It was a very beautiful day - sunny, not a cloud in the sky, mid-70s, and very little wind, perfect riding weather. The infamous head winds during the last 20 or so miles to the finish graciously held off all day and most everyone had a great time.
My buddy Dave came in from Oklahoma City to ride with me in the 35 mile event. We left early that morning, dropped a car off downtown by the finish line, and continued to the NW side of Tucson to Oro Valley, the starting point of the 35 mile ride. We arrived hours early, like total newbie geeks lol. Our plan to are arrive early, ride an easy warm-up, and get a place towards the back survived. Not much occurred to plan after that...
We arrived at the 35 mile start about 3 hours hours early, parked the car, and unloaded everything. Checked out the Start/Finish area and then took off for a short warmup ride. Afterwards we hung out in the rear area off the starting box, and chilled with the other 1200 + riders until start time. After the gun, it took us about 6 minutes to get across the line and rolling. We rode about 3 miles to the main route, during which we were basically rolling pass people at will with a steady pace, just taking it easy. As soon as we got to the turn onto Moore Road, we were passed by a group a serious riders like we were standing still.
Taking that cue, we took off after them. Riding along at nearly 30 mph in a pack of 50+ riders is really something. But fate was not to allow me to enjoy it for more than 20 mins. About 10 miles into my ride, I broke a spoke on my rear wheel. Falling out of the pack, I headed to the side of the road, only to realize my day may be done.
After releasing the rear brake quick-release, I continued the remaining 24 miles at a much slower (and wobbly) pace, but still finished with a 2:21:08 and a ranking of 288th overall within our group of 929 - Still in the top 30%!
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