Gotta post my report from our day at the Tour de Tucson last weekend, here ya go...
Tour de Tucson Saturday 11-22-2008
Another tour has come and gone. Pretty typical outcome for me, miss a few breaks and finish in the second or third pack.
Went down with my wife Meri, daughter and son-in-law Aubry and Justin, friend Jason Destories, and my 15 year old son Taylor. Jason and I did the 109, Taylor and Justin ended up doing the 67 miler. Justin because he never could find the time to train in his newlywed life and Taylor because he couldn't find time to train in his junior high life (along with his broken arm).
We made it down through the (decade-long) Tucson freeway construction to our lodgings at the 5 star Super 8 motel (never again!). Headed over to the check-in to get our stuff and peruse the vendor booths. Drove east to what seemed nearly New Mexico and finally ate at El Paso restaurant (Olive Garden had a 90 minute wait). Afterwards, we went back over to the convention center to pick up our Platinum passes for the race. Taylor got excited because he spotted Bob Stapleton (a good friend of Barry Thomas's btw), he's the owner of Team Columbia cycling team (formally High Road and T-Mobile). Taylor waited for an opportunity and got a picture with him. He also told Bob we'd be over to the Tour of California and that we'd see him over there. Bob was very cool in chatting with us and told Taylor he would get to meet the riders while we are over there. Taylor was beaming, he such a big fan of the team. We can't wait to get over to Solvang for the time trial in March.
I sadly missed Greg Lemond again, Dan McGeehee told me he was around but I could never find him. I a BIG fan of Mr. Lemond and one day will succeed in having him sign my INTENSITY poster of him at the finish of the 1989 World Pro Road Race Championship, his face in the poster tells the whole story.
Restless night at the "Bates Motel" but Jason and I got out to the start line around 5:40, platinum was filing fast so we were lucky to get in near the middle. Riders trying to crowd up to the front like they're more important than everyone else, THAT really bugs me. I can see one rider trying to get up to their team but not the other way around.
Weather was perfect, not too cold at the start and not too warm during the race. In fact, I just had my arm-coolers on at the start, Sterling took my jacket, arm-warmers and blankie.
Typical fast start, riders moving up for a run at the first river crossing. Barry and Kim Thomas were there on their tandem, saw Chris Zaharis and I think Rick Green as well but I never saw the Thomas's again and found Rick a little later in the race. I was positioned pretty well and rode all the way through. Coming out is always a struggle, riders spread out and trying to form packs. I pulled a couple of times to try and get up to Jason's ( lead?) pack but we were too disorganized. I took a pull and closed a bit, and was thinking we were gonna reel them in but when I got off the front, the pack slowed. Not bragging, just saying no one wanted to fight to close and I was pooped. I just happened to find myself in a slower pack, with nothing I could do about it.
There was one more split to this pack a little later up the road. We were in a pretty good head wind and were echeloned back as far as we could. I looked ahead after a few minutes and got frustrated to see a thirty yard gap had opened up. I'm mad at the rider who screwed us by not waving us around and I'm mad at myself for not paying closer attention. About five of us took off to try and bridge up into the wind. We worked well but couldn't pull in the larger pack. About five miles up the road we were done and were eventually overtaken by a now even larger pack. I stayed with most of this pack for the remainder of the race. I know my fellow 5th decade Brumbys Kevin Kellis, Rick Green, and Wade Felkins were in there, Chris too, but don't recall seeing any other Brumbii.
Uneventful riding leading up to the second river crossing, just staying out of trouble and chatting occasionally. Pulled a nice one by going to the front before the river crossing, I thought Chris was with me but it turned out he got held up by slower riders and had to do some walking. I was able to ride all the way to the aid station in the sandy river crossing simply because I had put myself in a nice position ahead of all but one rider in my pack (ok, maybe there were some mountain bike skills involved as well). I was able to refill a water bottle and grab a little food and make it up to the parking lot for a little cleat-banging ceremony in pretty good time. Chris never caught back on, he told me later he could see me up ahead but could never get closer (you're pretty much at the mercy of your current pack). He ended up finishing in Platinum time though, not far behind us, nice work Chris.
