Ride to Mount Lemmon, Sun 5/22 8am

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Mudslide Miller

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I have a ride posted up on AZBeemers for a ride to Mount Lemmon in Tucson. Wanted to extend the offer to any of our Phx/Tucson brethren. I've yet to meet any of the other FJR riders around here with the exception of Scoot.

Meeting at Goldfield Chevron in Apache Junction for an 8am departure. Taking the back route down (Rt 79).

 
More than likely I can attend.

Which I will confirm on Friday.

Thanks for posting this ride and also spearheading this up!

 
If I am in town (might be in Phoenix) I would like to join u. Since I am in Tucson how would u suggest we meet? There is a brkfst restaurant called LeBuzz (9121 E Tanque Verde Rd, Ste 125, Tucson, AZ 85749) near the base before u start up the mountain. Popular place to meet before going up). Would u like to stop there before u go up?

 
Sounds good guys! Breakfast before we head up sounds good. Maps show it to be 104 miles to the restaurant for us so I would guess an arrival between 9:45 & 10. I'll PM you guys to get your cells in case we run into any delays.

Thanks for the restaurant suggestion.

 
I rode up there last year around this time when I was visiting my dad in Tucson Medical Center. It hit 102 degrees in Tucson but was cool up at the top. I was very surprised that there is a ski resort in southern Arizona! Nice ride but the speed limit is very low and lots of cops along the way...

 
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^^^^^^

10-4 Allen, No Fear. Lots of police protection.

 
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I got to ride on it many, many years ago right after it had new pavement. It was smooth as glass and my tires stuck like glue. I ran it about 3 times, and after finding out there were no LEO's got to really enjoy the 2nd and 3rd pass. Not sure what the condition is anymore.

 
The mtn will be packed with bicycles and cars on a Sunday prime time. But with patience it's a good ride. LeBuzz has good food as do 2 restaurants on the mountain. U can ride it hard at 7am weekdays off season - 26 miles of twisties...

 
Gary, thanks for putting this ride together.

Good time riding the mountain and meeting your group, good people.

 
No problem Karl. Thanks to you, Craig and Ed for showing up with our motley crew. We had a lot of fun. Here's my write-up from the AZB site - Yes another Beemer bites the dust (at least it wasn't a final drive)

Was a very nice ride. Met up with Darrel Wells near my house then met up at the Goldfield Chevron with Mark & Julie, Charles, Jim, new AZBeemer Darel (on his nice K1300S) and FJR Forum rider Craig (from Goodyear). We headed south on 79 and picked up Gerard along the way. Met up with FJR guys Ed and Karl in Tucson at the designated restaurant, but it was too crowded so we walked down to a nearby Mexican restaurant and had a real nice breakfast (very cheap & very delicious). Where else can you get a chicken fried steak and eggs with hash browns for $6. Somewhere along the line we lost Jim (turned out he was playing chess with someone at the other café) and nobody had his phone # and he didn't see us leave so Gerard went and hunted him down. We knew he wasn't going anywhere cuz we had his bike pinned in, in the parking lot. After breakfast we climbed the hill, stopped at the midway vista, stopped for a few photos and went up to the ski area, where the slingshots were sitting in the parking lot. We decided to go up and sit on the restaurant patio for a few refreshments, coffee and some had pie & ice cream. The wind chill up there was probably a very cool 50 degrees.

After heading back down we parted into various groups going different ways. I rode back with Jim and Darel (on the K13). Darel and I stopped for gas near Eloy and Jim kept going. Once we were back on I-10 in the blustery wind, we saw Jim on the side of the road messing with his rear tire. We pulled over and helped him to put some plugs in a hole he had but that, unfortunately, did not fix the problem. His ME880 had apparently delaminated below the tread and was causing his bike to wobble really bad. He ended up have to call a tow so we waited until we made sure that help was on the way before we departed. By then Mark & Julie & Craig had come by to see what was going on.

Aside from the bad tire, it was another great day of riding with great people.

A few more pics:

https://s408.photobucket.com/user/profmil19/slideshow/Mt Lemmon ride

 
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