Tour de Cure Finish!
Thank you to all who supported the Tour de Cure by donating to the cause. The team I rode with, Team University of Phoenix, raised $2,170.

The team I celebrated with during the lunch party, Team Sugar Daddies, raised $1,020. In total the American Diabetes Association raised close to $300,000!

It was a great day to ride on Saturday. I rode out in front in the lead pack for the first 10 miles or so, then I got dropped like Jan Ullrich on the first real incline of the day. No matter, I found my pace and kept on rolling.
My UOP teammate Jeremy caught me before the turnaround up north and we stayed together the rest of the day. Even though Jeremy could have gone faster, he hung with me and pulled me the last 10 miles when I was starting to fade…Thanks Jeremy! You are a true teammate!
I was hoping to catch the Sugar Daddies on the last leg of their 34 miler, but missed them by about 15 minutes. This was my first big group ride and it was really cool. What made it really awesome was riding for a cause and seeing all the red riders out there hammering!
Serious props to all the Red Riders, they were truly inspiring. And I must shout out to Justin, the mountain biker that rode the full 60 on his on his singlespeed 29er. He seriously rocked!
Last but not least, THANK YOU to all the volunteers, (especially those at the aid stations :D ) for keeping us well fed, hydrated, and motivated. The real delighter came when the volunteers offered to hold our bikes as we scarfed PB&Js, orange wedges, CLIF Bars, CLIF Shots and Gatorade. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Next year, I ride with the Sugar Daddies…and we’ll see if we can get the Sugar Mommies to ride too!
Tour de Cure Phoenix, 2011
Thanks for all the comments.
Justin, I am with Brad on this Road to Mountain equivalent. There are too many variable to factor in to get a ratio without dedicated research controlling for all the variables…. Someone should do the research, and write up the paper…
Thanks for your word Elizabeth. We’ll see you next year on the 60!
Hey, I love your write up about the Tour. I was there Saturday. Was my first bike event. Started off easy, rode the 35 miler as well. I was the one on the Podium 1 bike with the lime green handlebars. Everything was amazing and mad props go to all the volunteers for putting together such an amazing day! The volunteers at the first stop rocked (Go Exhale Bikes!!). I’ll be there next year on the 60 mile route!
Great job to all! Congrats to everyone for the over $300,000 raised!
Elizabeth
*Live Strong, Ride Stronger*
I would bet they would train on both to get both types of workouts. Road bike = long continuois/consistant elevated heart rate vs the up and down heart rate on a mountain bike. I heard the constant changing of the heart rate is the best workout for your heart = Mtn bikers live longer!
You need to invest in some lycra…
I don’t think you can ever really come up with any good approximation of road bike miles to mountain bike miles. It’s definitely almost always easier to go much longer distances on a road bike. The smooth roads and high pressure road bike tires alone cause incredible efficiencies way above and beyond anything on a mountain bike. The rolling resistance will be so much lower riding a road bike than a mountain bike.
I’ve heard many of the top mountain bike racers will train on the road, because it’s so much easier to get in long threshold efforts than it is on a mountain bike, because mountain bike trails have such varied terrain. I think it’s generally more difficult to build a solid aerobic base riding mountain bikes, because of that problem.
Mike:
After riding with the spandex gang, in your opinion what is the equivalent of road bike miles to mountain bike miles? For every mile of mountain, how much effort/distance does it take for a road bike to match? I know there are a lot of variables, especially on a trail, but I would imagine you have some idea. I have heard 2 to 1 but I think it could be even higher with all the rocks imbedded on even a relatively flat trail like Desert Classic where you can maintain a decent pace for long stretches. The effort to negotiate this vs a smooth road has got to be closer to 4 to 1.
Nice write up. I met Justin at the start. I told him he was a True Stud for riding his single speed 29er. Great event!