Denise Edwards
Around 30 members of the SaddleBrooke Cyclemasters went on a fun-filled, two-day bike tour from Oct. 4 to 6 to Phoenix and Scottsdale. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Scottsdale near Old Town, and the first night we had a catered dinner from nearby Oregano’s—super pizza, spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad! A big thank you to Cherrill Kallio, who brought lots of homemade, yummy peanut butter cookies to share. We carb loaded up for our first ride on Oct. 5. We broke up into four groups, and Rod Hutton, Marty Herbert, Jim Thom, and Marie Bienkowski were our fantastic group leaders. They all did a great job of keeping track of us and leading our rides each day.
On Tuesday, we had a lovely ride of about 24 miles (with a bit of rain thrown in for extra excitement) seeing the sites around Old Town Scottsdale, Hole in the Rock, and the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. In the afternoon, after we cleaned up, many of us gathered in the lobby for snacks and libations, and others went out into the town to shop or see some of the local sights.
On Wednesday, we had great weather as we toured the Biltmore Loop, riding 26 miles, seeing how the other one percent live, riding around the Wrigley Mansion, Biltmore Estate, and along the canals and Arizona Falls.
A great time was had by all! The Cyclemasters are planning another trip to San Diego in the spring, and we always meet for a one-hour ride within the SaddleBrooke campus on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, at the HOA1 clubhouse near the bocce ball court and basketball court. We break into groups based on how intensely or leisurely we like to ride, and then meet up after our one-hour ride at the HOA1’s RoadRunner for coffee and/or breakfast afterwards. We start at 8:30 a.m. in November and at 9 a.m. in December and January. Membership for a whole year is only $10, and riding is a great way to get some exercise, meet some new friends, and best of all, have fun! Everyone is welcome to join us and/or check out our website with all the latest news at SaddleBrookeCyclemasters.org.