Phoenix-area cyclist ready to take on El Tour after riding in Tour de Scottsdale

First there was the Tour de Scottsdale for Chris Oshana. Soon, there will be El Tour de Tucson.

“I’m so stoked and proud of myself for doing this,” he said, as he gets ready for the event that’s four months away on Nov. 22.

He has big ambitions, given he hopes to finish the 62 miles in 3 hours, 30 minutes with a very high goal of 3:15. He finished the Scottsdale 62-miler in 3:55 so he feels he’s capable of a big jump.

“For the Tour de Scottsdale, I went into it with less than a month of training, never scoped out the course or anything, this time I will drive the course beforehand,” he said. “Since I live in Goodyear, I can make a day trip and have some fun while doing it.”

He’ll have some motivation and some company. A friend from Denver plans on riding with him, “so we can push each other,” he said.

“My end goal is to ride the Tour of the Moon (Grand Junction, Colo.) in 2026 when I turn 60,” he said.

Now, he’s gearing up for El Tour after riding in the San Tan Valley half century and the Scottsdale 62-miler.

“I started looking for (what’s next) and then ‘boom’ the El Tour hit me,” he said.

He’s made a custom jersey (see below) of a nonprofit “near and dear to my heart” called Tutu Project, which helps breast cancer patients with just about any need the patient requires.

He’s here to do whatever he can. He’s a Navy veteran and a US Army recruiter.

Oh, and former mountain biker – until what he says, “life happened.”

“My late wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, so the bike was put on hold,” he said. She passed in December of 2021.

Biking took a back seat for a number of years and “I wasn’t in the right head space.”

But he’s ready now – and has been for a bit. So, in four months, he’ll be in El Tour and loving it.