Eight years ago, my friends, I arrived in Tucson a fresh, new and naïve bicycle. My human had never ridden with PAC Tour and I had never ridden on a road. We pretty much took the same route then as we have this week, but then….oh, then…we did grind up the hills. And Mule Pass out of Bisbee? Oooo….the complaints from the human….egads…they ground my gears and torqued my chain.
Today, however, was a different story. Today, we gently spun up to the top of Mule Pass as if it was just a little hill (well…it is…it is pretty wimpy as passes go). Even Edwin’s human who doesn’t ride well in the desert spun up Tombstone Canyon to the top of Mule Pass. Amazing what 8 years of training can do.
And the descent? Ha! We headed down, topped out at 40mph and when we got pushed by the crosswinds we just took them all in stride. No freaking at all. Wheeeee…..
From Tombstone Canyon we headed down the old mule train route where the copper from the mines travelled past Tombstone and out to Kartchner Caverns where many of our group went underground to see the caves — again, while us bikes baked in the sun….sigh….
But I’d wax at length about the gorgeous day of riding, with the tailwinds and the blue skies and the cacti, but….that has been the story of the week. Never, ever have we come down her and had perfect weather where the winds chased at our backs.
Travels With Edwina 