Commuting and Riding in Tucson
(Originally posted to tal-rides on July 25, 2007)
This past week we (wife Kathy and I) were in Tucson visiting daughter Laurel's family: hubby Mike, daughter Daphne, and another girl WELL on the way. (They all say "hi" to you who know them.) They live in the old barrio just south of downtown. Mike bought 1/2 block there when they were practically giving it away as urban renewal and built some adobe residences where they now call home. The area is well on the way to gentrification, meaning good cafes, pubs, and bistros within walking distance, but retains a lot of the barrio flavor. It's a very interesting area to visit.
Commuting
Mike has a business (Geosystems Analysis, Inc) located about 5 miles away, and he commutes by bike. I rode with him a couple of times. He hops on the Santa Cruz River Bikeway a few blocks from home, rides north along the river all the way to his offices, where he can exit the bikeway, cross a parking lot, and he's there. The only streets he has to share with motorized vehicles are the 3-4 blocks from home to the bikeway. It is as if our St Marks trail took you from, say, a residence in Midtown to a business near the airport, something like that.
On both of these trips, I saw a lot of wildlife, including each time a Road Runner. I even passed the RR once. This has to be harder than passing a Harley, right?
This is an unbelievable commute. Mike sometimes takes Daphne to school, too, which means a few more blocks on city streets. School was out so I didn't get to lurk along on that part, but I did ride those streets and they are quite calm. Daphne rides in a seat he mounts on the rear rack of the bike, or sometimes in a Burley trailer.
Laurel works out of home and bike commutes to the YMCA (workouts, including swimming) and some shopping. She also takes Daphne to the Y for a swim, by bike.
The Guest Bike
They now have a guest bike in my size. I have had one for a while that Mike rides when in TLH, so they knew that a spare bike for him would also work for me. (xcpt the gears - I mentioned something about liking low gears for the hills, they said "oh, it has very low gears, all you should need" - 39x23 was the lowest. Oh well. I'll treat the guest bike to a compact crank on the next trip.)
But what a luxury to have a guest bike when you visit. I recommend this practice to everyone. It's a great excuse to get yourself another bike and keep the current one for guests. It's great for you, great for guests, great for the bike shop, all around greatness. Be a good host: buy more bikes!
Other Rides
There are some excellent rides from downtown Tucson. Even leaving from city center, it is not hard at all to get out quickly. (I can't figure out how this is so. Tucson is considerably larger in population than TLH, but it seems much more comfortable to get to good riding from downtown.)
My favorite is the loop that goes through Tucson Mountain Park and Old Tucson and returns by climbing Gates Pass (about like Wolf Pen Gap, only desert). [That was REAL fun on the 39x23.] The main loop is about 30 miles, plus 10 if you add the extension through Saguaro National Park and the Arizona Desert Museum. Quiet roads, interesting hilly terrain, and amazing desert scenery. You can make a day of it by stopping at the Desert Museum. (Do the all day trip in spring, fall, or winter.)
Summer riding starts early in AZ. They don't do daylight savings time, so it is light at 5:00am, and of course HOT by 10:00am. Best rides are 5:00 - 8:00am. But that works for us - just stay on Tallahassee time, and the ride is 8:00am - 11:00am, as far as your sleep cycle can tell.
Cisterns
Laurel just had two cisterns installed that catch the roof runoff for use as water for the yard and possibly an outdoor shower. This makes a lot of sense in AZ, which is coming out of its unusually wet last few decades. At first I didn't get it. Water is water. But the point (she says) is that watering plants using municipal water means using ground water (i.e., well water from the aquifer) for a surface water job. The ground water that goes down the sewer is recycled by pumping back to the aquifer after treatment, but if you pour it on the ground it is essentially transferred to the surface system. Rainwater on the other hand is surface water, so pouring it on the ground is keeping it in the same system. I think I got this right.
[Laurel's comment, added: Well, not quite. The main point of harvesting rain water is to prevent its loss through evaporation (and mosquito breeding), which is the fate of much storm runoff in Tucson. This leads to the secondary purpose which is to minimize the mining (and associated costs) of the underground water on which we depend for basic living. The third perk is that plants love rain – not chlorinated, comparatively salty groundwater.
