Tangerine Road

January 18, 2022 to January 19, 2022

Yesterday

Someone must have been listening about me whining that I’d like an excuse for a rest day, because today I received one. Unexpectedly, rain is in the forecast. We first heard of this on the news as we drove home from Red Rock and didn’t quite believe we heard it accurately. Rain? Really?

Sure enough, when we got home and checked the forecast rain was predicted off and on throughout the day. When we got up this morning the rain is still there but not due to arrive until early afternoon. Good enough for Rachael, who gets an early jump on the day and heads north to the Loop.

I plan on an easy ride along the Santa Cruz, maybe stopping in at Sweetwater or Silverbell Lake to check out the bird situation, but I’m not in as big a hurry to get started as Rachael. I wrap up the blog entry for the day and have another cup of coffee and am rewarded for my dilatoriness when the forecast shifts and there’s now a blip of rain due at eleven. It’s ten now, so I might as well wait it out.

Eleven comes, and the blip has right shifted an hour and I’m still waiting. And then it pushes out again. I’ve about concluded that I should bag the idea and just claim a complete rest day when the door opens and a soaked Rocky comes in, claiming 43 miles to her credit. Good for her, and good for me!

Later the sun breaks through while it’s still showering so I go out into the alley to see if there’s a rainbow. Nope, but as long as I’m here with the camera I finally get around to taking a photo of one of the neighborhood’s resident mourning doves.

This guy or a look-alike is nearly always on the wire outside in daylight hours.

Today

The rain passed yesterday afternoon and this morning we’re back to our rosy forecast of unbroken sunshine. It’s not windy either, and we decide to take the loop north to Tangerine Road we’ve been discussing since I went there the first time. It’s on the long side so we get an early start. We want to be back in plenty of time to get down to El Charro early before the inevitable lineup arrives and we have to stand around on the sidewalk waiting for seating.

We’re out in the alley unloading my bike from the car about 9:30, listening to the Gila woodpecker up in the trees on the other side of the alley. He’s nearly always about in the mornings when I go out, one of the few things about our AirBnB that I truly enjoy. I love having a resident woodpecker in the neighborhood.

Today though he has a different, more urgent sound than I’ve heard before. It causes me to look around, and I’m startled to see a Cooper’s hawk perched atop the nearest utility pole. Definitely a promising omen for the day’s ride. I whip out the camera, take a quick shot, and then move in closer for a better one but he immediately takes wing. I’ve made the woodpecker happier at least.

More than the usual excitement in the neighborhood this morning.

As expected this early in the day, it’s a chilly ride north up the Santa Cruz; and when we turn east and start biking up into Oro Valley we face an unwelcome headwind that’s enough to give Rachael breathing issues. Once we make the turn though the wind is with us and will remain so for the rest of the ride. The surprise is that it’s quite grey over Oro Valley and the Catalinas, and we even feel a few drops of precipitation as we start biking west on the multi-use path alongside Tangerine Road. A reminder of how different weather can be just a few miles away in this complex terrain.

Grey over the north side of the Catalinas this morning. There’s sun on the south side though.

Someone went to the bother of framing this scene, so I may as well use it.

Tangerine Road is as I remember it and as I described it to Rachael - a very pleasant ride, other than the traffic noise. Today’s video gives a good sense of the experience.

Video sound track: Tangerine, by Chet Baker, Paul Desmond, Ron Carter, et al.

A few miles into Tangerine Road we bike out from under the clouds, crest the modest climb, and enjoy a warm, sunny ten mile coast back to the Loop, joining it where Twin Peaks Road crosses the Santa Cruz. The rest of the ride home is a delight too, with the surprising highlight of some turtles in the river beneath us when we peer down from Ina Road. There are several cinnamon teals too, but unfortunately they’re too far out and aren’t cooperative enough to give me a decent view.

Turtles in the Santa Cruz! Put your right foot in, put your right foot out, put your right foot in and shake it all about.

A poor shot of a cinnamon teal, included just because I like their coloring so.

The Catalinas look much different today from the south side.

We make it down to El Charro before 4:30. There’s a short line outside the door, but only because there’s no greeter for some reason. Five minutes later someone finally arrives and we’re all quickly ushered in. El Charro’s one of our favorite restaurants in town, and we enjoy our usual fine meal.

Afterwards, walking home we’re amazed by the dramatic clouds hanging over the Catalinas, striking and sharp in the late-day light. We walk home briskly, hoping for a clearer view of them and taking the best shot available through downtown’s clutter using Rachael’s phone. When we get home I grab the car keys and my camera and dash out again, looking for a better viewpoint. I find one in a neighborhood park a few blocks away, quickly park the car, and reach for the camera. Amazingly enough, it’s not there - I had it in my hands but set it down again before leaving the house. Space cadet! Fortunately I still have Rachael’s phone in my pocket as a backup.

The view from a fitting location: Catalina Park.

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Kelly IniguezYour loop is Jan's favorite ride. She always starts it heading west so she rides over I-10 going downhill. I rode that loop one time and found the I-10 crossing intimidating - I had no issues - but that was a LOT of cars at once! Downhill would be better.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Kelly IniguezI think westbound is better too, although riding eastward you get great views of Lemmon staring you in the face. Among other things, it places you on the west side of Twin Peaks Road, which has a separated bike lane most of the way down.

Navigation is pretty easy, once you’ve got it down. You’re on the south side of Tangerine all the way to Thornydale where you have to cross over at the light to the north side.
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2 years ago

Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 1,805 miles (2,905 km)

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