Tag arizona

Warm Up Your Bike on Tucson’s Loop

Reg Spittle Leave a comment

Want to escape the cold and discover one of the nation’s hot spots for biking? Sue and I like Tucson, Arizona for January temperatures in the 60s and 70s and for the area’s hiking and biking trails. We sampled The Loop, a 60-mile-plus paved bike path around the city that took us through desert cactus scenery. We bought inexpensive Trek hybrids at a great shop here; road bikes would work well on The Loop, but we plan to ride unpaved paths later this year. (We walk the mountain paths around Tucson.)

Spectacular Seguaro cactus forests climb nearby mountains that offer hundreds of miles of hiking trails, many open to bikers. I will share more of Sue’s photos on future posts.

It was tough to give up our Giant 90s-era hybrids that Sue’s parents rode around Europe and the USA. But their weight and the pull of new technology finally drew us to updated bikes. We donated the Giants to Bicas, a Tucson warehouse and workshop that connects bikes to people in need. Mom and Dad would approve, I am sure.

Sedona Trails Rise Above the Rest

Reg Spittle Leave a comment

Sedona, Arizona has once again shown its stuff as one of the world’s hiking treasures. There are enough trails and variety to keep you busy for weeks. During our fifth visit, we returned to the Hiline, our favorite path for the panoramic views and challenging terrain.

We started from the Yavapai parking lot just outside the Village of Oak Creek and we linked the Hiline to the Hermit, Templeton, and Baldwin trails to make a 7.3-mile loop around Cathedral Rock. It offers short spurts of non-technical rock-scrambling and enough elevation gain to provide the views Sue captured.

The crowds have grown during the years we have visited, but we are early risers anyway, so getting to the trailhead lots by 8:30 has almost always led us to plenty of parking spaces. Sedona has also begun a shuttle service to several trailheads.

While I am on the topic of great trails in this state, the Arizona Trail runs the length of the state for 800 miles and you can see it now on a YouTube channel hosted by favorites of ours, the Wander Women. They recently began their adventure at the Mexican border. These are no ordinary senior citizens; they have conquered the Triple Crown of the Appalachian Trial, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail. Check out their channel.

Go, Wander Women!