El Tour de Tucson Race Report (Margo)

by Margo Chmelik

This was my first event with the team so I was pretty excited. I had lost a lot of training time and even missed a previous race due to a knee injury. This was my first crack at this distance and I do not have a lot group riding experience so I was not sure what to expect. The day started off good. I felt really good the first hour of the ride despite only getting around four hours of sleep. I passed a lot of people. Unfortunately once we got out of town and started some climbing into a head wind I fell off my group. I tried really hard several times to get on the back of a new group as they passed by, but could not keep up. Turns out I was spending too much energy when I was solo so had nothing left to get on the back of a group. Lesson learned for next time!

Usery Pass was challenging especially since I was really tired at that point. I enjoyed chatting with my fellow riders as we struggled up the climb. The views were also breathtaking. When things started easing up, I saw my husband, Greg, and our team mate, Jimmy on the side of the road. Unbeknownst to me, Greg had been in crash.  They were smiling and waving as I went by. I am very thankful that Jimmy stayed with Greg. The last 20 miles were really tough as my backside was sore and I had some nausea. After taking a break from eating and drinking that passed. I worked with a couple of older gentlemen the last five miles or so which was nice. I would have liked to talk to them when it was over but did not get the chance. I figured out that Greg had crashed and needed to get back to our hotel. Thank the good Lord that Greg was ok. It was a rough weekend as Buzz also had a crash the afternoon before at the state crit championships. God was certainly with our team this weekend!