We began the trip in good Scottsdale temperatures, probably in the 70s, and headed NE on Hwy 87 to Hwy 188 where we turned SE on our way to Roosevelt Lake. That road and most of Hwy 177 into Tucson were twisty and hilly, a relaxed but sufficiently adventurous ride for our first day on bikes after a winter's grounding. We're used to big miles on our trips and thought we would go way over our allocation of 1,500 miles for the week, but today's ride was almost exactly 250 miles, and we brought the RTs back with a little less than our allocation. Riding 250 miles a day on these back roads seems just right.
After spending the night in Tucson, and finding a restaurant near the university, we started up venerable Mt. Lemmon, 24 miles of switchbacks and glorious views as we progressed from desert to pine forest, gaining 6,700 feet of elevation. The nation's southern-most ski resort is at the top, which was evident by the snowbanks. Fortunately, the road was clear.
After a quick trip to Saguaro National Monument to ride an eight-mile loop around the majestic cacti, we headed south to Sonita, then east to near Tombstone and north to Benson, on roads accented by wilderness areas and mountains, before a quick sprint east on I-10 to Wilcox for the night.
Day 3 started with a ride to the top of Chiricahua National Monument, where it started getting cold enough to sightsee while keeping helmets and everything else on. Light flurries chased us off the mountain through Douglass to the unexpectedly delightful town of Bisbee. In addition to great food and coffee, we left with the promise to return when we had more time. Bisbee is at an elevation of 5,300 feet, though, and it remained cold -- in the 30s and 40s with light snow showers -- until we dropped a few thousand feet into the desert on our way to Nogales.
Our destination on Day 3 was Ajo, but when we hit Nogales late in the afternoon, we realized we didn't want to ride for four more hours in the cold and dark and fight javelinas on the road, so we called the wonderful people of nearby Tubac Golf Resort and Spa and they gave us "the deal of the century" on two rooms probably because, shall we say, demand was slack on this frozen, midweek night.
After brushing frost from the parked bikes on the morning of Day 4, we heeded Gabor's recommendation for one of the best cups of coffee in Arizona at the Gadsden Coffee Company in Arivaca. The ride there was a personal highlight. The narrow, empty road curved through and across inviting arroyos, with desert plants crowding the asphalt on each side. Everything about the ride resulted in wide smiles. After a lot of coffee in Arivaca, we motored through Ajo on our way to Wickenburg, which is a little over 2,000 feet in elevation, but the temperature was dropping. We had hoped to ride the next day to Jerome, but the overnight low there was 10 degrees and the wind was picking up, so we opted to head south in search of warmer climes.
Unfortunately, there were no warmer places in Arizona on Day 5, Wednesday, Feb. 2. It was cold everywhere and on our way out of Wickenburg, the temperature was in the mid 30s with winds out of the north at a steady 40 mph. We were headed SW before heading SE, which just meant we were leaning the bikes into the wind in different directions. I had five layers on top, three on the bottom, and of course heated seats and grips going full blast. Still cold -- BUT -- still enjoyed the day riding through gorgeous country on the Beemers.
It turned out to be a short day to Goodyear, where we spent the night, then another short day on Day 6 riding south of Phoenix back to Scottsdale.
Of course the temperatures could have been higher, but we still had a great time and enjoyed the break from real winter weather in Wisconsin. We'll be back. Thanks, Monica and Gabor for the rides, routes and coffee suggestions.
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