Taking in the wash

January 12, 2024

With a day that’s slow to warm up and a hard time commitment boxing us in at the end we choose a fast, flexible ride for our outing with Susan today: an out and back along Julian Wash, the same ride Rachael and I rode last week. I’ve marked it at 44 miles, but we’ll just time box ourselves and turn back in plenty of time to return home and make it to our five o'clock dinner date with Kelly.

We set 11:30 as our departure time and then settle in to our morning routine. When it’s time to start getting dressed to go I look around first with perplexity and then complete disbelief - I can’t find my new socks, the ones I just bought and wore for the first time on the ride with the Branhams two days ago. I look everywhere, but they’re not to be found. Again? What the hell is going on here?

Fortunately I bought two new pair of socks so I put on the other one, sparing myself the indignity of biking in unmatched socks with company. This is going to get expensive though if I’m only going to get two days of use out of a pair of socks before going shopping again. I’m going to have to start buying them in bulk, it’s looking like.

Susan arrives, comes inside for a few minutes while we get our acts together, and then we’re off.

Chilly at first when we start out, but it will be fine after a few miles. Love that Bell helmet!

This isn’t really a sightseeing or birding outing, so we just ride with minimal stops: once in Sam Lena Park to take off a layer once the day has warmed up enough; another fast trailside stop so Rachael can shove some quick calories into the furnace; and then when we reach Roy Schoonover Park we stop for our first real break - long enough for us all to snack and use the facilities.

Biking through Sam Lena Park, Susan models the latest in cycling headgear.

At Roy Schoonover Trailhead, admiring the Rincon Mountains.

When we pull in I stop to take in the expansive view of the Rincon Mountains and look down into the creosote and cholla for any signs of bird life. Seeing none, I turn back and find Susan and Rachael speculating on whether Susan left her helmet at home or set it down somewhere along the way; because in any case she hasn’t got it now. She could have set it down on the picnic table in Sam Lena Park, so Rachael and I peer into the GoPro trying to see if it looks like she was wearing it at the start of the ride. We can’t tell for sure, but it looks at least possible that she left home without it or set it down at our place when she stopped by.

What do you think? Is she wearing her helmet? Why doesn’t this thing have a zoom function so we could tell for sure?

While Rachael’s off on a dewatering project Susan asks if I saw any birds when looking over the desert. Hearing that I did not, she casually comments “Well, here’s a little bird now.” I look around her corner of the table and am startled to see a cactus wren walking around, and then a second swoops in and then a third. They’re all gathered here this afternoon to clean up the crumbs of the chocolate treat Rachael had enjoyed just minutes ago; and then, as quickly as they arrived they’re off again.

Interesting nature note of the day: cactus wrens love chocolate. Maybe that’s where the color comes from, like finches and carotene.

And so are we, racing eastward to the end of Julian Wash, pushed along by a mild tailwind - the same unusual conditions we found here a week ago. We finally turn back just past the Houghton Street overpass once we’ve gotten far enough to be able to round up to 44 miles for the day.

Through the Joining Hands arch, Kelly’s favorite spot on the loop.

Enough already! We can round up to 44 miles, so let’s turn back here please.

Even biking into the headwind now we make excellent time on the way back since it’s gradually downhill for the next ten or fifteen miles. We stop at the Schoonover spot for a last pit stop and are soon off again, but then I stop for some birds I see ahead. Rachael and Susan race on and are soon out of sight. Its worth the stop though as I find it’s a flock of eight or ten black-throated sparrows, one of the few birds I’m still holding out hope for seeing before we leave Tucson in two weeks.

I’m well over a half mile behind when I get rolling again, and at the speed I see on the Garmin that they’re maintaining I don’t expect to see them again until home unless they stop and wait somewhere. Matters aren’t improved when I pause for a few quick courtesy words with Kelly, going the other way in her own rush because she’s in a hurry to get home in time for dinner too. Which is more courtesy than Rachael and Susan offered her, I’ll learn later - they just waved and shouted a greeting in passing, but at least Rocky had the GoPro recording and clipped Kelly into the day’s video for a cameo appearance.

I’m keeping a pretty decent pace myself though, and when I cross the Palo Verde overpass I look down and see them on the Aviation Bikeway; and a few miles later I have some luck with the stoplights and finally catch them halfway up Treat Street.

Finally I’ve got them in my sight again, looking down from the Palo Verde bridge.

Video sound track: Hymn of the Orient, by Clifford Brown

Susan stops by our place long enough to confirm we’re not harboring her helmet, but a few minutes later she emails us its photo. It never left home this morning.

Which is nice for her, but the issue burning on my mind is those damn socks. I really scour the place this time but without success, so when Rachael emerges from the shower I appeal to her to search through her belongings as a last hope. And, lo and behold, they’re found. Thinking back, she remembers now that her feet were cold this morning so she put mine on her feet when they were just lying around for the taking.

So that’s good. I’m still holding out hope that if she really, really looks hard she’ll find my other two missing socks in her things too. What a heaven that would be - four pair of matching socks! Too much to hope for.

Aah! One of life’s simple pleasures: matching socks.

El Charro has been dishing it out at this spot for a long time. They had their hundredth anniversary last year. I like this collage of their old menus.

Another of life’s simple pleasures: dinner with friends.

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 1,111 miles (1,788 km)

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Janice BranhamLove to see those smiles.
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10 months ago

Bob DistelbergYou know, I'm pretty sure mismatched socks or mismatched footwear in general is sort of a current fashion statement. A couple weeks ago I saw someone walking down the street with a shoe on one foot and a flip-flop on the other. It's not exactly flip-flop weather here right now.
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10 months ago