Tucson has a paved loop surrounding the city, open to pedestrians and nonmotorized bikes. The loop started out as a flood control measure but grew to be so much more. It follows the river wash on both sides so it can accommodate a lot of users. We rode downtown and hopped off it to ride up Sentinel Peak and then looped back on the opposite side for a slightly different view. Our ride was about 45 miles with 1200′ elevation gain and we really were clipping along at a fast pace.
Sentinel Peak is a city park outside downtown on a hill. It’s also known as “the A” for the big cement A on the side. Back in the early 1900’s there were different proposals about what to do with the land. The city wanted to build a water reservoir, a developer wanted to build a hotel accessible by tram… In 1917 a company filled a claim on it, closing off public access and tieing it up in years of litigation. In 1926 president Calvin Coolidge stepped in and granted a land patent to the City stating they had 5 years to make it into some sort of park or recreational purpose. The climb up is pleasant and reminded me of the Bend climb up Pilot Butte.
It was a nice convenient ride from where we are staying in Tucson. Maybe later we will take the loop the other way to see what we can get that way.
Comments
Loopty loo and fun too