Round the Lemmon

Despite having an incredible day riding big bikes with Mike Curiak, I was keen to get back to more steady miles. I feel like I am improving on some of my weaknesses, and Krista and I had some good training momentum building. But we didn’t have a plan for a ride, and I was still on the fence about breaking from the ‘program’ to ride more with Mike. I waited until the morning to decide.

I woke up late, still tired and in a haze. Yet I felt strangely motivated. An idea had taken hold in my mind. I wrote an email to Krista, “Wake up! It’s time to ride around Mt. Lemmon…”

A little later I got a response:

“I jusk woke up. still interrested?” [half awake typos preserved]

In an hour she was outside my house, and almost ready. I smiled a little as she nervously prepared for our last minute backcountry epic. She is a Pro XC racer (and one of the best at that) used to not getting too far from food/water/support. “How many CO2’s are you bringing?” 🙂

The route is 105 miles of dirt and pavement. The last time I rode it, it took over 10 hours, with 8 hours moving time. But that was with a big group and I was hauling a Bob trailer full of frozen gatorades. Surely we could go faster, even on dead legs. But by the time we were rolling (11:30a) we had only six hours of daylight. We would need to move quickly, or face a long and dark ride down Oracle Road.

I sent an email to our significant others (Todd and Paula) with a link to a trackleaders tracker so they could watch our progress via the SPOT2 I carried, and then we were off, riding from my front door.

Riding through town went quickly. The new bike lane and paved start to Redington Road were most welcome, because I had chosen to ride my “road” bike. It sure is fast, and I fully expected to pay very dearly for that speed, as soon as we hit the dirt.

Slow speed climbing to 4000′ was no big deal on the road bike. And even the fast rollers were a fun challenge. I just had to be careful of sand — those narrow tires cut right into anything loose. No leaning!

photo by Krista Park

The backside of Redington Pass hides many a rolling climb. Also hidden there is some beautiful country, and miles and miles of quiet, unspoiled desert. After crossing the AZT we didn’t see anyone for several hours. Just circling hawks, the occasional cow and a couple of seemingly lost dogs. It was perfect — just the way I remembered it.

Open ridges full of spiny ocotillo led to rusty hills of prickly pear and creosote. Saguaros made their reappearance with grand fare — sporting several giants in a eroded canyon we descended into. Krista had to wait a bit on some of the rocky descents as I babied my bike. I gradually gained confidence to let it fly, but wasn’t really too keen on finding the limits either.

We bottomed out at the San Pedro river basin and began heading north. In the back of my mind I knew what to expect here, but by refusing to acknowledge it, I was hoping I was wrong.

Two words: headwind and washboard. The two banes of dirt roadies. In combination they can be enough to crush even the strongest of wills.

Time to practice a little drafting.

Only 19 more miles of washboard to go…

More drafting and more variable washboard. Good thing I have a full suspension road bike. I was quite happy with how steady we were able to keep pedaling through this section. I am particularly weak to this kind of riding (one wonders why I ever tried racing the divide), but today I never faltered.

Along the way we caught glimpses of intriguing canyons, marveled at the color visible in the nearby Galiuro mountains (what a clear day!) and remarked multiple times how warm and pleasant it was. It was a good day to be out on the bike.

We continued to fight the wind into San Manuel, where a gas station waited. I bought two gallons of water and a gatorade. As Krista mixed up her magic potion, we heard from a roadie that Webb road had recently been paved. Good thing I brought the road bike! This was really good news, because it had taken longer than I anticipated to get here. Actually, we were only halfway around the loop and had but 1.5 hours of daylight left.

Brand new pavement + no traffic + climbing = time to check for sponsorship emails!

Climbing is so much easier than cutting through wind. But I didn’t like the results of the math I was doing. I fully expected more headwind on Oracle Road (isn’t that always the case on Oracle?), and a long and dark ride back into town. The possibility of calling for a safety bailout entered my mind, but I didn’t say anything. Krista was still positive and riding strong, despite this being a very long ride for her.

The sun angled low as we grunted out the final steeps into the outskirts of Oracle. There was snow in the long shadows, but the air temperature was still warm. It was just a nice, mellow day for the residents of this rural town. I envied them as we turned on Oracle Road to begin the ride back into Tucson. I didn’t much like being in the position we were in.

But then we started riding. And without much effort, we were flying. HELLO TAIL WIND. For the next 14 miles we averaged 25mph. No joke.

That brought us through a traffic jammed Catalina and to Oro Valley with light to spare. Awesome.

I’ve ridden the last miles of Oracle in the dark many times, and while I don’t relish the experience, it’s a quick ride to the river trail, where more tail winds of the nuclear variety awaited us. The trees were whipping around us, noticeable only if you listened carefully. It was almost too easy to finish up this big loop, never even pulling out our extra layers — it was just that warm.

Ride stats:

104 miles
7:32 total time
7:05 moving time
7,600′ climbing

If you check PBAA’s record page they keep track of times for riding the perimeter of the Santa Catalinas (Mt. Lemmon). Krista crushed the old record, by over 2.5 hours. The men’s time is just over 6 hours, which is pretty solid, and a good goal to shoot for, perhaps.

The above map is once again colored for comparison with my 2004 ride on the same route. Red = faster in 2011. Blue = slower in 2011. The effect of the wind by the San Pedro is very evident (the big long blue streak on the east side) — there we were riding slower than I did hauling the Bob! Everywhere else was faster, though.

Definitely a great day to get out on a “backyard epic.” One thing is for sure, paved and dirt roads are a nice way to go to far away places.