Tour of the Tucson Mountains

Another great day under the sun!! This is the fifth year in a row that El Grupo has participated in this event and our largest showing ever. We had 17 total riders representing the team out on the course and all rode the 70 mile ride!!! A great time was had by all and I need to thank all the parents that made it happen. We as a team are super lucky to have incredibly dedicated and excited parents that help out a ton, so kids remember to say THANK YOU to them all!! I mean we had breakfast burritos to start the day, our team photographer, extra parents that drove to the event, I mean fantastic support, so THANK YOU!!!

Ok so how did it go?

Well this is a team event for us. There are races in which kids go out and ride for themselves in a sense and try to win, this is not one of those times. The PBAA events for us is test of the team and group work. We go out and go as fast as we can as a unit. Sort of the three musketeers moto. So this year we had two teams that rode the 70 mile ride. One team was compromised of 9 youth riders and 3 coaches, the other was compromised of 3 youth riders and one coach.

I rode with the bigger team that for the first time had a youth female rider, riding the longer distance with the team. Congradulation Julia!!! We finished the ride in just over 4 hours, just missing the gold time. But really I do not care. Because we rode perfectly. So often during practice I ask myself, "Does anybody listen to me?". I really wonder sometimes, but amazingly every time the event starts and I start calling out instructions the kids are right on. I was thrilled with how the team functioned.

The ride started a bit hectic for us because really we showed up just in time. By the time we were all together and at the start line ready to go the national anthem was just finishing, I mean at the home of the brave close. We arrived with about 2 minutes to spare. That is most of the team we in fact were not going to wait for Julia who woke up late and was unable to meet us at the club house. She had prom the night before and woke up late but some how got her self to the start with literally 5 seconds to spare the team was shoving off to start and she rolled up. I mean another 30 seconds and she would have been to late. So pretty adventurous way to start the ride

The day was perfect it was that great blend of not too cold not too hot, you know the 3 days of the year that, that works. However about 10 miles into the ride, as I am up front getting the team into a good position I hear that Milo is not feeling well. So I drop back and the poor kid is in tears. He ate eggs in the morning and that does not work for the biking Viking, he had a stomach ach that was proving not to be fun. But the little guy is tough as nails and fought through it. Stayed with the team the whole way and never gave in. Granted we have to thank coach Stickland here because he was invaluable in taking care of the kid. Pulling him when needed, giving him a push here and there, and letting the kid have most of his water. Thanks coach.

After about 25 miles we took our first at the PCC west campus. There were treated by my wife Daniela and her mom, Christians wife Lori and great friend Asha. We took a break, got some water, got a kiss, and back on the rode we went. By the time we got back on the road Milo was talking again so the eggs had passed and Julia had pulled up the hills, holding a great pace, while getting herself through the hardest part of the ride. Well the hardest part as far as staying together goes.

From there we made our turn onto Ajo and we made the slog all the way to Sandario. I think every kid mentioned how not fun that road is but, a necessary evil I suppose. Once Sandario arrived we stopped again for the last time and then the fun really started. The road finally opened up enough that we were able to double pace line the rest of the ride. Every rider pulled through, took there turns and worked for the team. We were sharp at it to. We had just practiced it and man we were good. I was exciting for me to watch the team function as a unit so well.

There are a lot of different riding levels on our team and it would have been easy for some of the kids to just pull away and ride with faster people, it would have been easy for Milo or others to just quite, it would have been easy for the fast kids to complain about not going faster, it would have been easy to not stick together, but none of that happened. It was understood that this was a team event, we all work together, and that is what I most proud of. These kids put the team before there own personnal whatever, a pretty mature thing to do. Thanks team!!!!

We pulled into the finish arms raised as always, anxouis to know how the other team did.

Well they did great, and I will have one of them post about there ride. But pictures are below.

