February 2, 2023 to February 3, 2023
Tucson Mountain Park and the Saguaros
Laying down some base miles in the neighborhood
The drive from Las Cruces to Tucson was easy and we are settling in at Desert Trails RV Park, at the southern edge of Tucson Mountain Park west of town. From our door we can ride out to more than 100 miles of hiking and biking single-track trails. There's some pretty road riding nearby too, and the famous Chuck Huckleberry Loop bike path is a 15 minute drive away.
We're sticking close to camp for the first couple days here, to ride trails one day and roads the next. Between the rides, yoga classes, jam sessions and other activities there are plenty of distractions from keeping up the blog, so I'll catch up briefly on both days.
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At least 40% of the trails are green / beginner level. The time I spent fooling around on borrowed mountain bikes here last spring convinced me I needed one of my own. Our friend Hank Holz has volunteered to show us around on the trails. We ride out on Ironwood, a green trail with enough climbing and rocky bits to challenge me, which doesn't take much.
I'm pretty timid out there and walk some of the twisty rocky drops . There will be plenty of time to go back for more practice on those. Any ride I finish with no damage is a win. I didn't take many pictures, just focusing on staying upright and keeping up with the guys. We may add a Go-Pro to the kit soon to capture more pictures of the scene.
After lunch I'm kind of surprised when Barry goes out for more with Hank . He's had this hardtail for years but it hasn't really been his thing. Watching him take off on another trail ride was not on my bingo card for today. I'm happy he's into it!
The next day before we take off on the roads Barry puts the final touch on my recently tuned-up recumbent. It still had the shabby old seat with grey duck tape over a big hole up the middle where the back tire wore through it. He's laced up a new seat mesh that I had shipped here. It looks so much better!
We ride out north on Kinney Road through Tucson Mountain Park on a hilly route that we did a few times last year. On the way we stop for a look at Old Tucson, a movie set built in 1939 for the movie "Arizona." It was reinvented as a theme park, has been closed for a few years and just reopened last week. Looks like a fun thing to do one of these days.
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Riding past the Desert Museum we continue on to Saguaro National Park - West and continue to Hohokam Road. I was thinking we might be able to take Hohokam further up into the park but the washboard gravel surface is not appealing. Instead we spend some time checking out a nature trail by the road and admiring the Saguaros from the viewing deck at the visitor center.
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Back at the park Hank has a jam session going with a couple of buddies, channeling Neil Young, America and all the good stuff from the 70s. Fun way to close out the day!
Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 96 miles (154 km)
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1 year ago