The ride left the University of Arizona and picked up people along the route.
The ride left the University of Arizona at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday and picked up people along the route.

Here are few photos from this weekend’s Swift Campout on Mount Lemmon. Ten cyclists braved the heat to head 17 miles up Catalina Highway to Rose Canyon Lake Campground.

The high in Tucson on Saturday was 110, but was a mere 95 degrees at the campground.

Duncan Benning, the ride organizer and Transit Cycles owner, will have a full writeup, but in the mean time, check out a few more photos and the route for the ride.

Here’s my GPS route. It ended up being just shy of 75 miles with 5,000 feet of climbing.

Transit Cycles owner Duncan Benning leads the group out.
Transit Cycles owner Duncan Benning leads the group out.

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It got hot fast.
It got hot fast.
Luckily there were SAG stops like these on the way up the mountain.
Luckily there were SAG stops like these on the way up the mountain.
Shade breaks were required. At one point my Garmin registered a temperature of 104 while on the mountain.
Shade breaks were required. At one point my Garmin registered a temperature of 104 while on the mountain.
Kids and spouses joined in at the campsite.
Kids, friends and spouses joined us at the campsite.
The next morning we got an early start to avoid the heat once we left the relative coolness of the pines.
The next morning we got an early start to avoid the heat once we left the relative coolness of the pines.

In all 10 people rode up on various bikes from upright city bikes with front baskets to mountain bikes, to touring bikes to road bikes. It was brutally hot, but a lot of fun.

4 thoughts on “Photos: Bike camping on Lemmon”
  1. Looks like a lot of fun. Overnight or weekend tours are very doable, compared to taking time off for and planning long trips.

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