Rating:

5.0 (1 vote)

TUCSON - For some, El Tour de Tucson is just another bike race for others it's a way to prove they can overcome any obstacle thrown their way.

Jay Zimmermann is one of many inspirational stories surrounding the 30th annual El tour de Tucson. Zimmermann was put in a deadly situation when a vehicle hit his bike and the driver left him lying unconscious on at the scene.

"A truck ran a stop sign doing about 45 mph and took me clean out and left me for dead in the middle of the road," remembers Zimmermann.

He had actually been training for the Tour all year including that July night he was involved in the crash.

Zimmermann explains, "I was training for the tour all year long it was actually my new year's resolution to do the thing with my dad."

After several surgeries and time in a wheel chair and crutches it took him two months to get back on a bike. It's now just a few months since the accident but Zimmermann has been training tirelessly to get back on his bike.

"Every ounce of energy and every bit of free time outside of work and sleeping had been to repair the leg," says Zimmermann

It's thanks to that hard work and determination that he'll be at the starting line Saturday morning ready to take on that New Year's resolution.

"My Dad and I are going to be racing tomorrow and we're doing the 42 miles which isn't the full distance we planned on but being out here is a successful endeavor in my book."