Chiricahua National Monument, AZ

On Thanksgiving morning we headed out to Chiricahua National Monument (created in 1924), also known as "A Wonderland Of Rocks."

The forest of rock spires was eroded from layers of ash deposited from the Turkey Creek Volcano eruption 27 million years ago.

The Chiricahua Mountains are in the far southeastern corner of Arizona, one of several "sky island" mountain ranges surrounded by expansive desert grasslands. The Apaches called this place "The Land of Standing Up Rocks."

We parked about 15 miles from the park entrance and rode in. Inside the Monument is an 8 mile scenic road (with perfect pavement), climbing up to over 7,000'.




We definitely plan to return and spend some time hiking the 18 miles of designated trails.

What a beautiful way to spend the Thanksgiving holiday!

Titan Missile Museum, Sahuarita, AZ

The Titan Missile Museum is the only publicly accessible Titan II missile site in the nation. Officially known as complex 571-7, the site was completed and turned over to the U.S. Air Force in 1963. Until 1987, when the last Titan II was deactivated, 54 Titan II missile complexes across the United States stood "on alert" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What was once one of America's most top secret places is now a National Historic Landmark. Nowhere else in the world can visitors get up close and personal with an ICBM in its operational environment.

Here's Brian standing next to the engine!


The Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile was the first liquid propellant missile that could be launched from underground. Equipped with a nine-megaton thermonuclear warhead, the Titan II was capable of reaching its target, more than half the world away, in less than thirty minutes. This shot was taken from ground level, looking down into the silo.
Here's the control room, where airmen awaited launch orders, 24/7.

OOPS, I forgot to flip this shot...
But I took this from inside the silo. We really enjoyed this tour -- a bit of history of keeping the peace

25th El Tour de Tucson

The last ride of the Rally was the 25th Annual El Tour de Tucson! We opted for the 109-mile route, of course; but we chose NOT to line up at o'dark-thirty to try to get a better starting position. We planned to "tour" the course anyway, so we didn't even wear the timing chips.

We rolled up just in time to watch the racers start right at 7am.

We went all the way to the back of the 9,000 rider field. Here's the view of the start line when you're dead last:
The beginning of the ride is really crazy, with riders all over the road. There were lots of crashes, and we had to go pretty slow for the first 20 or so miles. Here's the first of two very long washes that everyone had to walk across. At the end of each we had to take our shoes off to dump out all the dirt/sand.
Here's a shot of one of two checkpoints where we stopped for water. Food options were bananas, oranges, grapes, pretzels and animal cracker cookies strewn all over the table. It was pretty gross to take food off a table where endless rider's dirty hands had been.... but we grabbed a handful of cookies anyway. Good thing we carry our own food (mostly Clif Shot Bloks and Gu. Brian also likes Jelly Belly Sport Beans.).
The finish line! Yippee! Brian and I rode the first 75 together; but then the last two days of riding kicked in and he dropped me on a climb. He finished in 6 hours; and I finished in 6:17. Not bad considering we started dead last, spent the first 20+ miles working our way through the masses, spent another 1/2 hour or so walking the washes, and both had Mt. Lemmon in our legs!
El Tour de Tucson is 109 miles with 3,200' of climbing. Far and away the easiest century we've ever done. We're glad we came, but, truth be told, this is likely our first and last El Tour. Been there, done that!
:-)

Tucson's World Class Pima Air and Space Museum

Friday we opted for the 30-mile ride out to the Pima Air and Space Museum. Most of the route was on Tucson's famous bike paths. About 15 other LAB Rally participants joined the ride. On the way, we rode by the "airplane graveyard," which had thousands of decommisioned planes, many of which served in Viet Nam. It was very impressive to see.


The Pima Air and Space Museum is the largest privately funded air museum in the world.

The Museum maintains a collection of more than 275 aircraft and spacecraft from around the globe, including many rare and one-of-a-kind, and more than 125,000 artifacts. We were privileged to walk among the giants of our aviation heritage, including military, commercial, and civil aviation.

We actually got to go on board President John F. Kennedy's Airforce One! This plane was also used by President Johnson.

We could've spent the entire day here - but, alas, we had to leave with the group because we'd never have found our way home without the Ride Leader!

;-)

Mt. Lemmon - Tucson's Premier Climbing Ride

We're here in Tucson, Arizona for the 2007 League of American Bicyclists National Bike Rally. The rally includes three days of riding: Thursday and Friday we choose from several route options; and Saturday is the 25th Annual El Tour de Tucson!

Thursday we chose the infamous "Mt. Lemmon Challenge" - a 31 mile climb with 7,000' of climbing! The ride was spectacular! A super challenging climb, followed by a very rewarding (but freezing cold) descent. Here are a few shots from the day: