Fun road riding in Tucson!

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03-01-2014, 02:57 PM
emily_in_nc

Fun road riding in Tucson!

DH and I just spent the month of February in Tucson and had a blast. Our first time in the city, and we were pleased with how good the cycling infrastructure is. Tons of bike lanes, nice bike paths, and some great rural routes just outside the city.

Only downside is the traffic (it is a BIG city, after all) and the fact that the majority of roads were badly cracked/crazed, making for some bumpy conditions. We were told by friends of DH who live in the city that it's due to the extreme dry climate. Still, we did enjoy our rides there. Some of my solo rides I did on my Jamis full-suspension MTB, which really smoothed out the bumps, but when riding with DH, I had to ride my Trek roadie or fall way behind.

The weather was AWESOME! We started the month in tights and vests, for the most part, but about a week in we were mostly in shorts and short sleeves for the rest of the month. We tended to wait to set out until 10 or 11 am so we wouldn't have to layer. We felt SO lucky to be wearing shorts while so much of the country was suffering in the "polar vortex"

We did a few blog posts on some of the Tuscon rides we did, if anyone is interested. Note that these are in reverse chronological order:

2 Rides in Saguaro National Park

Snake Bridge, Downtown, and the U of A

Collossal Cave - Pistol Hill ride

Tuscon Foothills ride

Solo ride on the Pantano River Trail

Emily
03-01-2014, 07:57 PM
azfiddle

Wish you'd gotten in touch with me- I love meeting other TE members...
03-02-2014, 04:12 AM
Pax

We lived on the far west side back in 2005/2006, coming from IL we couldn't get over how great the roads were!
03-02-2014, 04:38 AM
Dogmama

February was the second warmest month on record. Glad you had fun!
03-02-2014, 10:22 AM
emily_in_nc

Quote:

Originally Posted by azfiddle

Wish you'd gotten in touch with me- I love meeting other TE members...

Sorry, azfiddle -- I'm a bit shy/introverted, so I don't usually reach out that way. And my DH is even less social than I am. We're both friendly, nice peeps, but just don't go out of our way to meet new people. Nothing personal!
03-02-2014, 10:23 AM
emily_in_nc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pax

We lived on the far west side back in 2005/2006, coming from IL we couldn't get over how great the roads were!

Haha, that's pretty funny, Pax. :D We kept exclaiming about how terrible they were. We did love the bike lanes, but our butts surely got tired of the bumps and cracks in the pavement. In NC, where we've lived most of our cycling lives, our roads are much smoother, but there are many fewer bike lanes/paths. It's all a trade-off!
03-02-2014, 10:25 AM
emily_in_nc

[QUOTE=Dogmama;690413]February was the second warmest month on record. Glad you had fun![/QUOTE

We LOVED the weather. We are so spoiled now!
03-02-2014, 03:35 PM
goldfinch

I'll have to read your reports! I understand about shy, I often find it awkward to meet people I only talk to online.

I've been in Tucson since January 1. AZ, maybe we can hook up sometime this month? I am down at Voyageur RV park about a mile south of I-10 and on Kolb. Biking the trails along the washes have been fun. I just did the short 50k route of the Tour de Cure Diabetes ride this morning.
03-02-2014, 06:23 PM
emily_in_nc

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldfinch

I'll have to read your reports! I understand about shy, I often find it awkward to meet people I only talk to online.

Yes, that's me too -- I have social anxiety. It would not be comfortable to me to reach out to someone I only knew through a forum. I know to extraverts, this would be no big deal and actually a lot of fun, and I wish I were like that, but I'm just not. I remember corresponding with you about "RVing for Introverts"! We are still talking about an RV and may pull the trigger this spring. :D

Which trails have you ridden, goldfinch? I spent a lot of time on the Pantano River Park paved trail. We were staying in a condo on Speedway just east of Pantano, so the northeast section of the city. It was about a 4-mile ride to access the trail, then head down south on the trail to Irvington. Sometimes I did a loop on some roads in that area; other times I'd just do the trail back and forth a few times since it was so smooth and fun to ride. Just wished it went farther!
03-02-2014, 06:33 PM
Crankin

Loved your pictures and commentary, Emily. If you can believe it, I have only been to Tucson 4 times, despite living in Tempe/Scottsdale for 16 years. And 2 of the times I was there, was during the year my DS #2 was going to U of A, long after I left AZ. Tucson is just nicer and less like LA, and I often have rued the day I decided to go to ASU for grad school, instead of U of A.
And, a butte is a geographical formation: an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table landforms.
They often look like small hills just sticking up out of the ground, not part of a group of hills or mountains.
03-02-2014, 06:42 PM
goldfinch

Quote:

Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

Yes, that's me too -- I have social anxiety. It would not be comfortable to me to reach out to someone I only knew through a forum. I know to extraverts, this would be no big deal and actually a lot of fun, and I wish I were like that, but I'm just not. I remember corresponding with you about "RVing for Introverts"! We are still talking about an RV and may pull the trigger this spring. :D

Which trails have you ridden, goldfinch? I spent a lot of time on the Pantano River Park paved trail. We were staying in a condo on Speedway just east of Pantano, so the northeast section of the city. It was about a 4-mile ride to access the trail, then head down south on the trail to Irvington. Sometimes I did a loop on some roads in that area; other times I'd just do the trail back and forth a few times since it was so smooth and fun to ride. Just wished it went farther!

