Pictured above Mr Shootout himself, Ralph Phillips of Fair Wheel Bikes, before the start of the Shootout at University and Euclid this morning.
This morning ride started out fast with Waste Management hitting it hard after the light at Valencia. There were about 8 to 10 Waste Management guys up front putting it down and riding very aggressive which always makes for a fun Shootout.
The pace was fast and steady. The group size this morning was around 75 to 100 cyclist. A lot of cyclists are in Globe, AZ this weekend for a 2 day race but there were still some good engines in the group this morning.
Denny Vaughan of Summit Velo, who is a national champion, had a great Shootout today. Denny won the sprint up the hill and also took the sprint coming back into town. It is has been a long time since I can remember where the same person took both the hill sprint and the sprint coming back into town. Great job Denny!
Brian Cornelius of Waste Management was also a notable rider today. Brian took 2nd in both the sprint hill and the sprint into town.
The sprint coming back into town was lead out by Waste Management. They had the train going with all of their riders but started the lead out a little too soon. Dan Naef of ProCon Cycling took over and gave Denny Vaughan the perfect lead out and Denny took the sprint followed by Brain Cornelius of Wast Management and Frank Barnes of Summit Velo took 3rd.
This weekend is the Ironman Arizona Triathlon in Temp, AZ and I had to run up to Phoenix to meet with some RoadBikeRides.com and Ride-Strong.com advertisers at the Ironman Arizona Expo. I decided to take my bike and make a day out of it. Everyone is always talking about the ride out to Bartlett Lake which I had never done until today. It was challenging but an awesome ride!
If you are looking for a scenic but challenging ride in Scottsdale, AZ then check out the ride to Bartlett Lake. It is one of the top 10 rides in Phoenix, AZ. Pictured above and below Bartlett Lake as you descent down towards the lake and the turn around point.
This is an out an back ride with tons of climbing. If you do the whole ride there is 4,794 feet of climbing. Check out the profile below to get an idea of the ride. You can start anywhere along the route if you want to decrease the mileage.
For ride and map details on the Bartlett Lake Road Bike Ride check out RoadBikeRides.com by Clicking Here.
Arizona Highways rated the Saguaro National Monument as one of the top bike rides in Arizona in the March 2008 issue on page 21. It was not voted the best ridefor the mileage but for its beautiful desert scenery. This is a beautiful loop on the east side of Tucson, Arizona and the cycling blog of Ride-Strong.com would love to share this desert beauty with you. If you are ever in Tucson, AZ it is a must ride.
“Lance Armstrong trained for the Tour de France in Tucson, AZ but you don’t have to be an elite athlete to hit the road in Arizona. Whether you ride a Madone6.9 Pro Trek or a Schwinn Stingray with a banana seat and sissy bar, there’s a road-biking route in this state that’s just right for you. Ride on.” Christine Maxa of Arizona Highways
As you can see from the profile above there is a good little climb in the middle of the ride that will get your heart pumping.
There is a guard gate as you enter the park. When the park is open there is a charge of $5.00 for cyclist and is well worth the cost. For more information call 520-733-5153 or visit www.nps.gov/sagu
Last week I had to head up to Phoenix to take care of some business so I decided to take my bike and make a day out of it. There is ride called Tortilla Flats that I have always wanted to do. I have been told by many Phoenix cyclists that it is a must do ride. They were right! IT WAS AWESOME! The picture above is Apache Junction Road looking northeast heading towards Canyon Lake.
Tortilla Flats bike ride is a beautiful ride in the Superstition Mountain range that takes you past Canyon Lake. This ride is best to do during late fall, winter and early spring. During the warmer months the road is packed with boaters heading to the lake.
Below is the elevation profile of the out and bike ride.
We want to thank all of you that participated in testing, adding content, and using RoadBikeRides.com over this past week during the Beta release.
We worked through a handful of bugs on the site and still have a few more bugs that need to be resolved. Thanks for your patients! We truly appreciate your help!
There will be a few changes made to the race for the Yellow Jersey contest and the $10,000 cash prize. One of which will be the contest will run until 1 pm MST on October 31, 2008. The person with the most points on October 31, 2008 will take home the $10,000 cash prize. The $10,000 will be awarded to the winner at the El Tour De Tucson bike event on November 22, 2008. 2nd through 10th place will be awarded as well on October 31, 2008.
There are three member that have been off the front for the past week working like crazy submitting content to the site. Currently snewman is wearing yellow. The current podium leaders are:
We are testing the Beta version of RoadBikeRides.com and would like to invite the Ride-Strong.com readers to check out the site and then comment on this post letting us know what you think. There are still a few things that we are tweaking, so if you see a bug let us know. Go ahead and submit your favorite road bike ride to the site.
