South to the Old Pueblo - Part 2

Did you read Part 1?

In the last blog, Chris and I traveled south to Tucson for the weekend, so he could ride in the 40th anniversary El Tour de Tucson bike race.

Spoiler alert - he finished!

Having completed my 5K run and showered back in our room at the Leo Kent Hotel, I headed downstairs to meet Jen (thankfully, we were one block north of all the race-related road closures, so she was able to pick me up right outside the hotel without too many issues).  Hopping in the car, we got on the 10 and took it around the southeastern side of the city, aiming to find a good spectating spot around mile 43 of the 63 mile course.  Although the traffic through some of the intersections was slow, we had plenty of time before Jake and Chris were scheduled to ride past; we parked in a field next to the Circle K at the corner of Kolb and Valencia Roads and set up in front of the Speedway gas station on the opposite corner.  Jen brought chairs, so we unpacked our lunches and settled in to snack and chat while we waited.

Anyone who has ever spectated an event like this one knows that there's a lot of waiting with generally very little to do for most of the race.  You see your person start, you find a spot on the course, and then you sit and count the minutes until they go by; you leap to your feet, cheer for a few seconds, and then it's time to pack up, get back in the car, and hopefully make it to the finish line before they cross.  That's why I was so pumped that Jen offered to come along and keep me company - I'd have a chance to see the boys out on the course, but I'd also be able to spend some quality time with her - a win/win!

Speedway corner selfie!

While we did log some of that quality time, our day on the corner wasn't nearly as uneventful as they normally are, unfortunately.  We picked this particular corner as it was a crossroads on the course; the longer distances crossed it around mile 16 before doing a longer loop to the southeast, then coming back through it around mile 43.  The riders on the shorter, 30 mile course used this corner to make a sharp righthand turn before heading back toward the finish line.  Since it was a major intersection, vehicular traffic was still using it, too, and the police officers on site were doing an incredible job managing everyone.

About 30 minutes before Jake and Chris rode through, a pack of 63 milers were waved into the intersection by the police; one rider must have touched wheels with another, as all of sudden, around 15 bikers were on the ground.  5 or so immediately jumped up, hopped back on their bikes, and rode off.  Carefully watching the traffic, Jen and I, as well as a few other spectators, made it over to the remaining 10 and started helping them; some were just a bit shaken up, so after making sure they were okay, knew where they were, could wiggle their fingers and toes, and so on, they rode on.  Others were fine physically but parts of their bikes were damaged enough that their ride was over for the day; these folks moved onto the sidewalk at our corner to call for pick-ups from family members.  Two riders, however, needed more serious attention than we could offer; thankfully, El Tour had several bike patrols inside the race, so it wasn't long before a doctor pulled up to assist.  The police on site had also called for paramedics, and they quickly arrived, too.  Thankfully, both gentlemen were eventually able to stand up and walk on their own, even if that locomotion was moving them toward the hospital as their next step.

Paramedics on our corner, treating the rider on the ground -

these guys were from Phoenix, as you can see from their Huss Brewery kits.

In the background, you can see the person with the most serious injury,

still laying in the middle of the intersection.

As mentioned above, he was up and walking by the time we headed out,

but he clearly had some sort of nasty shoulder/collarbone injury.

The police and race control really did a great job managing all of this chaos.

We knew Chris would be coming by soon, and while we saw him come through the intersection, with all of the excitement, he whizzed right past us.  Jake tried to get him to pull over to the side of the road, but given everything going on, we just waved and hollered that we'd see them at the finish line.

Chris and Jake riding away -

you can see Chris' head is turned, as if he's saying, "hey, that lady yelling at me looks just like my wife!"

That's the Pima Air and Space Museum in the shot in front of them,

which has a huge plane graveyard - we've never been, but I've heard it's cool.

Quickly packing up our chairs and leftover food, it was back to the car for us; after running into a few traffic snarls on our initial route to downtown, we pivoted and found another way onto the 10 and toward the Leo Kent.  Jen dropped me off out front, and I bid her adieu - after a quick stop in the hotel room to drop my small food cooler and pick up some post-race items for Chris, I was back on the street and walking toward the finish line.  Finding a spot on the rail just before the arch, I kept an eye on my phone to track Chris' location, and before too long, the gentlemen came rolling in.

