J&P Tuscon Tour 2013 – Day 1
I certainly opened up 2013 with a whimper. Twenty days of my January were spent lounging in my bed, fighting what turned out to be two strains of the flu. Makes me think twice about not getting a flu shot!
The related fatigue lingered over into February. Jesse signed up for the J&P Tucson ride pretty early, and a few of the Team RA guys were going along for segments too (Frank, Gary, and Roger).
Wednesday the 13th I pedaled down to my dentist’s office for a checkup, then stretched it out into a 30 mile jaunt running errands around Mesa. It felt great! First time in a long time.
Thursday evening, I wrote to Tom (J&P ride director) and asked permission to tag along on day 1. Linda agreed to pick me up in Florence, and this way I didn’t need to book a motel or carry any items. Tom wrote back quickly – sure no problem!
Had to awaken early and run down to the golf course Friday morning to serve as photographer for the Painted Mountain Ladies Golf Club. They needed a new group photo.
Chores completed, I started getting excited at the idea of going. It would be great to meet up with the J&P gang again, since I missed the ride last year. The weather looked excellent. And I hadn’t exceeded 50 miles in a day since August last year.
Took off around 9AM. Tom plans several rendezvous points for riders not wanting to start from mid-Scottsdale, and mine would be Fitch Park in downtown Mesa. I got there wind-assisted about 9:35AM, not sure exactly where the group would gather, but using my smartphone I soon learned their route would be south down Center Street.
About 9:55AM I saw a very familiar form that turned out to be Roger, who I hadn’t seen since September of 2011. He was riding a pretty Raleigh repainted red, and still sporting that same hockey helmet from the RA tour. He looked fit as can be, and it was good to see him.
A moderate wind blew in from the north, so I figured the group would be flying in earlier than the planned 10AM, but Roger and I caught no sign of them even at 10:15AM.
But right then, sure enough, they all glided in as a caravan, about 20 riders or so. The group included king and queen – Paul and Jane, Jesse, Frank, Gary, Roger, Jules, and of course Tom. I looked for other familiar faces, but many from years past were missing: Dennis, Steve and Jan (joining up with this year’s ride on day 2 I think), Sharon, Sally, Mary Ellen, Mike, Jan, Denise, Geni, Diana, Carol, and Darlene (- and there are many other regular J&P riders who I am less familiar with.) Fewer ‘bents and panniers this year, although I spied one or two larger saddlebags and a backpack.
After visiting for some minutes, the group took off. Jules and I paired up and after 0.2 mi, her front wheel went flat. Jane, Paul and I stopped to help, calling Tom in the van as well to assist as needed.
The dynamic is always interesting to me when there is a flat tire on a group ride. It’s a one person job to fix it, but there always seems to be three to six “cooks in the kitchen” good naturedly trying to pitch in, help, push, pull, or direct. Jules seems to know this, too, and backed off, letting someone else do the honors if they wanted to.
Paul jumped in immediately and bent to the considerable task of removing Jules’ tire from her wheel, which was stretched around it tighter than a fan belt. After busting up his knuckles using plastic levers, I remembered I had some metal ones in my bag. I fished them out and jumped in, too, helping Paul get the wheel off. Probably the tightest tire I’d ever encountered (well, those 28mm touring tires I had back in 2010 were candidates). Surely the lightest wheel I’d ever felt, too – Tom called it “spokeless.”
Jules found the culprit, a thorn, and threaded on a new tube. Tom showed up to take the reins, producing a good floor pump to get Jules back to 105 psi. One flat tire – four repairmen – that sounds about right.
The repair had taken more than 1/2 hour, and we figured we were plenty behind the group. Jules and I took off south and east. I did my best to keep my speed under control – we had plenty of distance to cover – but that’s not an easy task riding with Jules. As we rumbled down Lindsay, our speed increased gradually from 16 to 18 to 20mph. Turning east on Ray, we bogged down a bit into headwinds, me pulling for three miles, then Jules taking her turn at it.
We reached Ray and Power, saw no bikes, and decided the group must have gone on to the Flight Deck Cafe at Williams Air Field. Sure enough we found a recumbent already parked outside, but just the one. Where was everyone? Man – we suddenly realized that we’d missed the second rendezvous point on Lindsay, and were now probably ahead of the group. Ah well.
The ‘bent was Dave’s. Four of us: Jules, Roger, Dave, and I, visited for a while. Jesse left me a phone message to let me know that the group had seen Jules and me roll past heading south on Lindsay, oblivious.
Lunch at the Flight Deck. The service there is usually slow for us there – related to the sudden group of 20 sprung on them – but the food is decent enough. I met a friendly couple on their first J&P (forgot their names) who’d travelled from Ranchos Palos Verdes in California to do the ride. Also talked with a younger couple just discovering the joys of bike touring. I thought it was really cool that they’d been to Burning Man a few times, so I pressed for details. Next to me sat Wayne, the current president of GABA Tucson. I knew I’d met him before (yes – it was on the 2010 Luna Lakes ride). His wife used to run that ride.
After lunch we headed south on Sossaman Road and passed the National Weather Service tower there, looking like a smooth white soccer ball up on a jungle gym. I kept my pace easy, trying to flit between groups of riders, chatting for 10 minute with one, then cruising up to chat with the next for a while. Talked with Alex, from past J&P rides, and together we navigated through the choked streets of Queen Creek at get-out-of-high-school hour.
The weather could not have been much better. NOAA predicted winds from the NE all day, which I assumed would fight us heading east. But, to everyone’s delight, the light breezes came out of the NW instead, nudging us along in both directions towards Florence.
At Bella Vista and Gantzel, I met up with Roger, Dave, and a rider changing over as sag driver. We sat and joked for a good 20 minutes, enjoying the sunshine. The three of us eventually took off east together. Roger turned around at Quail Run to head back home – he was planning 90 miles today!
As I headed south, now alone, I picked up the pace to about 18, just enjoying the pedal and the sun and the tailwinds, watching ranches roll by. I finally hit Hunt Highway, crossed, and started my way east for the final 8 miles or so, still doing 18. A rider came up suddenly behind me and passed without a word, so I decided to roll with him. I called out, “OK, I’m tagging along!” and slid my derailleur up a couple gears.
We rolled about 21 mph into Florence, which for me was pretty taxing. I hadn’t done this many miles in months, and here we were pushing it (21 mph on my 45lb touring bike is a push for me at least), at the tail end of it. The good news is that this felt really good, and I arrived at the Holiday Inn Express exhilarated.
Jules was already there. I gave a call to Jesse, who I’d not seen, and learned that he was over at the Blue Mist visiting. Jules, Glen (Jules’ spouse) and I talked and played with dinner plans, welcoming other riders as they arrived.
Linda showed up only a few minutes later – perfect timing. We decided, due to some early morning requirements, not to dine in Florence, but instead we headed immediately back in the car to Mesa.
Well, it’s been 2 days since the ride, and my legs hurt a little, but not too bad. Another easy ride should iron out the stiffness. Total distance 67 miles. I’m very glad I could ride with the J&P gang again, if even only for one day. Tom does a wonderful laid-back job of running this tour – highly recommended for anyone who would like an introduction to credit card bicycle touring. J&P Tucson Tour