Tag: bicycle touring

2018 Luna Lakes I Day 3

Posted on August 1, 2018August 19, 2018 by Rich

All photos courtesy of Isam This is it! The other two days of this tour are splendid in their own right, but today’s route is the best, well, on paper anyway. Still, you never know what you’re going to get on tour. Isam rose at 5:30AM to fix breakfast. Coffee, Spam, onions, red and green peppers. Delicious! How lucky are we? No messing around this morning. Two and a half hours of steady climbing (and OK a few breathers) from 5700’ to nearly 8000’ . The route doesn’t climb one particular mountain, but rather up the eastern side of a

2018 Luna Lakes I Day 2

Posted on July 31, 2018August 19, 2018 by Rich

All photos courtesy of Isam Today’s route promises an easier day, but that’s not always the case on a bike tour. It started with coffee and breakfast from the Largo Café. The server there said she even remembered me from last year – says she never forgets a face. Quick stop at the Country Store. We had sandwiches and plenty of leftover nibbles from yesterday so only picked up a Gatorade. South down NM32. It was then I discovered I’d been bitten last night, almost certainly by bed bugs. Six or seven bites down the torso, which itched a lot

2018 Luna Lakes I Day 1

Posted on July 30, 2018August 19, 2018 by Rich

All photos courtesy of Isam Up early. I grabbed some coffee in the lobby and got permission from the motel proprietor to leave my car for a couple days. When I returned I found Isam had discovered his cycling shoes had somehow not made the trip. Hmmm, what to do. I considered going to get the shoes from home, and sliding the whole trip back one day, but this would be easier accomplished with a phone (mine is in for repairs). A “bike shop” exists in Springerville, but all photos of the store show them to be skiing-specific. The closest

2018 Luna Lakes I Pre-Ride

Posted on July 29, 2018October 16, 2018 by Rich

Though neither of us is really conditioned for it, Isam and I quickly put this tour together. Since he’s in town, and Phil had generously loaned us his Surly LHT for Isam to use, it seemed like a perfect opportunity. Isam and I drove up the long way out US60 through Superior and Miami. We soon got a strange message on the car GPS that asked us if we wanted to re-route due to traffic conditions. Out here? Hoping for further explanation, we pushed yes. The re-route was a 7 hour detour around Show Low that actually took us up

Saguaro Lake

Posted on July 25, 2018August 5, 2018 by Rich

So little riding this year means that today’s modest ride gets a blog entry. Ah well. Isam and I took off around 6:30 this morning up Bush Highway. Already 90F – gonna be a hot one. But oh so beautiful overlooking the Salt River coming down King Kong. It was great to see so much regrowth of foliage after the big ‘Cactus’ fire in the salt cedars last year. North through one of my favorite sections, the rollers past Usery Moutain Road. We stopped at the Pebble Beach rec area to splash water on our heads and generally look around,

Mormon Lake Loop

Posted on July 15, 2018August 5, 2018 by Rich

Wow, a first decent ride of the year today! Phil, Isam and I got up early and headed north to Flagstaff to escape the heat. We commented that never had we been so physically ill-prepared for a ride. Isam is a regular runner, but rides bicycles only rarely around town. I’ve ridden maybe 100 miles the past 9 months. And Phil says he hasn’t been on the saddle since our Northern Rockies trip last August. Breakfast at IHOP, then off down S Lake Mary Road. We’d decided to do a repeat of last year’s training ride around Mormon Lake (the

Northern Rockies Tour – Summing Up

Posted on August 18, 2017June 22, 2018 by Rich

How does one sum up this Northern Rockies tour? Difficult, breathtaking (in more ways than one), stunning, magnificent. Words fail. The true highlights for me: Logan Pass, Sunwampta Pass and Columbia Icefields, Bow Lake, Lake Louise, riding through fires, the moose(!). I truly LOVED every bit of the camping – 12 nights in a tent at great campsites. My tent is now rolled up in my garage wondering why it’s not being used. The bike and gear really served me great. Each tour I think I realize this more. For the future, I need a new camp pillow (or maybe

NR15: ACA Headquarters, Missoula MT

Posted on August 17, 2017June 8, 2018 by Rich

I slowly wake this morning, fully up around 6:30AM. It’s just too nice laying there in my tent. Salmon Lake S.P. is one great stopover for cylists – don’t miss it. We make our way south 7 miles to the nearest restaurant. Cold this morning, but not as bad as the previous 2 days. Still, the heavy gloves stay on for most of the spin. Unfortunately, the Stoney’s Lounge restaurant does not open until noon, so we must resort to the adjacent c-store for coffee and stale nibbles. We’ve run into a fair number of closed businessses this tour so

NR14: Salmon Lake S. P.

Posted on August 16, 2017June 8, 2018 by Rich

Cold this morning! My lousy tent position created a slanted and lumpy floor last night. I kept ending up in a side corner and woke up very early, still yawning. It surprised me to find Phil and Jack up and packing at 6:30AM. Alas, we find the nearby Swan Lake Cafe closed and for sale. There is a general store slated to open at 8AM, but Jack and Phil don’t want to wait for it. A Starbucks doubleshot works out OK for my breakfast, and while I fiddle with it Jack and Phil take off. They seem impatient this morning

NR13: NW Montana

Posted on August 15, 2017June 8, 2018 by Rich

Wow – sure is cold this morning. Might even be pushing into the 30s! I’d hoped we were all done with that. The condensation on my tent walls turns my hands into frozen blocks rolling it up. Around 7AM we roll out to a nearby general store. The wind chill on our hands made it all the more wicked. In chatting with the proprietor, we applaud the great bike lane in this section of US2, and he indicates that area businesses have ponied up the money for it over many years. Jack and I have been discussing today’s route. Our