Crappymonkey

Looks amazing. Great pictures. Thanks for posting these up!

Dudelsack 

This thread is better than this month's edition of Paved.

on the path

Thanks for the post and the "tour". Great photos..

TWD

awesome thread, let me know when we are going next year

Nice looking MT kit btw

kimconyc

Yes! I totally forgot to include this in the story.

My friend described the Mt. Lemmon climb where one "starts in Mexico and ends up in Canada".

There was snow on the sides of the road when we got to the top. However, it was strangely warm enough to not even need a vest or leg/arm warmers (at least for me) while descending.

halfspeed

I'm cold by nature so I started climbing with shorts and a jersey and added arm warmers, knee warmers and a light windbreaker on the way up. We also got a late start so we were racing darkness on the way down. That made it a bit cooler.

The "bear crossing" signs were a bit disarming.

The section around Hoodoo Vista was a bit scary. It felt like riding on a thin ribbon in the sky. But really beautiful.

idc

Very enjoyable. Almost as nice as your Italian climbing adventure write-up

echappist

kimco, you probably increased the signal to noise ratio of the 41 by a whole order of magnitude. chapeau on the photos and the write up and chapeau on the rides

btw, how you liking the s&s couplers on your Hampsten?

kimconyc

The bike itself is custom geometry so it's pretty sweet.

However, the person (or gorilla) handling the baggage this time completely wrecked the case so hopefully insurance will cover the damage to the case. Sadly, the case only lasted about 6 trips (maybe 15 legs).

on the path

I have a specific purpose in resurrecting this thread. Back in 2012 when the thread began, I was absolutely captivated by the pictures posted and the story that was told. I made it a personal mission to visit Tucson for some cycling in general, and climbing Mt Lemmon in particular.

Two different times, once in late 2013 and then again for early 2014, I scheduled trips to Tucson. The first trip was cancelled due to some unfortunate circumstances that had come up. The 2014 trip was a go, but then I got called for some work which involved traveling, touring the country. I hadn’t been working when I got that call so I made the correct decision and took the job. And then things got interesting..


I’ll say right here that I am writing this story mainly for myself. If just one person enjoys the story and/or the pictures I think that would be great. I wanted to “put pen to paper” and tell the story of a personal quest, one that had me dedicated to making it to Tucson and biking up Mt. Lemmon. In no way is it my aim to supersede or obscure any earlier part of this thread. The story kimconyc told and the pictures he provided completely inspired me and I am forever grateful to him. His photos are amazing. Mine were taken with an iphone.

My tenure on the 2014 national tour involved the first 6 months of the year. There were a few breaks, but it was otherwise steady touring (I am a musician). I had packed my helmet, shoes, pedals, etc. and was able to rent a bike in a few cities. We had a 3 week layoff in April. The touring company was required to fly us home, but I took the money instead of the flight and bought a ticket to Tucson, where I had a small rental house waiting. That was an amazing trip for me. I immediately fell in love with Tucson. The 10 day stay is a story in itself, which I’ve told many times. I’ll not post it here other than to say I did a lot of riding on a rental roadie, but I did not attempt Mt. Lemmon. I knew I just didn’t have the legs. Touring 7 days a week for months at a time did a number on my cycling fitness. So, I vowed to get back to Tucson.

A lot of things got in the way of me returning to Tucson, and I won’t go into that here. The important part, and the reason for my posting this, is that this past February I finally made it back to Tucson for a 1 week stay. What follows is a brief narrative of and photos from that trip.

on the path

The first day was a Saturday. I went out for a test ride, to check out the rental bike and my legs. I rode for an hour and every thing was good.

The rental was a great bike but I wish I'd brought my own bike (another story). This is on "The Loop", an amazing network of bike paths.
Day 1 a.jpg

Day 1 b.jpg

Looking north toward the Catalinas. Mt Lemmon is waiting just beyond.
Day 1 c.jpg

on the path

Day 2, a Sunday. I decided to give it a go. The weather was good, I felt good, it was time to do it.

