Thomas's story: Tour de Scottsdale

BaseCamp athlete Thomas Gosnell shared his experience at the 2026 Tour de Scottsdale bike race in Arizona.

The Tour de Scottsdale was my second race of the season. It was a blustery day, with winds gusting up to 20 mph. This did put a damper on the race, as the first 16 miles were uphill into a cross-headwind. At mile 16 we were treated to a 5.5-mile downhill with a wind assist before turning left into a block headwind. The first 4 miles were a slow uphill slog until the route crested for a 9-mile downhill run into the wind. The aid station at the bottom of the hill was at the mid-point of the route, where I stopped to refill my bottles with water and nutrition. I was happy that I was in and out in just 1 minute 39 seconds. The next 23 miles were generally rolling, with one significant 4-mile climb at an average grade of 3.7% including a pitch reaching 11%. After fighting the early winds, the legs were feeling the climbs. Starting about 4.5 miles from the finish, there was a 2.2 mile, 3% climb into a headwind. I struggled with this last pitch but kept myself moving forward to its completion, where the route mercifully turned left out of the wind and for a generally downhill run to the finish.

My moving time for the ride was 3:18:51, giving me an average speed of 18.8 mph. My official chip time was 3:27:28. Prior to the event I had a goal of finishing under 3 hours. The winds had other plans for me though. Although I was initially bummed that my ride time fell short of my goal, I was pleased that my ride was good enough for a 4th place finish in my age group. Thank you, BaseCamp and Coach Greg Waggoner, for your training and guidance.