And deservedly so! One year ago, Darrell and I rode the 35-mile section of El Tour de Tucson, Tucson’s big bicycle event. Our friends, the rest of the Trail Trash riding group, drove us to the start and met us at the end. Envying our athletic success and glow of accomplishment, they promised that next year they’d ride El Tour with us. Big talk, right?
But they did it. We did it. Over the past few months, we’ve taken longer and longer rides, and yesterday that training paid off. We felt strong, we rode strong, and all five of us finished within a few minutes of each other.
We rode light. Since I didn’t want to burden myself with a camera we’ll have to wait for our official photos to arrive, which I’ll post later. I did have a camera in the car, though, and we asked our waitress to take this photo after the ride:
There we are — we few, we happy few, we band of riders — waiting for tapas at a Spanish restaurant in downtown Tucson, where we devoured little plates of ensaladitta rusa, salmón ahumado con pasta de anchoas, chorizo palacios, pollo al ajillo, gambas al ajillo, mejillones al vapor, revueltos de esparrágos y gambas, and pescaitos fritos. How could we have lived in Tucson for over 11 years and not known about this place? I guess bicycle riding is like hashing — when you’re moving through town at human speeds, you notice more.
Next year, kicking and screaming all the way, we’ll take on the 60-miler!