Another Tucsonan here. Great video! Thanks! I've ridden much of the loop and also walked a fair amount of it. And I just love Tucson. Glad you like it here!
awesome video! i live right on the loop now, but in this video you also passed my last apartment as well as my childhood neighborhood. cool to see lol. another (pretty much brand new) hotel i'd recommend checking out is The Eddy! it's in a great area and is an easy 0.5 miles from the loop. also right next to a Trader Joe's and several great restaurants.
My wife and I love the loop. They just expanded it by connecting Gladden Farms area to the main loop at Avra Valley Rd. Expect a bit more traffic of bikes now as Gladden Farms residential is currently about 32k people. Thank you for mentioning the sun. It is brutal and unforgiving. I now wear long sleeve, moisture wicking shirts. Sun screen anything that is not covered. Always check the loop map before heading out to avoid any closure areas.
Steve Wilson head of Pima County Parks, had a vision. Build a system of parks that are linear in design. Using the main Rivers/Washes, the proposal made a loop around The valley. August of 2007 Chuck Huckleberry signed an addendum that there would be no more money spent on linear parks. There were these old retired guys, who participated in several other bike events, like RAAM, and El Tour de Tucson, and Green Valley Cyclist. Since these guys were retired they liked to meet downtown and have lunch. They would drop into the offices of Chuck and bug him about “The Loop”. April of 2008 they finally wore Chuck down and were given his Administrative Assistant to seek out misc. pockets of money from other county projects. A lot of funding was provided in river bank protection projects, funded by federal funds, as well. It’s taken what it’s taken. With links being added still. The Loop is an excellent example of a vision can become a reality with benefit for just about everyone.
I bike on The Loop regularly. I do appreciate how little it interacts with real roads. I'd say you forgot to highlight the massive homeless encampments under nearly underpass crossing
I did see quite a few along the way. I never felt bothered or threatened by them. They seemed to be minding their own business. I didn't see any merit in recording them because they're already struggling enough; making them a highlight of my video would be cruel. It's a nationwide problem, and there are no easy solutions. I do a lot of volunteering here and if anyone wants to help, there are countless organizations all over the country working to help people escape homelessness. We always need more hands. Homelessness often goes hand in hand with other problems like domestic violence, lack of healthcare, and poverty, and fighting back against any of those issues helps as well.
I can't stand ebikes, and to have to use one on a flat trail in the desert is just embarrassing. I'm 70 and I've ridden the entire loop several times on a real bike, and it's no issue at all.
![Trip Report: Riding The Loop [4K] [Tucson, AZ]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
