A little town of motor homes, tents and sleeping bags will spring up out of the desert north of Tucson this weekend.
The tent city community of more than 3,000 bicyclists and their supporters convenes each spring for the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, an overnight mountain bike event that begins at noon today at Willow Springs Ranch.
For the 11th annual race, 1,675 cyclists will compete for prizes as solo riders or on teams, tackling each 16.4-mile lap deep into the chilly night and into Sunday, when the race concludes. The group or rider that completes the most laps within a 24-hour period will win. There will also be team and individual winners in various categories.
Last year, Evan Plews of Oregon won the men's solo title, and Sarah Kaufmann of California triumphed in the women's category.
Two veterans - Matt Blair and Dave Wiens - described what keeps bringing them back to the grueling, exhausting race year after year.
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Blair, 34, of Tucson has competed in the race half a dozen times and will ride on a 10-person team called Cirrus Visual in the corporate division.
"It's such a surreal experience because it's a town generated in the middle of the desert based around this mountain bike race. We're out camping with our bros, having a ball, racing. There's an underlying competition. You feel it at 3 in the morning. It's one of those experiences you go through, and on the other side, you fill so many memories with it being only 24 hours.
"I'm in the best shape of my life to do one lap out there, whereas other teams, four-man teams (riders) will all do five laps each. For our guys who are really fast on our team and enjoy the less pressure, there's more campfire time, more hang time, but they still like to be competitive with it."
Wiens, 45, of Gunnison, Colo., will ride in his third 24 Hours and has raced mountain bikes for nearly 20 years. He was the 2009 Old Pueblo dedication recipient, the 2008 and 2009 five-person category winner and a Mountain Bike Hall of Fame inductee. He will ride on a five-person coed team called Topeak Ergon.
"Living in Colorado, it's cold, and there's snow on the ground, and our best escape was down to Arizona. But the first time I went down there it snowed, right before the race. …
"This small town forms. Then you go out there a few days after the race is over and you couldn't even tell that something like that ever happened. There's so much excitement and energy those three days around the race. Everything you need pops up out of the desert. You can get a coffee or a burrito and get your bike worked on.
"We have a motor home we rent that's our home base. Someone's always getting ready for a ride or coming back from one. You can't find a peaceful place. I usually bring down a tent. This year, I'm flying in and won't have the room. I'm going to wing it in the motor home and try to get a few hours of sleep."
If you go
• What: Kona 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo
• Directions: www.epicrides.com
• When: Noon today to noon Sunday
• On StarNet: Keep up with results, look at our race database and see today's highlights with a slideshow at azstarnet.com
• On Twitter: twitter.com/EpicRides