Uncaptured stormwater runs off into the Santa Cruz Riverbed (as you witnessed) or other washes where it then either infiltrates into the groundwater system or evaporates. Infiltration is the only way that our aquifer gets replenished, but by capturing potentially evaporated water, we effectively create a new source.]
Visiting Christine & Marty
An old friend of Laurel's is back in Tucson as President of Genuine Innovations, makers of various CO2 inflation systems. I met Marty several years ago, back when he was supporting his competitive cycling doing the product rep thing. Now settled, he and wife Christine remain gifted and dedicated athletes, on top of their bigger life responsibilities.
We all went to their home and met the 3 boys, the youngest being less than a week old. The middle boy is Daphne's age, and they take swim class together. It was a nice visit, their boys are boys, fer sure. Looks like they'll have a pro golfer, an NFL linebacker, and maybe a cyclist, although the 5-day-old is a little young to evaluate. I was duly impressed with the new one, of course, of course.
I was also impressed with the bike shop Marty has set up, taking the space where a more typical AZ family would keep the second car. They have about 7 bikes, down from 17 they brought in when they moved from California to Genuine Innovations. The shop has good working space, pro-level tools, and the top-line Park work stand, the one with the massive metal plate base. Marty has mounted this onto a low wooden frame on low-profile castors, so he can easily move the stand to the center of the shop for work but roll it out of the way otherwise. Good idea, and it works. The shop is also well organized, neat, and clean, so projects start right up.
Marty commutes every day from his home to work at the GI HQ near the Tucson airport - a good 7-8 miles on city roads. His commuter is a Surly Cross Check with 700-32 tires. We agreed that having off-road-capable tires on a commuter is an under-rated safety feature, allowing you to concentrate on traffic, not so much on minor road hazards, and also escape more easily. Cyclocross bikes are excellent for commuting.
Wile E Biker Recommends
If you get a chance, visit Tucson and do some biking. Even pretending to commute is fun. And where else can you ride a good gap and see a road runner the same day?
Monday, December 3, 2007
Commuting Chronicles 2
Blue Collar Cyclists
(Originally posted Spring 2007 to tal-rides)
In my first post last November, I described how my commute to Panama City from Tallahassee works, and also told a scary story about strange noises and a very angry (if not rabid) raccoon. Here is post 2:
First, a review of my commute (skip this if you've read CC1)
1. From my home on Lake Shore Drive, I cycle to the FSU campus where a commuter van departs about 3:15pm for Panama City. This van is for faculty who teach in PC, unfortunately not for students. The van operators allow me to put my bike on the van, in the back, behind all the seats.
2. The van lets us all out at the FSU campus in Panama City. There I wheel to my office and prepare for teaching a night class, 5:00 - 7:30pm Central time.
3. After class and the usual talking with students and other things, I saddle up for my other "home". This ride takes me over the Hathaway bridge to Panama City Beach and west to Beckrich Rd. My home-away-from-home is near Beckrich and Hutchison. This part of the ride is at night.
Total on bike: about 12 miles (5 in TLH and 7 in PC).
Three days later, I reverse everything, with the night leg the return trip from FSU back to Lake Shore.
Night Riders
This has been a very good experience. Of course, I feel very, very "hip" by managing to commute 112 miles without using a personal powered vehicle. But more, it is FUN. There is no better word. Riding in an urban setting is exciting (sometimes more than exciting), and it makes me feel powerful inside myself to know I have the skills and toughness to survive without a fear meltdown. I also meet interesting other wildlife. (Ref the raccoon story.)
Particularly interesting is how many people are out and about on bicycles, at night. I have talked to a few, and my overall impression is that these are folks who did not take up cycling because they fell in love with it in a spin class. These are DUIers and people who have to choose between a car and a roof over their head (and over their family's heads).
But another impression I have is that they have come to enjoy using the bike, for many of the reasons I enjoy it. The only negative I have had expressed is that their "friends" (meaning, I think, people they work with) tease them about using a bike - "Hey Garcia, where's your truck?"
(Originally posted Spring 2007 to tal-rides)
In my first post last November, I described how my commute to Panama City from Tallahassee works, and also told a scary story about strange noises and a very angry (if not rabid) raccoon. Here is post 2:
First, a review of my commute (skip this if you've read CC1)
1. From my home on Lake Shore Drive, I cycle to the FSU campus where a commuter van departs about 3:15pm for Panama City. This van is for faculty who teach in PC, unfortunately not for students. The van operators allow me to put my bike on the van, in the back, behind all the seats.
