Category: Southern AZ 2015

Everyone’s starting to feel the end of the tour. As planned, Gary got up real early this morning to begin his ride. His plan is to finish before noon in order to meet his wife. Dave got up and had a bite with him as a goodbye – right neighborly of him. The rest of us, including Dave, started out in the Wild Horse Restaurant for breakfast a bit later. I cannot remember what we had, except that Phil’s eggs benedict looked pretty good to me. Sure seems a shame to be contemplating the end of the tour. We’re all

We were up at 7:30AM checking out the lobby breakfast trough, which turned out to be very meager. Something about a big group depleting it before we got there – I never got the details. Instead, we headed down to the Landmark Cafe on Fry Boulevard, a perfect local place with a good menu. Like yesterday, we had route options to consider for today. Dave and Phil decided to take AZ90 north to AZ82, then head west from there. Jack, Gary, and I decided to see if we could roll directly west through the Fort Huachuca base and then take

Despite the fact that the Good Days Café sat right outside, I lobbied this morning for the Gadsden Hotel. I knew it was a famous local landmark, and figured it would be a good place for breakfast. Besides, we might as well take in one of the sights. The Gadsden Hotel lobby is quite striking, with beautiful stone columns and very tall ceilings adorned with stained glass. The breakfast diner section was closed off so we ended up in the main restaurant to sit. A big breakfast was enjoyed by all, and afterwards we lingered around the place exploring. Finally

I think we all slept hard, got a late start this morning, and finally meandered over to the Longhorn Restaurant on Allen Street around 8AM. There was no need to hurry. The service there is friendly and very laid back – we received coffee and juice by 8:45AM or so. The place features breakfast skillets which all turned out to be pretty good. Heading out of town and into headwinds, we made a stop for road snacks at a small market. There we met cyclist Terry who was interested in our tour. Ultra talkative and friendly, Terry asked if he could

Eleven hours of sleep served us all well. Breakfast at the Ramada was free, which was the meal’s only redeeming feature – otherwise typically blah. I ended up grabbing a hard boiled egg, bland potatoes, bland sausage, coffee, and apple juice. We again started out in frigid conditions, around 36°F. Tanque Verde road was SUPER congested for bike traffic. Where the heck are all these people going? To work I guess – what a mess. We headed south on Kolb Road, stopping once at a c-store for snacks. Passage on Kolb was especially rough on our road bikers, not so

Uncommonly cold outside in Florence this morning, like 34°F or so. Dave knocked on our door to deliver his panniers, and I was still in bed thinking, OK, I got at least 15 more minutes <grin>. Phil and Dave left for the Old Pueblo Mexican restaurant up the street, and unfortunately they had to wait around a while for it to open. The 5 of us were soon in a back booth with a tasty breakfast. By 8AM we were off headed southeast down AZ79, greeted by a mild headwind. What faced us was a very long uphill slope, just

Finally time for this tour to begin, and I need the break! Seems I have too many balls in the air lately. Jack arrived a couple days ago. Yesterday, we enjoyed a drenching but fun golf experience at Arizona Golf Resort, and we’re anticipating more rains today. We started from my house in Mesa about 7:00AM. Jack took photos before we rolled out, so I deployed my camera too. Good thing I did because I was about to take my camera with no battery inside. Exiting my neighborhood had both Jack and me in wonder – wow – on tour again. Almost felt

Nice conditioning ride today. It could conceivably be my last before our fall tour, because I’m travelling between now and then. I contemplated loading up the bike this morning, but finally decided I’m still too out-of-shape for that. It’s going to be trial-by-fire I’m afraid, so I hope the winds cooperate. Took the normal gorgeous ride up Bush Highway around Saguaro Lake. I found myself feeling pretty lucky that one of the prettiest rides in all of the Phoenix area is right in my backyard. The hills out by the lake? Not too bad this time. The 15 mile rip down

A reluctant conditioning ride today. Went to bed planning to go, and when I woke up I didn’t quite feel like it. Fortunately, I headed out anyway, northeast up Bush Highway. I started out grinding against a 10mph headwind and figured to be working really hard out by Saguaro Lake. About 10 miles in, however, the wind vanished into a dead calm. As any cyclist will tell you, this defies all odds. The desert hills around the lake were beautiful, as always. The effortless 10 mile rip southwest back down the Beeline Highway was a joy, as always. Lunch at