Tucson The Loop
03-04-19, 04:54 AM
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Tucson The Loop
Thinking about riding the bike paths around Tucson Arizona. Any of you have cruised these paths? Need some guidance and insight.
03-04-19, 10:13 AM
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DSCN1893 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
DSCN1884 by Stuart Black, on FlickrTaken on a very cold 22 February 2019 during a record snow fall.
But if you do want to do it in June do the Bicas Hottest Day of the Year Ride. But, generally, the loop around on the Santa Cruz/Rillito River trails with associated connectors is a pretty good ride. The whole "Loop" in Tucson includes a lot of other bikeways and connectors and is 130+ miles long so you might want to consider some short cuts in some places.
And, if you haven't ridden in Tucson, it is the land of pokey stuff. Saguaro aren't anything to worry about. The Teddy Bear cholla, on the other hand, will reach out and bite you
DSCN1875 by Stuart Black, on Flickr
DSCN1876 by Stuart Black, on FlickrThey make mountain biking down there an exercise in precision
image by Stuart Black, on Flickr
image by Stuart Black, on Flickr
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
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Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
03-04-19, 10:28 AM
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Maybe try here: https://www.bikeforums.net/southwest/
03-04-19, 10:13 PM
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Cool pictures. I was at Sedona about this time last year but I didn’t feel any vortexes 
had a great time didn’t bike but hiked. The Southwest link I’m checking out it has good info. If I can manage to go I will take my gravel bike and cruise the paved pathways the mountain biking looks great but I don’t want to lose all that blood 
I have mountain biked Lajitas Texas trails and left some blood behind.
had a great time didn’t bike but hiked. The Southwest link I’m checking out it has good info. If I can manage to go I will take my gravel bike and cruise the paved pathways the mountain biking looks great but I don’t want to lose all that blood I have mountain biked Lajitas Texas trails and left some blood behind.
03-04-19, 10:34 PM
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did a little segment of it beginning of february. well signed and well paved with plenty of entry/exit points. hoping to get back there within the next year to hit mt. lemmon, ride the 9.5 mile loop
of saguaro national park-east portion again and do a bigger portion (30+ miles) of the loop.
the regional forums would seem to be the best place to post queries about riding places that you're traveling to but many of those particular regional forums
are dead as a doornail and not very helpful ime/imo. the southwest one is one such deadend-usually. there are a few of us in the southern california forum that are pretty helpful or try to be.
historically, i've had pretty good luck posting the occasional "hey...gonna be riding ____ for a few days. recommendations?" styled threads in the touring forum.
the ladies and gents that make up the touring forum have been around the block once or twice and are super helpful. you were right to post here. this forum is jumping.
of saguaro national park-east portion again and do a bigger portion (30+ miles) of the loop.
the regional forums would seem to be the best place to post queries about riding places that you're traveling to but many of those particular regional forums
are dead as a doornail and not very helpful ime/imo. the southwest one is one such deadend-usually. there are a few of us in the southern california forum that are pretty helpful or try to be.
historically, i've had pretty good luck posting the occasional "hey...gonna be riding ____ for a few days. recommendations?" styled threads in the touring forum.
the ladies and gents that make up the touring forum have been around the block once or twice and are super helpful. you were right to post here. this forum is jumping.
Last edited by diphthong; 03-04-19 at 10:53 PM.
03-05-19, 05:29 AM
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That is a great picture of the Seguro cactus/desert. I was there once back in the mid 70's in the spring and saw the blooms. Beautiful! Was not bicycling.
