Bike Ride to Catalina State Park

This is a hiking and biking blog, so this is a biking post.

I brought a bike this year like I did in 2019, when my brother Jon and hiking buds Misty and Jack and I  crazily rode the 26 miles up Mount Lemmon (and screamed at 40 mph on the downhill return). This is a different bike, thank the gods. That bike, while it was a cool, vintage Klein mountain bike (see addenda), made in Washington State, never-the-less had an old Manitou fork that wouldn't lock out, thus absorbing only my effort and energy. Try that for 26 bouncy miles up hill, especially as an elderly person. But more later on this year's bike.

I really had no choice but to bring a bike since the place we're living is only a few short yards from the Cañada del Oro River Park Trail, which connects to the entire 130 miles of trails around Tucson. It also connects to the spur trail I rode north today up to Catalina State Park—a mere 12 miles round trip. My destination today was the parking lot adjacent to the Romero Canyon and Sutherland trailheads, a couple of my favorites. I figure in the future I could ride out for a hike.

The yellow circle marks the gate to the bike and pedestrian 

path. Our front gate is in the foreground.

Not sure which map graphics to use with my plethora of apps, so in the mean

time, I'll experiment. Not nearly as crisp as AllTrails.

Really nice bike facilities in Tucson, and to a slightly lesser degree here in Oro Valley. Look ma, no corn fields. 

I am back to wearing my resistance shirts since we apparently just elected a fascist Nazi wannabe.

The bike I brought this season is a 30-year-old Giant Cadex, back when they were experimenting with carbon fiber. My great friend Deano gave me this bike as he was cleaning house. It's composed of three carbon fiber tubes main tubes (top, seat, and down tubes) plus the seat and chain stay tubes, all tucked into aluminum lugs. It's finished off with a chromoly fork, for safety. Yes, that is a Brooks Cambium C17 all-weather carved saddle I bought online from my favorite shop, Modern Bike, and picked it up in Des Moines at their store and warehouse.

After I cleaned it up and replaced a few components, I realized I once had a bike quite similar to this, in yellow and black, but with the Giant label. I bought it from College Park Bikes while in a Chinese summer program at the University of Maryland in 1993, so it was probably a year newer than this one. I took it back the day after buying it as I wanted a more practical bike I could also use for commuting to work. I ended up with a top-of-the-line Trek 970, one of their last lugged chromoly bikes, and still made in Wisconsin. I still have it, but converted it to a cargo bike (see notes). It sports a paint job by my good friend, exquisite bike frame builder, and painter nonpareil, Jeffrey Bock. Do yourselves a favor and seek out his bikes.

  

A bit about the bike. It was a bit dusty when I picked it up from Dean. I swapped out the stem and bars, replaced the brake levers, and bought a used pair of Shimano 7-speed indexed thumb shifters from a gent in Portland, Oregon to replace the melted grip shifters that were probably original to the bike. I overhauled the hubs (bearing races were mint, but the grease was old), head set, and bottom bracket. 

New water bottle cages and pedals which I originally bought for the Klein, which a barely rode. Even though the Giant name does not appear on the bike, Cadex is indeed a Giant brand, and still produces high-end niche parts and frames. 

All-original Shimano XT components that are in excellent 30-year-old condition. I added new 2.1-inch Schwalbe tires. This is a fun, retro bike to ride,. A hard tail and no hydraulic fork, it feels like my first bike. I just might have to retackle Mount Lemmon this coming spring.

Notes & Pics

January, 2019, Mount Lemmon