Sunday, March 18th 2018, Day 1, Tucson to Nogales
This was the first day of Pac Tour Desert Camp, 2nd Century Week. The title is something of a misnomer as I didn't do any centuries, part by happenstance and part by choice. I've done many Pac Tour events but I've never done a Desert Camp week, even though it's been offered for several years in March. This particular day's ride was the ride from Tucson to Nogales, right down on the border with Mexico and a border wall visible on the hillside just south of the hotel we stayed at. I rode the velomobile this day and I have to say it was a lot of fun especially on the many rollers we encountered. That's because the rollers turn the velomobile into a perpetual motion machine - down one, building momentum, up the next on momentum and never touching the pedals, down the next, and so on. It's also a good climbing machine on mild hills. I was able to pass most road bikes on easy grades while in the big ring. I was surprised about that. Then there were the really challenging hills - 11, 13, 14, & 16%. Challenging because I was riding a 55 lb vehicle with additional carry weight of perhaps 10 lb plus my weight. That's a lot of inertia when momentum doesn't take care of it. But I even managed those hills. Rounding it out were the miles long grades of 3% and 5% - those had me grinding along at relatively low speed. Even so, I wasn't passed by anyone nor did I catch anyone. You take the bad with the good, but on this day the good won the day!      
BIKE: DF 166; start time: 07:48; end: 14:42; avg:15.1; max: 36; climb: 3097; miles: 80.37
PARTLY cloudy; wind: W 5-SW10; start  temp: 48; min: 48; avg: 64; max: 75; end: 70
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2566748816

Tuesday, March 20th, 2018, day 3, Bisbee - Gleeson Loop
Hoping for a better day, I started off planning on doing the long loop which would be 97 miles and would pass through Bisbee and Gleeson. Because the Velo was locked away in one of the trailers, I ended up getting a later than usual start as I had to restock the Velo with the essentials before I could leave. So I saw very few riders in the first few miles. I passed a couple and one passed me. The latter was because I was attempting to stay to the right of the rumble strip. That space was so narrow that I had to run the left wheel on the rumble strip at times to keep the right wheel from going off the pavement. I could not go fast. The road bike rider was riding to the left of the rumble strip and as it was a downhill, he made very good time on the way down. After that, I rode to the left of the rumble strip as well until I reached the San Pedro River. After that the shoulder got a little better and I returned to the right of the rumble strip. The road continued uphill gradually getting steeper. So this whole section was slow. I reached the first rest stop at mile 17 and pulled in there. I was feeling uncertain about what could possibly go wrong with the velomobile next and the riders at that first stop were advising that the road gets very steep as it reaches the summit of the pass. Between uncertainty about the steepness of the hill and the potential for anymore breakdowns, I decided to skip the long route and do the short route. That entailed turning around and going downhill to head straight for Tombstone. As soon as I turned back, I tried to get into the big ring and it wouldn't go. I knew much of the route to Tombstone trended downhill. I would just have to pedal the hills and would coast until my speed dropped to 15 mph. There were a couple long climbs in the beginning, after turning around, and a climb into Tombstone. The rest of it entailed a lot of coasting. It was around 16 miles to Tombstone. The lunch truck wouldn't be there yet so I had lunch on my own. Then I paid a visit to the lunch truck an hour later to let them know what I was doing and then I left for Sierra Vista. Had a big slow bump after lunch and then about 8 miles of coasting roller after roller. Once I crossed the San Pedro River, I had a longish climb and that's when disaster struck. Once again the drive train was making a lot of unusual noise and the chain was dragging on the bottom of the carbon fiber shell. I decided I should stop and investigate. But, upon trying to reposition the pedals for easier unclipping, I realized the pedals wouldn't backpedal. I managed to dismount anyway, moved the velo off the road, and waited for Lon to arrive with my van. I'd called him and he was just leaving Tombstone. When he arrived I'd decided to put the velo in the van and be done with it. At the mechanics stand, it was determined that the chain was cutting into the carbon fiber tunnel and was stuck. That's why it wouldn't turn backwards. I went to Lowes and bought some plastic tubing and Lon and Mark installed that as a temporary replacement for the missing chain tube. I test rode the velo around the hotel a couple times but I wasn't satisfied. There was a very loud noise coming from the rear derailleur, or so it seemed. It was too late to do anything else that day and I agreed to ride a road bike the next day.  
 BIKE: DF 166; start time: 08:01; end: 13:20; avg:13.8; max: 41.5; climb: 1572; miles: 42.67  
 SUNNY; wind: SE 3-10; start  temp: 57; min: 55; avg: 77; max: 86; end: 82  
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2572727204

Thursday, March 22nd 2018, day 5,  BENSON KARTCHNER CAVES LOOP
I rode pretty much solo on this one although I rode with my room mate from Tombstone until he had a flat and told me to go on. I rode with Bruce and Sally for the last 4 miles - other than that, I was on my own. The first part of the ride was from Sierra Vista to Tombstone. That's mostly uphill. I felt great and passed many riders I thought would be faster on a climb. I was also passed by a long paceline. I thought about getting on but it goes against my grain to draft. So I resisted the urge. The rest stop at Tombstone was actually before the main part of town. I stayed there about 15 minutes and then headed north toward Benson, which is on I-10. This is the part where I rode with my room mate. He had a blow out in St David and I stopped with him but he said he didn't need any help. So I went on toward Benson. Caught up to Susan and Barb and stayed with them until the Visitor Center where I picked up a map of Arizona and a map of Cochise County, which occupies the SE corner of the state and is where we were riding. The second rest stop was just beyond and I refilled my Hammer Nutrition in my bottle. I also had a camelbak now as I remembered that I had an REI daypack in the van which had a pocket for a bladder. So, with the camelbak and a brand new Garmin mount on the handlebar, I was almost at home on the road bike. The only thing lacking was a set of aerobars for shifting hand position. From Benson we headed toward Karchner Caverns, where the lunch stop was located. Most riders toured the caverns. I didn't as my sciatica would be giving me pain if I tried to walk the caverns. The sciatica doesn't bother me on the bike, fortunately. There was a steep 10%, long climb, after Benson and then a miles long gentler climb toward the lunch stop. There was also a headwind which would become a bigger factor after lunch. But it was getting hotter and I was enjoying the breeze because it had a slight cooling effect. Lunch was great and the shade was nice. Fortunately, it was dry heat! The next segment of the ride took us through Huachuca City and a long descent followed by a longer climb. That's when I had the flat - front flat. I was in front of an abandoned steel building with a large concrete block in the front. I parked the bike in the shade and sat on the block while I took care of the flat. Never could find what caused the flat. Put the new tube in, pumped it up, and it held air - win win. From there it was just a few miles in. Rode with Bruce and Sally in the last few miles and when we got to the hotel she brought me a beer from their stash - that hit the spot. This would have been an excellent ride on the velo - too bad I missed out on that. Tomorrow: the last day - back to Tucson.
 BIKE: Lon's Trek; start time: 07:41; end: 14:37; avg:15.1; max: 33.4; climb: 2582; miles: 76.61  
 PARTLY CLOUDY; wind: S 10-15; start  temp: 59; min: 50; avg: 80; max: 93; end: 90  
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2572727312