McLaren on Tour de Scottsdale: 'Everyone so nice and happy to be there'
If you don’t think some cyclists aren’t eager to be part of the HonorHealth Tour de Scottsdale, you haven’t met Josh McLaren.
He’s a cyclist who loves being part of the action. Figure last year when he joined to ride Tour de Scottsdale for the first time, he arrived at the start line of the 62-mile ride about 90 minutes ahead of the gun.
He was right on the ribbon just waiting – and waiting.
“I was thinking ‘there’s no one here yet,’” he said. “Then I realized the platinum guys don’t need to (get there) that early. They will be together.”
A short time later – before the 7 a.m. sendoff – they started to arrive – in droves. The platinum cyclists and everyone else.
“I’m right on the ribbon and they start to squeeze in and then the pros come in and they come up in front of us,” he said. “Then I see Sir Bradley Wiggins and then there’s Lance Armstrong … I’m taking pictures.
“Then I think, ‘what am I doing? I’m just a regular guy. I’m not allowed to race with these guys.”
But, indeed he was. He’s a platinum rider and he was part of it all. But what an unexpected surprise – Bucket list item, in fact.
“It was unreal,” he said.
“People were texting me while I was in the corral asking, ‘did you hear Lance is there?’ and I’m this far (arm’s length) from him. And I say, ‘yeah, I know Lance is here.”
Then he thought: “how am I going to keep up with these guys?”
Not that he had to, given he had just made platinum just months before after just starting to ride months before that. Heck, he didn’t even have a bike when he first started to get into cycling.
“A bunch of guys got me into cycling saying let’s ride and have some fun, and figure it out,” he recalled about his start in the sport. “So, I got the trainer (bike) and I’m on it every night. Then I got on group rides to try and figure out the dynamics of racing.”
El Tour de Tucson was his first big ride, “trial by fire” as he put it. It was only his second time he had ever ridden 100 miles. And, hey, he got platinum. Imagine that.
His first 100-miler took seven hours. Then he realized he had to get better, so he did, making platinum in El Tour.
Then he signed up for Tour de Scottsdale and “that was awesome, amazing. That was a different animal.”
Platinum was quite the accomplishment so quickly. Afterall, he had never played sports before.
“I think I missed out because I really like this racing thing,” he said.
Back to Scottsdale where he was side by side with the elite riders. He’s thinking I got to get out there with them.
“We’re riding and we start climbing that first hill,” he said. “We are around the pace car and then it takes off. I was right there. I didn’t realize those guys were going to take off so fast. They separated. I tried for about 30 seconds.”
He didn’t try to catch up. Instead, he did his own pace and thought what “an amazing ride.”
He said the course was marked well and the roads were great. And the ride was well coordinated.
“Everyone there seems so nice and were excited to be part of it,” he said.
And yes, he made platinum time again. He liked it so much he’ll be back – and his wife, Courtney will be riding in the event for the first time. His brother, sister-in-law and their daughter will be here to watch them ride. When he rode in El Tour a few months ago, his parents flew in from Pennsylvania to see him ride. It’s become a family affair.
“I literally love it,” he said.
To join him on the ride visit: TourdeScottsdale.org.
