At one point on the higher elevations I began to yawn uncontrollably, it was cracking me up. I’m thinking this is one boring ride, which it aint, or my brain needs oxygen. I finally get to the top but then you descend for a couple miles into this cool little town of Summerhaven. What’s interesting about the climb is that you ascend through several micro climates, they call these things sky islands.
Arizona 09
Flew out to Arizona for a few days of riding. The trip was planned for February when I could have used a $100.00 voucher from Southwest, but I need to work around my work. I only got four days of riding in but for my fitness that was enough, plus I just didn’t feel rushed to get on the bike by 7am. I had to rework the routes that I intended to take as there is quite a bit of construction going on in Tucson (sprawl). Catalina State Park is where I set up camp, a beautiful and clean place right at the foot of the Catalina mountains. The odd thing is that directly across the road from the park exit is a giant mega strip mall in the process of being built with a Lowes, Walmart, Dicks , etc. Somebody should have stopped that, but from my many conversations with Tucsonians this is all a product of the housing boom which has only been going on for the past few years, but of course now AZ is one of those states caught up in the foreclosure mess. The good thing is this-they have included bike paths in this development, so wherever you go you can pretty much go by bike, though like everywhere else in America, car culture rules. My first two days of riding were pretty much in the sprawl but on bike lanes and wide shoulders, the second two were more out there.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
I was sort of camping light, no cooking, no utensils. I was also trying to keep the trip cheap, camping was $15.00 per night, most expensive meal at a “real” Mexican place was like $22.00. This is a Starbucks cup as cereal bowl. I am now entirely sick of the Starbucks world having visited one every morning and also having made three trips there to work on my weekly TIME mag job.
I like the convenience just can’t take that chipper Disney Store greeting, making a point to call their customers by name, which I learned from a Starbucks Creative Director is of course no more than contrived company policy. I would have liked to have found a more local joint but really my first two days I saw nothing but Subways, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc.
Catalina State Park which is just about twelve miles north of Tucson proper. It’s off of Oracle Rd. which was my intended route south into Tucson. There was so much traffic and construction on that Road though that I needed to loop north and west and then south into Tucson. The park is beautiful, well maintained, clean, and set in a field of low trees and grass with the mountains as a backdrop. You would never know that you are only a mile from the strip malls, except for the low drone of traffic noise at night, I bring ear plugs-always.
I knew that the temps would dip pretty low at night, it is the desert. My bag is rated at 30 degrees and I think I was pushing that the first two nights, made for good sleeping though and I was usually in my tent by 8pm and slept or at least remained in my bag until at least 7am every morning.
You tend to meet more people when you’re camping, you’re out in the open not cloistered. I for one just hate hotel rooms, I find them depressing, claustrophobic, and there is that TV thing. Plus, who knows who slept there last? I know who’s been in my tent, me. As soon as I finished assembling my bike which now takes but a few minutes, a woman comes over and says “I just watched you pull that box out of your car and put that bike together so you must know something about bikes, can you fix mine?” So I proceeded to adjust the shifter cables and voila, despite knowing very little about bike mechanics. Her name was Sandy and she had a big old Airstream, lots of Airstreams out west. I talked with her about my idea of getting a Bambi trailer to travel cross country with the family, she said she lived in one for two years.
My first day of riding was supposed to be just a sort of meandering route down into Tucson. Well, I didn’t get on my bike until about 10 am but headed out towards gates Pass which is on the west side. I had a cue sheet but at about 25 miles out I ran into some unsafe conditions so headed back. I passed through some newer neighborhoods with incredible accommodations for bikes. I only did about fifty miles that day and then got in the car to see if I could find a better way out. Given my current fitness 50-60 miles feels pretty good, especially with a bit of climbing. On that first day I could swear I was on a flat but just flying, tailwind, yes, and I was descending but the roads can be so long and deceptive. I came back the same way and indeed I was climbing.
The next day I was all set to get out early and do a long ride when I got an e-mail with my steady TIME magazine job, so off went the bike clothes and off to Starbucks and work. Earlier I had met a young couple at the park from Alberta, Steve and Karen. They were traveling the west, she working on her masters or some form of higher degree while Steve went biking, and sometimes they biked together. They had been to Tucson back in January so we got out my bike map and marked it up with all the inside info. This was great and they also turned me onto the Mexican place, no more Subway sandwiches. So I did my sketches at Starbucks and headed out to explore following Steve and Karen’s suggested routes, great bike paths and beautiful roads, still very urban, suburban though.
