You never know what adventure the ride will bring….

An Urban Hobo Adventure

When we set out his morning, we stopped at the gate to decide where we wanted to ride? More to the point, it was a debate over who had the best coffee. Initially I had wanted to pick some place new. A place that might afford us a change in scenery. Ultimately we agreed on one of our usual hangouts (Einstein’s Bagels) because we love their coffee. We did however, decide to explore a new route.

A few minutes into the ride we had to pull over because I wanted to get a picture of my bike. Actually, my new kickstand. (It’s funny how excited I get over a new piece of equipment.) 

Treat #1. The first leg of our trip had us riding directly towards Camelback mountain. The “Praying Monk” was looming larger and larger as we continued on our Easterly course. We rode almost to the base of the mountain. In all my years here in Phoenix, I’ve never been this close to the Monk.

I thought the next leg of our trek was going to be  bit boring as we were riding down the sidewalk, next to the main street. Not too much excitement here. At the first stop-light, Shawn made another route suggestion and had us cut through the Chase parking lot at 44^th street and Camelback (a gorgeous Mid-Century Modern  building.) We’ve ridden past here a thousand times and admired the architecture. Today, since it was Sunday,  we were rode on the actual customer sidewalk. Treat #2, a naked lady! Well, a statue of one anyway. There are several statue’s surrounding the perimeter of the bank. I’d never noticed them before. 

You see the most wonderful things from the seat of a bike!

A short time later, we reached our coffee stop. 

Over breakfast we planned out the return route. We were pretty sure where the road would take us, but had never driven/ridden this particular stretch. As we were riding along, enjoying the scenery  we pulled up short! Treat #3. We discovered the coolest statue I’ve ever seen. A life-sized horse made out of every imaginable salvaged item. The individual pieces were not very big, but together they formed the horse. There was even a fresh hay bale! We spent a considerable amount of time examining the statue from all sides. It was fascinating!

Back on the bikes and we continued on our way. Shawn’s guess was correct. We ended up at the intersection of Lincoln Drive and Tatum Boulevard. Treat#4. We stopped off at the Barry Goldwater memorial. It’s pretty cool.

Back on the bikes and heading for home. We had a very fun ride along Lincoln Drive, up and down the hills. What started out to be a routine ride for coffee, turned into a great adventure. An unexpected ART ride! By throwing the planning out the window and looking for any route but the usual, we were treated to some very cool surprises. This was by far the most fun ride we’ve taken in a long time. It just goes to show that you never know what adventure the ride will bring.