Tour for Tucson's Children

Friday, the Fourth of July, was the Tour for Tucson's Children 27-mile bicycle ride.

When I got home Thursday evening, we finished up our major packing for the trip to Tucson. After dinner on Thursday, around 6:30, we took off. We got there around 8:30, unpacked, said hello to everyone, and settled down for the night.

I did not sleep very well. I kept waking up. We got up around 4 am, ate a good breakfast and got the bikes and trike out and ready to go. We were on the road around 5 (or shortly thereafter), heading down for the center of Tucson. It was my wife, my daughter and her husband, and myself.

When we got there, there must have been 100 cyclists already in the crowd. By the time they gave the "go" at 6 am, there were probably close to a 1000 bikes (at least it seemed like it). Off we went -- and man, did most of them go so fast. Thankfully the little bit out of the city was down hill (which lead to the first uphill).

Photo from Tour for Tucson's Children (www.tourfortucsonschildren.org/)

My son-in-law was out and gone before we knew it. My wife and daughter were just behind me. However, on the first "hill" (a long incline up around a mountain), my daughter came up next to me and my wife pulled out in front. She took off up that hill and my daughter and I never saw her again for the rest of the race!

My daughter and I kept a relatively steady pace of about 10 to 12 miles per hour, slowing down on other uphills. I was drinking a lot. It was very humid and the temperatures were in the 80s. I think, for the whole trip, that my muscles were ok, but it was the heat and humidity and lack of rest stations (we only saw two – there may have been more, but we didn't see them or they were already closed) that did me in (tired me out and let the heat get to me).

Our first stop was at a fire station about five miles into the 27 mile tour. We had to stay out of the way of the firemen (who had a call while we were there). We got back on the road after about 10 or 15 minutes. There were still people behind us.

On our way, we were passed by boat loads of bikes and a few recumbents too -- there were three recumbent trikes, one of which was for a gentleman who was "pedaling" a special crank in front of him with his hands and arms.

At one point, we saw a motorcycle officer heading the opposite way and he was followed by a big group of cyclists. We both looked at each other and wondered if there was another tour or competition going on. Then it dawned on us that this group of cyclists had already made the loop of our tour and were already heading back to the finish! Man, did we feel slow...

We made it up several hills and then were on a long, gentle slope up on a road with little or nothing around it. Just as we got close to a gas-station mini mart, my daughter, who was behind me, called out that she had a flat. I stopped, got out, and between the two of us got her rear wheel off and the tube out. As we began this exercise, two motorcycle officers road by and asked if we were ok. We said sure and they went on. She had a spare tube, so she put it in. She then used one of those CO2 canisters to inflate it. It was still squishy, so I got out my hand pump and put some more air in. As we took the pump off the tube value (it had a Presta value), it tore off the top part of the value and let all the air out. That new tube was now useless. As we were picking up the pieces, another motorcycle officer road by and asked if we needed help. My daughter just laughed and said we might.

We took her bike and went over to the mini mart to be in the shade. I took her old tube, blew it up a little and dunked it in the windshield washer water to find the hole. We did and then patched it. As we were doing this, a fire rescue van with two firemen drove up and asked if we needed help or if we needed a lift back to the finish. We said we were going to try to finish. My daughter then asked them, "If we do need your help, is there a number to call besides 911?" That stumped them for a second, then one of the firemen gave her his cell phone number (she joked with her husband later that day about getting a fireman's phone number). We thanked them and they were off.

We got the patched tube back in to the tire, she inflated it with another CO2 cartridge and we were off again... for about two seconds. The tire was still too low with air. So I got my hand pump out and pumped it up some more (that little hand pump is not the easiest to use -- but man, was I glad that we were prepared and had it). We got it up enough to get going.

In the meantime, most of the other riders had passed us (this whole tire thing set us back at least a half hour if not forty minutes). We were at that point about 12 miles into the tour.