THANKS TEAM, PARENTS, RIDERS, PBAA

AZ Crit Champs Success

Well they did it. Max and Logan went to Phoenix and went one, two at the Championships this past weekend. I was not at the race so I am unable to comment on the happenings, but I did get a phone call from them just after and they sounded super excited, and they said they had a blast. So success! We are proud of you guys and your hard work. Now maybe next year it wont just be the two of them racing. It sounds to me like the rest of El Grupo could have done great. Here we come!

Up Coming Events and this Weekend

Friday-- Practice as usual 4:30 to 6pm
Movie at La Placita--- Breaking Away---- the best bike movie ever period! Starts at 7:30 pm and I would like everyone to come

Saturday ---Optional Ride starting at 7:30 am meet at Club House

Sunday --- Swap Meet meet on 4th av as early as you can to help with Valet and buy some sweet stuff

Also Max and Logan will be racing in the Arizona State Crit Championships so cheer them on from down here.

Go get them Guys!!!! Were already proud of you guys!!!!

Spring Break 2009

Spring Break 2009!!!! Wow it was just like as seen on TV. We had an epic adventure, survived getting snowed on, climbed a mountain, crashed and tacod wheels, scavenged Easter eggs in a hunt to the chocolate, got rained on, and we loved it. 13 youth riders participated, 3 adults rode most of the days and Daniela well she was the most indispensible person on the whole trip.

How did it go, and where?

Day 1 Tucson to Madera Canyon 50 miles

Well we left town, the club house, and finally left from right out side my house on Thursday at approximately 11am. We headed south on Mission for two hours until we finaly got to the bridge and decided to take our first break. Of couse we had already attained 2 flats but folks were still happy and the bridge came just at the right time. We continued on and it wasn't until three and half hours later that we finaly stopped again for lunch. Daniela met us at the bottom of the climb of Madera Canyon and we ate in the shadows of the Gelato Shop. Everyone at this point was in better spirits to try the climb that I tried desperately to scare them of. So when we left I had Julia up front with me setting a fun pace and Ashley had jumped off of the tandem and was pedaling her own bike.

An hour later we had gotton to the turn off with Greaterville rd seven miles down the road and we took another rest before the final accent. At the end of 5 hours and 12 minutes we had finally made it to camp. Thank goodness we were ready for the break, and thanks to Daniela we got the final two camp spots for the next two days.

Day 2

Madera Canyon to Mt. Wrighston

A 7 hour hike is what it takes to get from the top to bottom. It's about a 5,ooo ft accent that took each of us two PB and J sandwiches, most an apple, some trail mix and a liter of water. My favorite hike I have ever done and only Max and Dylan had done it before so for the other 12 hikers this was a first, and Daniela was even able to make it to Josephines saddle some 2 and half miles up 8 months pregnant.

A spectacular day that was crazy windy. The kids did great and I had a blast. Thanks everyone for a fun day. At the end of the day Kramer, Conner, and Donovan were able to join us after getting ride from school. Once they arrived I made them peddle to the top of the road before dinner.

Day 3

Madera Canyon to Colossal Cave 40 miles

We awoke to freezing rain, sleet, and hail, all at once. It was crazy cold, windy, and down right wacky when we awoke. We all wanted off the mountain so we left in a hurry with hands so cold we were unsure if we were grabbing the brakes. By the time we had gotten to the bottom of the road half an hour later we were reay to shed a layer and be out of the cold. The wind kept flying around today but lucky enough it was at our backs and were able to make it to camp before the rain after only one crash and tacod wheel. So if anybody reading this has a decent 700 front wheel, clincher, that you could donate to Elysa and her bike that would be great.

Day 4

Colossal Cave to Tucson and the Club House 30 miles

After getting rained on for the better part of the afternoon we were able to have a dry sleep and awake to the Easter Bunny and his eggs. He had come and set out eggs for us to find filled with chocolate and not water. The ride home was fun and uneventful, with a head wind, but knowledgable about pace lines after we had the disscussion the night before.

