Cochise County Cycling Classic 252, Southeastern AZ
October 11, 2008

Description and Maps

The Cochise County Cycling Classic is a bike race in southeastern AZ, starting and ending in Douglas, AZ, on the US-Mexico border. The longest route is 252 miles and actually extends a bit into New Mexico. I rode it last year (pics here), and after swearing that I would never, ever do it again, I somehow decided that it was a good idea to give it another try. As if to punish me for my decision, Hurricane Norbert made landfall in Baja California the weekend of the race, bringing strong winds and some rain.

The ride began in Douglas, AZ at 2 am, so I rode the first ~4 hours in the dark. It followed US Route 80, climbing up to Bisbee, AZ, then descending through Tombstone and on to Benson, where I took Interstate 10 east to Road Forks, NM. There I joined Route 80 again and followed it back to Douglas. Here's a map and satellite image from Google Maps. My bike computer has an altimeter and data recorder, so I made an elevation profile of the route with times for the major waypoints.

Joe Plassman drove a support vehicle and met up with me near Benson just before sunrise. Before meeting up with Joe, I got rained on for about a half hour or so. On I-10, I got a rear-wheel flat and had to fix it in the rain. It went flat again later, and I was able to quickly switch it with a spare rear wheel that Joe had along in the car. There was a moderate tailwind for some of the way along I-10, which was nice, but once I reached Road Forks and began to head back towards Douglas, it picked up to well over 20 mph, and was even worse than last year. I had to fight against it for over 60 miles, making very slow progress. As the Sun began to go down and I got into the final mountain pass back to Douglas, the wind was blocked and I began to see signs for Douglas only a few tens of miles away. With the headwind out of the way, I biked as hard and fast as I could for the final series of climbs, and once I came over the last climb, the final ~10 miles into Douglas were all downhill. An official vehicle met me just as I entered Douglas and led me over the finish line.

I got in at 7:08 pm (total time 17 hours, 8 minutes), placing 7th out of 12 individual finishers. About 24 people started the race. My time from last year was 16 hours and 55 minutes, so I took 13 minutes longer than last year, but that was all due to to the much worse headwind on the way back this year. My time for the first ~170 miles was over 15 minutes faster than last year. Damn Hurricane Norbert...

A comparison of times at the various waypoints between this year's and last year's rides is here.

Photos

	Medium Large	Me the night before the race
	Medium Large	Joe's car
	Medium Large	Me on the I-10 bypass road through Willcox
	Medium Large	Heading from Willcox back to the Interstate
	Medium Large	Heading out of Arizona...
	Medium Large	...and into New Mexico
	Medium Large	Just after turning off I-10 onto Hwy. 80 near Road Forks, NM. This is where the wind got really bad, and it stayed bad almost all of the way back to Douglas.
	Medium Large	Sign near Rodeo, NM
	Medium Large	Me around mile 200 or so
	Medium Large	Historical marker along Hwy. 80, near where Apache Chief Geronimo surrendered to the US Army || || \/
	Medium Large
	Medium Large	The sun is setting, and I'm still riding... || || \/
	Medium Large
	Medium Large	The final stretch back into Douglas! The red squiggle on the right is my taillight, and the vehicle is an official vehicle leading me towards the finish line.
	Medium Large	Me just after finishing
	Medium Large	Close-up of me and my dripping nose (Joe requested the inclusion of this shot)
	Medium Large	Rider, bike, and award medal!