El Tour de Tucson

For those of us who are crazy cyclists, Tucson puts on El Tour de Tucson every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  This year was the first year (out of 31) that there has been rain, ever!  And there was rain.  My race started at 8:30 in the morning.  I woke up at 5:00 to eat and get ready and it was raining then.  It rained and rained and rained.  Monthly average precipitation for November is .62 inches.  Yesterday we got 1.19 inches.  Mmmm.  It hovered around 50 while it was raining and reached a stellar high of 53 at 4:00 in the afternoon.  Add to that the bitter winds coming from the ENE at 17 mph and gusting to 25 mph and you have one nasty race (this may not be cold to you but just try it...there were several cyclists that had to be hospitalized for hypothermia).  And that, my friends, was the race that I rode 81 miles; heretofore my longest race.

I admit on Friday that I was nervous.  There was one point I thought, 'should I just not do it?  It's not that big of a deal, right?'  Well of course it's a big deal.  For any of you that know me (which should be all of you), when I make a decision and set a goal there is no way I am not doing everything in my power to reach that goal.  So of course I rode.  Here I am, ready to go.   

Here I am at the start line.  It was raining but not terribly hard.  But let me tell you that once you are riding a bike that rain comes at you a lot harder.  And from both directions too: from the sky and from the ground.  Your tires kick up so much water that there's no escape.  Add to that the gigantic lakes in the middle of the roads, some of them at least 6 inches deep: no escape, I tell ya!

I was drenched within the first mile of the race: only 80 more to go!  My hands were numb by about 3 miles in.  At about 20 miles in I discovered that my left hand (non-dominant) actually did not have the power to shift up to higher gears.  That's when I discovered that I could shift my left shifter by reaching my right hand over.  This was a great balancing trick with the wet roads.  When I got off my bike for the first time at mile 20 I couldn't really use my hands;  They were shaking and I was frozen to the bone.  I didn't mention my feet: blocks of ice.  And imagine trying to go to the bathroom wearing cold, wet spandex and with hands that don't want to work (they were permanently pressed into claw shapes of course).   Right after this I had to cross the freely flowing Sabino Canyon wash.  The current was a lot stronger than I thought and I got hit by some debris (nothing serious).  It was actually closed later on in the race, forcing 500-800 cyclists to DNF or find another route.

Luckily, my husband was following me around and met me at different aid stations.  I stopped at the Fire Station at mile 30 and the firemen had opened up the garages to us and set up a space heater and made pancakes and sausage for us.  Let me tell you, they were like the angels from heaven.  I stayed there for about an hour.  Haven came in and I ate lunch and changed my socks (which did wonders even though my shoes were drenched) and I refueled.  I love that fire station!

Unfortunately after being pampered for nearly an hour, I was freezing when I got back out into the weather.  My teeth actually started chattering while I was riding my bike.  I was afraid I might bite my tongue!  It was at this moment that I sent out a prayer to help me warm up so I could stop shaking (it worked).  What followed was a two hour slog through pelting rain.  It was not pretty.  I thought I would never be warm again.

Luckily, the skies started to clear around mile 45.  I stopped at an aid station and it actually stopped raining.  Miracle of miracles!  My husband came to meet me and I could see the car from the aid station.  It was right across the street and it had a heater.  I bee-lined right for that car, abandoning my bike at the aid station (this is fine, of course).  I spent 10 glorious minutes in that car.  I took off my wet top layers and shoes and socks and warmed up.  We even managed to dry my gloves to mere dampness instead of sogginess.  Fortunately I planned pretty well, bringing clothes to change into.  So I changed my upper layers (jersey, jacket and such) and got going again.  As I started again I started shivering and chattering uncontrollably again!  Sheesh!  Luckily it was short-lived (have you noticed my good luck so far?  I was very lucky).  Here I am riding off into clear skies.  I am the last one in line in neon yellow.

It didn't rain again (I rode 5 hours in the rain) and the sun even decided to shine a little which warmed me to a manageable temperature.  I had about 2 hours of good, steady riding.  It's true that my muscles started to really hurt from the coldness, stiffness, and general abuse of a long bike tour.  But really, things were good until the finish.

I rode into the finish line at a good cadence and enjoyed the last 30 miles a lot more than the first 50.  Here is my blurry ride across the finish line.  The clock is based on the 7 am starting time for the 107 milers.  I started at 8:30.  My official finish time was 8:57:58.62.  I would say I stopped for about 90 minutes (or more) so roughly about 10mph which is my average.  I have never been a speedy rider but you also don't see me coasting for the last 20 miles because I am too tired to keep pedaling.  Never coast!  As my brother said in passing many years ago; you get there faster if you pedal.  Diligence is my thing, not speed.

So I finished, got my medal and we departed the race to the 'haven' of the heated car.  Aaahhhhh.  We went to Fuddrucker's for a buffalo burger and sweet potato fries.  Let me tell you I was shivering in the restaurant.  I was still freezing to death even after I dried off from my hot shower.  It wasn't until I climbed into bed that my body started to really relax and warm up.

The day after: I am stiff.  My knees are stiff.  My left hand is still stiff and hurts.  My muscles are okay.  I was nearly asleep for the entire day.  I am exhausted.  But I did it and what could be better than finishing something you started.