Team Stages

Don Franklin

MARANA, Arizona

Primary Discipline(s) Road Cycling / Criterium, Mountain Biking, Gravel Cycling
Bucket List RaceTrue Grit Epic, 24 HOP, Whiskey Off Road (missed it this year year due to back issues)
Post-Race DrinkON Gold Standard Whey, water, IPA
Off-Day Activityswim, bike maintenance

I started riding in 1984. I dabbled as a cat4 and Sport racer until life got busy with kids. Came back into cycling around 2011. I gravitated to the mt bike mostly. I had fun with occasional mtb racing and gravel riding. I moved from SoCal back to Arizona after 30 years in CA. Rediscovering road riding - Tucson is great for the road! Mtb community is large and diverse. So many options for riding here! I ride 2 different fatbikes, a hardtail and full suspension race bike and a new trail bike coming this week.
2022 has been a write off. Had fun at 24 Hours at the Old Pueblo and then went to El Tour de Mesa. Went bad from there. Old back injury flared and kept me off the bike until Aug '22. A bout of Covid in July just to make things more interesting. Coming back isn't easy but it's better than the alternative!