As one of the ways to promote RoadBikeRides.com and get content, RoadBikeRides.com is having a contest to launch the site. There are going to be some pretty cool prizes to those that finish 1st thru 10th place. The prizes will be as follows:
1st place - $10,000 cash
2nd place - Brand new top end carbon fiber road bike - Retail Value of approximately $5,400
3rd place - Zipp 404 clincher wheel set -Retail Value of approximately $2,100
4th thru 10th place - Garmin Edge 305 -Retail Value of approximately $379.15
Today I was out on the Tuesday morning group ride (Map of -Tuesday Ride - McCain Loop/Gates Pass) and was amazed at how big the group was for a weekday group ride. There were about 30 riders from Canada. Tucson is becoming a meka for cyclist during the winter months. How great for the Tucson community.
For all you riders from out of town. The Vail Loop Ride is a great ride on the east side of town.
This is a fun ride with some great sections of rad that have little traffic and traffic lights. The section of road from Mary Ann Cleveland Way and Old Vail Road is a great place to put the hammer down. This ride is relatively flat with a few short steady climbs.
Today’s ride started at 7 AM with Ralph Phillips of Fair Wheel Bikes give us a little talk before the ride. Last week the group had a little run in with a police officer that decided to drive head on toward the lead group of cyclist to get them to pull over. Consequently, it caused a chain reaction within the group and a few cyclist went down hard. Although there were no major injuries there were a few trashed bikes and a few people pretty banged up.
So Ralph started out by telling everyone to ride safe and obey the traffic laws. Plus inform us about an upcoming meeting. There is a meeting about the incident with the police officer that drove head on toward the Shootout on 1/1/2008 this Wednesday March 13, 2008 from 6 to 8 PM at Himmel Park Library conference room. The meeting is located one block south of Speedway and one block east of Tucson Blvd. Please come to voice what happen.
Today’s ride was steady and fast. It is the first Shootout in many years where I did not stop to take a drink until the top of the sprint hill. There was no time for hydrating during the ride. There were a group of about 10 guys in a rotating pace line hitting it hard on the front of the peloton.
Some of the big guns out on the ride today were Rob Alvarez, Gord Fraser, Jimmy Ricatello, and Matt Cooke.
The Sonoita Pass road ride is a beautiful out and back ride that takes you to the Sonoita junction. There is a good climb that starts off gradual then gets much steeper for the last 10 miles before getting to the top of the pass.
The starting elevation is about 2,800 feet and when you crest the top of the pass you are at about 5,200 feet.
There is a good shoulder on the road with plenty of room, but be careful because cars are traveling at high speed.
Just get on Hwy 83 and go! If you are looking to do a century ride from Tucson, you can easy add 10 more miles and turn the ride into a 100 mile day.
There is plenty of food and drink at the junction where hwy 83 t-bones with hwy 82. Plus the junction is a great place to take a bathroom stop.
This weeks Shoot Out commentary was written by Jon Chadroff.
Let me preface this commentary by thanking all those of the Tucson cycling community that have been sowelcoming and friendly. Since moving down here in October, I have made countless new friends and learned valuable lessons both incycling and life. Again, I thank you for your accommodation!
Before the ride took off, Ralph (Fairwheel Bikes) warned riders that when you see “flashing” lights, you pull your bike over and obey the officer. Apparently, during last week’s Shootout, some riders thought they could out pedal the “popo?” Carsare faster than bikes. Period! After the stern warning, a fair sized group of around 150 cyclists took off down University.
Just after the Valencia light, Jonathan Chodroff “Yaley” (Empire) madean effort to bring the pack up to race speed, but, unintentionally, ended up starting the decisive split of the day. Following along tow was Kyle Akin (Team Rhino). Securing a noticeable gap, several riders began to bridge up to the front group. Making the split were Chad Beyer and Guy East from (VMG-Felt, U23 USA), Mike Mathis and Sheldon Deeny (Empire Cycling), the legend Gord Fraser (CTS), John Parrish and Kyle Ward (Waste Management), and four or five other strong local Tucson riders.
The breakaway group worked somewhat cohesively together. But, as themiles ticked by, the unrelenting pace combined with the gradual uphill grade wore into some rider’s legs. About two miles before the bridge, Chodroff (Empire) and Beyer (VMG-Felt) rode off the front. From what I’m told Mathis (Empire) and some young whippersnapper made a valiant effort to bridge across to the front two but were unsuccessful. Read the rest of this entry »
about our rights as cyclists. The book was forward by Lance Armstrong.
The Sonoita Pass road ride is a beautiful out and back ride that takes you to the Sonoita junction. There is a good climb that starts off gradual then gets much steeper for the last 10 miles before getting to the top of the pass.
There is plenty of food and drink at the junction where hwy 83 t-bones with hwy 82. Plus the junction is a great place to take a bathroom stop.
This weeks Shoot Out commentary was written by Jon Chadroff.
