337 miles of distance and 16,000 ft gained elevation is pretty much what you get after the first 30 minutes of traveling in a commercial plane. Or you use a bicycle and accomplish the same after 33.5 hours “net saddle-time” during 8 consecutive days.

This might sound very slow and hard but we are glad to have chosen our bikes. So we could get a better glimps of the  rough but very beautiful scenery between Tucson and the mexican border. And we could experience the many different types of landscape in this relatively small area. Tucson with its suburbs is located in a wide warm valley, full of saguaro cacti and houses in adobe-style. Further south we entered the several National Conservation Areas and Forests which are located at higher elevations. The landscape there is changing from valley to valley. Very dry: at this time of the year all of them. Also all of them get really cold at night.  But some are full of mesquite trees while others only host some low brush.

Also the communities we saw are quite different. Tombstone is a “western-town” that celebrates the myth (or truth) of the real men and women in the old days, when fortunes were made and lost more unpredictable and fast. The town-center is dominated by the partly reenacted 1870s life in this region. Everything is kind of original but fake at the same time.

Bisbee is located only 30 miles further south. This town was based on mining until 1976 – then the mine closed and housing-values dropped. As a result the city became home of many artists, hippies and the counter-culture. Of course: this town is also completely dependant of tourism – but in a maybe less shallow or Disneyish way than Tombstone.

The second half of our 8-day-clockwise-loop led us on more and more unpaved dirtroads. This had the very welcomed effect of “no car traffic” but at times was also challenging for our conditions – mentally and gearwise. Our bikes tires got pretty worn out by riding our packed companions over the loose, rough gravel. And our determination and grit was tested during two days that surprised us with pretty much unrideable parts of the route. Luckily we always carried enough food and water – which really paid out when we spontaniously had to decide to pitch our tent in the wild. We ran out of daylight and there was no way to reach our planned campground for the night.

Being back at the starting-point in Tucson after this small trip feels already a bit like cheating. All the basic amenities like warm water directly out of the tap and paved roads will be more appreciated for a while.