robyn,
i definitely do the tour de scottsdale, every year. it is tough. the climbs out of the river crossing are bad enough then they throw in this long slow one at the very end. but i love this ride! very challenging. i think it's a bit pricey at $75 tho.

tour de phoenix is april 5, that's a really good one, tour of tucson mountains is april 28. then it's just HOT for six months. we start up again october 11 with the tour de scottsdale, and el tour de tucson november 22. mix in some centuries and we have a full plate here in AZ. come on out.

actually, coming up next weekend is the laveen country challenge. this one is fun because the whole town of laveen pretty much shows up for a big barbecue bash at the town park at the end of the ride (metric century). we alternate years between the laveen metric and the picacho century in tucson. good thing this is our laveen year, i just dont think we're fit enough to do a full century right now.