January 23, 2025
Aviation Bikeway
I have a hankering for a ride on the bike path today, which works well since we have errands to do in town. It's a drive to get anywhere from the RV park, best to combine trips. We'll polish off the chores in the morning, then head for the Loop in the afternoon.
Barry loads up my mountain bike for a stop at Fair Wheel Bikes to deal with the broken spoke and rough shifting. It's not the only bike that needs help. When I walk my gravel bike to the car to load it for today's ride, the rear wheel is out of true and rubbing badly. When did that happen?
At the bike shop, Alex the mechanic says the gravel bike wheel is taco’d. He’ll try to straighten it but I might need a new one. Either way, it's early in the day and he can probably fix it this morning. We might still get in a ride this afternoon.
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Turning his attention to the mountain bike, Alex notices the shift cable is mashed, and there's some paint missing behind it on the handlebar. I hadn't noticed that before but it's obvious now. This observation triggers an ah-ha moment for Barry, remembering a Starbucks run in Colorado Springs when he ran into the clearance bar over the drive-through. That's the peril of carrying bikes on top of the car - forgetting they are there. We are hard on our stuff.
Leaving both bikes in Alex's hands, we drive to the mall to pick up some shirts and socks that didn't get packed for the trip. These are all things that were on the packing list. Our fidelity to using the checklist needs work.
While we're shopping Alex checks in. He has the wheel adjusted so that it spins, just barely, but it's not straight. It also needs a new rear shift cable. I greenlight a new wheel and cable, and shortly after noon he messages me that the bike is ready. That's fast! We swing by to collect my gravel bike for our ride. The mountain bike should be ready tomorrow.
Christopher Columbus Park by the Santa Cruz river is one of my favorite launch points for the Tucson Loop bike path. I have a notion to ride south from here and find the new mural Scott Anderson posted a few days ago.
It's great to be back on the path, passing little parks and old neighborhoods as we ride along the west side of the Santa Cruz towards downtown. A roadrunner skitters by, too fast for me to get the camera on him.
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At Congress we exit the path and ride a mile or so downtown to find the mural- a wonderful new work by Joe Pagac. He's created a bunch of murals around Tucson, typically featuring desert creatures doing goofy stuff. This one is at 4th Avenue and 9th Street.
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This spot is our entry point to the Aviation Bikeway. I don't think we've been on this one before, and didn't really know about it before I read about Team Anderson's ride through here a week ago. I copied a big chunk of their route down the bikeway and on through a series of greenways that eventually get us back to the Loop at Julian Wash. It's a cracking good ride with cool bridges and scenes around South Tucson. Thanks to Scott and Rachael for showing us the way, once again.
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Circling back to the path by the Santa Cruz river, we ride north back to the start. Usually we're on the west side of this wash so this time we'll try the east side just to see what it's like.
We pass a few homeless encampments, not enough to be uncomfortable. The more noticeable difference is the highway noise since we're closer to I-10. In my opinion this section of the path is really fine, just not as charming as the west side.
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We're done in plenty of time to change and drive over to Kingfisher for dinner. Barry finds his fish and chips to be so-so. My Hawaiian fish special is really good. With one last stop for groceries, our trip into town for the day is complete.
Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 67 miles (108 km)
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