April 2 – 4, 2018
We cycled into Tucson and hung out with our good friends Larry & Mary Collins for a couple of days.
Cycling Stats
April 4, 2018
Start Point: Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, USA
Destination: Wild camp just past Picacho Peak State Park, Pinal County, Arizona
88.9 km trip, 18.9 km/h average speed, 40 km/h maximum speed, 4:42 time on the bike
?? meters gained, ?? meters elevation descend, ?? meters maximum elevation
Route Description:
April 4, 2018 The first 35K out of Tucson is on paved bike paths. The cycling route through the area is wonderful. After the paved cycle route ends you end up on frontage roads paralleling the freeway. These roads have a should for most of the time. There are a few stores along the way and there is light traffic on the frontage roads.
Accommodations:
At the Picacho Peak State Park there is camping for $30 per tent plus an entry fee of $3 per person. We declined paying these exorbitant fees. 15K further down the road there is a KOA but we didn’t make it that far. Instead we wild camped just past the state park area in the desert on the left after finding a gate at the fence. On the GPS track the KOA is 5K past where we camped.
What happened…
Andrew writes: I really dig hanging out with Larry. He is such a “cool cat”, very laid-back and old-school. He cheers for the wrong baseball team (Red Sox) but he’s still OK in my books. Mary is a real peach of a hostess too. Thanks guys for being awesome.
Riding in the States continues to be pretty stress-free as we are frequently on secondary roads. So far I’ve found the car drivers really pleasant and patient. I’m hoping this continues as we cycle north. I felt a little “hemmed-in” by the highway tonight as we were looking for a place to pitch the tent. The options at the state campground left a bit to be desired.
Amanda writes: We first met Larry & Mary in San Carlos Mexico almost 4 years ago. We hit it off right away and while we don’t see each other often enough, it’s always easy. All four of us are huge baseball and NFL fans and we have some pretty fun rivalries. Being able to spend a couple of days with them was exactly the down time we needed before pushing North. They also took the time to introduce us to Tucson and do some sightseeing. Andrew and Larry went and played pickle ball and saw other friends from Mexico while Mary and I hiked some trails in the neighbourhood. These two friends help me feel better about the friendships we build as we travel. Sometimes it can be hard to really connect with people and then leave them so quickly. But with Larry and Mary it’s like we never left and with the luxury of the internet we can continually raz them about the Yankees and Red Sox series.
Mary armed us with full bellies and a couple of goodies for the road and we were off. We were headed to Phoenix where we would take a couple of days to check out the city and enjoy the surrounding areas. The cycling was nice and easy and the roads in good shape. In spite of a flat tire we were in good spirits and really enjoying our new tent.
The aerial view of our rides: