A Ride

My commuter/basket bike is still stranded at Hottie’s school (14 miles away), so I’ve been riding my chameleon to school like a schmuck. I attemped to ride the flying dutchman one day but was nearly flattened for lack of braking power.

So today I decided to justify looking like an idiot on campus by continuing on to Starr Pass after class/meetings. This gave me a roughly 2pm starting time. The hottest time of the day but early enough to possibly avoid getting dumped on and riding 10 miles of flooded Tucson streets.

A truly blessed cloud provided salvation. From campus to Sentinel Peak I was shaded and even got a few rain drops. I continued westward to the park. I cleaned tech pass but cheated on the newly blazed bypass trail.

I still owe MR Sadow big time for the Sentinel Ridge trail. It’s the bonus you get for riding to Starr Pass rather than driving (which I can’t stand). For some reason I really like that trail and look forward to it each time I head out there.

The bike/crosswalk light at Stone is operational! That light would have saved my bacon daily when I lived on the west side. We’re also getting one at Treat and Grant, which will save my bacon shortly.

Starr Pass was awesome. I had the place to myself (big surprise) and it felt like I was the first to ride there in months. All the big rain had washed away everyone’s tire tracks. TMP trails don’t know how to get muddy (except in a few rare spots), but a few sections were quite soggy.

Before ‘the wash’ I stopped to let air out of my rear tire (set for riding on the road). I hadn’t touched the valve for 5 seconds before half of it shot off. 0 PSI, but I was able to screw it back together and reinflate. Sweet.

Dolor de Cabeza del Diablo was soon upon me after my cloud deserted me. The ride back through town was mostly miserable. But I’ve been waiting to suffer through town, hot and wasted.

Vitamin I and free Papa John’s pizza revitalized me at home.

Now for the weekend–do we brave the crowds on Mt. Lemmon or burn in hell at lower elevations? Probably both. Oh how I hate holiday weekends when everyone and their dog feels like they need to recreate. My original plan was to head to Lemmon on Monday. I rarely keep track of dates or time, so I didn’t realize it was Labor Day. Curses.