On the Home Front (July 24, 2013)

Having completed the Pacific Coast ride around July 1 and planning on leaving for the "Minneapolis to Maine" ride on July 30, I have had a month of enjoying Arizona in the summer.

Tucson has been wonderful ... hot, but wonderful.  As I mentioned in my previous post, Ruth and Henry Jacobson generously allowed me to stay in their guest house.  The accommodations could not be more enjoyable and comfortable.  I have done my best to keep the water in the pool moving so that the automatic cleaning device is working properly ... not easy, but someone needs to step up and take on this job.

Spending time with friends has been great.  I have mentioned in the past the desire to see familiar faces and familiar places while out touring.  This month-long break from touring has satisfied this desire to the fullest extent.  I have also had the opportunity to do some of my usual volunteering with the food bank and Living Streets Alliance.  Good stuff, this volunteering.

In addition to enjoying Tucson, I took a week to drive north to Cornville (just south of Sedona ... see adjacent photo) and Payson to visit my brothers and sister-in-law.  Following the earlier summer theme of rain ... it rained quite a bit up north.  Of particular joy to me was sitting inside a car while traveling in the rain, as opposed to sitting on a wee bike saddle and experiencing the rain in an "up close and personal" way.  Went for a hike with Rachel and Bob ... got that "up close and personal" experience with rain at Walnut Canyon ... while ascending the 5,000,000 steps (or so it seemed) returning to the visitor center.  Beautiful area, even given the cold and wet.

Spent a couple days with my oldest brother, Dick (the Elder).  Very enjoyable time lounging around his house and the Payson airport.  Dick recently bought into a partnership on a Piper Colt airplane, so we went for an hour and a half flight north of Payson.  My passion is bike touring; flying is Dick's passion.  I could not be happier for him.

So, with today being July 24 and the flight to Minneapolis being on July 30, I am getting my stuff organized for the coming ride.  Took my bike to the Amtrak Station today with the hopes that it will be in Minneapolis come next Wednesday.  They have not failed me yet, so I have great faith in them (kinda).

Looking forward to meeting up with Kim in Minneapolis and heading east.  Life is good ... both here in Tucson and on the road.  I am a lucky man.

Home Again (July 3, 2013)

Phase one of this summer's bike treking has come to an end.

Riding the Pacific Coast from Portland, OR to San Luis Obispo, CA for the second time in two years offered up a wide variety of emotions.  While it is true that the mystic of traveling unknown roads (to me) was missing, and therefore some of the magic of long-distance bike touring (for me) was missing ... overall, the month-long ride proved to be satisfying.

One aspect that I enjoyed was becoming aware of how various cities are offering amenities for the bike-riding public.  Of course Portland makes it very easy for cyclist to travel around town (bike routes and easy access to mass-transit options), I was pleasantly surprised with what other areas provide.

The San Francisco area (both the City of S.F. and Marin County) make it quite easy to get around on a bike.  Easily followed bike routes are well signed, and bike maps are easily read.  I do have a bit of a problem with Marin County charging $15 for a map, but the $3 S.F. map was well worth the money.  Lots of bike racks and bike lanes make it feel as though the city/county agencies care about cyclist.

The bike boulevard photo above was taken in San Luis Obispo ... the City makes it clear that these boulevards are meant to be for cyclist, not cars, by installing barriers at each intersection which requires cars to turn off of the boulevard.

Anyway, the ride was enjoyable, even if sometimes I felt down due to weather or other factors.  Of course the overnight train ride did not disappoint me in that I knew beforehand that sleeping in a coach seat is next to impossible and extremely uncomfortable.  Amtrak met my expectations, however it was the easiest means of returning to Tucson ... and I am happy to say that baggage and bike (and me) made it to Tucson all at the same time.

So, I am back in Tucson just in time for the monsoon season.  Ruth and Henry Jacobson are most generously allowing me to stay in their guest house while they are in British Columbia.  On July 30, I  will be flying to Minneapolis to begin a two-month ride across to Maine ... and hopefully see the leaves change in New England.  Meanwhile, I am doing some of the usual volunteering at the Food Bank and with Living Streets Alliance ... and am enjoying being back home for awhile.

Oh, one other comment regarding other cities and cycling ... as the adjacent photo shows, the "rough" quality of road surfaces is not something on which Tucson has cornered the market.