Tucson Monsoon

5 a.m. alarm goes off and still it’s dark. I stumble into the bathroom, peer through the blind that faces East and Mt. Lemmon, and behold—where is Mt. Lemmon? Big bad-ass clouds groping around—and a few flashes of that Monsoon lightning. That’s where the party is still going on. Then it will descend on the desert, and on a little rat like me, pedaling like a hamster—tail between my legs.

She needs the car. I said I’d ride the 25 miles to the office. She’ll pick me up at the YMCA in the evening. But dang those clouds—rain will to start at any moment. Do I wake her up? Gentlemen, must I continue this exercise in prose to only remind you of the Wrath you know too well? I didn’t think so

The Raleigh, fitted with fenders for just this occasion, is in need of a repair—so the LeMond has been fitted for the commute. I said I would walk-the-walk—and now Callie is up and wanting me to throw the ball in the front yard. Time to roll.

Steve and I rode/sweated to the top of South Mtn this last weekend, through humidity thicker than the pot of home-made chicken noodle soup Kim made for us post Mtn Ride. It is the very same condition this morning in Tucson, Gentle Reader.

I rode the 25 miles without incident, but my legs were not at %100. I could see the rain on the way—no big deal—just that when it rains here in Tucson, something happens to the average car driver; head goes a bit further up the poop shoot. I am wary of only that. As a Randonneur of some experience, I can withstand the harshest conditions but anything other than blaring sunshine makes Tucson drivers punch-drunk.

Within a few miles of the office, only sprinkles. Once the bike is stowed in the locker, and I’m in the building, the deluge begins.

That’s the Monsoons for you!


In the morning, the river was full as the rain in the mountains made its way down into the Tucson Valley. At this time in the late afternoon, now the river is just muddy bottoms.


On the bike path--a short bridge goes over a wash.


The storms are coming up from the Gulf of Mexico in a type of rythmic cycle called the Monsoons. The forcast for this year's Monsoon season is that it will be unusually wet.

Once again, I just miss the rains coming and going. But's its okay if I get rained on while on the bike. The air, the sky, the sun, and everything else is made more beautiful.

Cheers!