Start Date:

Mar 14, 2020

End Date:

Mar 20, 2020

Start Location:

Tucson, AZ

End Location:

Tucson, AZ

Total Days:

7

Riding Days:

5

Rest Days:

2

Miles:

231

Average Daily Mileage:

46.2

Surface:

Paved

Riders:

40

Elevation Alert:

High point: 5200'

Airport:

Tucson Intl. (TUS)

Meals:

Catered meals

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Meals - Catered meals

Our catering staff will provide all meals and rest stops will be located approximately every 25 miles. You'll start each day with a hot breakfast, followed by a mid-morning rest stop to fuel you on to lunch. Another rest stop awaits you mid-afternoon and you'll be rewarded each evening with a sumptuous dinner. Vegetarian and special dietary needs will be accommodated, though food selection may be limited in some locations.

Accommodations:

Camping, Motel Options

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Accommodations - Camping, Motel Options

Campsites range from private campgrounds to state parks to school athletic fields. Bathrooms are available at each evening's campsite. If access to indoor facilities is unavailable or insufficient, we may supplement the facilities with portable toilets and a shower truck. Fully supported tours are designed to be primarily camping trips, but motel options are often available at the participants' expense. For those who elect to stay indoors, a list of indoor accommodations is provided 60 days before your trip's departure and participants must make their own arrangements for indoor lodging. In most cases, motels will be located within a few miles of the official campsite and we will be happy to pick up and drop off luggage from the lodging facilities identified in the Tour Information Packet. You will need a good freestanding tent with a ground cloth, a sleeping bag rated appropriately for the season and elevation of your tour, and a sleeping pad.

Physical Difficulty:

Intermediate

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Physical Difficulty - Intermediate

Characterized by rolling terrain and medium-distance days (40–60 miles per day). Intermediate tours can involve some climbing, but the climbs are usually shorter (1–2 miles), and the grade tends to be no greater than 6% for an extended period. These tours are best for individuals who are regular or semi-regular cyclists.

Level of Support:

Fully Supported

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Level Of Support - Fully Supported

Adventure Cycling's fully supported tours — where all personal and group gear is transported by a vehicle each day — are larger groups (typically between 40 and 90 riders) who will camp together with occasional indoor overnights and enjoy catered meals. Indoor lodging options are often available at the participant's expense (see “Accommodations” for more information).

Cost:

$1,509.00

Single Supplement:

$150.00

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Single Supplement

This tour will use motels/hotels for overnight accommodations. The standard price includes double occupancy. If traveling solo, you will be placed with a same gender roommate. If you are interested in a single supplement for an additional fee, please check with the Tours office, 800.611.8687 or send us an email at tours@adventurecycling.org.

Restricted Bike Type:

Trike, eTrike

Overview

Get an early taste of spring in the high Sonoran Desert. The luggage support, catered meals, two nights of indoor lodging, and moderate daily mileages will help us ease gently back into the spin of things as we pedal beneath the blue Arizona sky.

The route starts just outside of Tucson and traverses country roads and climbs over the cactus-studded flanks of desert mountains. We’ll visit Green Valley, which is famous for its pecans, as well as the Patagonia/Sonoita area, where the cowboy lifestyle thrives alongside exquisite vineyards and a blooming art community. We’ll have a chance to tour places like Tombstone’s O.K. Corral and Bisbee, with time for other pursuits such as bird watching, gallery hopping, and wine tasting. So leave the winter chill behind and join us for a week of bike touring in the Desert Southwest.

Day 1

Tucson, 0 miles. We’ll meet up in the afternoon at a campground situated at the southeast edge of the city. Here we’ll have a lip-smackin’ dinner from our wonderful caterer and have our first map meeting. When it’s time to hit the tent, we’ll doze off in the delightfully cool, dry Arizona air. If time permits before the tour begins, pay a visit to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in northwest Tucson, where you can learn a great deal about the territory through which you’ll be pedaling.

Day 2

Tucson to Patagonia Lake State Park, 59 miles. Heading south from Tucson, we’ll roll along the Sonoita Highway between the twin peaks of Mount Fagan, the northernmost of the Santa Rita Mountains. We’ll climb an impressive 3,400+ feet today and pass through Patagonia, home to the Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, ending at Patagonia Lake State Park, a destination for birding complete with lakeside trails and a beach.  

Day 3

Patagonia to Tombstone, 66 miles. We’ll leave Patagonia, riding northeast to Elgin, which joins Patagonia and Sonoita as the third town making up the “Mountain Empire” of southern Arizona. The vast, mountain-ringed grasslands support high-desert vineyards that supply grapes for wines made locally and have served as backdrops for movies ranging from Oklahoma to Kevin Costner’s Tin Cup. From Elgin we’ll push on to Tombstone, where we’ll enjoy an evening of indoor lodging.

Day 4

Tombstone to Bisbee, 45 miles. From Tombstone, we’ll bicycle through empty, broad-shouldered country that unfolds against the distant mountains. Following roads with names like “Frontier” and “Double Adobe,” we’ll make the approach to the mile-high town of Bisbee, founded in 1880. Mines in the Mule Mountains surrounding this former boomtown produced some three million ounces of gold and more than eight billion pounds of copper, making it one of the world’s richest turn-of-the-20th-century mineral camps. We’ll camp for two nights in Bisbee at the centrally located Higgins Park, a fine base camp for exploring all of this historic town’s features and attractions.

Day 5

Bisbee, 0 miles. Layover day. By the early 20th century, Bisbee, with a population of 20,000, was the largest city in the Southwest. Though the population has shrunk to around 6,000, Bisbee has grown into a thriving center of the arts with plenty to see and do. You might take a walking tour of the historic downtown and beautifully restored Victorian homes that seem to hang from the hillsides, go underground and visit an inactive copper mine, or clunk along the dusty roads of the surrounding mountains on a commercial jeep tour. If you’d rather bicycle, you can do the 45-mile round trip ride to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area, where a multitude of birds, mammals, and amphibians thrive in the Chihuahuan Desert grasslands.

Day 6

Bisbee to Sierra Vista, 38 miles. A short but scenic route through the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area highlights our day as we eat our lunch along the banks of the river. Designated in 1988, the San Pedro Riparian NCA was designated to protect and enhance the desert riparian ecosystem, which is now a rare remnant of what was once a much more extensive network of similar riparian systems throughout the Southwest. We’ll take a break from setting up our tents again tonight in lue of indoor accommodations.

Day 7

Sierra Vista to Kartchner Caverns State Park, 24 miles. On our last day,  a short ride will take us into Kartchner Caverns State Park, where you’ll have an opportunity to hike or take a tour of the Rotunda/Throne Room or Big Cave Room, home to the world’s most extensive formation of brushite moonmilk. After our visit, we’ll shuttle back to Tucson at tour’s end, where stout saguaro cacti, standing with arms extended, will bid us farewell.

"I love the little towns, particularly Patagonia. Tombstone was interesting but did not get to see much of it. Bisbee is a fascinating and historic community. The roads were generally fine and not too busy. The terrain was sufficiently challenging but not intimidating for this early season rider who was not in top shape."

"After a long, cold, snowy winter I enjoyed riding under the bright Arizona sunshine."

"Great people! Good heads, good story, great variety."

"I had special dietary requirements, and the cook staff went out of their way to make sure that I had wonderful food for every meal. I am so appreciative."