Tag: bicycle touring

J&P 09: Casa Grande to Mesa

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Up at 6, and as usual, Phil is up quickly but I’m dragging a bit.  There is a free continental breakfast in the lobby, a cheese Danish, and I really enjoy the raisin bran and whole milk – tastes like another dessert! We’re out on the road a little early this morning, by about 7:45am.   Before we go, I hear Sharon say that many riders will usually meet at the McDonalds or The Good Egg at Chandler Heights Blvd and Alma School Road, and so I make an arrangement with her to pick up my panniers there. We head north

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J&P 09: Tucson to Casa Grande

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Phil’s up quickly again this morning, about 6am.  I used my cell phone as an alarm clock and it works very well.    In the morning darkness, we hoof it across the street to the Waffle House, which some of the riders have dubbed the Awful House.  Phil gets a nice big plate, while I order just a waffle plus 1 egg and some OJ.  Just as we’re finishing, Jan, Carol, and Diana show up and occupy the booth next to us. Mary Ellen calls around 7:30, then arrives at our room to pick up her bike.   We soon head to

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J&P 09: Florence to Tucson

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Phil awoke quickly at 5:10am, and I rose more slowly.   The HIExpress had quite a good help-yourself free breakfast, including cheese omelets, bacon, and biscuits.   While we are there, more than a half dozen actors in Elizabethan costumes join the breakfast, and so we guess there is a Renaissance Festival somewhere close by today.  Just as we’re leaving breakfast, Bob Turner shows up and informs us that Sharon will come by about 7:45am for any bags we want to deposit in the van. After all my knee twinging yesterday, I make an easy decision to go with Plan B and

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J&P 09: Mesa to Florence

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Tom’s last email indicated that the group would meet Bob and me at 11:30am.  I figured that riding with the loaded rig would be slower, and so I budgeted 2 hours for the 18 miles.   However, when 9:00am rolled around, I was so amp’d up to go, I just rolled on out of the driveway and started out onto Recker Road. My bike was certainly a different beast with its load.  Of course, the extra weight made start-ups slower, and accelerations took a lot more pedal effort.   Handling was particularly sensitive to grooves in the pavement, and even rolling at

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J&P 09: Preface

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At the end of September, my friend Mary Ellen Coe sent me a pointer to the J&P Tucson Tour.  I asked further about it and she simply told me it was a bunch of fun.   2008 was a strong cycling year for me, basically culminating in the El Tour de Tucson ride in late November.    In early December, I rode in the Phoenix Metro Bicycle Club’s Free Ride.   Mary Ellen and I pushed hard the last 25 miles or so, doing 22-24 mph the whole way, and as a result I strained my knees plenty.  The pain lasted a week

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