Rose Pedals . . .: Bicycles & Cowboys

Day 1 - Sunday, March 11, 2012
Tucson to Tombstone - 86 miles

Today is our 12th wedding anniversary! We celebrated by riding our bikes 86 miles! Today's route took us to the historic town of Tombstone, Arizona - home of all the famous cowboys such as Wyatt Earp and that guy from Gunsmoke. The temperature in Tucson when we woke up this morning was brisk 43 degrees, but sunny. It was predicted to get to the mid 70’s and sunny, which, to me, is perfect biking weather. (I know, it‘s a tough job, but someone has to do it.) I started today’s ride with arm warmers, leg warmers, a jacket and long-fingered gloves. By mile 10, however, I was warmed up enough to ditch the extra gear. It was a fairly flat ride as we left Tucson, but with a pretty strong headwind as we traveled east. At mile 17, we began to climb toward Sonoita - a mostly gentle climb with a few steeper spots as we got closer to the summit. There’s nothing like southwest scenery - it is spectacular. After we reached the summit, the terrain changed to rolling hills and then a gentle descent right to our lunch spot. The final 10 miles of the ride consisted of a “steepish” climb up into Tombstone, our final destination (no pun intended). As soon as you breach the vicinity of Tombstone, the “cowboy” theme becomes apparent. We went by Boot Hill Cemetery, where, apparently, all the famous deceased cowboys are buried. We passed Wyatt Earp’s place and the OK Corral. The neatest thing about Tombstone is that there is an entire street dedicated to the old west. Neither cars nor bikes are allowed on this particular street (you have to walk your bike). The facades of the shops and saloons (yes, saloons) that line the street are in style of the old west. There are people in character walking around in cowboy-era garb. Every afternoon, actors perform a gunfight in the street and other short, comedic cowboy-themed vignettes. When we arrived, a “shotgun wedding” was in progress. It was very entertaining and actually quite humorous. Tombstone is a fun town with a lot of character. In all, it was a fun day - both on and off the bike.