The background story.

I didn't hesitate to say yes when Jacinto asked if I would be interested in a winter tour over Christmas break this year. Initially we discussed Hill Country around Austin, Texas. But we thought it might be too cold. Jacinto has been to Tucson a number of times watching the Rockies Baseball spring training. He has often told me we need to retire to Tucson, it's nice and warm there and bicycle paths everywhere.

Here's my chance to check it out. Will I end up being a snowbird? I've always sworn I'm a diehard Colorado girl. But I have to admit the older I get, the less I like the cold. I could do a month or two of warm every winter.

I dug through a number of CG journals and came up with this strange looking route. I didn't want to make the days too high mileage because I didn't know how soon the snow would start falling in Colorado and how many training miles I could get in. Irony? We have had zero snow here in Rifle while this weekend snow fell as far south as Texas, Louisiana, and even Mexico! Fall riding has been the best ever.

Typically a nice weekend ride in the fall for me will be 25-30 miles. This year I've made it a minimum of 40 miles a ride to stay in shape for Old Mule Pass outside of Bisbee.

It has been a number of years since I've had a chance to tour with all of the guys. It's been several years since I've ridden with Spoon and Harpo. Tom missed the early tour last year. It was odd to ride without him. We didn't even ride with Oren. Bonus? Marilyn and Don are joining us. I've issued a couple of last minute invitations. Let's see what happens there.

Finally we picked an area that everyone was interested in with daily mileages that seemed to suit. We have a nice little group. I'm just waiting to hear tall tales over dinner!

Oren, Spoon, and Cal catch me on the road as they were driving past on the interstate. We had an all too fast chat before they continued their long drive home.Cal couldn't make this tour as he had to be home for New Years. Harpo did decide to skip the family tradition of burning the Christmas tree on New Year's Eve. I've never heard of doing that before, but it sounds like a family friendly activity.

It is December 9th and no snow at all in Rifle, CO. It's excellent riding weather for die hard cyclists. Not so good for skiers. In Aspen a soup kitchen has opened to feed the ski area employees who have been hired, but aren't actually working yet. They've been feeding 100 people a night.

Dominique and Michaela Cote wrote an excellent journal on their winter Arizona tour. They were generous with replies - be sure to check their guestbook for more information. Their route was the basis for the route I chose.

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