showlow

Relocating to Tucson in May. Looking for tips for good road cycling routes (besides the obvious Loop and Lemmon). In Phoenix now and I am going to miss South Mountain a lot. Are there any mountains I can climb out there that are more like South Mountain? 2k or 3k feet and twisty? That's the sweet spot for me. Lemmon was a little monotonous IMO.

Thanks in advance.

diphthong

check out kitt peak se of town. mt. graham is a little farther away to the east.

showlow

thanks! wish it was a bit closer but looks sweet

diphthong

you may end up doing repeat loops in saguaro national park-east unit. could be worse. it's phenomenal currently.

showlow

thanks. i can make a great door to door route to Saguaro via the loop from the new house in mid-town. Gates Pass looks pretty great too although it seems like you have to share it with a lot of cars. looking into dirt road routes too. excited for the move.

diphthong

^gates pass is fun from the southwest side and kinda droning from the northeast side. the pavement is wanting from both sides tho. done it on '23's, you'll want 25's or 28's...especially hitting it from the tucson side.

saguaro east side was decently smooth...saguaro west side which is near gates pass...not so much. if you wanna ride saguaro west, rock at least 28's since it's not paved.

showlow

thanks. need to look into the dirt roads around then too. sprucing up my surly cross check ...

https://theradavist.com/2019/03/two-tucson-mixed-terrain-rides-i-highly-recommend/#1

diphthong

i think i've got enough left to (road) ride for three, long-weekend trips to tucson. the loop of course, mt. lemmon, sentinel peak, madera canyon, sabino canyon, redington, kitt peak and the ride to oracle.

showlow

i hadn't thought about sentinel. that's a good one for a quick climb. could take the loop from mid-town to downtown and go up sentinel for the sunset then back the same way.