Brotherly love for Sosa bros., tour 'community' and more from the 2023 El Tour de Tucson

“(My brother) has always been into biking, but I actually mentioned it to him, and he looked into and was like ‘I’m down, I want to do it,’ so he ended up joining and had been working out and practicing this whole time,” he said of his brother 10 years senior, Eric, who took part in the 32-mile race as one more than 9,000 riders to participate in El Tour’s 40th anniversary this year.

“He’s been training for at least two months. He’s got a trainer at home and was actually able to download the route on his (training bike),” Myron said.

Both Myron and Eric moved to Sahuarita from Arkansas about six years ago. For Eric’s first time participating, his brother decided to show support by setting up at the finish line with his homemade sign.

“I always knew about it, but this is our first time. So far, it’s been great,” Myron said. “I’m actually going to join him next year. He wanted to do the 32-mile this year, we’re going to shoot for the 62-mile next year, then the third year we’re going to try the big one.”

‘It’s the community’

Denzil Ross, 40, is not a stranger to athletic feats. A former triathlon participant, he approached his first El Tour race with the same ambition he would for any other competition.

“For me it was a challenge, so I’m starting at the lowest then hopefully work my way up to do (The Century),” he said ahead of Saturday’s Metric Half-Century ride. “I’ve done triathlons but not a full bike race before. (I wanted to) for health reasons of course, I want to remain healthy and active,” he said. “And it’s activity outside, so it’s a good option. My family and I, we enjoy (biking), so why not take it up a notch (and) accomplish something.”

While Ross wants the accomplishment, it wasn’t his favorite aspect of Saturday.

“It’s the community. Seeing all the groups that come out, all the people that ride, I know there are a lot of non-profits who are riding for a good cause as well,” he said.

“The groups, the teams, the people out here — that’s what makes it fun.”

Decade on, tandem strong

One would think with an extra set of pedals, two more legs and a decade of experience in tandem cycling El Tour’s would make a 32-mile ride feel more like 16.

Richard Biocca and Steve Haider, both 50, vehemently disagree.

“(It) was more like 132, is that an option?” Biocca said. “We actually had to start off the back. Usually, we get to start in the front, but they changed the rules this year, so we had to go really hard in the beginning.”

“(The weather) was perfect, it was probably the best we ever had,” Haider said. “This is something like our 10th time with this bike, we only ride it for this event.”

“Yeah, we’re not that smart,” Biocca said in response.

For RJ Marsan, 33, starting with the tandem riders was a strategic move.

“What happened? I was banking on you guys,” he said to the Biocca and Haider shortly after unlatching his cycling shoes.

Marsan, who’s a first-time El Tour rider, started in the same pack as the tandem riders and hoped staying with them would prove for a good time.

“(My strategy) was to follow the tandems, because they were also back and I knew they had the engine to keep moving up,” he said. “I just followed their wheels as much as possible, and we ended up almost in the lead group.”

Marsan said Saturday that he’s not a stranger to distance races as he competed in multi-hundred-mile gravel races in the past, but the road was a new challenge for him.

“Those are a lot more tough because there’s a lot more self-sufficiency but was real tough about this was that absolutely no (cars) stopped whatsoever,” he said. “You know I came prepared, shoved a bunch of stuff in my jersey for the first half of the race.”