By Sara Moses
In April, 2016 I had the pleasure of flying to Tucson to work with my dear colleague, Andrew Broan, to lead our guests on a nearly 300-mile journey by bike.
HE Travel has been directing cycling tour for years, starting back when the company was called Alyson Adventures. And yet, I’ve worked with Phil and the gang here at HE Travel for nearly 5 years, and I’ve never gone on one of our cycling trips! I’m a happy cyclist, I commute and work out by bike, and heck, haven’t even owned a car in those 5 years.
See, proof, there I am in rainy Key West a helmet:
But let me tell you…I need to train a bit longer before I’m ready for a full cycling tour with 35-50 miles in the saddle each day. However, Andrew is an avid cyclist and he was the tour leader; so my job was driving the support van! I’m really good at making sure other people stay hydrated and well fed.
I flew in a day before our guests arrived. Andrew and I went shopping for spare tire tubes and lube, wrenches and first aid supplies, snacks and electrolyte tablets, jugs of water and “van wine”, and wrapped up with a visit to a map shop. He even showed me his favorite bike rack made of bikes.
I couldn’t get enough of the desert vegetation.
Here’s the group, assembled for a test ride around Tucson. We’ll make sure our bikes are properly adjusted and comfy before the real rides begin tomorrow.
We visited Bikas, an awesome bike collective.
The next morning, we loaded up all the suitcases and luggage into the van and the guys hit the road. Tucson has miles of cycling paths, so I told the riders to go on ahead, and I’d drive the van a few miles on ahead and meet them a little later.
We went to the San Xavier mission together.
I pulled over to offer drinks and snacks every few miles.
Tonight we pulled into Amado
To be continued….
Join us on the Spring Training Arizona Cycling tour!
