Bill Martin, a long-time winter visitor here from Washington state, leads a beginners ride every Tuesday. We're late to the party. The people in the Tuesday group have been doing the ride for months, and they are not beginners anymore.

When we worked up the confidence to show up the first time last week, Bill asked what we had the most trouble with. For me it's turning while going downhill. Right away he led us to a twisty wash. We got through it and I guess he was satisfied enough to go ahead. We had a great time on that ride and got a lot of advice and encouragement from Bill and other riders in the group. I crashed once, coming away with a few bruises and a slightly bent derailleur hanger. Fortunately Hank has a fancy tool for that and he straightened it out.

It's our last week in Tucson and we're back for one more outing today with the big kids in the Tuesday group. Bill is riding sweep today while Jody leads the group. I'm shivering at the start, partly from the wind, partly from anxiety over whether I can keep up. Bill assures me I'm qualified to be here.

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Once we get started, I forget about being anxious and focus on the task at hand. Jody is a fast rider and starts off at a good clip, then eases up. Her daughter Taylor is joining us on her second mountain bike ride ever, the first being yesterday. It's lucky for us that Taylor is here today. Jody might have picked some harder trails, but doesn't want Taylor, or us, to feel overwhelmed.

It's a big help that we have ridden most of the trails on today's ride before, both with Brigitte and Hank and by ourselves. Bill keeps an eye on us from the back; I can hear him cheering us on. Every time I nail a drop or a climb I get a little thrill.

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I don't feel like a rank beginner anymore, more like a beginner plus with  enough basic skills to get past my fear, take on some intermediate trails and stay out of trouble. 

Thinking back on the goals we had at the start of this trip, I'm calling a win on all counts:

(1) Have fun - No question about this one. Pavement or dirt, we've enjoyed every ride and hike here in the beautiful Sonoran desert, especially when we get to do it with friends.

(2) Don't get hurt - Well, this is a relative concept. We have both gotten a little banged up on the trails, but there haven't been any serious injuries. If I can get back on the bike after a crash and keep going, good enough.

(3) Get back in fighting shape for the next road tour  - The 65 mile road ride a couple weeks ago in Santa Cruz County was a big confidence builder for our big tour coming up in June. We'll get more miles this weekend on a three-day road bike festival in Sierra Vista and will have to keep it up when we're back home in April, but it sure is nice to get a jump on things.

I have skipped out on posting a bunch of mountain bike rides over the last month. Many of these rides were on territory I've already written about and we didn't bother with pictures. Since we're leaving Thursday for Sierra Vista, this seems like an fine time to count up the extra trail rides for the sake of a complete mileage total:

2/21  7.5 miles on Caliche Flats

2/25  7.4 miles on Caliche Flats

2/27  8.3 miles at Sweetwater Preserve. I put up a few pictures of our second visit here on 3/16.

3/1    7.4 miles on Caliche Flats

3/3  13.5 miles on Ironwood, Gates Pass Trail and Coyote Trail

3/9  5.0 miles doing sessions on Caliche

3/12  14.3 miles up to Coyote Trail

3/14  16.8 miles on Bill's Not-Beginner ride last week

3/21  13.8 miles on Jody's Not-Beginner ride today

That makes it a total of 87 miles for the missing rides plus today. Here's the map for our big finish. And just like that, I'm caught up on the journal. Whoop whoop!