See any saguaro cacti down there? Neither do I. I must have made it to 4500 feet elevation.
Day 2 a.jpg

Bike is doing well so far, and so am I.
Day 2 b.jpg

on the path

This is me at Windy Point, elevation 6464 feet above sea level. The highest elevation I'd previously biked was about 3400 feet.Windy 1.JPG

on the path

I've come a long way, still not done. See the road snaking through the canyon? I came up that road not long before I took the pic.
windy 2.JPG

on the path

I met these fine folks at LeBuzz, a coffee shop/restaurant where cyclists meet before and after climbing Mt Lemmon. I rode to Windy Point with them, with a typical multi pace, or otherwise stringing out of the group. Most of them headed back down after this break. Myself, "Mark", and "Ross" continued upward.Windy Pt 3.png

on the path

Palisades Point, just over 7800 feet elevation. Not far beyond there's another 100 feet or so of elevation to be gained, but this is pretty much the summit. There are huge cookies to be had in Summerhaven, a few miles further. I declared victory and prepared to descend 22 miles non-stop.
Palisades sign.jpg

This is Mark, who accompanied me to Palisades. He's a fine Scottsman and a massively strong rider. The only reason I could stay anywhere near him was that he'd done a threshold test earlier in the day.
Me n Mark.png

on the path

Post-climb meet up at LeBuzz. I shared some coffee and excellent conversation with Mark and Ross, then pedaled 7.5 miles back to my rental. I made it! Just under 63 miles for the day. Best metric ever!!

LeBuzz.jpg

pvillemasher

I hadn't seen this thread until today when you posted, but I started from the beginning and read the first few pages. I thought, "Man, I gotta get to Tucson and ride!" I suppose just like you did when you read it in 2012. Looks very cool.

Thanks for posting, I really enjoyed your detour from the original thread.

on the path

Glad you enjoyed my portion. I've got more Tucson pics I'll be posting in the next day or 2.

jordanair45

This is an awesome thread.

As someone who has spend time in AZ, but never rode it, I thought BRUTAL.

Now, I really think I need to get out there and ride it.!

Dave P

Way to go, On the Path!

I'm stoked that you finally got to grind up Cat Highway!

Your rental bike actually appears pretty damn decent. Looks like a 34 ring and 30t cassette?

I hope you enjoyed the descent from Palisades. I'm not a cosmopolitan guy, but I've not experienced anything like that downhill thrill, yet!

Dave

revchuck 

I've been to Tucson three times and up Mt. Lemmon two of them. On your next trip, I recommend going into Summerhaven and stopping at the General Store for fudge and coffee. And after the descent, go back to Le Buzz and get the eggs, bacon and fried potatoes breakfast.

I haven't ridden all the way to the ski resort, that's on the agenda for my next trip.

on the path

Do it! As soon as you can!! My only regret is that is took so long for me to get it done.


Thanks Dave! The rental bike was good, fit me well. The geometry was very similar to my CAAD10, and the bike maybe 1/2 lb. lighter. I never counted the teeth on the cogs but I'm quite sure it was a 28 tooth max. The gearing felt identical to my bike w compact & 11-28.

BTW, you don't need tiny gears to do that road. The climbing is relentless but the grade usually doesn't exceed 7%. It's just a very long grind, as you said. I was with some stronger climbers. At the beginning I kept up with many of them but quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to sustain the heart rates I was seeing for 3 hours. I backed off my effort and kept an eye on my heart rate and continued to grind away. The only part of me that took a beating was my butt. I didn't get up off the saddle nearly enough.

The descent is amazing. Having said that, it's not exactly a party. You are in the drops most of the time. Maybe least of all you have to keep your head up the whole time, really fatigues the neck muscles. More concerning is vibration of the handlebars. The concentration factor is critical. It's not a place where you want to make a mistake. The hairpin turns are sharp but predictable, pavement was good. I did it non-stop. There were a couple of times I veered into a pull-off to let traffic pass me, but I did not stop.

I think Mt Lemmon can be done by any cyclist that rides a lot and is used to climbing. I'm 62 years old and in pretty good shape. To be clear I don't think I cracked the top 1000 on any of the segments. That climb attracts the strongest riders in the world.

on the path

Summerhaven is on my to do list. Maybe I'll do it sometime in the summer..

Sillyak

Are all the rides written about in this thread accessible by bike from the city? Or did you need to drive to some of them?