December 25, 2023
Biking my age in miles: 77
For my Christmas present to myself, I decide that this is the day to make another shot at biking my age in miles, a challenge to myself I began when I was a young lad of 69. Most of my previous birthday rides are posted here on CycleBlaze, but unfortunately the first two, both ridden in Portland, were lost in the transition to this website. I wish they were still available, because I don't remember now what inspired me to start this. My older self is curious what my young and foolish 69 year old self was thinking at the time.
Anyway, here's what is still available:
71: In Portland
72: Also in Portland
74: In Tucson: the Loop and Marana
75: In Tucson: the Old Sonoita Highway
76: In Tucson: the Loop and Oro Valley
It will be interesting seeing how the ride goes this year, especially after rereading how it went last year. It looks like I struggled with that one and was really dragging by the time I made it home, and at the end was wondering whether it would be the last one. I’m feeling good about my condition now since my ablation surgery though, and feel confident when I set out just before nine. It’s cold - only 41 degrees - and I’m layered with my fading long sleeved Bike Gallery jersey, my orange Columbia parka that thankfully I got back from The Loft when I left it there a few days back, and my leg warmers.
That’s the downside of scheduling this ride in Tucson - days are shorter and temperatures can be colder. I really should have started an hour earlier to make sure I don’t run out of daylight, but I couldn’t make myself do it. If I’m still doing this at 80 I might want to pick a different season and locale - Portland if we’re still using it as a base then, or maybe the Fens in July or something like that.
The chimes are just ringing out the hour of nine as I enter the university campus. I haven’t even gone a mile yet, but the campus is so pretty in the morning light that I stop for a few shots before deciding I need to get moving. At this pace I won’t make it home until about midnight.
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Pyrocephalus obscurus officially.
11 months ago
After that I hardly stop at all for the next fifteen or twenty miles. I just bike a steady 12 mph or so as I head north on Mountain Avenue to the loop and then follow it east along Rillito Wash. It’s very quiet this morning, and I don’t start seeing anyone else out at all until I’m on the loop and a few runners and walkers start showing up. It’s probably the quietest I’ve ever seen Mountain Avenue.
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It’s not until after ten that it’s warmed up enough that the feeling starts coming back in my numbed hands again. I really should have brought my warm gloves for this first hour or so. By the time I’m heading south along Pantana Wash though it’s finally warming up to take my jacket off and I’m getting benefit from biking into the sun. Rounding the bend as I turn south, I look back and am surprised to see a thin band of snow atop Mount Lemmon.
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There’s a short on-street connector in the loop when you leave Pantana Wash and cut east to Harrison before continuing south. I always look forward to this short stretch on Sellarole Street because I nearly always see something interesting. Today it’s a hawk, about six utility poles down a dirt side road that tempts me to bike down it and try to get close enough to identify it.
I get about two poles down the road and stop for a shot before getting even closer, when I look up and see that there are two more on the next pole nearer me. Three of them! It must be a family. Two fly off, but one stays put while I get close enough to identify it - a Harris’s hawk! This counts as an unusual sighting for me. This is about the northern edge of their range - they’re primarily a Mexican species - and I think I’ve only seen them once in Ajo, and once here - on this same dusty spur off Sellarole. Probably the same bird.
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I leave the Loop here and cut east to the Old Spanish Trail, which I’ll follow south to Colossal Caves. The Old Spanish Trail is nice cycling road, going past the national park and offering fine views of the nearby ranges. I stop for a few to remember what a fine day this is and show I was actually here instead of faking some ride I just drew up, but mostly I just ride because I’ve got my eye on the time. This first half of the ride is mostly a gradual climb so it’s slower going, and I want to make sure I keep on track to return home before dusk.
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It’s just turning one when I arrive at the gate to Colossal Caves. I’d been thinking I might tackle the 10% climb up to the viewpoint and pause for lunch there, but with still over 40 miles to go I don’t think I can spare that much time. And in fact I wonder if I’ll need to backtrack to the north side of Pistol Hill when I see the gate’s closed. I stop for a minute wondering if I’ll be safe to skirt it and stay with my marked route, but then I get some courage by considering that my nervy partner would definitely go for it.
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The next few miles along Colossal Caves Road are the best of the whole loop. The section within the park is gated at both ends to restrict access, but bikes are apparently allowed through so it’s just you and the land. After a couple of miles of cycling nirvana I climb the low saddle over the flank of Pistol Hill to reach the high point of the ride. The miles should come considerably faster now, as I’m facing over twenty-five miles of gradual downhill - all the way to the Santa Cruz.
And they do come faster even though I’m biking into a headwind now. I hold a steady 16-18 mph as I speed west on Mary Ann Cleveland Way, slowed only by the short climb out the western side of Pantano Wash. By the time I cross the tracks over the Houghton Street bridge and drop back to Julian Wash and the Loop gain, I’ve made up enough time that I’m no longer concerned about arriving before dark.
And just as I come to the Loop, another road runner crosses the path in front of me - my second close-up sighting of the day.
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11 months ago
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Ever since hitting Cleveland Way I’ve been keeping track of a new icon on the Garmin’s map - it’s Rachael, biking east up Julian Wash to meet me and then bike back toward home with me. We finally meet up at the pit stop at Roy Schoonover Trailhead. We touch base and compare notes for a few minutes - Rachael’s got a lot to say about how unpleasant the section around the VA Hospital, probably the least attractive in the whole system. She didn’t like it coming this way and she doesn’t look forward to biking back the other way either.
And she’s right. I’ve never cared for this part of the loop, and now it’s noticeably worse than in the past. Trashy, with quite a few more homeless encampments for several miles, it’s getting a bit of that Portland feel to it.
Rachael bikes on east for another mile or so while I finally eat lunch, take off layers, use the loo, and chat with a couple on a Comotion tandem who wonder if this mammoth train that’s stalled on the horizon will block their crossing at Rita Road.
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Rachael and I ride together for the next fifteen miles, all the way back to the Santa Cruz. It’s a familiar, comfortable ride until we get to about the cutoff to Lena Park and made better by spotting two more roadrunners - a four bird day! Once we reach the Santa Cruz though my route includes a pointless ten mile detour up and down it toward Valencia Way for the sole purpose of getting my miles in, and Rachael only goes about a mile and a half of it with me before turning back. When she makes it home she’ll have her own 45 mile ride, which feels like plenty - she’s biking more than her age in kilometers today, as she does most days.
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The last dozen miles come surprisingly easily. I expected to be dragging by this point, but I really feel fine. My energy level is good, my knee isn’t bothering me, and when I come to the turnoff at Saint Mary’s I even overshoot and bike to Speedway and back to give myself some extra for padding. It’s very encouraging. I really feel the best I have in a couple of years, and feel confident that an 80 miler is in the cards for three years from now.
So, a great day - but one that’s made especially memorable by the howling coyote atop a berm near Congress Street and the almost perfectly full moon staring in my face as I bike home up University. A Cold Moon, that’s what December’s is called.
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I got caught in a major thunderstorm and ended up 4 miles short on my Birthday Ride this years.
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Today's ride: 78 miles (126 km)
Total: 531 miles (855 km)
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Way to go!!
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Random question.....what bike did you use to do your birthday miles each year. Just curious if you always chose the Rodriquez or if a lot of those were with the Bike Friday.
I'd like to think that before this trip of ours is finished I will do my birthday miles. Don't hold your breath though.
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Patient: Hey doc, when this operation is done, will I be able to play the piano.
Surgeon: Yes, I think you'll still have that ability.
Patient: Oh, that's great, because I could never play the piano before.
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