Our friends over at Dirty Freehub visited Southern Arizona last year and put together a gravel ride down by Parker Canyon Lake they call Bud & Bo. We gave it a whirl and had a great time! Our ride didn’t record so I’m using their stats with a tiny add on we did. The loop was 45 miles with 3060′ of climbing to a highpoint of around 5755′.
This ride features some great views of the mountain ranges in the area, plenty of open grassy plains, a lake, and a memorial to Bud and Bo. The river crossings of the Santa Cruz river were all dry but I can see where they could be rushing in a flash flood. Unfortunately this ride spends a lot of time in the open flats and it was incredibly windy the day we rode. Not a problem, just extra added resistance!
About that memorial: Customs Patrol Officers Louis Davis “Bud” Dixon and Charles “Bo” Bokinskie were killed in the line of duty April 24, 1974. The two officers were killed in a shootout south of Sonoita when they attempted to stop a drug smuggler from bringing illegal drugs into the United States. Part of this loop gets within sight of the border fence with Mexico but we only saw one border patrol truck over by Parker Canyon Lake
We took the added detour down to Parker Canyon Lake. This is a reservoir formed lake of 132 acres. There were a couple people out on the lake fishing when we stopped to take pictures. I can imagine it draws quite a bit of traffic in the hot summer months since the lake is at higher elevation and a bit cooler.
My new book is outside my usual interest but thought provoking. The Midnight Library is about a lady who commits suicide but ends up in an in between world, the midnight library. In this library is a book about every way her life could have gone had she made different choices about everything. All she has to do is decide what choice she wants to change, open that book, and she is transported to that life. It’s an incredibly fast read so I need to get my next book lined up!
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