03-05-19, 08:36 AM
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Cool pictures. I was at Sedona about this time last year but I didn’t feel any vortexes had a great time didn’t bike but hiked. The Southwest link I’m checking out it has good info. If I can manage to go I will take my gravel bike and cruise the paved pathways the mountain biking looks great but I don’t want to lose all that blood I have mountain biked Lajitas Texas trails and left some blood behind.
had a great time didn’t bike but hiked. The Southwest link I’m checking out it has good info. If I can manage to go I will take my gravel bike and cruise the paved pathways the mountain biking looks great but I don’t want to lose all that blood I have mountain biked Lajitas Texas trails and left some blood behind.The mountain bike pictures were taken on Fantasy Island which is at the southern end of the main loop around town. It's actually a fun ride and not too hard. The route is about 7 miles long but, I swear, it doesn't go outside of a square mile area. It's a bit pokey but as long as you keep your elbows in and don't try to cut corners, you are fine
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
03-05-19, 12:40 PM
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... Or March ....GloBULL warming LOL
Palm Springs hasn't hit 80F since middle of Nov. The record was 88 days, 3 weeks ago I think. It's going past 120 days likely.
Going back to the 40s for a couple days. My cousin stays there 3 months to ride MUPs. 3 inches of rain Valenine's day ate their golf courses and roads.
In 1997 I drove thru Tuscon, T+C and Tombstone, then off to California. Was there in April, was just right temps.
Palm Springs hasn't hit 80F since middle of Nov. The record was 88 days, 3 weeks ago I think. It's going past 120 days likely.
Going back to the 40s for a couple days. My cousin stays there 3 months to ride MUPs. 3 inches of rain Valenine's day ate their golf courses and roads.
In 1997 I drove thru Tuscon, T+C and Tombstone, then off to California. Was there in April, was just right temps.
03-07-19, 04:07 AM
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Cool pictures. I was at Sedona about this time last year but I didn’t feel any vortexes had a great time didn’t bike but hiked. The Southwest link I’m checking out it has good info. If I can manage to go I will take my gravel bike and cruise the paved pathways the mountain biking looks great but I don’t want to lose all that blood I have mountain biked Lajitas Texas trails and left some blood behind.
had a great time didn’t bike but hiked. The Southwest link I’m checking out it has good info. If I can manage to go I will take my gravel bike and cruise the paved pathways the mountain biking looks great but I don’t want to lose all that blood I have mountain biked Lajitas Texas trails and left some blood behind.
perhaps you missed this spot. amitabha stupa and peace park.
03-07-19, 05:51 PM
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I just cycled The Loop a few days ago. Just hop on anywhere, don't worry about maps. It's extremely well signed with excellent pavement. I don't think I went much more than five miles without seeing a water fountain and bathroom.
It wasn't easy finding the distance of the basic loop. Tucson brags that it's 130 miles long, but that includes spurs and both sides of waterways in many cases. It's actually just over 50 miles. Total elevation gain about 1000'.
It wasn't easy finding the distance of the basic loop. Tucson brags that it's 130 miles long, but that includes spurs and both sides of waterways in many cases. It's actually just over 50 miles. Total elevation gain about 1000'.
03-08-19, 10:58 AM
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I had no problems with the heat doing it in August a couple years back. Start at dawn with lots of fluids, be done by noon, enjoy a good long drink when you're done.
I did have a problem following the trail in NE Tucson. IIRC they had closed part of the trail to rebuild it (or de-build something else), and I took a signed bike route on the road, which then disappeared. Traffic was pretty well behaved, pavement was variable on the streets, and I found my way back to the trail after a few miles. Get the route map from one of the many bike shops in town and take it with you in case something similar happens to you.
If you can do climbs, head up the road to Mt. Lemon -- it's a lot cooler if you drive up to 4,000' and ride from there. Beautiful scenery, generally decent road and polite traffic, and coming back down is an absolute blast!
I did have a problem following the trail in NE Tucson. IIRC they had closed part of the trail to rebuild it (or de-build something else), and I took a signed bike route on the road, which then disappeared. Traffic was pretty well behaved, pavement was variable on the streets, and I found my way back to the trail after a few miles. Get the route map from one of the many bike shops in town and take it with you in case something similar happens to you.
If you can do climbs, head up the road to Mt. Lemon -- it's a lot cooler if you drive up to 4,000' and ride from there. Beautiful scenery, generally decent road and polite traffic, and coming back down is an absolute blast!
03-10-19, 07:48 AM
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And yes, the first 2000' in summer can feel like an oven if you have a tail wind. That can be rough.
