Extreme Hammocking and Celebrating Cyclovia in Tucson
Maximizing Weekend Stoke
The last weekend in April was set aside to celebrate my buddy Nathan’s birthday in the best way we know possible. Drink some beer, ride some bikes, and go camping near the Tucson Mountains. Even better, the camping trip would flow right into an around-town car-free jaunt for Cyclovia Tucson in the Barrio Viejo neighborhood. For me, it provided a much-needed escape from my day-to-day rigors and a space to think about life and that which I enjoy most.
I started off the weekend with some quality time with my brother Matt, over a new beer uncasking at Pueblo Vida. The new offerings on tap comprised several barrel aged varietals of their flagship stout and hefeweissen. The standout for me was the herbal-infused meyer lemon hef.
Saturday afternoon I drove downtown with my bike to meet Nathan at his house. After catching up, we rode out east a bit to Tucson Hop Shop to meet his buddy Drew for some pre-ride libations.
After some last minute route planning and a couple of Galactic Porter Patrols and unattended baby scares, the three of us rolled on out towards Gates Pass. We passed back through the University of Arizona and stopped at the Mercado San Agustin for postres y cafe. This was, after all, a party.
I’ll take this moment to point out our respective vehicles. I was riding my trusty dusty Salsa Vaya, on its first camping trip with the 40mm slicks. Lemme tell you, that holey Tucson pavement was no problemo.
Nathan cruised on his classic made-in-Flagstaff Voodoo hardtail outfitted with a Surly Troll fork and Nice! front rack (available at select Walgreens locations nationwide)
Drew got rowdy on a Soma Double Cross flat-bar build, complete with out-there bar end shifters.
It was every man for himself up the east side of Gates Pass, a favorite climb among local cyclists. It was a first for Drew, and a second time for Nathan, but none of us had lugged camping equipment over the top, so it was a new experience for all. We huffed and puffed up the long snaking road, though I will remark that with every succession it has felt shorter than before. The first time I climbed this road on my steel peugeot, it felt like an eternity before I reached the top.
When we made it over the top we were rewarded with an adrenaline shot of a descent. Some don’t even like driving their car d0wn this road because of its high exposure and steep grades, though I would argue that it feels less intimidating on a bike, with more of the road available to you and less power available at your feet.
Even more rewarding was the cloud-mottled late afternoon sky above us as we cruised along the main road through the Saguaro National Forest. The weather was perfect, a final vestige of desert winter. I say this often, and I will always maintain, this is one of the top places to ride a bike in the state, thanks to winding curves, dips and climbs through washes, phenomenal scenery and a relatively low traffic volume.
We turned onto McCain loop, and soon thereafter into Gilbert Ray Campground, leaving our cash offerings to the camplords. Unfortunately the few dedicated tent camping spots were already filled up, so we spent about 20 precious minutes of sunlight cruising around the facility searching for the least RV-like of campsites without so much as a single well-defined criteria for selection. You might consider criterium the singular form of criteria, and also lacking from our amble was anything resembling the fast-paced frenzy of a criterium. What I’m saying is: we passed up several passable campsites because nobody could agree on what we wanted, and I was getting a little frustrated.
Fortunately the wait was worth it, and we found a somewhat larger site tucked away into the desert away from the main thoroughfare of the camp network. It even had two dedicated steel pipes protruding from the ground that I would end up using for my hammock.
Speaking of hammocks, straight away we started strewing our campgoods out among the gravel floor of the campsite, the inevitable first step to setting up camp. I’d never hammock-camped before, and I was excited to try it out. In fact, I didn’t even bring my tent, so I was kinda locked in to this option.
As a self-professed newbie, I called dibs on the foolproof pipe provisions provided by the campground to anchor my hammock. As such, the process was very straightforward and took me about 10 minutes to dial it in (so dial’d).
I’m not sure what Drew and Nathan were doing, but it took them about 4 hours from start to finish to get everything set up, a process that involved everything from breaking tree branches, setting up the hammocks in series (not a good idea), dragging butt on the ground, and in general using up whatever sunlight we had left for cooking dinner. Okay, I might be exaggerating, but I was getting frustrated again. I’m not sure why I didn’t just start cooking my dinner though, besides some notion of communal eating that is inherent in camping.
Eventually, everyone’s hammocks were set up, and we got to cooking dinner. I went with the lightweight camping classic of ramen bomber with fresh avocado. A ramen bomber is simply a single patty of instant ramen, boiled with the full sodium packet (because #athletics) and a packet of instant mashed potatoes mixed in during the final stages. Whatever salted/cured/smoked meats or vegetables can be added to preference. You can thank me later.
I don’t remember what Nathan and Drew were eating, but it probably wasn’t as tasty or devoid of nutrients as my meal was, so whatever.
Before bed, as is customary between Nathan and I, we spent a good 30 minutes arguing about math and engineering wherein I convinced Nathan of my own correctness regarding tension reactions in a hammock cord and the yield limit of the steel pipes I was strapped to.
Despite my conviction that I was right, I still periodically woke up anxious that I could plasticly deform my bedposts and end up on the ground in the middle of the night. That, and from the lack of insulation afforded me by my hammock and sleeping bag; my toes never quite warmed up!
The morning brought the usual routine of breakfast and coffee before breaking up camp. We had the steep slope of Gates Pass from the West to conquer today. Something I’d never done on a touring bike, but with my low low gearing, I wasn’t too concerned. The first time I did this climb back in 2012, I had to stop midway up to take a breath! Apparently all of my training around Camelback Mountain in Phoenix has prepared me better since then. This time around, it felt not much different than the steep residential climbs we regularly do on a weeknight ride.
I’ve long felt that the eastbound descent down Gates Pass is one of the more rewarding segments of pavement in the city. Not too steep or twisty to make it sketchy… you can really just keep pedaling as much as you want, with enough shallow turns to keep it interesting.
We made it back to Nathan’s house to drop off some of our superfluous camping gear before heading out to Cyclovia which started right in the heart of downtown Tucson and extended south through the Barrio and briefly into South Tucson, all car-free. This fun little cruise took us through an often-missed neighborhood of Tucson chock full of history. At the end of the line there was a taco truck and an expo highlighting non-profit orgs that service this part of Tucson, complete with a Mariachi band performing in the courtyard.
We cruised back downtown, where we lounged on the plaza by Joel Valdez Library (call code MAI) enjoying the warm afternoon before splitting up for the weekend and I joined my parents for lunch at Welcome Diner Tucson.
I’m always totally enriched by spending a weekend on the bike, and this weekend was no exception! Glad I could spend it with friends new and old, while also seeing some familiar faces along the way and discovering some history of my favorite city.
