Three Points - Green Valley, AZ - South of Tucson

December 23, 2018

Three Points - Green Valley, AZ

Several people at work have been sick. All day yesterday I felt as if I had a cold coming on. Bad timing. Last year while we were in Arizona Don and Marilyn abandoned the tour and Spoon took a whole pharmacy of products trying to beat his cold back. A friend was persuasive in her endorsement of Umcka Cold and Flu. It's available at Kroger. We tried Walgreens instead and bought something the sales lady said was similar. After I got in the van and read the box, it's a supplement to boost the immune system. Darn. Later Jacinto bought some NyQuil. I took a dose right before bed and slept soundly most of the night. That was good for me as I usually have first day jitters.

I was up at 6:30, getting ready. It's not satisfactory to have the bikes in the van. There was no real getting ready until we drove to the start. Plus, Jacinto had to be up and going and morning is not a good time for him. I tried to be patient. I'm not sure he tried to hurry.

We arrived in Three Points only six minutes before our agreed upon depart time of 9 AM. Steve had been there for close to an hour and Tom was also ready to go. I fumbled around trying to be in a hurry to get ready. We had to pull the bikes out and reattach the front wheels. My front fender needed installed also. We had rotated the mount to my rear light so it wouldn't break off. That took the most time as the screw was in the wrong direction and wouldn't tighten. I removed the rubber chunk that made the piece fit on the rack. Jacinto used a broken off twig to fill the gap. Tom and Steve watched my bustling with no obvious annoyance. I was ready to roll by 9:34, which I considered pretty good, given what was accomplished. Who knows what's in my panniers and what is missing. It will be an adventure to find out.

I was hoping Bertha would talk to me today. At least the cue sheet and movement on the GPS were working. It turned out that Steve, Tom, and I rode basically together all day. I had been planning to take the hillier route on Mission Road. Instead I stayed with the guys.

We rode ten miles back toward Tucson on Ajo Highway. It had a wide shoulder and minimal traffic. Jacinto said the little dog that was hanging around while we loaded the bikes followed him a couple of miles down the highway. I didn't see the dog at all. Nothing. Jacinto felt bad, he hoped the dog would make it back home. He couldn't get the dog to turn around.

When we turned on Valencia from Ajo Highway, we had 2-3 miles of road construction. Almost the entire distance had cement barriers, which gave us no wiggle room at all. Luckily Sunday traffic was light and patient.

Tom got ahead of us, but he came out of a convenience store just as we rode past. He took another break with us. We agreed to turn on Mission Road and stop at the mission for a photo.

The miles were clicking away at a pleasant rate. The sky was blue and temperatures were perfect. I was wearing tights. They felt fine as long as I kept moving. When I stopped, they felt too hot. It was 73 degrees for a high. Perfect!

As usual, the closer I got to town, the more I thought of food. We regrouped at mile 31 and I suggested stopping to eat as we came into town. Neither Tom or Steve seemed interested. I ate half a bar instead. Tom had a couple of homemade gingersnap cookies. He's well cared for.

Tom was off the front, Steve was off the back. I looked left and right, recognizing this road through the pecan groves from last year. Soon I was to the outskirts of Green Valley. Yes, I was hungry. I decided to stop by myself. There were a number of choices. Denny's is usually cheap . . . but I didn't want a restaurant. . . . hmm, lots of businesses here, including a movie theatre. Look! There's a Taco Bell. Cheap and filling. Yep. I stopped.

I sent a text out to everyone, saying I was stopping. Steve answered right away that he would stop also. Taco Bell is a touring food stop for me. Three crunchy tacos and lots of ice water and internet and I'm happy. Except today I ate my three fresco tacos and then . . . . Steve and I looked at each other and agreed we were still hungry. Steve bought nachos, I got two more tacos.

All of this time I was watching Jacinto on the Strava tracking mode (very nice, it's an extra $2.99 a month and it tracks live time, similar to a SPOT tracker). He was closely approaching us. I called and told him to come to Taco Bell. OK. Then I continued watching the tracker, Jacinto took the wrong road. I called back several times and gave him directions. But with the road noise and who knows what, he totally misunderstood me and kept going the wrong direction. In the end he went to KFC.

