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June 10, 2009
Welcome to Arizona Road Cyclist News,
which is sent out by E-mail every other Wednesday and is
posted to the "Back Issues" page of
www.azroadcyclist.com several days later. This
newsletter attempts to address issues of interest to people
who cycle the roads and streets of Arizona, be they
commuters, club riders, recreational riders, tourists, or
racers. Arizona Road Cyclist News is free of
charge. Feel free to forward it to your friends. If someone
has E-mailed this newsletter to you, you may sign up for
your own free subscription at
www.azroadcyclist.com.
This newsletter is copyrighted.
You may send individual articles to others if you identify
Arizona Road Cyclist News as the source. However, it's much
easier to forward the entire newsletter, in which case the
copyright information is already included.
We are in the summer doldrums,
as far as cycling events are concerned. Races are mostly
unexciting time trials, and there are also fewer tours during
the heat of summer. As a result, this newsletter is mercifully
short. :)
In this issue:
Upcoming
Arizona Races
GABA's Escape to the High Country
Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club's July White Mountain Tour
Back in Cycling's Olden Days
Feedback -- A West Valley Ride
Upcoming Arizona Races
The Arizona Track Series
takes place on the weekend of June 13 and 14 at the velodrome in
Balboa Park in San Diego. (When are we going to finally get a
velodrome in Phoenix and what happened to the money that was
raised decades ago to build one?) For more information on the track series,
click
here.
Saturday, June 20 brings
the second in the 3 Bears time trial series, which takes place
on Park Link Drive, which connects I-10 to to US79 near Red
Rock, which is in turn near Picacho Peak. The course length is
20 kilometers, and the registration fee is $20. For more
information, click
here.
Finally, the end of June
brings us the 12.5-mile Mount Lemon Time Trial, which goes
straight up Tucson's Mount Lemon to Bear Canyon, a vertical gain
of roughly 3000 feet. Registration is on-site from 5:30 to 6:30
a.m. with the first rider off at 7 a.m. Registration is $15 for
adults and $2 for juniors. For more information, click
here.
GABA's Escape to the High Country
On the weekend of June
13 and 14, GABA Tucson is sponsoring what it calls the
2nd Annual Escape to the High Country. The ride starts
on Saturday at the Happy Jack Lodge near Clint's Well and
offers 100, 60, and 45-mile ride options. The Saturday ride
progresses past the Happy Jack Ranger Station and Lake Mary
into Flagstaff, where riders will spend the night camping
out or optionally at a motel. Sunday's ride retraces the
same route. A shuttle takes riders on the 45-mile ride over
a segment of the course. The cost of the ride is $85 for
those of us who are not members of GABA. GABA members with a
user name and password can log onto a special section of the
Website and receive an unspecified discount. To judge from
the Website, members of other bicycle clubs pay the full
fee. For more information and to register, click
here.
Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club's July White Mountain Tour
The Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club's 2009 White Mountain Tour
promises a break from the summer heat the weekend of July 11
and 12. The ride fee is $70 for the general public and $60
for members of the Phoenix Metro Bike Club, the Arizona
Bicycle Club and GABA. There is a $20 late fee for
registrations postmarked after July 1.Registration includes
a meal Saturday evening. There is also a $5 fee for those
who chose to camp out Saturday night.
The ride starts Saturday, July 11 at the Hon Dah Resort and
Casino at the intersection of Arizona highways 73 and 260
south of Pinetop. Check-in is from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m. From
there, riders have a choice of a 73-mile or a 100-mile route
to Springerville-Eagar. Sunday's ride is 38 miles including
the climb from Springerville to the area of the Sunrise Ski
Resort. From there it's mostly downhill back to the starting
point. To see the ride's brochure in PDF format, click
here.
Back
in Cycling's Olden Days
My remark in last edition of Arizona Road
Cyclist News about Eric Heiden's crashing in a
Valley criterium in the days when Arizona used to promote big
races with national-class riders set Austin King to wondering what racing
was like in the old days here in Arizona, the old days
being, of course, the 1960s and 1970s. As a result, Austin
is looking for the oldest consecutively licensed bike
racer in Arizona. If you have a suggestion, you can leave a
comment on Austin's blog by clicking
here.
Austin's curiosity
also led to his doing an E-mail
interview with Richard Fisher, who was racing in the 1970s
and who is still riding today. To read the interview about
the old days on Austin's blog, click
here.
Question: The BOS is the top ride in the
Eastside for racers. Who started the BOS ride and when? The
answer in the next issue of Arizona Road Cyclist News.
Feedback -- A West Valley Ride
I received the following
E-mail about a ride that may interest some of our West Valley
readers.
Greetings, Jack
I wanted to let you know about our Westside group ride and
ask for a plug in your next newsletter. We have grown a lot this year. You
have already heard of one of
our riders, Gary Stuebe, the rider who was hit by a car in the 08 El Tour
and went into a coma and who is now getting better
we’re happy to say. Thanks for keeping up with him in your
newsletter.
About the ride: Our route has open roads, two decent hills
(about 1,000 feet of climbing), two water stops,
is uncongested and has few traffic lights to contend with.
We have been around for over seven years and have been
relatively unknown until recently. Thanks to word of mouth, more
and more riders are joining in and without exception we hear the
newcomers, most coming in from the East Valley, say that it’s
the best ride in the Valley. We don’t have the prestige or
the in-your-face competition that the BOS ride has, but we do
offer a quick and growing A group and a very pleasant B group.
We welcome all new riders and make sure they don’t get dropped
from the B group. We do have our competitive moments and
five sprint points along a 50 to 60 mile route (with several out
and back points to enable riders to regroup), but we all focus on
having a great and safe time. Our focus is on fitness and
camaraderie so we ask anyone with an attitude to leave it at
home and be prepared to support each other when they ride with
us.
In recent weeks we’ve had around 45 to 50 riders with about a 50-50
split of A and B riders. The primary teams are Colovita, Swiss
American, and the old Phoenix Consumers Cycling Club members.
We have a mix of men and women with tri-athletes, new riders and
Cat 2-5s with an occasional pro and even former European pro
riders. In short, we have someone in our group that
everyone could relate to or may have even met before. All
are welcome and we look forward to seeing new faces. We
just ask you to leave the attitudes at home.
Currently our start time is every Saturday at 6 a.m. at
Lifetime Fitness just north of I-10 off the Bullard exit on the
northeast corner of McDowell and Bullard. If you want to experience a new
ride with very light traffic, mostly rural areas, new friendly
faces, good roads and bike lanes, and a little bit of climbing (Estrella
Mt Ranch and Verrado) please have them look at our website:
http://members.cox.net/westvalleycycle
Thanks,
Paul Theisen
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