RCMoeur 

I received a message from PBAA that registration is now open for the 2023 El Tour de Tucson on November 18th. More information can be seen at https://eltourdetucson.org/

I usually ride Bike Patrol and help people out with medical or mechanical issues along the route. This can range from severe crashes or medical incidents to odd items stuck in spokes to handing out cookies in the final miles. And replacing lots of inner tubes and picking up a bunch of lost or tossed water bottles.

Last year they had nearly 8,000 riders and the weather is (usually) nice.

Hope to see some BFers out there.

Bob Ross

There's a 50/50 chance the missus and I will do El Tour again in 2023. We did it in 2022 and she came in a few minutes shy of her stated goal time-wise, so I think she really wants to try to beat that (and she's working with a different coach this year who we both think understands how she responds to training better than the coach she worked with last year).

otoh we were both supremely underwhelmed by the post-ride offerings ...seriously, you're expecting ~7,500 tired hungry riders to return to your Finish Line After-Party and you didn't think you might need more than one food vendor? Da hell did my $180 entry fee go towards?!?!

RCMoeur 

Much of the entry fee goes toward traffic control - the cities and county require dozens of programmable message signs along impacted roads weeks in advance, and hired police officers at every signalized intersection the day of the ride.

But you do raise a good point re post-ride amenities. As I recall, PBAA always accepts feedback at info@eltourdetucson.org. TJ Juskiewicz (who ran RAGBRAI for decades) is doing a great job of continuing the management of this event.

RCMoeur 

My 2023 El Tour: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...l#post23076682

returnoftheyeti

Is the Tour De Tucson route good if I want to do a century at the end of January, or are there better options more on the Loop?