El Tour, How long are you going to go?

i'm thinking of doing the 109, haven't signed up yet, but that is mainly cause i'll just wait till it gets closer, the cost goes up and then pay...not too bright, oh well.  i did the 109 last year and had only been biking for about 2-2.5 months at that point.  it was a painful day, but i'm glad i finished it.  i know other people are considering the shorter distances and, IMO, no one should feel as though they 'have' to do any particular distance.

109er for sure. I have a pretty lofty goal time of breaking 4:45, but we'll see how that goes :)

I'll do the 109 if I do it.

Adrienne, that's awesome...you did the long version because you couldn't get a ride to a shorter one :)

you all should think about doing the tumacacori century on Oct 26th. It's a super relaxed 100 mile ride with awesome sag stops (not your typical race gels, they have real food), and your 35 dollar entry also covers lunch at the end.

It's on Oct 26th and the start time is up to you ;)

Visit http://www.bikegaba.org/Overnights&Centuries/2008/Tumacacori_Century/Des... for more info

Haven't signed up yet but planning to. The 109 is a strong possibility, but the 80 starts less than a mile form my house...a later alarm and no parking issue is very tempting.

For those who are worried about fitness for the 109, consider a shorter distance. There's nothing wrong with that. Also, the shorter distances are much less crowded--the 109 gets VERY busy in the first few miles and never really spreads out. If you're not comfortable in a large pack, think about the 67 or 80.

I actually ended up doing no ride at all last year because I couldn't find a ride to the shorter one :(

I had a healthy fear of large packs at the beginning of last year.  I knew that I wasn't comfortable riding with 10,000 other people.  I think that if you are hesitating to do the 109, maybe there is a good reason (either the distance or the pack riding).  I am happy I waited until I was a confident biker with a lot of almost crash experience before I signed up to do the 109.  That said, I'm excited to ride El Tour, it should be fun.

wash sections?!  how do you run in your road shoes?

you just kind of walk through the dirt and rocks.  its no big deal and its really crowded so its not as though you can really pass tons of people.  in a race that long, for most of us, it is of small little to no concern.

I generally walk the first one (there will be so many people anyways) but you can totally ride the second wash... just think mountain biking on skinny tires ;)