About 800 people (400 teams of 2 each) “assaulted” the urban bike ways of Tucson today, participating in the 2011 New Belgium Brewing Urban Assault Ride scavenger hunt competition. This event is in its 9th year, and Tucson was the kick-off city of 10 U.S. cities.

From their website: http://www.urbanassaultride.com/tucson

The Urban Assault Ride™ is the biggest bicycle scavenger hunt series in the nation! Here’s how it works: You and your teammate will set out on a city-wide quest for ‘checkpoints’ on your favorite two-wheeled steeds. At each checkpoint, you’ll drop your bikes and complete a funky/adventurous obstacle course, then remount your bikes and hit the streets for more.

The goal is to complete all the checkpoints in the shortest amount of time. You choose your own route and checkpoint order. This means that the most clever are often the victors.

I happened upon the Tahoe Park checkpoint, 2000 E. Edison St. when some participants biked in to do an obstacle (human wheelbarrow race), pick up their blue bead, and continue on to other checkpoints and ultimately to the finish line at Maynard’s Market, 400 N. Toole Ave. The race also started at Maynard’s so it could be about a 24 mile ride from Maynard’s out to the 8 checkpoints (assuming you could find them all) and back downtown.

I also dropped by the Himmel Park checkpoint where the obstacle was to toss their shoes into a bag. There were 6 official check points and 2 mystery checkpoints:

Obstacle Checkpoints: (checkpoints can be reached in any order)

* Risky Business (250 S. Craycroft Rd., #140)
* Sky Bar (536 N. 4th Ave.)
* Sunflower Market (4282 N. 1st Ave.)
* Summit Hut (5045 E. Speedway Blvd.)
* Tahoe Park (2000 E. Edison St.)
* Himmel Park (1000 N. Tucson Blvd., SOUTHWEST CORNER)

Mystery Checkpoints: There will be 2 ‘mystery checkpoints’ which all teams will have to locate – in addition to the obstacle checkpoints above. The 1st clue is below (on their website). The 2nd mystery checkpoint clue will be revealed when you reach the 1st mystery checkpoint.

Many teams of two came by at Tahoe Park and Himmel Park, some in regular bike gear, some in pink tutus, fake Hawaiian lei, and one team dressed as Batman & Robin (team #163). Also encountered neighbor Ed Stokes and his 11 year old daughter Livian (“Team Laser Cats”).

This Urban Assault event in Tucson benefited WOW Arizona!,
Wild Outdoor World of Arizona, an educational non-profit corporation:

WOW ARIZONA! is committed to sharing environmental information that can be utilized in urban and rural applications. Whether it be hiking, biking, birding, lepping, gardening or habitat restoration we are dedicated to sharing information that will help people rediscover nature. Our public outreach programs are supported by our Bed & Breakfast, Eco-tours and events, consultation on habitat restoration and exclusive sales of on-site Nature Photography.

Photos of the Tahoe Park checkpoint teams were taken by volunteer Zach MacDonald of Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists. These photos are posted on their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/SDMB.org.

Congratulations to all the participants as it sounded like way too much urban assault on a bike for me, a mere recreational bicyclist. But it looked like a whole lot of fun for fit bicyclists!