2007 El Tour de Tucson Ride Report

View a slide show of the TdT

If you asked me about El Tour de Tucson (TdT) three years ago, I would have said, I have never heard of it. If you told me how far it was, and how fast some riders go, I would have said, no way. Well a lot has changed in the past three years, and without sounding like I'm full of myself, which I'm not, the TdT changes you. No it's not like doing PBP or RAAM, but it's the type of ride, which is really a road race or can be, and that changes you.

I have to be honest, my biggest fear was not making a fool of myself. In other words, I didn't know how other riders would interact with me, a perfect stranger or more to the point a newbie. And how I was going to navigate through all those riders, without going down. Well, when I arrived the morning of the TdT, most of my fears were for not.

So, here's my report, of what to date, was the most intense, dangerous, and exhilarating ride I have ever done.

Note: The ride really started weeks before - I should say the prep. But, the night before, everything was well organized, and I ate dinner around 5pm. Pasta salad, some chicken, a banana, and drank lots of water. After making sure all my gear and bike were set to go, I went to bed at 7pm sharp.

I'm not sure Rick, Roy or Tom did the same. Meaning, the time they went to bed.

After hearing how fast the "Gold" section of the cue fills up, I decided to get up early, and I mean early. My alarm went off at 2:30am. I ate some breakfast, did the usual bathroom ritual, packed up the car, and headed to downtown Tucson. Tucson only has street lights in the downtown area, and not in the foothills. So, it's dark, not unlike Michigan. Anyway, when I arrived, there were already at least 50 bikes parked at the "Gold" start. I figured there would be, since if I'm crazy enough to get there by 3:45am, then surely, others would do the same.

When I found out where the parking lot was, the back way in, it wasn't open yet. So, the parking attendant let me park off to the side. Around 4am, the lot opened up, paid the $10, and I snagged a good spot, right near the "Gold" start. I quickly got my bike and gear together, and walked my bike into the "Gold"area, about 50 feet from the Platinum back area. The barricades were not completely up yet, so I was able to walk into the "Gold" section without any trouble.

Now, it's about 4:15am, I'm standing with my bike in the dark, only wearing my moo jersey, but not really cold, it was around 51°. While standing there, more people started to gather, and soon, people are sleeping on the street around me. Apparently, they got to bed late.

Here's a diagram of the how the TdT start is configured:



Around 5am, things started to rock, literally. The loud speakers started to crank out the rock music, and the announcer started to talk about all the goings on. By this time, I decided I was getting cold, so I climbed over the barricade, and got my sweat shirt in the car, and that felt good. (Instead of laying my bike down, I took the front wheel off, and used the fork to keep the bike upright.) While waiting, and waiting, I saw Rick, and Tom. Roy came by, I think around 6am, but I was in line, by the porta-johns. Roy, Rick and Tom were in the "Gold" section, about 200 yards behind me. When I got back from the john, it was starting to get light, so I put my sweat shirt back in the car, and climbed back over the barricade, and back to my bike.

Note: Get this, right near me, there were these guys on trainers, okay that's weird.

Around 6:30am, the scene was getting juiced up. I ate a Cliff Bar, took two Hammer pills, and put my front wheel back on. Now, all 5,000 (or so I was told) riders doing the 109 route had gathered. What a sight.





The music is still cranking, and at 7am, the start gun went off. Before I go on, I want to make a point about how they time this race/ride.

The TdT is really first come, first served, or I should say, the people upfront get the better averages. Even if you were Lance. If Lance got stuck at the very end, there's no way even a pro could bridge the gap, plus there's a very high danger level just trying to make your way through the pack. But more to the point. The clock starts when the first riders cross the line. That means rider 4,000 +, is already 30 minutes behind or more. This is unfair. They should have the chips record individual times, not when the clock starts.

Also, even though I was close to the Platinum riders, who don't have to show up, until around 7am, since they have a guaranteed spot, like the pros. It's nearly impossible to bridge that gap. Remember, where I was located, I still had about 300 riders in front of me.

Okay, we're on the course, and there's a sea of riders, moving at 27-30 mph, using all three lanes of the road. Totally crazy. Keep in mind, the police block off the entire route. And people are cheering you on. This goes on for about 3 to 5 miles, until you find a pace line you can hang with. When I say pace lines, I'm talking about 30 to 60 people. Once inside, you're not doing a lot of work, as long as you keep it tight. Most importantly, you must stay alert, at all times, on the TdT. If you don't, you will go down. Saying that, the closer to the Platinum back end, the better off you are, as those riders are more experienced - at least one would think.

So, the key to getting a good time is:

• Don't pull, let the pace line do all the work, this is number one. When you're in a pace line of 30 to 60 riders, you just fly. But, with this comes danger.


• Don't crash, or get a flat.


• Don't stop, except for the river crossings.


• Walk as fast as you can over the crossings, run if possible, while carrying your bike.


• Make sure you can climb, and don't get dropped on a climb.


• Bring the right kind of food with you. I did not. Now I know. So, what would I bring next time; 2 water bottles, 1 gel flask, 2 Cliff Bars, Hammer anti-cramp pills, and 2 small water bottles, filled with liquid food. You want nutrition that's quick and easy to eat, without chewing, if possible.

So, about 5 miles out, and after passing by two down bloody riders, I hooked up with a fast moving pace line. This was very much welcome, as I needed some rest. Still we're doing about 26 mph, but I'm not working all that hard.

Around 8 miles out, we hit the first river crossing, this one is the longer of the two. Some guys try to ride it, only to fall down due to the deep sand. It was pretty funny. This crossing was about 1/4 mile, I'm guessing, and wasn't too crowded, since I got there early, due to my spot in the start. Climbed up the sand dune, and jumped on my bike, and pushed it to regroup with the pack.

