Tucson

Take Off

The plan was that Chris was going to drive to Tucson, and a few days later I would fly down with the cat. But the closer I got to take-off the more nervous I became about flying with her. I was having nightmares about her yowling for 4 hours on the flight with a captive audience of unhappy fellow fliers. Chris's departure was delayed by one day due to bad weather on the mountain pass between Oregon and California. I took advantage of the delay and at the last minute decided to drive to Tucson with him. Yes, I would rather drive for 22 hours over two days with the cat than fly with her for just 4 hours, because then at least if she yowled I wouldn't be surrounded by angry strangers. Just an irritated husband.

Turns out there was nothing to worry about. Smudge traveled like a champ. She barely made a peep the entire drive. Maybe it was fear, or being over-stimulated by the motion of the car and new smells. Or maybe it was motion sickness. Whatever. She was quiet as a mouse. Most of the time she slept in the carrier that I'd bought for the flight. A few hours each day we let her out and she explored the car or sat on my lap, ate, pooped (not on my lap; in the litter box we carried along with us for just such occasions), and slept some more. She was a little freaked out by the hotel room but, then, who wouldn't be freaked out by a hotel room in the middle of NoWhere, California.

Landing

We arrived around 8pm on Christmas Day. The woman who owns the condo lives in the same complex and met us to let us in, show us around, give us keys, and say goodbye. I think that may be the last we see of her during our three month stay, which is fine by us. 

By the time we were ready to hunt for food it was nearly 9pm. Quick, find a Chinese restaurant! We tried the restaurant we ate at a few years ago on Christmas, but by the time we called them they'd run out of food?!  Their sister restaurant likewise was about to close. We finally found another Chinese restaurant that was about to close but took pity on us. Chicken chow mein never tasted so good.

Our temporary New Digs
Catalina Mountains in the background

Smudge enjoying her new cat tree

View from our porch - Catalina Mountains
Tucson's version of a winter storm

Catalina Mountains with a dusting of snow

Saguaro National Park (eastside)
Our first day in Tucson we took a ride at Saguaro National Park. This is a fun 8 mile roller-coaster loop on a one-way road. We looped around three times together then Chris took a final lap by himself, finishing about sunset.

Finger Rock
The next day I decided to rest while Chris took a hike up Finger Rock. This is a hike he's done many times when we lived here in the late 80's and during subsequent visits. The trailhead is a few miles from our new home. I dropped him off at the trailhead and he called me for a pick up when he was done.

view from the top

Mt. Lemmon
On our third day in town we rode the Big One. Or, part of it. Mt. Lemmon starts at about 2,700 feet elevation and 27 miles later tops out at around 9,000. I'm in no kind of shape for that kind of climb so we set our sights on Windy Point. From where we parked Windy Point is a 14 mile ride with 3,600 feet of climbing. Cactus are abundant at the bottom of the mountain but Windy Point at 6,400 elevation is mostly rocks and scrub brush. This time of year, it's also cold, even in bright sunshine. The temperature during our climb up was very comfortable. But the ride down was really, really cold. I plan to visit this mountain many times over the next three months and eventually work my way to the top.

Catalina State Park
The next day I stayed home to rest some sore hip muscles and Chris went to explore his first mountain bike trail. As you can see, when he's alone he tends to get into trouble. In case you are wondering, there is no fence between him and that large, long-horned animal.

Chris, Catalina State Park, mountain bike ride

Tucson Mountain Park
I had a cold or allergies or something going on so I skipped riding again while Chris tested out another mountain bike trail. No long-horned animals on this one. Though he did see some very long-eared jackrabbits.

Year-End Stats
Time to brag. Then time to start all over again tomorrow. Our 2012 numbers:

Chris:
163 rides
415 hours
5,090 miles
600,292 feet climbed

Ellen:
82 rides
184 hours
2,054 miles
205,935 feet climbed

Happy New Year.

The Most Famous Climb of All

L'Alpe d'Huez

It's was the last day of our trip. Tonight we'd drive to Lyon, pack our bikes, and get ready for an early morning wakeup call for our flight to London. After finishing Col du Sabot the day before I'd sworn off any more riding. No no no. It was all about relaxing until we got on the plane. The day was sunny and the skies were blue. Chris had been itching to ride up a narrow road behind La Grave that leads to a village way above, so that was the first order of business this morning. 

Ride #10: Col du Meije

For lack of a real name, I'll call this ride "Col du Meije", after the massive mountain that looms over La Grave. It was 3-4 miles up and roughly 1500 feet of climbing. I happily sat in the car while Chris worked his way up.

The climb begins

"Le Meije"

 Ride #11: L'Alpe d'Huez

Afterward, we drove one more time toward Le Bourg-d'Oisans, the town that is a base for many climbs in this region. The climb of L'Alpe d'Huez, made famous by the Tour de France, also starts near Le Bourg. The climb is a 'must do' for many cyclists, but it was never on our ride list. There are too many other routes that are more scenic, less hyped, and far less crowded. But, on our last day, it was on the way to the airport and wouldn't require any planning. 

So off to L'Alpe we drove, with me still trying to convince myself that I wasn't going to ride. I held firm to this notion until we pulled into a parking lot and I saw all the other cyclists. Ok, ok, I guess I will ride The Most Famous Climb of All.

After changing in the parking lot, Chris and I rode to the base of the climb together, then he rode ahead to keep up with a pack of faster cyclists. He would get to the top and then come back down and finish my climb with me. 

L'Alpe isn't a particularly scenic ride, at least not by the high standards set by the other rides on our trip. It was also sort of like a cyclist express route, loads of people coming up and down, compared to relatively few riders elsewhere. So it was a very different feel from our other rides.

The one fun thing about L'Alpe is that all 21 switchbacks are numbered, starting with #21 at the bottom. So you get to count your progress as you go up. The climb is very steep at the bottom. It lets up after awhile but is very much a climb all the way up. The only relief was the slight flattening of the road at each switchback. I took my time turning each of the 21 corners to enjoy a little relief. But it was a hot day and it was the end of a long trip and the climb for me was mostly a grind. I stopped at switchbacks #13, #8, and #5 for breaks. Chris rejoined me at about #7, and from then on I kept telling him how I didn't really care if I got to the top and it was okay if he wanted to turn around and we'd ride back down the hill. Fortunately, he never takes me seriously. At some point I was yelling over to him that I didn't know if I was going to finish the ride, and a woman riding a hundred or so feet in front of me yelled back, "Yes you will!" So I did.

At the top, L'Alpe d'Huez

Back at the parking lot; It's a wrap

Total stats for the day:

Ellen: 16 miles, 3,460 feet of climbing

Chris: 31 miles, 6,306 feet of climbing

Slippers courtesy of American Airlines.
And, we're off.