Bike tour: Day 2 - the ride

[expedition_retirement]

The second day of our bike tour was an out-and-back ride, where we rode out to the end of the route and then retraced the same route back to our hotel. On the way out, we rode by the end-point of our morning ride, following the frontage road along the interstate highway for about half the ride before transitioning to a bike trail alongside a different road to the turn around point. I can't say that the scenery was particularly memorable ride, although the desert landscape is considerably different than what we've seen on earlier bike tours. The ride wasn't particularly difficult, so we made good time, which left us lots of time to explore at our stops.

On the way back to the end point of the morning ride, we made a stop at the 

Santa Cruz Chili and Spice Company, just a short distance from the end of the ride. The scent of the spices greeted us even before we walked into the shop, and it was fun exploring the various spices and seasoning mixes they offered. We ended up buying some seasoning and a couple of soup mixes to bring home to enjoy. We then finished the last, short portion of our ride to the Tumacácori National Historical Park, another colonial Spanish mission site. We spent quite a bit of time exploring this site before we mounted our bikes for our shorter afternoon ride back to the resort.

The afternoon ride took us back through the town of Tubac, and this time we stopped to explore the town. We had a light lunch in the deli here before walking around to take a look at the various art galleries and shops that make up the town. Many of these shops included extensive collections of various sculpture work in various styles, much of it influenced by the local Hispanic culture. After we explored the town, we continued our return ride, making a short stop at the cemetery at the edge of town along the way.