Well, just to ensure that no one gets any work done today, I thought I’d do
a quick write up on this past Saturday’s Tour de Phoenix. We had a good showing
from ProCon with Art, Trina, Pete, Karen (not Procon yet, but we’re working on her),
and me riding together. We also ran into Ueli Zaugg at the finish.
Look for some “team photos” to be posted on centuryrides.com sometime in the near future.
I guess we all looked so official that a photographer asked if he could take our picture for his site.
The route: New for Tour de Phoenix this year. 74 miles starting at
Red Mountain Park (Brown and Power), out University to Alma School, North to McKellips,
West to Hayden, North to Shea, West to Beeline, South on Bush Hwy, Over Usery Pass to McKellips,
East to Crismon, South to University and than back to the start at Red Mountain Park.
The ride:
We had planned to meet at our house (McKellips and Lindsay) for a leisurely warm
up to the start line. However, we got a bit of a late start and ended up practically sprinting
the 6 miles to the start. I was definitely “warmed up” when we got there, although there
was nothing leisurely about it. Our arrival time also presented another problem.
The Gold section was completely full, as was the Silver section. We were able to
just squeeze into the back of the Silver section, but there was no hope of catching
onto the front group from our starting position.
We started out with Art pulling us through a mass of riders down University.
It took quite a few miles for things to settle out. We were heading slightly downhill
with a tailwind and flying - So fast that we blew right through the turn at Alma School.
All major intersections were being controlled, but the guy here didn’t say anything as
we blew by. We started to hear from back in the pack that we’d missed the turn, so we
had to cut through a parking lot (while trying not to collide with anyone behind us) and
back onto Alma School. A bit of a dicey moment, but everyone survived unscathed.
Once back on Alma School, we continued with a big pack up Hayden.
Art and Pete were in the front quite a bit and there were quite a few folks looking for a free ride (me included).
At one point, I think we had at least 50 or 60 people in the pack. Once we turned onto Shea
and into the wind, things began to really yo-yo. We still had a big group together turning onto
Beeline, but stopped for water and a pee break about halfway to the Bush Hwy turnoff.
The headwind was brutal on Beeline, so it would have been nice to have stayed with the big pack,
but when Nature Calls, you just have to answer J It was pretty much jus the 5 of us all the way
back to the start/finish. We flew down the descent past Saguaro Lake and to the base of Usery Pass.
We still had more than 10 miles to go, but they seemed to go in an instant with the
MacFarland Express up front. Art and Pete pushed to pace back down University all the way to
the finish (with some additional help from Karen at one point – I think she was “smelling the barn” ).
Our finishing time was about 3:45 bike time – 3:50 elapsed.
The winners came in at 3:03:43 – Wind was brutal this year and I think the climb over Usery
added some difficulty that wasn’t there before. I had a blast riding with the “team” –
beautiful weather, great company, fun route – and I don’t think my nose saw the wind at
all during the ride. I’ll let Art, Trina, and Pete add anything else that might come to mind.
-Marty Long
My coach set a goal for me to "stay in control", however it didn't go
quite that way...I think I spent most of the day in Zone 4. With the
ride from/to Marty's house, I totalled 92 miles, however Art can top
that because he went back onto the course to find Mike (not sure if
he's Procon yet) and finish (again) with him.
Just last week I said how I was wanting to train my weaknesses
now...well, becareful what you ask for...apparently my weaknesses are
hills, wind, miles, and sun, because I was POOPED! The whole way up
the Beeline was into the wind and I was looking forward to the long
downhill to the lake, but nnnnooooo...it, too, was into the wind! I
got dropped on the downhill! But a nice guy from Tucson pulled me back
up to the MacFarland Express who were waiting for me (awwwww!).
It was lots of fun and nice riding with teammates...we made lots of
riders jealous and notice us! One guy called us "peppy" after hearing
Marty tell us (for the 6th or 7th time) how much she likes her new
bike, "ooo...look at the pretty flowers", and practially singing "left
turn!" to the group. I even heard someone say on the way up Hayden, "I
think That's a Wrap is our ticket!"
Choo choo!
Trina Dolman
I had the pleasure of doing the El Tour de Phoenix this weekend as
well. Things started off in a grand fashion, as I got my platinum pass
and was in the second row at the start. The lead pack went out quick
and just got faster, we were doing nearly 30 mph down University. This
pack seemed to remain close together until we hit Shea where the slight
grade had an immediate impact on some. I was able to work my way to the
front, and was feeling fresh as the leaders accelerated up the hill on
Shea. I big ringed it the until about 200 yards from the top and was in
about 20th position when I thought it would be wiser to drop into the
small ring and spin rather than mash those fateful yards to the top. As
luck would have it, I dropped my chain while downshifting and watched in
horror as my chain prezteled up on the bottom bracket. After pulling to
the side and assessing the situation I was able to get the chain back in
place and took off in a panic within a minute. I passed the better part
of 50 riders going over and down Shea, but unfortunately I had lost the
lead pack. They were visible, but a 1/2+ mile ahead. I did my best to
organize a pace line once I got to the front of the chase group, but no
amount of pep talking, gentle persuasion, direct commands, or swearing
could get the group to work together. I tried to break away, but as
others have already said, the wind going up the last 4-5 miles on
Beeline was brutal and I didn't make much progress. Eventually, we
regrouped and began to pick up stragglers from the lead group(s). At
the base of Usery, there were about 30-40 in our pack when one of the
women from Team No Brakes (Teri something) made a move and dropped us
like we were standing still immediately putting a 100 yard gap on the
group. I watched for a couple of minutes as about a 5-6 guys tried to
chase her down only to blow up and fade away. When it was my turn, I
bridged the gap, saw stars for a few moments, and then settled in next
to her. By the top of Usery, we had put about a 1/4-1/2 mile on the
pack and worked together for the next several miles until the pack
eventually caught us on University. At this point, we sat in and let
the rest of the guys who wouldn't work on Beeline carry us home. The
group was reduced to about 20 when we hit Brown. I worked my way up to
the front and jumped about 30 yards before the final turn going full
steam through the finish line. It must have surprised the group, as no
one really challenged in the final sprint. It was a good day all in
all, and a lessoned learned on the shifting front. When I saw the final
results, I think my 1 minute mechanical probably cost me 7-8 minutes on
my overall time. I finished in 3:14:41 (platinum with 19" to spare).
-Steve Boyle
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