Peace of Mind at the little park near my new office.
There is a little park not from from my new office. Its right at the start of the city's urban bike routes--kind of a quieter street more direct route through this older part of Tucson. Me, I'm a roadie and I'm good riding the narrow bike lanes with cars passing me by just a few feet.
But this park is like a sanctuary for me, and for all kinds of working people. Professional people, laborers, students--we all go just to get away, enjoy the trees and cool sun--and the mountains.
When I drive, I come here to get away from the chaos and often over-energetic students at the Art School. This morning I had to tell a bunch of them to be quiet, as other students, and my working on some sort of problem--had had enough. The park has a pretty calming effect, and its only a few minutes away.
Tall, graceful, and solid--a good vibe.
I sat at the base of this regal palm tree and ate my lunch. The grass was fresh and cool, and I could have just fallen asleep here for awhile.
My daily commuter--1977 Raleigh Super Grand Prix.
The morning ride is cool and the roads clear, Gentle Readers of This Blog. I have to hustle and get moving as I am the one in charge of opening and getting the command center up and going. The sun is just coming up over the Catalina Mtn Range as I'm arriving at the office. In that early morning light, I'm riding 19 to 22 mph -- here I'm just cruising down the neighbor hood streets to the park.
Wind -- storms coming into Tucson.
I got started later than I wanted, but that's okay because on the bike, I sail past the congestion of auto traffic. In the photo above, I'm usually on the other side of the river--that part is not paved yet--the south side is paved for bikes from Campbell Ave to the Country Club bridge that I've been using. Its faster, but that didn't make much difference this evening mes amis--a strong headwind made me work hard.
On the way home with all my stuff.
Doing or trying to do interval training on River Rd was tough because I had a strong headwind. As soon as River turned into Thornydale, the wind died down and I just have the home stretch and one big hill. At Ina, I came upon another commuter, and we rode together all the way to Arthur Pack Park. As we rode and talked, we both realized that our paths had crossed a few time before.
My route to work is actually my old University route from way back--and I explained to my riding partner that I was back on it again. "My name is Bruce, by the way..." I said. "Hey, I remember now--you're Bruce that used to work at AHSL, right?" and then I was like, "Wait a sec, you Bruce too, right? Your office is in the basement of the Library--in the telemedicine section." So that was cool, and we had nice chat and laugh or two.
Bruce turned off for home just a few streets before I reached the park. I'm sure we'll meet again on our commutes!
Cheers! Bruce
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