The TMC Health 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo gets each edition underway in the same fashion as its slightly more famous car racing cousin in France, with pilots running to their machines. In the desert however, the run was more than a jog across the race track. A three-quarter-mile dirt road run welcomed riders. Some ran, some walked. Some wore running shoes. You see, in this 24th edition, the stakes in the Le Mans start were a little higher. This year, the winners of the foot race would take home a Toaster! As if with torches and pitchforks, 600 racers charged the first kilometer before snatching their bikes (from Toasters!) and heading off to tackle the Sonoran parcours.
This enduring legend of an event is beloved by riders, teams, organizers, and fans who make it a true festival. It was a weekend of RVs and tents. BBQ and PBJ. Coffee and beer.
And it was an engaging weekend for AHHA. With Toasters deployed around 24 Hour Town and a clamber by many to take one home, we couldn’t have been more chuffed. The warm reception from riders and the promoter was humbling. As it turned out, 24 hour racing turned out to be one of the best occasions for Toaster deployments. And it makes sense; it's essentially camping with friends and bikes. So many campsites were littered with bikes tossed wherever, so we set about to tidy up a few of them with some loaner Toaster love.
One such team in need of a little tidying up was Yuri's Angels, featuring cycling legends Yuri Hauswald, Rebecca Rusch, Molly Cameron, Edward Greene, and journalist Anne -Marije Rook. Like most race teams on course, each player on Yuri’s Angels was riding for fun and a host of personal objectives ranging from supporting friends in need and taking the next step in returning to form after injury. What this merry band of bike talent brought more than anything was megawatts of fun energy. Any rider feeling low only needed to ride by Camp Yuri to catch their updraft of positive vibes.
Like so many MTB and gravel events we attend, 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo embodies what we love about cycling; community. It would be hard to exclude 24HOP from our list of top five events of all time. We invite you to camp alongside us next year to see for yourself. And who knows, maybe we can tidy up your bike corral too.
