3-Mar-19      SUN -       day 1Tucson to Nogales ↑15%  
On this second week of riding with Pac Tour, we rode all of the first day from last week and some of the second day of last week on our way south to the Mexican border, to Nogales. The border was no more than a quarter mile south of the hotel. While I doubted that the workout I received the first week had any impact on my fitness, it is now clear to me that it did. My moving average on this day on a ride nearly double in length and climbing was more than a full mile per hour faster. That's fairly significant in my opinion. We'll see what succeeding rides bring.  
 BIKE: DFXL166; start time: 07:36; end: 14:05; avg speed:15.9; max: 40.4; climb: 3051; miles:80.69; mtd miles:130.95; ytd miles:1623.39  
 SUNNY; wind: SSW 15-18; start  temp: 54; end: 73  
 
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5-Mar-19      TUE -       day 3 east loop, SV to Bisbee & back ↑9%  
Challenge today was the 2 long climbs - the one to Bisbee, up and over Mule Pass, and the one from Elfreda to Tombstone, 15 miles of small chainring climbing followed by high speed descending with a very significant crosswind. It was enough to make me touch the brakes at 45 mph. It was also a narrow road with more than a little traffic as it is a major shortcut across the hills to Tombstone. Finally in Tombstone, it was very steep navigation of residential streets to get to the historic quarter of Tombstone near where our lunch stop was. Contrasting to the miles of climbing was the very long descent all the way from the top of Mule Pass, down through Bisbee, past the Lavender Mine, three quarters of the way around the roundabout, and north and downhill toward Double Adobe Road. That was fast! I reached my top speed of 47 mph for the day, in that section. The turn onto Double Adobe Road continued the descent, at which time I was coasting at 37 mph for miles. Eventually, it flattened out and my speed dropped to about 23, at which point I began pedaling again. That was sweet! Back to Tombstone, finished up lunch, crossed over the hills to the west of Tombstone, dropped down to the San Pedro River, and undertook the long climb to Sierra Vista. By this time, for some odd reason, I was feeling tired, so while the climb to Sierra Vista was not very steep, it was still a slow speed climb. So, despite high speed descents, for miles, the rolling average still came in at the low 14s. It is what it is, but overall, I still enjoyed the ride. That's the main thing.
 BIKE: DFXL166; start time: 07:31; end: 16:08; avg speed:14.3; max: 47; climb: 4245; miles:100.42; mtd miles:303.67; ytd miles:1796.11  
 SUNNY; wind: SW 10-15; start  temp: 45; end: 73  
 
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7-Mar-19      THU -       day 5 north loop SV to Benson ↑13%  
Doug added a couple links to my chain last night, to make up for the link lost when the chain broke last week. That resulted in chain skip when on the small ring on most of the rear cogs. So I endeavored to do all the climbing in the big ring, which of course was not possible for all of it. When I couldn't, I did the climbing on the 2 largest cogs where chain skip wasn't happening. Adjusting the barrel did very little to help. Steepest grade I noticed was the 13% final climb into Tombstone on Charleston Rd. Then there was the 11% climb out of Benson. That's a relatively short climb at 0.2 mile, but I still had to stay in low gears during the next couple of miles because I have to shift to the second smallest cog to shift to the large chainring and the climbing was too steep, yet, to do that. Finally reached the point of turning onto the divided highway to head south but continue mild climbing to Kartchner Caverns where the lunch stop was located. After lunch, I got back onto the double highway, went about 5 miles, and had my first flat of the trip. A screw, screwed me! The screw penetrated the tire, tube, and rim! It took a bit of effort to remove it. There was a hole in the rim, so I booted that right over the rim tape (tubeless rim tape) by using a strip of Park Boot material. I put a new tube in and a new tire on. I could patch the other tube later and boot or patch the inside of the tire I took off. which only had about 500 miles on it. I had some help from a road bike guy who insisted on sticking around and helping. He was a Pac Tour rider named Bruce. And he was helpful. Getting a front tire on, on a cool day, is quite difficult. We both took stabs at it. Finally did get it on. I pumped it using the on-board floor pump, got it up to 100, and put it back on the velo. After that I finished up the ride, which involved another 11 miles of mostly climbing, followed by about 3 miles of fast descent to the hotel. Repair held up well but I was stressing a little as I had no spare tube for that final 14 miles nor a patch kit. I'll be adding a patch kit to my tool bag after this. There was also the question of the rear tire. At the end of this ride, the rear tire had 6270 miles on it. I carry a spare rear and a couple tubes but haven't actually tried removing the rear tire and didn't want that experience to happen on the road. But I was certainly taking chances with that tire. Doug suggested that the max mileage on the rear should be about 5500 miles. In the first week the rest of the tread wear indicators disappeared and I'd been walking a tightrope with that tire, checking it every day, and sometimes half way through the day. Well, one more day - fingers crossed!  
 BIKE: DFXL166; start time: 07:36; end: 13:51; avg speed:15.9; max: 49.2; climb: 2562; miles:79.4; mtd miles:457.67; ytd miles:1950.11  
 CLOUDY; wind: SSW 15-30; start  temp: 64; end: 69  
 
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