Tour de Scottsdale

Tour de Scottsdale brings cyclists from all over the country and beyond. This year’s Tour de Scottsdale brings a unique story of a cyclists’ journey through life’s ups and downs.

“Iron Dad” Paul Weigel has been through it all. From the lessons learned as a father, to dealing with the battle of colorectal cancer, and competing in ironman triathlons.

Why Iron Dad? Well, that name is special, and one of the main reasons behind his perseverance. 

When his daughter Natalie was born, Weigel dropped his life in Seattle and moved to Tempe, Arizona to be the father that his daughter needed. From day one, he was determined to create an unbreakable bond with his daughter, now 16.

“Natalie is so great, I have got one of the good ones,” Weigel said. “She's just been a great student and is happy and healthy and living her best life. It has been so neat to see her grow up and then be part of some different things.”

Now in between the Iron and Dad might be some words like: survivor, fighter, warrior, others. After beating colorectal cancer, it took only 10 years for Weigel to decide to become an Ironman athlete.

Weigel has now completed six ironman triathlon events, which is where the iron part of iron dad comes in. However, his adventures don’t stop there. His next challenge? Tour de Scottsdale on March 28, 2026.

 “I rode two years ago,” he said, “and I've ridden El Tour de Tucson a few different times, too.”

Weigel suffered an injury before last year’s ride and had to miss Tour de Scottsdale. He’ll be riding the 62-mile distance, and the excitement is through the roof, given he’s ridden in it before.

“It was good, it was the first year back up in a long time and it was, I think, so cool to be out in north Scottsdale,” he said.

From his fight against cancer, Weigel has always made sure that he has his support group in everything he does, that’ll include this year’s Tour de Scottsdale.

“That's one of the things that really gets lost of riding individually … is how many other riders there are, and the power (it involves) and doing it together,” he said.

More than 3,000 riders are expected for this year’s Tour de Scottsdale with everyone having a story … including Weigel.