Now, the course is going downhill, and we are hitting speeds up to 39 mph. At every intersection there are police, and they do stop the traffic. In fact, I never stopped, except for getting off my bike for the river crossings. That's a first for me, 109 miles in the saddle, literally. During the second river crossing, I grabbed some water. Now, some of the good climbs start, up to 8%, based on my bike computer. I should also note, that we would ride on the shoulders, if there was one. The shoulders out there are designed for bikers. If there wasn't a shoulder, we would take the whole lane. But, the police motorcycles would come along our left side, keeping the oncoming cars out of our way, very cool. You felt like a pro for the day, plus all the people on the course cheering you on helped too.

As you're climbing the pace line falls apart. And soon there's no one around you. Don't worry, soon the whole pack comes back together, or another fast moving pack comes by, you can latch onto. After climbing up Sunrise and down and up, which was very close to the condo I was staying in. We turned onto Oracle, I took the corner a little to wide, and almost hit the traffic cones in the road. But, before that, some fool on a tri-bike stops in the middle of a climb, and almost takes me and the group down. I saw three tri-bikes, and I thought they weren't allowed. Guess not. Though, that guy who stopped got an ear full, from the other guys. I also saw people with ipods, sorry very unsafe. Also, you had to watch out for water bottles popping out of the water cages - this happened a lot.

The course has quite a few turns, most of which are sharp, with some gravel, and some bumps. There are also some real crappy sections of road, out on the course.

Once we turned onto Rancho Vistoso, we were more than halfway, and we had a little bit of a climb to do, then it was downhill for at least 5 miles, perhaps 10. There was no shoulder, so we used the whole lane. There was a tandem pulling the pace line at 35mph the whole way. Soon, we came to Tangerine Road, which crosses train tracks. At this point, we're doing about 25mph, and there's a train coming, and the gates are going down. No one could believe it, and the "F" word was coming out. Next, one guy said, let's do it. So, we all hammered it, just clearing the gates, by inches. The train was around 1,000' away, when we crossed the tracks. Kids don't try this at home. I'm also surprised the cop stopping traffic just ahead of the tracks didn't arrest us. Yes, pretty crazy I know. But, if we stopped, any chance we had for Platinum would have gone out the window.

We're now approaching the 100 mile mark, after going through some remote desert, and the water is getting low. Some of the guys seem to think they're pros, and they start to throw away their empty bottles - okay, that's stupid. Once we reached the 100 mile mark, the grade started to go up. And the pace started to go down. Here's where we lost our chance to make Platinum. We should have worked better together. And we should have just hammered the last 9 miles. But, I could tell some of the guys were getting tried. About 3 miles out, one guy said "5 minutes left to make Platinum", and we picked up the pace a bit. We also got a police escort for those miles, as we were the last group out, with a chance to Platinum.

Soon we could see the buildings in downtown Tucson, that felt great. We turned the last corner (right), and sprinted to the finish line. One guy said, did we make Platinum, the time keeper said no. We missed Platinum by 3 minutes and 22 seconds. Getting Platinum wasn't my goal, rather trying to average 20mph was.

I got back at 12:03:22. I turned in my ankle chip, and got some water. I walked around for awhile, not realizing Rick had crashed 61 miles out. Some guy fell in front of him, while Rick was doing 20mph. Rick went over the handle bars. After an MRI on Sunday, he's okay, he'll just be sore for awhile, and has to stay off the bike for 2-6 weeks. So, again not knowing that Rick crashed, I stood around the finish line waiting for Roy, Rick and Tom to show. (I also saw Robbie Ventura, and the Cheerwine gals.) About an hour or so later, Linda, Rick's wife came by and told me what had happened. Then I hooked up with Libby and Elizabeth. It was getting very hot standing in the sun, waiting for Tom and Roy show, but I wanted to take their picture.

They eventually appeared, took their photos, and walked over to where Rick was sitting. Even though the Caucus had two crashes, Roy was still able to ride after his, since it didn't involve a postal vehicle - the day was one of those amazing days on a bike.





Moo's Stats via the chip:
Time: 05:03:22
Average: 21.6


Tom's chipped stats:
Time: 07:12:11
Average: 15.2+


Roy's chipped stats:
Time: 07:49:30
Average: 14.0

My Stats via my bike computer:
Miles: 109
Time: 4:55 (minus the river crossings)
Average Speed: 22.2
Max. Speed: 39
Altitude Gain: 3,159 feet
Average Grade: 2%
Max. Grade: 8%

What I ate/drank during the 109 miles:
1 flask of gel
1 bottle of Gatorade
3 bottles of water

Pros:

• You feel like a pro for the day.


• People cheer you on along the way.


• Great SAG!


• Lots of rest stops.


• You don't need a cue sheet, since there are police at every turn.


• Plenty of paramedics

Cons:

• There could have been a few more ports-johns at the start.


• I saw tri-bikes on the course, not good.


• ipods as well, also not good.


• The timing chip should record your time when you cross the start, and stop when you cross the finish. Not when the gun goes off.

Finally, El Tour de Tucson is a fantastic ride/race. This should be on your list of rides to do. Learn more about El Tour de Tucson at: http://www.pbaa.com/

View rider results at: http://www.pbaa.com/!ETT/ETT07Results/ETT07-FS.html





Here's some video of the 2007 tour,
more to come, as it becomes available:



El Tour de Tucson XXV (2007) from casademora on Vimeo.








This video I also found on the Web.
It was produced by Sara Cole, ©2007 Starnet
Click here to view (QuickTime)