Arizona Week—Biking Tucson
Once a kayaking guide on Lake Powell, Jimmy Bultman exchanged paddles for pedals and followed his sweetheart to the southern part of Arizona to open Tucson Bike Tours. The compact size and level terrain of the city lends itself well to biking and Jimmy, a history buff, is the ideal guide to give you an overview on a 2-hour ride. We cruised past the restaurants and bars on 4th Avenue to the University of Arizona campus, where Jimmy pointed out the new memorial dedicated to the men who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Arizona. We biked across Rattlesnake Bridge, a bridge that looks like a rattler, and then made our way to Hotel Congress, the hotel where bank robber, John Dillinger, was captured in 1934. There was a jazz festival going on so after the ride, we strolled back to the hotel’s excellent restaurant, Cup Café, to grab lunch and listen to live music. Jimmy next led us to the colorful houses of the historic neighborhood of the Presidio, past Tucson Museum of Art and near the last standing wall of an 18th-century fort built by the Spanish. Outside the home of Lalo Guerrero, the Chicano music legend, Jimmy used a small speaker to play Lalo’s well-known song about the old neighborhood, “Barrio Viejo.” He’s a guide who goes the extra mile to share his passion about the city.