2. The van lets us all out at the FSU campus in Panama City. There I wheel to my office and prepare for teaching a night class, 5:00 - 7:30pm Central time.
3. After class and the usual talking with students and other things, I saddle up for my other "home". This ride takes me over the Hathaway bridge to Panama City Beach and west to Beckrich Rd. My home-away-from-home is near Beckrich and Hutchison. This part of the ride is at night.
Total on bike: about 12 miles (5 in TLH and 7 in PC).
Three days later, I reverse everything, with the night leg the return trip from FSU back to Lake Shore.
Night Riders
This has been a very good experience. Of course, I feel very, very "hip" by managing to commute 112 miles without using a personal powered vehicle. But more, it is FUN. There is no better word. Riding in an urban setting is exciting (sometimes more than exciting), and it makes me feel powerful inside myself to know I have the skills and toughness to survive without a fear meltdown. I also meet interesting other wildlife. (Ref the raccoon story.)
Particularly interesting is how many people are out and about on bicycles, at night. I have talked to a few, and my overall impression is that these are folks who did not take up cycling because they fell in love with it in a spin class. These are DUIers and people who have to choose between a car and a roof over their head (and over their family's heads).
But another impression I have is that they have come to enjoy using the bike, for many of the reasons I enjoy it. The only negative I have had expressed is that their "friends" (meaning, I think, people they work with) tease them about using a bike - "Hey Garcia, where's your truck?"
Commuting Chronicles 1
Halloween Commute
(Originally posted to "tal-rides" on November 3, 2006)
I have been doing an unusual commute this year, and looking for a good reason to tell about it. It happened Oct 31, 2006 - yes, on Halloween. It was scary, and I'm not making it up. But first, I get to bore you with the spec sheet on my commute.
I have a job teaching for FSU at the campus in Panama City, FL. Having been here in Tallahassee a long time, and after checking out the life style we'd be changing over to in PC, we decided to keep the homestead here on Lake Shore Drive and get a small second home in PC for me to use during the week. It seemed like a plus that kids, grandkids, etc, would have a place to stay if they wanted a weekend at the beach.
FSU runs a van service, from main campus in TLH to branch campus in PC. This supports mainly the faculty who teach an occasional class in PC on top of their usual classes here in TLH. But it also works for me. I can catch the van at 3:15pm on Mon or Tue and take it back to TLH on Thu evening. Once I got a bike set up with lights and a way to tote a few things, here is the commute:
On Mon or Tue: Depart Lake Shore on the bike about 2:45pm, arrive main campus about 3:10. The van operators let me put the bike on the van (behind all the passenger seats), so I load up and depart about 3:15. We arrive in PC about 4:30pm central time. I unload the bike, roll to my office, get ready for class at 5:00. (A plus is that I can get work done on the van.) After class and dealing with related matters, usually about 9:30pm central, I get my stuff on the bike and head out to our mini-home in Panama City Beach, near the intersection of Beckrich and Hutchison (aka Middle Beach Road). This part of the commute takes me over the Hathaway Bridge and thence (like a roach, scurrying but surviving among the dominant critters) through a succession of sidewalks (on 4-lanes with a curb but no shoulder) and poorly lit back streets to "home". Total miles: about 12 on the bike, 100 in the van. The 7 miles in PC are at night.
Then this is reversed on Thu or Fri: cycle to the FSU/PC campus, teach, then take the van back to FSU/TLH, then the bike home to Lake Shore. This time, the ride through the pleasant and relatively traffic-free back streets of Frenchtown are at night. Even the last part, on N Monroe and Lake Shore, work fine. I think that I am actually more visible, hence safer, at night than during the day.
The most important safety device, for me, is my mirror. I'd give up the rest, in this order, before the mirror: helmet, front light, tail light.
OK, if you made it this far through the boring specs of my commute, here's a story. True story.
I did this commute from Tallahassee to Panama City on Oct 31. The night part of the trip takes me along one particularly lonely stretch of urban/blight that is common in beach towns, places where the old dwellings of trailers are becoming abandoned but the properties haven't yet made it to condo status. There is also a large wooded tract on one side of this street. No street lights here. OK, I was peddling along, not too fast because of the lighting, when I heard a truly chilling scream from the woods. I could not tell whether it was human or other animal, but it was definitely not artificial. After a few seconds of alarm, I remembered it was Halloween and decided it must be kids making scary noises. (They were doing a very good job.)