Touring is my favorite thing in the whole world and to share it with the kids I coach makes me feel super lucky. A few goals I have for EL Grupo in the near and not so distant future:

1) Tour from West to East the whole United States

2) Tour from Vancouver, Canada to San Fransisco

Both of these oc course self sufficient so no car help. Also while on the way I want to stop at different summer camps to show kids what an awesome thing bikes are and what they can do to. With the hopes that at the end we generate so much fun that we get invited as a team all over the country to give talks, lead bike rides, and teach other youth. Thanks team for a great time and look forward to the future.

U of Arizona Crit

Some pictures of the event are below but I wanted to comment on it more, as I find it to be the most fun race of the year. I did this the other day but my computer decided to suck and not put it up. So here is attempt number two.

Why the best event? Well is starts at a normal time in morning like 9am first of all, second it's in our back yard and we can ride to the start, and third these are streets that we know like the back of our hands, and lastly it is easy to get friends, family, and supporters there to enjoy the event.

The junior race started at 9am with about 25 kids starting ranging in ages 9-18. El Grupo was able to bring out 7 riders, Yuma had about 15, and then there were a few more. It was super fun to see such a big group. They all started together and from the gun four kids were off the front Max, Logan, Kramer, and Rodrigo from Yuma. These four rode the first four laps together until Kramer made a few slow turns, because of this he fell ten seconds back of the leaders. Behind them Conner was leading a back of 6, 5 of whom were Yuma riders. Donovan was just behind them with Milo figuring out where he was and Avery chasing his competition.

After a few more laps Kramer was still ten seconds back riding in his own time trial basically, Max and Logan were still at the front with Rodrigo and they were doing some great battle. Max would create gaps, Rodrigo would be unable to chase, so Logan would then try and get away too but Rodrigo would hold onto Logan. So Rodrigo was holding on with Logan having to do all the catch up work. I tried to communicate to them to make Rodrigo work but this was their race with this kind of competition so they were learning on the pedal. Behind Conner had dropped half his group but still had two Yuma kids on his tail as Donovan and Milo kept chasing. By this time Avery had caught his competitor and they were in a dog fight both watching each other.

By the last laps Logan was exhausted of chasing and Max won easy in a sprint. Rodrigo was able to finish second and Logan was pooped and came in third over all. Kramer finished fourth at this time about 20 seconds back. Not bad having done all the work himself. The cruelest moment came at the end of the race with Conner. He had pulled kids around the whole race, put himself in a perfect inside position for the sprint, and then his foot came out of his pedal and he was passed by his two pursuers.

Donovan and Milo came in by themselves happy and pooped, and Avery had a very exciting finish. He was neck and neck at the finishing strait but his competition sprinted away and got him at the end. A very exciting finish.

Thanks to all the parents that came out to support, all the riders that come out to cheer their teammates, all Grupo friends who came out to be supportive.

Thanks Tucson
Ignacio

Spring Break Bike Tour 09

This will be El Grupo’s third annual spring break bike tour and I am excited. But first what is a bike tour? Well a traditional bike tour is Daniela and I’s favorite thing in the whole world. We have been on many and often talk about how to take our new kid on one with us as soon as possible. Hence the tandem that you see in the club house. So a bike tour is a bike ride in which you carry everything you need to live. Like all your camping gear, clothes, cook wear and the like. A typical touring bike might look like this

Can you tell that her bicycle is loaded with about 30 pounds of gear? Everything she need!! Awesome, so why is our home not like that? Sorry I’ll answer that myself.

Last year we took the team on a ride that started in Flagstaff, went to the Grand Canyon and around through Cameron and home in four days. This tour was fully self supported meaning we did not use any vehicle to accomplish the mission. We carried all the food, shelter, clothes, and junk we needed for the 4 days on our own. A great ride, thanks team!

This picture is actually not from that trip but the year before or the first ever. Check out Daniela’s glasses. The first year we rode to Bisbee and back, and vehicle support.

That will make it a lot like this year. We are going to have vehicle support. Daniela is going to be driving the Cronyn’s van for us and transporting all of our food, shelter, clothes and the like. Mostly because the team does not have the proper bikes for such an devour nor are we ready.

