Smaellie: ‘We had a blast; had an an all-around good experience’ in Zona

Jake Smaellie called it a great weekend. After all, he was on a bike for three days, meandering around southern Arizona with his daughter, Pyper, for El Tour de Zona.

“I did this for my sanity,” he said.

And for his on-going quest to stay fit. What better way to do it than on a bike … with a cool breeze and an occasional tailwind in Sierra Vista, Bisbee and Tombstone.

He rode all three – as did more than 400 cyclists – over the weekend.

It was his first time in the event, but he had been looking forward to it for a while.

“We had a blast,” he said, including his daughter, Pyper, in the weekend.

Pyper rode Friday and Sunday. Jake did all three days.

“We had a wonderful weekend, great event,” said Smaellie, a superintendent for DPR Construction. “Just an all-around good experience.”

So much so, he said, he’s likely going to bring the entire family next year for a mini staycation of cycling and sightseeing.

And, it’s a chance to continue his “weight-loss journey” that started two years ago.

After all, he said he was 420 pounds – a “fatty” – as he called it.

He’s now down to 250. Fatty, no more. He was inspired by his wife who is a triathlete.

“I’ve been wanting to do a road bike with her since she started riding,” he said. “(But) I had always been too big of a boy. (So), I thought. I always thought skinny tires and fat boy doesn’t mix.”

He laughed because he now knows better.

Oddly, the weight loss started on a trip to the doctor’s office, where they told him he was told “I can’t believe this” from the doctor.

Smalie first thought, bad news is coming. Surprisingly, it didn’t. He was as “healthy as a horse.” The numbers are all good, but … down the road could be trouble if you don’t lose the weight. After all, he’s 42 and it could be problematic down the road.

He had bariatric surgery and started his journey on a bike, getting a recumbent cycle first and it “wasn’t fast enough.”

“I’ve worked my ass off to get here,” he said. “I’ve put on so much muscle on my legs.”

He hopes to get down to 220, but that will take time.

“Right now, I’m enjoying fitness so much,” he said. “You have to fuel the engine.”

So, last year, when he felt he got down to his “fighting weight” he used a friends aluminum Trek he wasn’t using so he did.

“I ended up falling in love with it,” he said.

A few months later, he bought a carbon bike and now he’s a cyclist.

He rode in the 62-mile event in last year’s El Tour de Tucson.

He finished in three hours, six minutes, just outside of the Platinum time.

He’s now addicted to cycling. His Zwift recently arrived so that be his next step.

“I’m definitely invested and that’s not a bad thing,” he said.

Indeed, not a bad thing at all.

“I feel great,” he said. “I feel amazing. It’s not only helped with my physical help but mentally as well.”