The Tour de Nez—aka The Tour of the Nose—is 10 years old. A decade ago, when Tim Healion started up the cycling tour and parking lot party to celebrate the seventh anniversary of Deux Gros Nez, his California Avenue coffeehouse, the event might have looked a little provincial to the untrained eye. It included a whistling contest, for god’s sake.
But the nationally ranked cyclists, cycling fans, coffeehouse gurus and lovers of food and beer that gathered for the annual event knew that The Tour de Nez was something special. And then California Cyclist Magazine dubbed it the “Coolest Bike Race in America.”
“It’s getting bigger and bigger,” Healion says. “You know this started just as a party—an anniversary party. [Before it was a cycling event], people came from all over the freaking place, and being very enthusiastic, we said, ‘Let’s have a race in the middle of the party.’ “
As always, The Tour de Nez will feature an hour-long masters level race, which begins at 4:30 p.m. This year, Healion has also added a professional race, beginning at 6:30 p.m., in which cyclist Trent Klasna of Team Saturn is scheduled to compete. There will also be a single-lap Clunker Classic for cyclists with a single-speed bike weighing a minimum of 35 pounds, and a one-block race for kids ages 13 and under. A whopping $12,500 in prizes is up for grabs.
And while the cyclists are whizzing through the blocked-off streets of downtown Reno, the Deux Gros Nez parking lot at 249 California Ave. will be teeming with activity.
“This is the place that has the party every year,” Healion says. “This is the place where there are people that you haven’t seen in 15 years. It’s an icon.”
Whistling is no more, but there will be food and beer galore, belly dancers, bicycle and skateboard decorating and even nose casting—this is, after all, the coffeehouse of the “Two Big Noses.” The “Coolest Bike Race in America” would be nothing without the hippest block party in northern Nevada.