So the plan for most will be:
Leave on Thursday morning around 10am from the club house and ride 50 miles to Madera Canyon. Madera Canyon is just east of Green Valley in the Santa Rita mountains. We will then camp there for Thursday and Friday night. On Friday I would like to hike with the team to the peak of the Santa Rita’s which is Mt. Wrightson. A super hard fun hike.

I know that not everyone has school off on these days so Nelson has said he may ride with a group of kids on Friday afternoon not to leave after 1pm.

Saturday morning we would leave the canyon and head to Colossal Cave. A 45 mile ride that is not as hard as day one. We will then camp at the cave.

Sunday we would wake early and head back into town so that the kids can enjoy Easter with there families if that is what you do.

I am sure there will be more questions. So Please ask. Daniela at all time will be driving the car and supporting the kids as we go. That means stopping at smart places and providing water, food, a ride, and sun screen. I would love it if everyone could come for at least some of the weekend, as I know all can not make all. Let me know, and also let us know how we can help.

Thanks
Ignacio

University of Arizona Crit

Colossal Cave Stage Race

El Grupo the past two weekends has been out at some local races. The Colossal Cave stage race took place two weeks ago on the weekend of March 28th and 29th. It was a three stage race a time trial and crit on Saturday and a road race on Sunday. We had quite a few kids racing the most ever fielded by El Grupo in one event and for many it was there first race. How did we do? Excellent!! Every kid finished with smiles and exhaustion. Max and Logan went one two in every race, Kramer won every race of his division, Ricardo, Milo, and Conner all raced for their first times ever and loved it and got faster as the weekend went on. There was some great competition out there as well so it was real deal racing with break aways, counter attacks, crashes and sprints to the line. I had a blast watching, the kids loved racing, and we had awesome parental support for the kids. Thanks everyone! Oh yeah Avery also raced and had an incredible come from behind win in the road course that had Dad calling everyone he was so excited.

CHECK OUT THE PICS OF MAX AND RICARDO

I love to seeing the pain on Ricardo's race and Max's hunger to race. These kids give everything they got and I love and admire them for it.

Spring Break 09 Rider Gear List

Ok Riders and parents Daniela and I are really looking forward to the 3rd Annual El Grupo Spring Break bike tour, and we do apologize for the late organizing. No excuses just things are have been crazy and exciting, all good things so lets keep truckin. This is the first installment of info coming out, well actually the second however I am mostly aware that the info I sent home in paper form made it to like two house holds so lets try this way. I am posting the gear list first as I hope this helps everyone gather what they need and time to tell me what they dont have. As for food and cooking stuff Daniela is totally in charge there and I believe she has a really good handle on it, but please ask to help.

So what do the kids need to bring:

Camp Clothes
1 pants
1 shorts
2 t-shirts
1 sweat shirt/ jacket/ something to put on top and stay warm
2 pair socks
1 pair extra shoes or sandel/ not bike shoes something to walk in

Riding clothes
2 jerseys
2 riding shorts
riding gloves
helmet

Gear
Sleeping bag
utensil
Drinking mug
Camel Pack

Hygiene
tooth brush and paste

If you dont see something and wonder why please ask, I may have forgot it, or I may be providing it. Like sleeping mats.

I really want to implore to all riders that all gear fit in one back pack. Like the one you take to school. Transporting space will be an issue and we need to be resourceful. So one back pack. I know it sounds hard but all good things in life are.

Please ask questions and let me know how it is you may be able to help. Thanks parents for making el grupo the funnest thing for me.

Ignacio

Movie Night Success

Yesterday afternoon El Grupo was fortunate enought to get support from the CIty of Tucson Bike Fest and the Loft and was the beneficiary of a Bicycle Movie fest. Over 150 people showed up to watch some fun films and enjoy the great theater. El Grupo put together a raffle, local films, and helped with a bicycle valet service. We had a great time and want to thank everyone for coming and supporting the team. We are having so much fun doing what we are doing and want everyone to know that we need and appreciate your help. Check out the photo of the bike valet we had over 60 bikes. Ride on Tucson!!