February 8, 2025
Basqueria
We have two opportunities for live music today. The first show is this afternoon right here at the RV park, leaving me time beforehand for a ride on the trails. It doesn't need to be a long ride, just a session to work on some of the washes that have been giving me fits.
The first spot has a blind entry that spooks me every time I come up to it. You can't see the chute until you're rolling down on it and have to choose between loose rock on the left or the slanted berm on the right.
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Going down is mostly a head game. Whichever line I take, the bike knows what to do. I get down the chute and climb up the other side five times without falling. I should be able to let go of my hangup with this drop.
Riding back up the chute to run it again each time is another story. It's not scary, just hard, and I don't make it to the top until the third try. Chanting Hank's mantra ... Just Keep Pedaling... seems to help. I run it once more to convince myself it wasn't a fluke.
International Bridge is the next big wash. It doesn't have such a steep drop but the climb out is longer. It takes me a couple tries to nail that one.
Ghost Gulch is the steepest. The name doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. I roll down it ok, but get just halfway up the other side and don't have much motivation left for laps on this one. Let's call it 2 to 1 on Jan v. the washes and hit the showers.
As I ride back out to the trailhead I can hear the band has started playing over by the barbecue grills. Almost every weekend there's some kind of live music here. Today's act is Kevin Pakulis, a rock & roll / blues band.
I grab a quick shower and walk over with Barry, bringing along our camp chairs. Per the usual routine for these bands, they pass the hat for donations and play for a couple of hours. The breaks are a nice time to get acquainted with the people here.
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Dinner tonight is the main event of the day - a Cycle Blaze get-together with Scott and Rachael Anderson, Wendy Beaudoin, and Wendy's son Kurt. Wendy and I have corresponded by by email but haven't connected in person yet so I'm excited to meet her tonight.
While searching for live music I ran across a flamenco guitarist named Nathaniel Burnside. He was scheduled to play at another restaurant on a night when we were busy. Then I saw Basqueria listed on his upcoming dates. A Tucson restaurant with Basque food and live Spanish music? That sounded like a perfect place for dinner with this group. The prospect sent me back to the journal from our 2023 tour around Spain to recall the delicious pintxos we had at the bars in the Basque region.
It's great fun getting to know Wendy, who was a fellow RV traveler with her husband before he passed. They also cycled in the Basque country among their European tours. It's funny and not too surprising to learn how she and Team Anderson met. An avid follower of their journals, she recognized Rachael on the Loop trail in Tucson two years ago and introduced herself.
Kurt is both charming and ravenous after his ride up to the top of Mount Lemmon today. I'm amazed to hear it was his first ride in months; he acts like it's any old day on the bike. I wonder if the universe is sending me another nudge to take on that mountain. Then we learn about his next big plan- a race down the Great Divide from Canada to Mexico. That gives me a better sense of his tolerance for suffering.
Dinner is everything I hoped for - wonderful food, music and company. Thanks to Rachael, Scott, Wendy and Kurt for sharing it with us.
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Today's ride: 8 miles (13 km)
Total: 376 miles (605 km)
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1 month ago