Tucson

First ride back in Tucson, first flat. There are few guarantees in life, but this seems to be one of them.

It’s been a bit of a rough transition back to the desert. From snow and hoody weather in Colorado to 100 degrees and A/C units running all day. From 4 months of not even thinking about allergies to going to see an allergist for the first time. From riding my brains out of the galaxy to taking it ‘easy’ to give my back time to heal (which doesn’t seem to be working). From empty rural roads to busy three-laners with angry drivers.

Pollinators? Yeah, but no problem for me. Mt Lemmon is a refuge, a sanctuary of cool temps, clear air and forest trails. Leave the city behind.

And ride some rocks.

Throw out the trusty Costco tent and call it a night.

Paula the Pyro!

All the mushrooms have been stripped from the tree we found covered a month ago. Were they harvested, or did the bugs chow them down?

It was a great weekend, and much needed relief for me. I rode all the upper ‘reasonable’ singletrack, and felt strong.

Noser is expert at snoozing. I missed my cats over the summer, but they are also another source of my problems… or at least Noser is — hyperallergenic cat that he is! Just like being back in Tucson in general, loving it in many ways, but also being poisoned and dragged down by it in other ways.

What is usually deep sand now is solid!

Much happy relief was also found by some powerful storms. I sat in the backyard and grinned like an idiot as the first one pounded the city. As soon as it let up I was on the bike and breathing fresh air.

There’s nothing like AZ sunsets.

And just the desert in general. Home.

The evening sun is so powerful it can split rocks, move mountains.

Evening has less allergens (except on windy days). Maybe that’s why I always seem ride then (as opposed to early morning, when it’s cooler).

I did get out to fly through Bug Springs and Molino. The steep climbing (scar!) felt better than the descending, but I gave the Rocks ‘n Clocks challenge a shot anyway. I hadn’t planned on it, but knew the exact start/stop points from last week, when I thought about it, but thought better of it. I wanted to see how my back would respond so I’d have a better idea of whether Coconino was a good idea or not. It felt good riding, but not as much afterward, which seems to be the way this goes.

I had a nice clean run, only a few fumbles or missing trail memories on tight turns or other awkward spots. I attacked the uphills on the big bike, and took 14 seconds off the best time. Someone should knock me off the top spot soon (there have already been rumblings of it), and I look forward to improving my own time as well. Great idea and nice website, from Jonathan.

Finally got Chad out on a ride! His bikes have been down, and we keep missing each other, or not making Lemmon trips happen. He took me on his local Golder Trails in the rain. Usually sandy, they were pretty rideable in the misty rain. I gave him some SPOTs for Coconino and then drove home, rather than north with him, to Flagstaff. I probably could have ridden through Coco and would have loved it, but I didn’t want to end up with a super sore back, and where I was two weeks ago. So I sat it out and watched the dots move on the tracker instead.

on her way to another win, downtown in Tucson

At least I can live through Paula! 🙂 She is running well, winning races and training hard. I’m sure I’ll be back soon enough, and this latest cool spell has turned Tucson into paradise, with cool mornings and perfect days. Plus, it shut off a lot of our town trees from spitting out pollen. Things are looking good and I can’t wait for fall and winter.