I headed out today to do a good ride that includes significant climbing. This was a consolation ride for not having the planned TRC Star Pass Ride (link to one of my previous rides of that route https://ridewithgps.com/trips/17379557).
I planned to have a bit of off-pavement riding. One of those segments is very short and just connects N. Fennimore Ave from at Tanque Verde Elementary to the northern part of the road. I have done this before and it was nice.
Today, they had installed a new fence that had a pedestrian opening. That shouldn't be a problem, but they made it too narrow! It was about 4 inches too narrow for my trike. That is frustrating. I was able to get it through by contorting the trike onto its side and pulling it through, but it was not convenient.
Later, I stopped to take pictures on my most eastern portion of the ride. Then I rode to the base of Mt. Lemmon and took more pictures before riding up to Babad Do'og lookout. It seems no GPS data got recorded between the two photo stops! As my friend Randy Jardee knows about my rides, if there is no data, it didn't happen! I opened a support ticket to discover if this is a bug or if I did something odd when I took the photos.
I then climbed Mt. Lemmon to the lookout. It is a climb that varies from 4.5% gradient to 6.2%, but the average gradient is 4.8%.
I tried to keep my cadence up in the high 80s so I could last longer (i.e., higher cadence lower gear). The data shows I had an average of 78.5 rpm. This is an area I will be working on, but I am pleased with the result. Last time I rode this, last October, my average cadence for this climb was 68.6 rpm. That is an improvement in cadence of almost 14.5%. The speed was slower by about 1 mph, but I was also in better shape then and had been riding much more. That makes this comparison really an apples to oranges comparison, all around.
Coming down I averaged 28.2 mph. When I got to the bottom and turned south on Melpomone, I realized I had only shifted up into my middle chain ring, not my large chain ring. A lost opportunity to improve my best average down.
When I mapped this ride out, I saw where I could take a jog onto the bank of the wash, which would be gravel, mid-way through Conestoga Ave. I turned onto Melpomone and rode to the place to turn onto the bank of the wash but there was a fence with a sign. I turned away to forget about it, when I saw an opening built in for horses to step over. That is odd if this is private property, I thought. I turned around and read the sign. It was posted by the Pima County or the City saying down't take rocks, etc. I then saw another opening that was perfect for the trike and I was off and riding. I had to climb the dirt berm that would parallel the wash. That wasn't too difficult, though it was pretty close to where my tire would break loose its traction. Once on top, it was clear riding all the way to Tanque Verde Rd.
I really enjoyed my ride today. I like the challenge coupled with the character of having a bit here and there off-pavement.