Tour de Taco picking up speed

Staff Writer

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This year’s Tour de Taco looks to be the largest event since it began three years with many riders from outside the area attending, according to Taco Box owner Tom Martin.

“It looks like we’ll probably be having 125 to 150 riders this year, which will be the most we’ve had in this series. As far as riders from outside, yes, I am surprised at the number of riders from Amarillo, Lubbock and Albuquerque,” he said.

Saturday will see cyclists making the 60-mile trek from Clovis to Portales and back again with the spoils going to local Boy Scout Troop 226 in Clovis. Members of the troop will be on site helping with the event, Martin said.

“When I say benefit, they are active participants. Yes, we do get them some help, but they are active participants. They are the ones manning the aid stations; they’re handling the registrations. They are very active,” said Martin.

A map on the Taco Box website shows that the tour will begin at 8 a.m. and take riders from the Clovis Taco Box out of the city limits onto New Mexico 467 to Portales, then back.

Aid stations will be available at the 10 and 20-mile marks and will offer fruit and water, as well as porta potties and what Martin referred to as a “sag wagon,” which he explained with a laugh.

“I’m not sure where the term came from, but that’s the guy that picks the guys up that have flat tires or decided that was not what they wanted to do. We can pick them up and take them back,” he said.

While many participants in the tour will be riding for the full 60 miles, Martin noted that there are two intermediate rides available.

“There are two intermediate rides: 20-mile and 40-mile. That’s where the aid stations are, but if somebody decides that they want to ride 37.3 miles, they can turn around, or if they decide they want to ride five miles, they can just turn around and go back,” he said. “The aid stations are at 10 miles and 20 miles, so that the turnarounds would then be 20 and 40.”

According to Martin, the event began in the 1990s when he and a group of fellow riders decided to organize a large-scale bicycle ride.

“The fellow who talked me into it is a gentleman by the name of Dave Bishop, and he used to have a bike shop here in Clovis back in the '90s. Dave and I got together and our nephew, who was working out here at the time: 'We just think we'd like to have a bike ride.' Tour de Taco was a catchy name, and I was a sucker for putting on community events, and so Tour de Taco came about,” he said, adding that the event was not held for many years, being picked back up in 2014.

Martin sees the tour as an opportunity to bring individuals together for an enjoyable experience.

“Obviously, if you’re going to go 60 miles, you’ve got to do some training, so from that standpoint, it gets people up off the couch, away from their computers. The nice thing here, too, is that the route we do and pretty much any riding that you do in this area, you’re out in the open, not much traffic,” said Martin.

Registration for Tour de Taco can be made online at http://www.tacobox.com/tourdetacoregistration.html or to Tour de Taco at 136 West 21st Street in Clovis. The entry fee is $40.