This theory began to look bad almost immediately, because the screaming was moving - toward me, in the woods, at a pace I could not really believe would be kids. OK, back to being alarmed. Just then "it" emerged from the woods about 10 feet behind me. It was a large (I guess about 150 lbs) raccoon. It was not happy. And it seemed to think I was the reason for its unhappiness.
I had to go into full avoidance mode. I would MUCH rather be overtaken by a dog than this thing. I envisioned it hanging to my ankle all the way home, and maybe from there to the emergency room.
It's amazing how fast a 66 year old with a weight problem can accelerate under these circumstances.
(Originally posted to "tal-rides" on November 3, 2006)
I have been doing an unusual commute this year, and looking for a good reason to tell about it. It happened Oct 31, 2006 - yes, on Halloween. It was scary, and I'm not making it up. But first, I get to bore you with the spec sheet on my commute.
I have a job teaching for FSU at the campus in Panama City, FL. Having been here in Tallahassee a long time, and after checking out the life style we'd be changing over to in PC, we decided to keep the homestead here on Lake Shore Drive and get a small second home in PC for me to use during the week. It seemed like a plus that kids, grandkids, etc, would have a place to stay if they wanted a weekend at the beach.
FSU runs a van service, from main campus in TLH to branch campus in PC. This supports mainly the faculty who teach an occasional class in PC on top of their usual classes here in TLH. But it also works for me. I can catch the van at 3:15pm on Mon or Tue and take it back to TLH on Thu evening. Once I got a bike set up with lights and a way to tote a few things, here is the commute:
On Mon or Tue: Depart Lake Shore on the bike about 2:45pm, arrive main campus about 3:10. The van operators let me put the bike on the van (behind all the passenger seats), so I load up and depart about 3:15. We arrive in PC about 4:30pm central time. I unload the bike, roll to my office, get ready for class at 5:00. (A plus is that I can get work done on the van.) After class and dealing with related matters, usually about 9:30pm central, I get my stuff on the bike and head out to our mini-home in Panama City Beach, near the intersection of Beckrich and Hutchison (aka Middle Beach Road). This part of the commute takes me over the Hathaway Bridge and thence (like a roach, scurrying but surviving among the dominant critters) through a succession of sidewalks (on 4-lanes with a curb but no shoulder) and poorly lit back streets to "home". Total miles: about 12 on the bike, 100 in the van. The 7 miles in PC are at night.
Then this is reversed on Thu or Fri: cycle to the FSU/PC campus, teach, then take the van back to FSU/TLH, then the bike home to Lake Shore. This time, the ride through the pleasant and relatively traffic-free back streets of Frenchtown are at night. Even the last part, on N Monroe and Lake Shore, work fine. I think that I am actually more visible, hence safer, at night than during the day.
The most important safety device, for me, is my mirror. I'd give up the rest, in this order, before the mirror: helmet, front light, tail light.
OK, if you made it this far through the boring specs of my commute, here's a story. True story.
I did this commute from Tallahassee to Panama City on Oct 31. The night part of the trip takes me along one particularly lonely stretch of urban/blight that is common in beach towns, places where the old dwellings of trailers are becoming abandoned but the properties haven't yet made it to condo status. There is also a large wooded tract on one side of this street. No street lights here. OK, I was peddling along, not too fast because of the lighting, when I heard a truly chilling scream from the woods. I could not tell whether it was human or other animal, but it was definitely not artificial. After a few seconds of alarm, I remembered it was Halloween and decided it must be kids making scary noises. (They were doing a very good job.)
This theory began to look bad almost immediately, because the screaming was moving - toward me, in the woods, at a pace I could not really believe would be kids. OK, back to being alarmed. Just then "it" emerged from the woods about 10 feet behind me. It was a large (I guess about 150 lbs) raccoon. It was not happy. And it seemed to think I was the reason for its unhappiness.
I had to go into full avoidance mode. I would MUCH rather be overtaken by a dog than this thing. I envisioned it hanging to my ankle all the way home, and maybe from there to the emergency room.
It's amazing how fast a 66 year old with a weight problem can accelerate under these circumstances.
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