Two Wheel Journal

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

Product Review: Routearrows

Posted on February 3, 2011February 25, 2011 by Rich

Last November, Gary introduced a product to me called Routearrows (find a complete description at routearrows.com). We are always seeking new and better ways to mark the course for PMBC’s Casa Grande Century (CG100) ride. Routearrows are basically colorful shaped paper arrows with a contact adhesive on the back (photos are below). They are potentially attractive in that they’re quite visible to cyclists but not distracting to motorists, and appear fast and easy to apply. The routearrows.com website touts that removal is unnecessary because they “disintegrate from traffic wear and leave no trace.” The site further states that “If they

2010 Riding Year In Review

Posted on January 14, 2011January 14, 2013 by Rich

Jack recently dubbed me “Geek-1,” and I’ve got some stats to prove it. Riding stats aren’t very important, but are fun and provide a yardstick, and I’ve been keeping them since 2004. Here is, statistically, how my 2010 cycling year measured up: Total distance: 5,134 miles – a personal record by 1,311 miles (next best year 2008 at 3,823 miles). Total number of rides: 123 – a personal record by 11 rides (next best year 2008 at 112 rides). This stat is not particularly meaningful when you consider that it includes short errands. Average distance per ride: 41.7 miles/ride –

Respect

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Rich

I recently visited Granada Spain. Our family had just hailed a taxi to the train station. As we rolled along city streets, I noticed a girl on a mountain bike turn into our lane up ahead. With less than 3 inches of shoulder, it was by necessity that she took the lane for a few hundred yards. I admired her grit if not her selection of roads. It wasn’t more than 5C outside and morning traffic was peppy. Granada city roads are uniformly poor for cycling and they’re hilly, too. I imagined this cyclist had resolved to continue her cycling

Back to Tucson: Near Century

Posted on December 7, 2010December 31, 2010 by Rich

Hard to believe it, but for the second time in four nights, my room was stiflingly hot. The heater was not on, and so once again it was coming from somewhere else, an adjacent room maybe. At one point, I turned the thermostat to COLD and turned the switch to ON, but got a continual blast of even more heat. Apparently the building had only the heat activated at the moment – and this room lacked a window air conditioner. I lay on my bed unable to sleep for quite a while, and considered calling the desk for maintenance or

Sierra Vista AZ: Through Palominas

Posted on December 6, 2010December 14, 2010 by Rich

Up at 5AM, then just dozing with MSNBC’s Morning Joe on the TV. I figured I’d better address the saddle sores acutely, and so washed well, applied a bunch of antibiotic cream, and then 2 big square padded bandages. On top of all that an extra generous dose of Chamois butter. Better to nip this in the bud (or butt). At 8AM, Jesse and I met up and took another roll through Douglas. This time we tried to find a café from the Google map, but unfortunately found only a local Iglesia de Luz del Mundo at 12th and A