I didn’t get any pics from that second day, guess I was too busy watching traffic and being safe, or just admiring the less busy roads so much I didn’t care to stop and take pictures. On the third day I figured I would try to get a bit more out there so headed down to Saguaro National Park east, recommended by Steve and Karen which had an eight mile park loop road. I figured I would do that and then head down the road to Pistol Hill. You see cyclists all over town but clearly this area is popular, the park even has something called a cyclists ramada, basically a shaded area with a water fountain where cyclists congregate. I met one guy there who I rode down to Pistol Hill with. Older than me but strong as I should have known when he talked of ultra marathons etc. The middle of the day got hot, like 90 degrees so I figured I would take a break and then ride in the cool of the evening. This being the day before i planned to climb Mt. lemmon I thought I would jump in the car and take a look at the mountain rd. I didn’t want to drive all the way up as I felt that would kill the thrill of the climb.
So I’m driving up the mountain when I see this car two ahead of me start swerving all over, all the way into the opposite lane of a two lane road, and then swerving onto the shoulder where of course the cyclists are. Keep in mind this is a really really popular climb with many riders on the mountain daily. I am immediately on 911 telling them that they need to get somebody up on the mountain and now! I watch the guy bounce off the guard rail a few times and then just miss a pair of motorcyclists, surely I was going to see somebody die and I was helpless, the guy in front of me was obviously sounding the alarm as well. Finally the guy pulls off into an overlook and up onto the curb. Long story short is the guy isn’t drunk but in diabetic shock and the sheriff says I probably saved his life, his life? I was just glad to not see anybody die. So, now I’m thinking shit, I’m riding up this tomorrow? Is this an omen? I ride back down, I think I see Chris Carmichael climbing with one of his camps, I’m excited to do the ride the next day and go do some beautiful evening riding.
I try to get going early the next day to get to the climb but I’m lazy, I hit traffic, and I get going around 9am or so. Riders apparently congregate at the strip mall at the base of Catalina Hwy. where the road up the mountain begins. There’s a coffee shop called Le Buzz, I didn’t go in, I’d save that for if I finished. Lots of cyclists leaving in groups, some people do this ride weekly, though not all go all the way up. You can climb to Summerhaven which is what most people do but to say that you went to the summit you climb an extra 1000 feet to the ski area.
The climb starts on one of those false flats, you’re climbing but barely, then after a few miles you hit the mountain road and the sign says Summerhaven 25 miles, that’s all uphill, but for a weird mile or so downhill right outside of Summerhaven at 8000 feet.
The rest of the day is just climbing, I think I’m like in the 3.5 hour time range. I stopped often to get my HR down and to take in the view. Seems most people were going a similar pace as I was usually passed only when stopped. It’s one of those great roads where you have to remind yourself to look and enjoy the scenery when you’re not just trying to concentrate on throwing your feet over the pedals. You look down and you can see where you’ve been and of course you look up and can see where you’re going.
You get some pretty incredible views of Tucson falling back into the valley as you ascend. I was very careful the whole time about staying hydrated. This can be an issue on the climb as water is scarce. I for one have no trouble begging and did just that when these two girls pulled up, they were actually excited to help me out like I’m freaking Lance “fat” Armstrong or something, They also tell me of a horrible crash they passed lower on the mountain. As I climb I am awestruck at the racer types buzzing down the mountain. I imagine to hit 50mph+ is not difficult. More on the grissly crash later. These girls are just two more of the very friendly people I met on the trip, water angels is what I called them. Speaking of Armstrong, apparently he rented a house in Summerhaven one year to prep for TDF, did his training rides in and around Tucson and then climbed the mountain-every day.
Just before the top I get passed by a guy on same Trek Madone except he has a power tap etc. When we get to the top we chat a bit, he’s a triathlete, just did the climb but will get a ride down the mountain by his wife. He says his wife passed the bike accident coming up and his son tells me that the guy lost half his face, spitting out teeth. At this point I just want to get down the mountain in one piece so set off climbing out of this glen and onto the descent. I keep it easy at like 35mph for 25 plus miles, letting cars pass, watching my turns, not getting tense. You can feel the temperature change as you descend and when I got back on that false flat I was cooking. I’m no athlete and no climber but I did enjoy this one. It’s only like a 5k climb but it’s all at once.
I took the last day off the bike as it was a flight day and my legs were pretty cooked. I drove around the desert for a while, picked some flowers and pressed them for Melissa. Drove back to Phoenix to get my plane and sat next to Dick Gephart, former US senator-right? I was on the aisle so made him take the middle, he didn’t talk much, just sitting with the unwashed masses.
