Category: J&P Tucson Tour

J&P Tuscon Tour 2013 – Day 1

Posted on February 15, 2013February 25, 2013 by Rich

I certainly opened up 2013 with a whimper. Twenty days of my January were spent lounging in my bed, fighting what turned out to be two strains of the flu. Makes me think twice about not getting a flu shot! The related fatigue lingered over into February. Jesse signed up for the J&P Tucson ride pretty early, and a few of the Team RA guys were going along for segments too (Frank, Gary, and Roger). Wednesday the 13th I pedaled down to my dentist’s office for a checkup, then stretched it out into a 30 mile jaunt running errands around

J&P 11: Casa Grande to Mesa

Posted on February 21, 2011March 4, 2015 by Rich

Up at 7. My legs, sore from the previous two days work, certainly felt better after a night’s sleep. Continental breakfast in the lobby: cheese blintz, ham, hash browns, coffee, water. At 8AM Mary Ellen called and I soon met up with her at the Super 8. On the way I ran into Jesse leaving Legacy Suites. Jesse commented that the Legacy Suites was so basic they didn’t even offer a drinking cup in the room. At the Super 8, we messed around taking pictures, and Jules showed up around 8:10AM. Clear blue skies this morning and cold, and SUCH

J&P 11: Tucson to Casa Grande

Posted on February 20, 2011March 4, 2015 by Rich

Waffle House at 7AM. Jesse was already there with raisin toast, coffee, and orange juice. I wasn’t too hungry and so ordered the same thing. Unfortunately, Jesse had been battling a chest cold since day one, and this morning it was definitely worse. Various group gatherings in front of Motel 6, and finally we hit the road by 8:15AM or so. Today is traditionally the easiest riding day on clockwise years, a long gradual downhill into Casa Grande, but I could feel the northwest breezes into our faces right away. The winds shifted slowly to the west, and I took

J&P 11: Florence to Tucson

Posted on February 19, 2011March 4, 2015 by Rich

I slept pretty well, despite the steady flow of tar and nicotine. At 6:30AM I opened up my door for some fresh air, and waited until 7AM to meet Jesse. We rolled out to catch an electric sunrise over the state prison and then made a few cruises through Old Town Florence, which looks sort of like an unimproved Tombstone. We pedaled over to the Holiday Inn where there was a Burger King and, I was hoping, other choices, but found none. We returned down the main drag to Old Pueblo, already open for breakfast. I had a pancake sandwich

J&P 11: Mesa to Florence

Posted on February 18, 2011March 4, 2015 by Rich

Out of the house about 9:30AM. I got about 3 miles from home before realizing that I’d forgotten my Artie, the (soon-to-be-a-collector’s-item) mascot of the J&P rides. Worth a 6 mile detour to go get it? Nah. I didn’t want the group to be waiting on me. South down Lindsay, then east on Ray to Higley, my rendezvous point. The bike was rolling well and I was motoring, around 18 mph, although I think a tiny tailwind was helping out. At the intersection, I waited about 25 minutes, until 11:10AM, and finally gave Jesse’s phone a call, He picked up

J&P 11: Preface

Posted on February 17, 2011March 14, 2011 by Rich

This being my third J&P Tucson Tour in a row, I was already pretty good at getting ready for it. I decided to take my Surly touring bike with loaded panniers. This wasn’t necessary, since the tour offers to tote everyone’s bags in a van, but I really wanted to begin conditioning for this summer’s long multi-day riding. Pulled out my list from last year, piled everything in one place, and quickly realized that trying to fill 4 panniers with such a small load was silly. I ended up just using two rear panniers, and even they had plenty of

J&P 10: Florence to Mesa

Posted on February 15, 2010December 4, 2014 by Rich

Phil was again up before me, no surprise. This Holiday Inn had a much more decent continental breakfast. I sat with Jan and Annette at first, and when they finished I joined into a nice conversation with Geni. Randy was scheduled to drive the RV for the first segment, and so he stationed himself in the parking lot collecting riders’ bags. Sally, Phil, me, Darlene, Tom, and one other rider (guy with grey curly hair) rode though Florence, and stopped at the Blue Mist to see what was happening. Tom decided to wait for Paul, and suggested we take off

J&P 10: Tucson to Florence

Posted on February 14, 2010December 4, 2014 by Rich

I awoke around 6am, but rolled over and dozed off again, especially when I saw that Phil had decided to do the same. About 6:45am I decided to get moving, and just about then a key went into our lock and the door opened. Only then did I realize that “Phil” was actually a pile of pillows on his bed, and that the real Phil had been up for quite a while getting coffee. Phil left again, and I eventually got dressed and headed out across the cold parking lot, still well before sunrise. We had debated last night on

J&P 10: Casa Grande to Tucson

Posted on February 13, 2010December 4, 2014 by Rich

Breakfast was included with the room at the Holiday Inn, so Phil was up by 6:15am. A nice looking buffet table turned out to be meagerly supplied, and the breakfast area was quite understaffed. The eggs and pancakes were passable, the bacon not so. Other riders slowly drifted in and scrounged up their morning fare as well. Just about ready to go, Phil stowed his bags in the RV. We generally congregated for a while out front, just socializing and seeing what other riders were doing. Pretty soon there were 7 or 8 cyclists all ready to go at the

J&P 10: Mesa to Casa Grande

Posted on February 12, 2010December 4, 2014 by Rich

Took off about 9:15am in order to meet the tour group at the Starbucks at Dobson and Warner Rds. by 10:45am. The bike handled quite well. I could feel the extra weight, especially in terms of slow starts, but not as bad as last year. I left the house no less than 3 times, each time remembering something else, like bringing the garage door opener with me, or taking a daily vitamin. Heading south down Lindsay Rd., I was increasingly bothered by a nice creak every time I pushed on the right pedal. I must have missed that with the