We are about 2 miles from Julian wash so I do that trail a fair amount. My favorite is the Rillito river trail and the Santa Cruz trail. There is a group from my very huge RV park that goes out twice a week on the road and once a week on mountain bikes in the desert, so I am getting plenty of riding in.

If you are interested in a used Lazy Daze, ours will be up for sale this spring. We are using our Blue Bird bus for rv'ing as my spouse is now traveling with me. So, the 24 foot LD has to go. :(
03-02-2014, 07:04 PM
goldfinch

Just read your reports Emily. I will have to do that Colossal Cave rides; it sounds perfect.
03-02-2014, 08:12 PM
azfiddle

Goldfinch- I would love to meet you and ride with you.
I work in Rita Ranch and live about 10 miles north of you just off of Kolb Road. This week is crazy but from March 8-23 I have a lot of free time (except for all my Saint Patrick's Day gigs - but maybe you can come and see my band play while you are here.

I will send you a pm with more info.

Sharon
03-03-2014, 04:35 PM
emily_in_nc

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldfinch

Just read your reports Emily. I will have to do that Colossal Cave rides; it sounds perfect.

Oh, it's great -- you will love it!
03-03-2014, 04:40 PM
emily_in_nc

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldfinch

If you are interested in a used Lazy Daze, ours will be up for sale this spring. We are using our Blue Bird bus for rv'ing as my spouse is now traveling with me. So, the 24 foot LD has to go. :(

Oh, that's too bad. No, that would be too small for us too -- we have to have a full-time bed, and not an offset one that requires one of us to crawl over the other to pee at night either! But we don't want to go too large as we want to be agile. Our current choice is a Phoenix Cruiser 2551 (26.5' long), which has twin beds. IF we are brave enough to pull the trigger, that is!
03-03-2014, 04:45 PM
emily_in_nc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crankin

Loved your pictures and commentary, Emily. If you can believe it, I have only been to Tucson 4 times, despite living in Tempe/Scottsdale for 16 years. And 2 of the times I was there, was during the year my DS #2 was going to U of A, long after I left AZ. Tucson is just nicer and less like LA, and I often have rued the day I decided to go to ASU for grad school, instead of U of A.
And, a butte is a geographical formation: an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table landforms.
They often look like small hills just sticking up out of the ground, not part of a group of hills or mountains.

Actually, I do know what a butte is! Just trying to be humorous about the church sign. :D

After riding through the U of A, I found myself wishing I'd gone there too...though UNC-Chapel Hill was nice also.

We liked Tucson a lot, and it's definitely on the short list of wintering destinations. Can totally see the "snowbird" appeal as we don't like cold weather at all. We were so fortunate, too, in that they had their warmest Feb. ever just for us. It wouldn't necessarily be as good as we had it next year!
03-04-2014, 08:15 PM
goldfinch

Quote:

Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

Oh, that's too bad. No, that would be too small for us too -- we have to have a full-time bed, and not an offset one that requires one of us to crawl over the other to pee at night either! But we don't want to go too large as we want to be agile. Our current choice is a Phoenix Cruiser 2551 (26.5' long), which has twin beds. IF we are brave enough to pull the trigger, that is!

I know what you mean. When I travel alone the Lazy Daze is perfect. With my spouse we need the 43 footer. I've seen the Phoenix Cruiser, it seems very easy to drive and user friendly. I liked the "Euro" look of the interior of the one I saw.
03-05-2014, 09:13 AM
emily_in_nc

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldfinch

I know what you mean. When I travel alone the Lazy Daze is perfect. With my spouse we need the 43 footer. I've seen the Phoenix Cruiser, it seems very easy to drive and user friendly. I liked the "Euro" look of the interior of the one I saw.

I think you might be thinking of another brand, goldfinch. PCs are not Euro -- at least in the age range we're looking at (2007-2010). The newest ones are a bit more modern looking inside, but the ones we're looking at are traditional -- raised-panel cherry cabinets, etc. Very high quality (like Lazy Daze).

I basically put my foot down about anything larger -- I just wouldn't drive it. I did get to drive a smaller PC at a recent RV show in Tucson. It was the 24' model, and I felt pretty comfortable driving it so decided I could go up a bit to get us more space. I like that they are narrower and not as tall as most Class C's. We've done so much traveling in the US in the past year and driven through so many areas under construction, lane closures, etc. that driving a vehicle over 8' wide would make me very nervous!

Barry is training to see if his body might hold up to a cross-country cycling tour this summer -- it's something he's always wanted to do, and since he turned 60 in December, he's kind of thinking this would be the year to do it. If so, I'd be doing nearly all the RV driving to support him across the country, so it's really important to both of us that I feel comfortable driving whatever we buy. Since I've always had a small car, driving ANY motorhome is a big jump for me!