Approximately 2,500 cyclists from around the Valley and around the nation participated in the Scottsdale Cycling Festival this year. The popular 8th Annual 70-mile Tour de Scottsdale race that benefits the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy was paired with a 30-mile Mini-Tour on Sunday, October 2nd.

We spent the day promoting our awareness campaign and our 16,000-mile ride, which starts in two months.

The expo's organizers assigned us this spot, which was perfect since we were talking about being disabled. Time to put up the banner... With the banner up, we started talking to people about the upcoming ride, our visual disabilities and challenges, and Research to Prevent Blindness' efforts to find a cure for blindness. People were amazed that we could do such a thing, especially without any assistance from sighted persons; but this has been our primary goal--to demonstrate that people like us are capabe. A beautiful Sunday morning with crystal clear blue skies. It did peak at 104 F, but this is Arizona after all. Family and friends came to join the riders after the Tour de Scottsdale race. Tauru shows the 16,000-mile route on a map to a cyclist who just completed the 70-mile race. Hmmmm, if the cyclist rode 230 Tour de Scottsdale's, that's approximately 16,000 miles. Throughout the day, stragglers came in and confessed that they had underestimated the hilly course. In particular, kids were excited to write or draw on our tandem. We had it on the table for people to sign to show their support. Here, Christi explains to the two girls that their names would be taken from the southern tip of South America up to the northern tip of North America.