Following our adventures in sea-level Florida, our first challenge on our Southwest Tour 2021 was to acclimate to the cooler temperatures and higher elevations. (Spoiler alert: We’ve enjoyed our time in Arizona and Utah so much, we are already planning our Southwest Tour 2022). We accomplished this first challenge in Chiricahua National Monument (see the story here). Our second challenge was to successfully cycle up and then down some significant inclines. Yes, sometimes it can be just as challenging bombing down a twisty mountain road with no guardrails separating the road from a steep drop off, as it is spinning up a steep, long incline. Thus, we arrived in Tucson, Arizona at the beginning of March with the simple goal to ride our bikes at a greater elevation than Florida.  Tucson is widely known as a great winter bicycling destination because of its mild weather and its expansive bike trail system. During our four day stop in Tucson, we also hoped to explore Saguaro National Park and to get some service done on our van. 

Saguaro National Park is not your average National Park. First, it’s split into two units – Saguaro East (the Rincon Mountain District) and Saguaro West (the Tucson Mountain District) – separated by about 30 miles. Second, the park is directly adjacent to the city of Tucson, which has a population of about 550,000 and has grown by over 5% over the last decade. Fortunately, local conservationists pushed for the protection of much of the park’s area about 90 years ago. Otherwise, it’s not hard to imagine the City of Tucson expanding into the now protected areas. During our short stay in Tucson, we observed many areas of new home construction and the usual sprawl of a growing American city (new, multi-lane roads, new retail stores, and many “for sale” signs on vacant fields, soon to be paved and developed). At least there were a lot of bike lanes.

Saguaro National Park is named for the classic cactus plant native to the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico. The botanical name of the saguaro cactus is Carnegiea gigantea in honor of Andrew Carnegie, the industrialist and philanthropist who provided funds in the early 1900s to create The Desert Laboratory in Tucson. There are over 2,000 varieties of cactus, yet the saguaro cactus is likely the most iconic cactus plant because of its size (may grow over 40 feet tall), shape (a columnar cactus with outstretched “arms”) and its relatively long lifespan (often well over 100 years). Fans of the Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner cartoon are familiar with the tall, stout tree-like cactus which is prominent in the hungry coyote’s attempt to catch the roadrunner (beep, beep). Saguaro cactus are also present on the label of Old El Paso brand products (salsa, taco kits, etc.), yet there are no naturally occurring saguaro cactus within 250 miles of El Paso, Texas. 

On our first day in Tucson, we explored Saguaro East. We learned the eight-mile loop road in Saguaro East is a popular, hilly bike route. In fact, the cover photo of the Tucson Official Travel Guide is two cyclists pedaling through Saguaro East. Perfect! We could fulfill two goals with one stop, so we left our campground (Gilbert Ray Campground, a county campground on the west side of the City) and set off for the park. As I prepped our gravel bikes in the park’s visitor center parking lot, a steady stream of cyclists – roadies in aerodynamic clothing, Hawaiian-shirt wearing mountain bikers, and even a few e-bikers – passed by. More cyclists than autos, a good sign of a safe, enjoyable cycling route.

The paved loop road begins with a relatively steep downhill, and a sharp 90-degree turn at the base of the downhill. A sign infamous in the cycling community – a cyclist catapulting over their handlebars – sits atop the hill and warranted a quick stop for a photo. Weaving up and down the loop road, gawking at the roadside saguaro cacti, we tested our fitness cycling up the hills, and enjoyed the rapid short descents. Ultimately, we completed two circuits of the loop, and while we were passed by younger roadies and mountain bikers, we both felt more confident in our fitness level.

Fresh off our success in Saguaro East, the next day we set off for a gravel ride through Saguaro West directly from our campground. I had created a route map on the app “Ride by GPS” and the route profile showed a few challenging uphills awaited us. The first portion of the ride was on paved roads – some newly paved asphalt sections and other segments of old, bumpy, broken down chip seal (tar and gravel) surface. Then we turned onto a rough gravel road and began to climb. And climb. And climb. A few cars passed us and I imagined their occupants thinking we were a little crazy riding our bikes up this “road.” I wondered if Betsy was thinking the same thing. (Betsy: I was thinking the gravel inclines felt easier than the paved ones.) In my defense, I had read on the internet about other cyclists riding this route. Perhaps I shouldn’t believe everything I read on the internet.

After a few miles of climbing on this gravel road, we reached the top, somewhat exhausted but feeling accomplished that we had made the top. The surrounding scenery was great – the iconic saguaro cactus spread across the hillside on both sides of the road. After a swig of water, we descended on the washboard surface, our whole bodies shaking as we tried to control our bikes down the sandy gravel road. Nearing the bottom, Betsy yelled to me “I have a flat.” Ugh, it had been a long time since I had replaced a tube. Removing the punctured tube, we found a cacti spine had caused the flat. I was carrying a spare tube, tire inflator, and CO2 canisters, so the fix should have been easy. But I found the tire inflator was stiff from lack of use, so it took multiple tries to release the CO2 and partially inflate the tire. Lesson learned, maintain your tools. We set off to finish the descent, the winds picking up and slowing our progress. Ultimately, we made it back to the campground, completing a 20+ mile bike ride with nearly 1,500 feet in elevation gain. After a snack, we even felt good enough for a four-mile hike through the desert in the area adjacent to the campground.  

Our third day in Tucson presented a new type of challenge. We were scheduled to leave the van, our “home”, at a RAM dealership for its 30,000-mile checkup. The dealership preferred we not use their waiting room for what potentially could be an all-day appointment. The weather was cooler, so simply sitting outside was not an option. An uber ride to a library or museum also would not work – we knew that was too risky during the pandemic. Where do we go after dropping off the van in the urban area? For a chilly bike ride, of course!

Again, I plotted out a route through the city streets using “Ride with GPS” (this time a flat route) that would take us to “the loop”, the 130+ miles of bike trails surrounding Tucson. So, we departed the RAM dealership on our bikes, and navigated the city streets for about four miles until reaching the bike trail network. Off we went on “the loop”, constructed alongside the washes flowing through and around the city. Cyclists of all varieties passed, all friendly and respectful. The trail often had sections on both sides of the wash, and we quickly learned that we typically took the side of the wash that would dead end, so we’d backtrack and cross over to the other side. Getting “lost” continued to be one of our problems.

After riding for a few hours, I received a voice mail message that our van checkup was complete – no issues. Great news, but we were having too much fun riding, so we continued, ultimately riding over 64 miles (more than a metric century!) in about five hours while circumnavigating the city. We picked up the van, bought a takeout early dinner at Luke’s Italian Beef, a nearby sub shop recommended by the van service reps, and headed back to the campground for some needed rest.

Our stay in Tucson was a complete success – a great campground, interesting bike rides, good weather, and a van ready for further exploration. We had proven to ourselves that we were up for the challenge of cycling up and down difficult hills and surprised ourselves about the distances we could easily cover (full disclosure, we were sore after the rides). On our way out of town, we visited the outdoor attractions at The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a combination zoo, natural history, and botanical garden – our first museum in over a year. Our only disappointment when leaving Tucson was our inability to explore the many other cultural attractions within the city, like the Mission San Xavier Del Bac, the Center for Creative Photography, the Pima Air & Space Museum, and the numerous museums and galleries associated with the University of Arizona. Our van turned north towards Moab, Utah (would there be a side venture to the Grand Canyon?) and Tucson became the first stop added to our planned Southwest Tour 2022.