Day 10 - Catalina State Park to East Tucson, AZ

There is no day 9 post because it was a day off riding & I decided to take a day off posting too.  I had a great day because my daughter Laurie’s in-laws live in the area.  I got to stay with them & sleep on a regular bed instead of on an air mattress in a tent.  Adding to that were the presence of my wife Joanne & daughter Julie.  Today they start road tripping back to Raleigh, NC where Julie is teaching at NC State.  On Sunday we all went to the Desert Museum near Tucson.  I highly recommend it if you are in the area.

Here are today’s Statistics:

46.9 miles today
525.5 total trip miles
11.0 mph average
1463’ climbing
FF - 6
MP - my parents - Walter (RIP) & Audrey Wesp - they brought me into this world, trained, disciplined & nurtured me to be the man that I am.  I cannot thank them enough.

Today was a surprise.  It looked like an easy day on paper - 44 miles, mostly on bike trails around Tucson.  It started out great, there was a threat of rain, but was just overcast early & the sun came out late AM.  Joanne, Julie, and John & Carol Walsh came out to the trail in the late morning & saw me riding.  We stopped and had lunch together about 11 AM.  I had less than 20 miles to go after lunch & thought I would arrive before 2 PM.

But things kind of fell apart.  It is nice riding on a bike trail because there is no car traffic & crossing roads is eliminated because the trail goes under the road.  Tucson has a great set of trails all over town.  That is the good part.  The bad part is that when you are trying to get to a specific destination, the trails can be confusing.  Bubba marked the route we were supposed to take, but I haven’t met another rider who didn’t make at least one wrong turn.  I made 3.  It added a couple miles & about 1/2 hour to the ride, but increased the frustration level more than that.

Then there was the wind - at least 20 - 30 mph & mostly in the face.  All of that added up to more effort than expected.  In the last mile of the day there was road construction that reduced the road to 1 lane with no shoulder.  Bubba arranged that as a group of about 10 riders got to that point, he followed the group with his truck, trailer & emergency flashers going.  That was great & made it safe.

I did see some interesting things along the way - a blooming cactus

Here is a picture of the large gully that runs through Tucson.  Apparently at certain times it fill completely into a raging river.  Always mountains in the background.

And here is a picture of what our tent city looks like.

Ready for a good night’s rest & a longer day tomorrow.

WDYLT - ILT Milwaukee was awarded the 2020 Democratic Convention.