Nogales loop ride (chilly!)

Got together with the TucsonSB guys from the Meetup group today.  16 left Tucson and 2 more from Sierra Vista met us in Nogales, for a total of 18 bikes.  Not bad considering it was 38* when I left the house! It was good ride, I was only ‘chilly’, while some of the guys who don’t normally ride this cold were having issues with their hands due to gloves that weren’t insulated.  Second ride I’ve showed up at with the 1-piece monstrosity on, and kinda smiled inside my helmet when everyone else tries to hide behind their windshield as soon as we start rolling.  I have ridden with this group before (well the organizer and a couple of the regulars), but there were a large number of new faces, so William (the main organizer at the TucsonSB Meetup site) gave a good pre-ride brief.  “Always pass on the left. If you feel you need to slow down, do it, the sweep rider will never pass you. Etc, etc.”  I think he’s got a good handle on the sportbike group thing, in that he understands some of the guys will ‘feel froggy’ on any given day, while newer guys may need some shepherding from the sweep.

Enough yammering, pictars!  The thumb above the post is from pre-ride, as we took over the parking lot at the Shell station on Ajo way just off I-19. We rode down old Nogales Hwy a good ways then jumped up in I-19 for the remainder of the ride to Nogales.  Once there, we promptly took over the parking lot of a local eatery.  They had an all-you-can-eat breakfast bar for just under $6… Mmmm.

After stuffing ourselves, we suited back up and took 82 over through Patagonia to Sonoita.  I was a bit worried about fuel since I filled up in Tucson but not in Nogales, and as we were rolling into Sonoita I was approaching the 120-mile mark, which is beginning to push it for my bike.  3.2 gallons later, and we proceeded to take over the parking lot of the Shell at the corner of 82 and 83 (anybody see a pattern yet?).

About halfway from Nogales to Patagonia, I noticed one of the guys helmets looked funny, but I couldn’t figure out why from 2 bikes back in the formation.  When we stopped for fuel I figured it out:

We had turned off 82 in Patagonia and run up over the hill to the entrance to the Patagonia Lake Park, where I should have stopped to take a picture of the snow covered Santa Rita Mountains, but didn’t.  I did however shoot one from the parking lot in Sonoita:

The last leg up 83 was a bit more ‘spirited’, with a couple of us cutting out ahead of the main group.  I have to admit I kinda left the guys at a couple of spots, but then again I do ride that road as many times a week as possible on the way home.  Of course it had been over a week since I rode it last due to all the rain and snow, but I still ride it way more often than anyone else in the group.  Overall it was a good ride, with a good group.  Definitely some hooligan blood running in the veins of a number of members of the group, but no squids, which is much better than the group I rode with in Dayton.