I’ll be stepping up my training over the next couple of months, in preparation for El Tour de Tucson 2015. Held annually the Saturday before Thanksgiving, El Tour is a ride attracting over 9,000 cyclists of all ages and abilities from throughout the United States and worldwide, consisting of novice, intermediate, advanced, and professional cyclists. This year’s El Tour is dedicated to Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Navy combat veteran and NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, who will both be riding in the Tour. In the main event, cyclists ride 104, 75, 55 or 40 miles. I’ll be riding the 104 mile this year.
As part of my training, I’ve been joining the GABA (Great Arizona Bicyling Association) group rides every Sunday. This past weekend, we did a 56 mile ride around Tucson. It was a fast group! Even though I averaged 17 mph, which is good for me, I was in the back with just a few other people. Our route took us from Tangerine and Thornydale, down the west side of I-10, east on River Road, north on Sabino Canyon Rd, west on Sunrise/Ina, north on La Canada, then west on Moore Rd back to the start. This is a map of our route, generated by the Strava app.
