El Tour
Ride El Tour De Tucson and The Classics
Warm up with classic Tucson rides and finish up with El Tour De Tucson
Since 2005, Tucson camps have been the heart and soul of The Cycling House. The original concept remains intact: an all-inclusive cycling vacation with guided rides and freshly prepared meals in a relaxing setting. Your Tucson home-base is The Cycling House. It’s a great place to relax and recharge after logging miles on the bike. Six days of supported rides take you to some of Tucson’s classic spots – Mount Lemmon, Saguaro National Park and Gates Pass – as well as some surprising destinations. Refuel with healthy meals by our team and take advantage of the skills clinics, yoga, massages and multi-sport activities – if you feel like it. Just like summer camp, riders love coming back to Tucson year after year. Also, we’ve added some gravel camp dates to our upcoming Tucson trip lineup! You can check out our new Arizona Gravel Camp here.
Highlights
- Five days of supported, guided rides to sunny Tucson’s best cycling destinations
- All-inclusive camp covers accommodations, meals, ride support, and bike mechanics
- Healthy, delicious meals
- Multi-sport elements (optional): trail runs, outdoor lap swimming, yoga, core work, and triathlon-specific clinics
- Skills discussions to learn – or reinforce – group riding, bike handling, cornering, and descending
- Optional massages with an experienced sports massage therapist
- Want more Tucson trip dates? Check out our Arizona Gravel Camps!
Food
Using locally sourced ingredients, we create clean and delicious meals to fuel your week of riding. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all included. Each meal is inventive and diverse – often inspired by our chefs’ global travels – and focuses on lean proteins, leafy greens and root vegetables. We focus on food specifically for endurance athletes and accommodate all dietary preferences and restrictions.
Accommodations
The Cycling House is our original cycling vacation concept. Our home in Tucson offers the opportunity to relax and recover in a spacious setting with friends. Enjoy yoga on the patio, share stories during a hot tub soak, or finish a ride by jumping in the pool. This comfortable environment lends itself perfectly to nightly skills discussions over appetizers. Need a quick bike fix? Our garage’s workbench and collection of tools rival most bike shops. Our home has eight bedrooms, seven and a half bedrooms and two yurts in the fenced backyard. Here is a short video house tour.
ITINERARY
Welcome to Tucson!
Riders arrive in Tucson, and we’ll shuttle to The Cycling House home base. Our pro mechanics will get to work on fitting riders to rental bikes or building riders’ personal bikes. Enjoy a leisurely rolling lunch by our chefs, ready for you when you arrive.
We’ll get settled into the house, set up everyone’s bikes and go for an afternoon shakeout spin on mixed terrain.
Today’s ride:
We’ll shake out the travel legs with a 20-25 mile ride with ~1,000 feet of climbing from TCH.
Saguaro National Park
After a leisurely breakfast, coffee and optional core and stretching session, we’ll head out on one of the greatest road cycling routes in the United States in Saguaro East National Park. Saguaro East and Pistol Hill is a classic Tucson ride with spectacular views, fun twisty turns and a solid climb in the middle. The highlight is Saguaro East National Monument, which boasts one of the largest population of Saguaro cactus in the world. Pistol Hill is a short climb at the end of the out and back that offers a great view of the Tucson valley and the Santa Rita mountain range.
Today’s ride:
Saguaro East National Park & Pistol Hill with distances ranging from 30-55+ miles with approximately 1,500-3,000 feet of climbing.
*This is a great day for riders to shorten or lengthen the route
Mount Lemmon
Get ready to experience Mount Lemmon, the crown jewel of Tucson riding and one of the best climbs in North America. Many professional cyclists have made Tucson their winter home for the access to this iconic climb, which switchbacks its way up the Catalina mountain range, topping out at 8,000+ feet.
The ride starts with a 4-10-mile warm-up from The Cycling House en route to mile 0 of the 20.5-mile climb. Mile markers and elevation signs mark your progress, while the amazing views up to the high alpine forest help take your mind off the uphill challenge. You’ll ascend nearly 5,500 feet, climbing at a 5-8% grade over the 20.8 miles, finishing in the small ski town of Summerhaven.