Good job, guys!

I reunited with them in the post-race madness and congratulated them on their great ride - they ended up finishing about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, which was awesome!  

Once back at the hotel, Chris went up to the room to get cleaned up, while I placed a takeout order from the bar downstairs.  We'd initially planned to meet up with Jake, Keeli, Nate, and his buddies at a local brewery, but we were both beat and given that the weather was raining on and off, we found ourselves to be perfectly happy watching college football from our big poofy hotel bed and eating everything we could find.

Mmm, cheese and crackers from home - y'all know I don't travel without snacks.

Eventually, we peeled ourselves from the vice grip of the comfy bed, changed into warmer clothes, and headed downstairs in search of our evening's entertainment.  Earlier in the week, my boss James and I had been swapping food and drink notes via Teams (this is a common occurrence within my work team, which is why they're the best), and he recommended this great cocktail bar that was close to us, the Owls Club.  We decided to stop there first, and it was fantastic - it's housed in an old funeral parlor, so the vibe is a little bit spooky, dark, and moody.  The drinks were also great!

I just noticed you can see me in this shot in the mirror behind Chris -

hi, everybody!

Our first round - that's my Cliffhanger (gin, bubbles, rosemary) on the right

Our second route - my Vagabond (tequila, honey, sage) is closer to the camera

Well fortified, it was dinner time!  We originally made reservations for a spot called the Dutch, but when I mentioned it to my boss James a few days before the trip, he responded with a link to a newspaper article and a message saying essentially, um, you may want to make other plans...turns out the Dutch had closed and didn't bother to notify anyone on the reservation list (in fairness, that's probably your last priority when you close, but still)!  Pivoting quickly, we grabbed a table at El Charro Cafe, one of Tucson's most significant culinary spots.  The nation's oldest Mexican restaurant continuously owned by the same family (they celebrated 100 years in 2022), the downtown location of the cafe is housed in the Flin family's old home, which you can easily tell when you walk inside (me: "why are these bathrooms so tiny? Oh, that makes sense!").  El Charro claims that they invented the chimichanga (like the French dip and the Cuban sandwich, there are multiple spots that lay stake to this honor), but their real claim to fame is their carne seca - beef dried in a clear box in the Tucson sun, hoisted high above the courtyard of the restaurant, then shredded and mixed with spices and herbs.  Figuring when in Rome, we ordered the carne seca tacos (me) and enchiladas (Chris), and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

Apologies for the "in progress" nature of this shot,

but I couldn't be bothered to take a picture until I'd finished putting my first taco in my face.

Beyond full, we lurched back to the Leo Kent once more, stopping to admire murals and architecture on our way.

El Tour is seriously huge in Tucson - the whole city comes out -

and there are murals and art celebrating it everywhere.

Hopping onto the back of the quail train - this is the only way I can keep up on a bike.

The Gem and Mineral Museum, all lit up for the evening

On Sunday morning, I was once again awake far earlier than necessary; when Chris got moving, we finished the quasi-packing we'd done the evening before and got ready for the day.  A quick stroll took us to our breakfast destination, the Monica, and the food and tea/coffee were quite good; as it turns out, the Monica is also owned by the Flin family (of El Charro Cafe fame) - we didn't suffer from lack of delicious food on this trip!  Once back to the Leo Kent, we were packed up, checked out, and buckled in the truck by 8:45; despite the Broadway curve being closed near Sky Harbor Airport, we were home by 10:30.  It was time to go get the monkeys, who had a great time at Jet Pet while we were out of town:

Zoe, clearly enthralled with what this other dog is doing

Bea isn't super dog friendly, so she gets solo play/potty time

Little girl did much better this time at daycare - 

we started her on anti-anxiety pills for situations like this, and they seemed to help

Overall, a great weekend was had by all!  It was awesome to get down to the Old Pueblo and explore areas of the city we hadn't before - we drank well, ate amazingly, enjoyed our respective fitness, and most importantly, had the chance to see some awesome buddies!

Later!

Amy