Focus to End-of-Pavement

It was a glorious day for a bike ride. Temperatures were a bit chilly in the morning but not too much to complain about. Then there was the headwind we rode into all morning but we got past that. Oh and then there was the 4200 feet of climbing, but what is a bike ride worth if there is no climbing.

I'm pretty sure we could have done without the multiple flats and the headwind we faced heading home (an old trick Mother Nature loves to play on cyclists...switch the direction of the wind mid-ride). Like I said a glorious day for a bike ride...

Check out the ride through the GPS by following the link below.

Focus to End-of-Pavement by michael.barbour at Garmin Connect - Details

Tour de Phoenix 2010

It was an epic day for a bike race. The temps were perfect and the wind was tolerable until at least the climb up the Beeline Highway.

Richard DeBernardis, Founder & Executive Director of El Tour de Phoenix, announced that this year’s event, dedicated to Mesa resident Sterling Baer, welcomed 1,400 registrants – beating the 2008 attendance record of 1,308. In addition, moderate temperature and wind conditions helped cyclists in four divisions set new course records – the women’s and the mixed tandem divisions of the 72-mile event as well as the men’s and the women’s divisions of the 26-mile event.

Clay Murfet of Youngtown, Tazmania nipped Mesa resident Joe Susco for the 72-mile men’s title, with both times being listed as 2:51:28. Chris Fusselman of Phoenix rounded out the podium in a time of 2:51:30.

Pro-cyclist, Erica Allar from Charlotte, NC, claimed the women’s 72-mile title for the third year in a row in a time of 2:52:42. Finishing tenth overall, Allar broke her own 2009 course record by five minutes and 2 seconds. Mildred Lopez of Calexico, CA earned second place with a time of 2:58:15 and Heidi Melendez of Chandler came in third with a time of 3:01:09.

Team Focus managed to place five riders in the Platinum division, with Mark Bibbey and Matthew Braselton breaking the three hour mark with a time of 2:58:10 and 2:59:03 respectively. Jim Haugen finished in 3:01:07, Allen Blackhurst and Michael Barbour with a time of 3:01:25, and Mike Hershauer rounded out the group in 3:09:30.