missed it. At one point, I had gotten stopped by police (along with a lot of other cyclists) to allow traffic to pass. So, my Garmin auto-paused at this point, while the race clock kept ticking. Had I not got stopped at that traffic light, I probably would have gotten gold. However, I probably would have gotten gold if I had done a few more 80-100 mile training rides.
What would you do differently?:

I didn't stop at any of the aid stations. I carried all necessary nutrition and drink with me. It might have been a good idea to pull over and eat some solid foods and at least give my legs a quick break. Also, since I don't have a dedicated road bike, I had to use my cyclocross bike with road tires on it. It worked pretty well, but on the parts of the road where you can really hammer it, I was spinning out since the large chain ring on my cross bike is smaller than on your standard road bike.
Post race
Warm down:

Reunited with my friend from work that started out with me. He finished it in an amazing 5:30! I took that can of Coke that the lady handed me at mile 55 and drank that and it was pretty good. I can't believe I carried it for half the race. I wasn't able to beat Barry Bonds (SF Giants) but I was able to beat his lesser known cousin, David Bonds. It was a very cool event and I hope to put together another team from work next year.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of long training rides, Limitations of riding my cross bike.

Event comments:

This was a very cool event. There's really something for everybody.




Last updated: 2011-09-12 12:00 AM
Biking
05:59:58 | 111 miles | 18.50 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/3169
Performance: Good
Average HR was 163.
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: 111 mile loop around the entire Tucson area. 2600 feet of climbing.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2011-11-21 6:20 PM

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Veteran
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, Arizona
Subject: El Tour de Tucson


2011-11-22 10:16 PM
in reply to: #3910763

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Master
1484
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Sedona, AZ
Subject: RE: El Tour de Tucson
Great ride! That's awesome for your first century. Those washes were a b*tch, you may have had an advantage with your cyclocross bike! I agree about Silverbell, that's a nasty road that always seems to have a headwind. Too bad about the gold. It's even worse because they lengthened the course 2 miles this year due to construction. You should have been gold!
2011-11-23 8:00 AM
in reply to: #3910763

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Master
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Surprise, Arizona
Subject: RE: El Tour de Tucson
Awesome job - especially for your first century and on a cross bike.  Wow!  Considering a) the two washes, b) the extended course, and c) the stop at the light for traffic (by the way, a and c frustrated me when I was there last year), I think you totally earned Gold, even if the 'official' time was a minute longer.  Totally impressed by your performance - great job!!
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