The reward for your efforts is a fun descent on the impeccable pavement with sweeping turns. Mount Lemmon is a challenge for everyone, but it’s a very achievable goal with proper pacing, good fueling, and determination. We will finish by riding back to TCH.
Today’s ride:
Mount Lemmon!
35-57 miles with 4,000- 7,100 feet of climbing. The ride is an out-and-back; it’s easy to self-select how much you want to ride/climb.
Gates Pass
After two big days, your legs might be ready for a recovery day. You are in luck! Tucson has more than 130 miles of bike paths called The Loop. We start from The Cycling House and ride surface streets for the first 10 miles before connecting with The Loop. The next 22 miles parallel dry riverbeds on pristine blacktop with minimal climbing. The total ride distance for our true recovery ride is 32 miles with 500 feet of climbing. At mile 25, we’ll have an option to add on Gates Pass, a classic Tucson ride. We have plenty of flexibility on options to make this ride even longer. The main route is 42 miles, with 1,500 feet of climbing. Regardless of which route you choose, we’ll all finish up at El Mercado and have lunch at Seis Kitchen before shuttling back to The Cycling House.
After enjoying lunch at one of our favorite spots in Tucson.
Today’s ride:
El Tour De Tucson or Parker Canyon Lake
Guests can choose to ride El Tour De Tucson or Parker Canyon. If you choose El Tour De Tucson, TCH will reimburse you for your registration fees.
Parker Canyon is a staff favorite. Today, we escape the Sonoran desert and head to the grasslands of Southern Arizona. Did you know this part of Arizona grows grapes? That’s right, it’s Arizona wine country and the views won’t disappoint. We love wine, but beer seems to quench the thirst better after a good day in the saddle. We will start and finish the ride at Copper Hop Brewery.
We’ll have a picnic lunch at the end of the ride before shuttling home.
Today’s ride:
El Tour De Tucson: 33, 63 or 102 miles with 550, 1,700 or 2,900 feet of elevation gain
Parker Canyon Lake: 32-50 miles with 3,000 – 4,000 feet of elevation gain
Departure Day
Shuttles will be running to the TUS airport all morning, and we’ll make sure you get to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
Today’s Plan:
Checkout by 11 a.m.
For those who don’t have an early flight, there is an optional self-guided departure spin before check out.
DATES & PRICES
- 2024
- Nov 19 - 24 $3,350 / Person Limited Spots Available
DETAILS
What's Included
• 5 nights/6 days accommodations
• Airport transfers to/from Tucson International Airport (TUS)
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Entry into El Tour de Tucson
• Bike build and breakdown
• Professional trip guides
• Daily sag support
• Ride nutrition products
• Tools available to use in the garage
• High-quality ride photos
Question about COVID-19 and what we’re doing to keep our guides and guests healthy and travel responsibly? Check out this article or contact us.
What's Not Included
- Airfare
- Bike rentals
- Gratuity for guides
- Massage therapy
- Mid-ride café stops
- Personal shopping
- Single room (limited availability, +$)
- Want to view more Tucson trip dates? Check out our Arizona Gravel Camps!Â
Optional Activities
- Trail runs or hikes
- Lap swim
- Core/stretching sessions
- Basic bike maintenance clinic
- Descending and bike handling clinic
- Nature walks
Questions?
BIKE OPTIONS
Rent A Bike
Traveling through the airport with a bike—and paying for it to fly—is not everyone’s idea of a fun way to start a vacation. Fortunately, we offer high-quality, full carbon bikes on all of our trips across the United States and Europe. Want to just show up and ride? Just bring your shoes, pedals, helmet, and saddle (if you want), and rent one of ours.
Bring Your Own
Your bike is yours—we get it. Bringing your own bike has obvious advantages in terms of individual comfort. Before your trip, we suggest getting a tune-up at your local bike shop so it’s ready to roll for your week of riding. Once you arrive, we’ll be sure to have our mechanics build it and help with any necessary tweaks. Check out some helpful resources here:
Skip The Bike
If you or your travel partner want to enjoy the trip and explore a new destination without a bike, drop us a line and we’ll discuss options. Some trips are better suited for non-rider participants than others.
