or
Boy Could I Ever Use a Drink of Water
~90 Miles
Part of what makes this ride so cool is that it's all uphill on the way there and all downhill on the way back.
Check out the elevation profile. Unfortunately, I didn't turn the Garmin on until we were several miles into the trip
Tom on the Long Haul Trucker, Karen on the Kogswell, and Al on the Atlantisssssss.
Al seems to be contemplating whether this is such a great idea or not. :-)
Heading out. Al is saying "Clear Left"
Picture courtesy of Adam.
Now we're heading Southwest out of town and making our way over to Old Nogales Highway.
After about 20 miles of riding, we stop off at the Sahuarita Country Store,
known for its outstanding beef jerky
In this picture, we've turned onto Continental Road and have started the steeper climb up to Madera.
Those bikes look tired!
Shortly after the picture above was taken, I must have fallen unconscious,
because the rest of that evening is kind of hazy...something about a bunch of cows in the road, no potable water in the park,
and Tom riding effortlessly as if we weren't even going uphill.
The next morning was absolutely glorious, as shown by this view of the canyon.
Al's cool tent made it through the night
The bikes look well-rested
We headed out at around 7:00 a.m. to enjoy a delicious breakast at the diner down the street.
We were especially looking forward to a nice cold glass of water, but alas, the diner was closed.
Luckily, "Al the Wrench" used a trick or two from his mafia days to procure us a drink to hold us over
until we made it to Green Valley for a tasty bite at Safeway. Afterwards we enjoyed our easy ride back to Tucson!