Saguaro again

January 22, 2023

It’s cold again this morning, but a whole three degrees warmer than yesterday morning when we get up - just above freezing. We’re not leaving the house any time soon, but with a high of about sixty and full sun expected, it looks like as good an opportunity as we’re going to get for a ride out to the national park - the first for me this winter but the second for lucky Rachael, who was out there last week with Susan.

You already know that the loop through the park is the best nine mile ride in Tucson, bar none. It’s as fine as ever today, and if it were closer at hand it’s a ride I’d be happy to get out on every week we’re in town. And you don’t really need any new words about the park experience since you got some just last week so we’ll just leave you with the day’s video, a few photos, and a few brief observations. Then, just watch the video and imagine you were here enjoying this ride yourself. This could be you!

First, we took a different route out to the park today than Rachael and Susan did last week. We followed Pima Street east to Pantano Wash, the same route I found for my ride out to Agua Caliente two days ago. It adds about three miles to the ride, but they’re well worth it. It made a much more enjoyable route east through town.

Second, a note that this was largely an incident-free ride. No new birds, no CycleBlaze meetups, and only one fleeting glimpse of a roadrunner. Which was perfectly fine - we were out to see the park, and didn’t have a lot of time to dally anyway. Rachael did note that she had a surprising number of ad hoc conversations along the way, taking in the views at vista points, waiting at rest stops and the like.

Also, we didn’t see any riders packing heat, as Kelly said she’s seen a few times here. It never occurred to us that anyone out here would be riding the Loop with a sidearm strapped to their hip, but I shouldn’t be surprised. That’s apparently our country now. America!

Third, a sobering public service announcement from the ranger at the entrance gate. She warned us to watch out for water in the low spots, and said there was a bad accident yesterday morning when a woman crashed when she hit what she thought was a patch of black ice speeding down from Javelina Rocks. Was she badly hurt, I asked with concern in my voice? “Oh, yeah. She wasn’t wearing a helmet”.

Don’t let that be you.