Our drive down to Tucson was eventful; it had a couple snow storms, mountain passes, and a few wrong turns, saw Los Vegas and drove across the Hover Dam. But after 33 hours of driving we made it safely to are apartment in Tucson and promptly fell asleep on the floor. Once rested for a good 12 hours, everyone was excited to see Tucson from the saddle of a bike. We managed to get lost the first day of riding and didn’t make it out of the city. The city is quite big; home to about a half of a million people, plus four more at the moment.

For the next few days we explored Tucson and its country side, finding many great routes and beautiful National Parks. The weather here has been amazing to us, sunny and warm for January. We have had a few days of riding were we could wear shorts and jerseys and have no need for arm or leg warmers. It is really too bad that Saskatchewan couldn’t have weather like this in the winter. Life would be a lot easier for everyone it is was.

We haven’t climbed to the top of Mount Lemmon yet, only because the snow and ice on the
road isn’t that safe for descending on. In the next few weeks we should be able to climb to the top with no problem. There will still be snow up there because it is a ski hill but the roads should be passable. I am really looking forward to climbing to the top again. The view is amazing from the top; it is like you are in another country. Plus the descent is super fun and takes about 45 minutes to get down. The riding here is good, it’s not the best you can find in North America but combined with the weather it is by far the most cycling friendly at this time of the years for cyclist.

We have started quite a little Canadian community down here. There are people from Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Quebec and soon to be some from Ontario and BC. It’s very nice to see so many faces that you recognized when you are this far from come. We are all having a lot of fun down here and I will want to do this again next year for sure, and maybe have more people come down. Tucson will be like the second home for cyclist.



Cheers

Julia Garnet
http://juliagarnet-ontheroad.blogspot.com/