bps

My wife and I are coming to Tucson in a few weeks to ride. Within the next 24 hours I need to figure out which part of town would be the best to stay in. Riding straight out of our lodging is preferred, but to experience a variety of rides around Tucson, we'll undoubtedly load up our bikes and drive to other starting points. We've found three condos/homes that are available, and we're trying to decide which one would have the best location.

They are:
1) A condo right next to Ventana Canyon. It is literally one of the highest in the foothills.
2) A condo at the intersection of Campbell and River Road. (NE side of town)
3) A guest home at the top of Starr Pass.

The purpose of this trip is 7 straight days of riding. We've taken 3 months off from riding and this will be the beginning of our 2008 training season, so we want to lay some base miles down. As for major hill work, well, we're from Kansas (cough cough), so major hill work (ahem) will not be on the top of our priority list. We love rollers, but will also be going on several flat rides so we can stay in Zone 1/2 for a couple of hours.

Which location would be our best choice?

Thanks!
Bryan

Bob Ross

Northeast side of town is excellent, because it puts you in easy proximity to the base of Mount Lemmon, or an easy jaunt to Saguaro National Park, or you can head due west along the northern border of the city proper to get to the western edge of those foothills. All three choices make for an excellent day of road biking.

Oh, wait, I just re-read your post. No hills, huh? Okay, forget about Mount Lemmon! Saguaro National Park has one moderately steep hill within the loop. The west-to-the-edge-of-the-foothills route is pretty flat.

webist

If you don't really want hills, I don't think you'd like the climb getting home to the Starr Pass site. But if you are actually going to end your ride in a car, none of the locations are bad.

jkevincoffin

Hey Bryan:

I would suggest Ventana Canyon for three reasons. First it is one of the more beautiful areas in the city in and of itself. Second, it has the most options for long rolling-hill rides right out your front door. From there you can head west for miles along River Road or Sunrise, or go south east to Old Spanish Trail and take it for miles down to Saguaro National Park of Colossal Cave Mountain Park. Third, if you eventually decided to do some climbing, you're right there next to Mt. Lemmon.

Remember to prepare for the sun with sunscreen or clothing and plenty of drinking water.

foresthill

I agree that the ventana canyon option sounds like the best. The northeast side of town is a great place for road bikers. Campbell and River is north, but not east, it's at least central, tending toward the west side of town.

If you're interested in a really great group of people to ride with while you're here, check out https://cactuscycling.org/

azwhelan

I third the VC option. It gives you the best access to Old Spanish trail which is a great route or heading west along the mts.. All of the sites you listed are going to put you around varied terrain so don't expect real flat routes but no really challenging hills unless you seek them out. Have fun, great cycling town.

Bob Ross

Assuming you meant "or Colossal Cave Mountain Park"

Have they fixed the road leading to Colossal Cave in the past year? I rode from Saguaro National Park to Colossal Cave in February 2007, and while the first 2/3rds of that ride were wonderfully fast, flat, straight, & fun, the last 1/3rd suddenly turned into the roughest, most unrideable terrain I have ever cycled on without actually going off road. We swore if we ever rode that way again we'd turn around about 5 miles before getting to Colossal Cave.

Slatman

I would vote for the River / Campbell
If you are looking at the condos I am thinking of they are brand new and right on the river (dry)
since you are not looking for hills.. there is no way home to ventana canyon without climbing Kolb
road which is not steep but it is Long climb.. not the best way to end a ride.

River road has an excellent bike lane, the road is brand new, and the bike lane is the widest in town.
You can have a flat ride, add rollers, or add hills all off of the river road bike lane and make a nice loop.
You also have the river walk for an evening stroll or a more casual ride. There are also tons of restaurants on the corner of River & Campbell as well as a bike shop.