El Tour Aid Stations are a big part of the Ride; they love riders to stop and say hello get refreshed

Where would El Tour de Tucson be without our Aid Stations? We don’t want to know given their long-standing importance.

They are key to the success of many of the 9,000 cyclists that will be on the road on Saturday.

We’ll have 11 aid stations throughout the 120-mile ride and, of course, a number of those will be on the 62- and 32-mile rides.

They’ll have goodies – from cookies to fruit to juice – at each stop. And, as always, they’ll offer encouragement to get through the ride.

They’ll be spaced about 10 miles apart from one another. And they’ll be glad to see all the cyclists come through.

One of the aid stations is located in Green Valley, where they’ll be happy to see you – in part because those 102-mile cyclists will have completed more than half the ride by this point. It’s west of Continental Shopping Plaza as cyclists head north to Duval Mine Road.

It’s called the Green Valley Community Aid Station, in part because it has a lot of parts of Green Valley (many involved). There are about 30 volunteers helping out on Ride Day. They’ll have pickles, a bike valet and more. The station sponsors are: La Posada, Equine Voices, GVR Cycling Club, GVR Photography Club, Friends in Deed and the Tucson and Tri Girls. It’s Aid Station No. 7.

They will be honoring the life of Tom Wilsted, a former cyclist and Green Valley resident. He passed away earlier this year. Wilsted set up the support the aid station through La Posada.

The Green Valley News did a story on Wilsted and the aid station last month.

“People saw it, read it and now even people who are not connected to biking said they wanted to come out and help,” said Joanie Rogucki, Green Valley Bicycle liaison for El Tour and aid station co-captain.

It’s estimated about 2,000 cyclists will go through Green Valley on Saturday.

“We are working diligently to make sure we have enough stuff,” Joanie said.

This is their fourth time they’ve had an aid station in the Green Valley area, given the route changed then.

“It’s all like magic when you get to an aid station,” said Joanie, who is also a cyclist. “You can’t breathe, or you feel like you can’t walk and here someone is helping you get water and whatever you need.”