We reached the outer-most leg of the ride and found a lone motorcycle officer parked under what little shade there was to be found on that street corner. He saw us coming and brought his motorcycle around to us. He said he thought that all the police support had already gone home. My daughter told him that the tour people had said that if you were at the last aid station by 9 am, you could still finish and that there would be support. It was only around 8 by then. So he radioed in and his boss said to let us keep coming. So, from that point on, this good officer followed us all the way in, pointing the way as we went (we considered this guy a guardian angel at this point). In fact, if it weren't for him, we probably would have gotten lost.

We were now headed back into the city (we were still probably around 7 to 10 miles out). I was constantly pouring water over my head and down my back to cool off. I was also drinking as much as possible. At the top of one little hill, where my daughter and the officer were waiting for me, I stopped and ate a little something.

By the time we reached the section of the route that we had come out on, heading in the opposite direction, we had picked up another motorcycle officer. They were both now behind us with their lights on. When we got to an intersection where we had to turn left, they pulled into traffic, slowed down, and told us over their pa system to pull on over into the left turn lane. One of them then sped ahead and blocked oncoming traffic. From then on out, one officer was in front, followed by my daughter, followed by me, followed by the other officer.

We kept getting closer and closer to the finish. Each officer at a corner we passed was vigorously waving us through. By now, we were the last two cyclists in the race. All the other participants had already finished or had dropped out.

We turned up Congress, the main street into downtown Tucson on the tour. As we passed other motorcycle officers, they joined in the "parade" in behind me. Other officers were still blocking other major intersections for us.

To tell you the truth, I was pretty much dead because of the heat. I really didn't know if I could make it. However, what was I to do? I had more than half a dozen motorcycle officers behind me along with officers and bystanders on the side of the road urging me along. I couldn't stop.

By now, my daughter and the first officer were several blocks in front of me. By the time I got to a couple blocks of the finish line, I was joined by (I believe) a police officer on a bicycle and was being followed by at least ten to twelve motorcycle officers with their lights going! (At least I heard the rumbling of the motorcycle behind me and that is what my wife said she saw as I was coming.)

As I got near the finish line they were blaring out on their speakers that the last cyclist was finishing and we even had some short bursts on their sirens!! Quite a prestigious escort!!!!

My wife was there at the line to greet me and I saw one guy taking a picture (unfortunately, neither my wife or son-in-law took any pictures!! so we don't have one of this procession!!). (I sent an email to the Tucson police department later in the day saying how grateful my daughter and I were and wanting to know who that one, first officer was so we could thank him -- and maybe they might know who the photographer was and put us in touch with him.)

After crossing the finish line, I must have looked lost because one of the officials came over and directed me to a tent where they were giving out the finish ribbons and medals. I cycled over, picked it up, and then cycled over to some shade by one of the buildings in the area.

I got off my trike and just sat down. My wife brought me some cold water. I drank only about half of it because I was pouring the rest on my head and down my back. I must of sat there and did that with that cold bottle of water and one other bottle for about 15 or 20 minutes.

When I finally got some strength back, I joined my wife and daughter and we cycled back to her house (which is about two or two and half miles from the city center). Our son-in-law, who had finished the race in little over an hour, had already gone home, showered, and come back with their dogs before we had gotten to the finish line.

We got home, and I sat around drinking liquids, having a banana, and just recuperating for an hour or so. I finally cooled off enough and had enough strength to get cleaned up.

Our son-in-law had finished in little over an hour, my wife finished in little under two hours, and my daughter and I finished after about three hours. It was quite an experience (real roads, real traffic, real hills...).

Now if they could just move the temperatures from February to the Fourth of July here in the desert...

I want to give a BIG thanks to the Tucson Police Department (and any other law enforcement that were helping out) and the various Fire Departements and those manning the rest stations! Your support and encouragement were GREAT! You should all be commended for your efforts and time. Thanks again!

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Benitez