Joan had wiled away a few hours at the casino. She picked up Tom and then they drove over to Taco Bell. Tom has more restraint with food and it shows. I ate five tacos. Tom had one bean burrito. We had cycled exactly the same route.

Finally the stink was starting to rise. It was time for a shower. We said our goodbyes. Tom said he would rejoin us in either Benson or Sierra Vista. I followed Steve out the door. He encouraged me to go first, as he was too slow. I assured Steve we rode about the same pace and I liked to be the caboose. Then he took off and I hardly saw him except for the stop lights. 2.9 miles later, we pulled in to the Comfort Inn.

Last night we paid $60. today was over $100. for a similar quality room. I think this is a golfing community, which is reflected in the price.

Jacinto and I don't usually get in at the same time. I think we were both trying to let the other have the first turn in the shower. So neither of us showered and then we were both in a hurry.

I couldn't get the computer to hook to the wi-fi - it says it's hooked, but it's not. I finally hooked up the phone and then used that as a hot spot. Jacinto couldn't get his phone to hook up. I don't know if it's operator error or what. But I was able to get this journal done and photos loaded. That's the main reason for the computer.

Jacinto listened to live music all day, but we agree tomorrow there won't be lived music. He's downloading some music for me on Pandora, not live. I'll be jamming tomorrow.

We are eating at the restaurant right in front of the motel - it's been in business for 42 years, so it should be good?

I'd like to note that although we did a fair amount of city riding today, there was a marked bicycle lane on the big roads and all vehicles were nice. I had one thumbs up. I'm not a city person and seldom ride cities, even on tour. Tucson feels comfortable to me.

Today was an excellent first day. Despite repeat applications of sunscreen, I've burned my nose. In December! You should tour Arizona, it's great.

After dinner commentary -

We went to dinner next door. I had the turkey dinner Unfortunately my carrots weren't well drained and the water swamped the rest of my meal. It would have been good otherwise. I'm always thinking one meal ahead. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we are going to a very small town. The bar/cafe is open 365 days a year. That is good, except it is three miles from our lodging. You know I would never stay that far from food if there was another choice. I do like to eat.

The current game plan is to ride direct to the bar for lunch. Then back track to our lodging at an RV Park. Steve has a renovated trailer, we have a cottage.

We went to a nearby Mexican restaurant for burritos to carry. Steve explained to us that mission burritos have all of the ingredients inside the burrito and you can hold them in your hand. They don't come on a plate with salsa on top. We wanted mission burritos to go. I ordered a big one and a small one. They came in styrofoam trays, not wrapped in aluminum. When I got back to the room, I scrapped all of the ingredients out and put the flour tortillas in Jacinto's box. Wait for him to see that. He will say I'm wasting food, I should eat the tortillas.

I've decided I'm definitely a little bit sick. My nose is running like crazy and I'm coughing up junk. But I don't feel too bad over all. Maybe the Umcka type supplement helped? It's all gone now . . . I'm down to NyQuil for tonight.

Steve and I agreed on a 9 AM depart. I assured him that I am a timely person if I'm only in charge of myself being on time. We have some climbing tomorrow, but it should be a nice day on a more remote road. We have one more day of sunshine, then there's a storm moving in.

Jacinto says he's staying in the room until they kick him out. Then he's heading north to add a loop on top of the regular ride. He'll have a total of 50 miles.

Why use the motel coffee pot when you can fill an entire pannier with your preferred coffee pot and coffee? Let’s not forget the favorite coffee mug!

The colors were more vivid in real life. You get the idea.

This is not a good photo. I never know where to look when taking a selfie. The start moment is officially recorded.

Steve has a polite line of cars behind him through the construction zone. At least they weren't actively working today and all vehicles were patient.

Steve's first rest break choice is peanut butter with Chex Mix.

This might be my only photo of Tom with his bike. He's usually ahead of me.

Today's ride: 45 miles (72 km)
Total: 45 miles (72 km)

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