June 23, June 25, June 30, July 1, July 7
107.2 miles
I have volunteered to work on the committee that is organizing a charity ride in October. It will benefit Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center. There was a small event last year that attracted about 35 or so local riders. We are vastly expanding our marketing and organizational efforts this year, however, so we are calling the upcoming event the "First Annual" Tour de Safford. We hope to attract about 500 cyclists with a few hundred more participating in the half-marathon and the 5K walk.
We've been receiving some support and assistance from the Perimeter Cycling Association in Tucson, the folks that put on the El Tour de Tucson, one of the largest cycling events in the nation with usually around 7,000 to 8,000 riders.
We hope to grow the Tour de Safford over time. It has the potential for becoming a significant event because the riding in this area is scenic and, relatively speaking, without much traffic to contend with.
A riding buddy of mine, Russ Reynolds, and a friend, Ryan Rapier, went out the early morning of June 23 and shot video which I edited into the following promotion piece for the First Annual Tour de Safford to be held on October 30, 2010.
If you like road cycling on good roads in beautiful cotton farming country and scenic deseret terrain, you may want to consider signing up for the Tour de Safford. You can then tell your grandkids that you rode in the first Tour de Safford. Here's the video:
