March 3, 2024
Day 26 - San Xavier Mission
Two rides left … what to choose?
We ended up choosing to visit the San Xavier Mission that was founded by a Jesuit priest in the late 1600’s. He, of course, never saw what we saw but that seems to be the way with most historic type buildings.
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After consulting the maps as well as a number of Cycleblaze journals, I plotted a route to the mission using the Liberty Street Bike Blvd. So south on the Santa Cruz, cross over to the Julian Wash and then turn south a short distance down.
The Liberty Street Bike Blvd. was very similar to the Treat Street Bike Blvd. with low traffic, some bike enhancements, and a ride through the neighborhoods. The road, however, was a little rougher and this route was probably put in before the Treat Street version. It was interesting to see the different neighborhood and the ride passed quickly.
Upon exiting the pathway we took to the back road towards the mission. Again, low traffic and what traffic did pass us was all patient and gave us ample room. There was a “sidewalk” for a short distance under the interstate which was nice as the shoulder was gone at that point.
What we didn’t know but soon found out was there was also a large Pow-wow happening at the mission which meant we suddenly found ourselves in stop and go traffic.
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The mission itself is quite impressive and definitely dominates the skyline as you approach. As there were ample crowds, I feel a little lucky that I got some pictures minus the people
We also had a chance encounter with a young man who was willing to pose for his picture in his pow-wow regalia.
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And then like most rides, we got to the short, unpleasant part where we turned north on Mission Road and encountered a lot of traffic rushing away from the event. Almost all the drivers were patient, moving over a bit, but there seems to always be the one who can’t quite find it in them to do the right thing.
They seem to be like an autistic driver who simply isn’t always aware of what their actions might cause as both Lisa and I had to put our outside right tire into the gravel and junk on the side of the road to avoid a possible conflict.
But we survived to simply ride the Santa Cruz pathway back to our rental to make our last move to a new lodging for the last few nights.
Today's ride: 27 miles (43 km)
Total: 1,950 miles (3,138 km)
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