That's the nature of this race... miscues. One missed break here, one hesitant gap bridging there, or any other number of things can have huge consequences later on. For example, had I noticed the gap after the first river crossing and closed it, I would have finished at least 10-15 minutes sooner, I just wasn't paying attention at that moment. Also, (and Rick Green (if I recall correctly) can vouch as I believe he was right next to me at the time) I narrowly avoided disaster while flying downhill on Freeman Road when someone up front dropped their full water bottle and I missed it my an inch. I have no doubt I would have gone down at 35 mph had I hit that thing. Didn't lose any time out of it but it could've been ugly.
Again, I just stayed out of trouble and before I knew it we were near the top of Rancho Vistoso. It was here I came upon Rick Frost and he did not look good. So much so that he told me he was thinking of abandoning. This was unfamiliar to me as Rick is always a strong rider. He told me "I didn't respect the race". He explained to me that he had gone out too hard with the lead pack and was now paying for it. He also told me he had also mixed his Cytomax too strong and was out of water. I offered him my unused water bottle and I think he had half of it gone in one drink. He asked me if I needed some back and thinking he would now be ok and hang with my pack, I said no, I told him I would get some from him later if I needed it. About 5 minutes later I looked back and he was way off the back, essentially done as far as riding with my pack went. My heart sank as I only had a third of a bottle of water left and one of Rick's concentrated Cytomax bottles he had exchanged for my water. I had some worries with about 30 miles to go and thought "I aint too proud to beg" if it came to it.
At this time I was in serious debate with myself as to whether or not to drop back and help Rick finish, or go on without him. It's not my nature to leave someone, especially someone who's as good a friend as Rick. This was intense for me but I came to the conclusion that Rick would want me to go on and try to do well. I reasoned that I would want the same for him if the tables were turned. I also reasoned that he could always hook onto another pack after he had recovered or even call his wife Jill as he talked about. Turns out he got a ride back to the finish from Rick Green's wife. Here again, little miscues, an extra scoop or two of Cytomax and too much effort too soon got the best of Rick.
Boy, pretty uneventful to nearly the finish, just chatting with the legend Rick Green, the ageless Kevin Kellis and Wade Felkins occasionally. We were all there until about a mile from the finish when Rick pulled up lame with a debilitating cramp. That's some tough luck, he's fought cramping ever since i've known him. Oh well, one less sprinting specialist to contend with. Rick can really turn on the afterburners when he needs to.
I wasn't fond of the trip down Congress, too many cones and twitchy riders. I had a Robbie McEwen-like moment when a rider tried to squeeze in between a line of cones and me. We were shoulder to shoulder trying to stay upright at 30 mph. He did apologize during the incident which you don't always get from an offender, so I didn't have to put my frame pump in his spokes.
We stayed alive through the last corner onto Granada and went hard to the finish. I finished with a time of 4:49 which is about where I thought I'd be given my spotty training for this thing. On a side note, it was great to see a couple of my old friends in Bruce Stauffer (who lives in Tucson and proclaimed to be very happy about it), and Jared Dayton from Mesa (I didn't even know my mountain biking friend had a road bike).
Jason did well finishing in 76th at 4:32, really incredible for the little training he had. For the 67 mile guys, my son Taylor finished 147th out of 1200 with a time of 3:46, very good for zero training and a broken arm. My son-in-law Justin was awesome at 46th out of 1200 with a time of 3:27, he did very well as well for so little training and this being his first race. We all had a great time and a great racing experience.
So goes another Tour, the joy, the agony, and the unbelievable luck of not crashing.
Jim
n, unknown, Kent Hatfield, Curtis Clifford, Curtis's brother, Todd Connolly, and the slowest/goofiest member of the trip: Jim Auwen.