Half a loop is better than none

November 23, 2021

Tucson ride take 4

We actually were up and out on the bike by 9:30 this morning! It was chilly out to me because of a rise in humidity and cloudy skies. I kept a light jacket on for the first hour or so because I knew we were going downhill.

Don was up for a longer ride, so we started out on the Canada del Oro trail which took us down to the Santa Cruz River trail.

Despite the cloudy skies (rain is in the forecast for later tonight), lots of other cyclists were out on the trails. By the time we got to the river, there was more blue sky and some sun.

We turned south onto the Rillito River Trail (more of a dry wash with no water to be seen) and encountered the worst section where we had to cross 2 roads that entered a large gravel pit. There were a lot of trucks so Don had to watch the intersections carefully. It was too bad that when they routed this part of the trail that the city/county had not done something different and safer for trail users.

Once we were past this area, the trail grew nice again, except for all of the graffiti under the bridges. Although even that was very artistic!

We only wanted to do around a 30 mile ride and with the uphill back to the park, we turned around when we got to La Cholla Rd. Perhaps we'll explore more of this trail later.

Back on the Canada trail, it wasn't long before we got back to the campground.

We quickly changed out of our bike clothes, then drove back over to the national park store as we'd decided to buy a couple of other things, including another beautiful Pendleton blanket with our 10% discount. We'll take it home and use it there.

After that we made another quick trip to the grocery and fruit - we go through a lot of both! The rest of the day/evening was uneventful except for the great sunset.

The mountains the the east of us have these massive cliffs which look like they would attract rock climbers. Not that I've seen any.

We've noticed these gourds in the trees throughout the state park. A ranger told us they were a Coyote Melon. Not edible from my research, but the Native Americans did eat the seeds. The gourds themselves were dried and used as rattles.

Many mesquite trees were killed during the wildfire here last year and it looked like the Coyote Melon vines were taking over everywhere! Apparently it's quite an invasive plant.

On the Rillito River Trail we came across this cool sculpture of bats on bikes.

Ok, I'm at a loss here, Bill! Staghorn cholla?

Ok, we've been warned! Although I haven't seen any snakes on my pit spots in the desert.

Another Barbary Fig. You can see the thick tree-like trunk.

This is how they transport a live saguaro to your home or business. Quite the padding to protect the trunk and the branches. I wonder how much one of these cost? Plus the planting?

This is a neat colorful tile sculpture in the park near the hiking trails.

Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 140 miles (225 km)

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