Fifty Plus (50+) - Routes near Oro Valley, Tuscon

My wife and I are going to Tuscon in a couple of weeks to visit my sister. We are staying at the Hilton Conquistador in Oro Valley and she is in a 50+ community about 6 miles north of there. She has a couple of beater comfort bikes we could borrow although we may look for some nicer rental bikes.

Is anyone familiar with this area? Any good routes you can suggest? We are used to road bikes so would primarily look toward roads. But I notice that a huge state park (Catalina) is nearby. If there is EASY mountain biking it might be interesting to rent a couple of those. We have little experience: the wife, zero; me, one ride, one broken wrist :)

we have a bike club at sun city that rides 3 days a week on 24 to 40 mile rides. there is a slow and fast group so you should fit in regardless of your skill. we meet monday,wednesday and friday at 0900 hrs at the mall in sun city(rancho vistoso and sun city blvd. looking forward to meeting you.

The Sun City folks are a good bunch to ride with.

There is a short loop you can do in the Sun City area. Start somewhere on Vistoso Blvd; right turn onto Oracle Rd.; right turn on Tangerine Rd. Up the hill back to Sun City Vistoso Blvd. About 8 miles. Yes it's a bit hillier than the DC area. Hope the beater bikes have gears.

You can head either north (away from Tucson) or south on Oracle Rd. from El Conquistador. There is a paved shoulder to ride on in either direction.
Heading north you can make a right turn into Catalina State Park for about a 7 mile ride round trip. Yes. there is a good downhill ('bout a 1/2 mile, 6% grade) but you got to come back up that later.
Stick to riding the road as the off-road in Catalina State Park you will need a real mt. bike.
Enjoy your visit . . .
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem!

we have a bike club at sun city that rides 3 days a week on 24 to 40 mile rides. there is a slow and fast group so you should fit in regardless of your skill. we meet monday,wednesday and friday at 0900 hrs at the mall in sun city(rancho vistoso and sun city blvd. looking forward to meeting you. I just checked Google Maps and that start point is two blocks from my sister's house. Unfortunately, we arrive later on Friday and leave on Monday. But we may not be leaving until around lunch on Monday so maybe we can catch the Monday morning ride. By then we will know if my sister's bikes can hold up for 24-40 miles. I think they will be OK. I vaguely remember riding them at her former place in Steamboat Springs, Colorado a few years ago. They were some sort of modest Trek hybrid with front suspension and wide tires but were fine for a ten miler on a MUP out there.

What I should do is hook my sister up with you. She is 78 and rides fairly short distances so maybe a group ride would push her a bit. Her 80+ boyfriend was still taking senior groups out heli-skiing a couple of years ago after two hip replacements so he might be interested as well.

If it helps any, I rented a road bike from Tucson Bikes on E Sunrise-it wasn't a great bike but very functional and affordable. You could actually ride the bike from the shop back up to Oro Valley. One of the loops I did was from Ina and Oracle, north on Oracle, left on Tangerine to Silverbell, Sliverbell to Ina, left on Ina. I also did an out and back on Sunrise. I'm used to riding more rural roads but I felt comfortable using the bike lanes in that area.