New Year’s Gasline Gramble
About
Back for the third year! The New Year’s Gasline Gramble, an urban pastoral ride meant to celebrate the start of a new year on bikes with friends, whether you truly want to race or are just here to enjoy the ride at your own pace. Some folks finished in under an hour last year; others took almost two and rode in little groups. Doesn’t matter. All bikes, people, and paces are welcomed. This is a free event.
The appeal of this race is not the distance - it's only a shade over 10 miles - but rather the out-of-the-way-ness of it. I came across the gasline road a few years ago while trying to find a reasonable way to connect some of the West Tucson developments. Dead ends, gated roads, gated communities. It’s a hard place to access without pedaling all over the place to connect fragments together. Creating a sensible route through all of this is challenging until you pull up a satellite map and notice a dead straight road cutting through it all - the gasline road.
Because it dives straight through the drainages that come off the west side of the Tucson Mountains, there are some very steep ups and downs. I'd bet these are some of the steepest hike-a-bikes you can find in town, albeit very short. The tread is pretty rough in places, gravel bike-friendly in others, but you should bring a MTB. A fixie has been successfully piloted down this route. That person arrived with bloody knees.
We'll meet at the Circle K on Ina Road (5725 W Ina Rd, Marana, AZ) at 2:30 PM on January 1st, 2026. Grab snacks if you need them, pre-race questions/last-minute info, etc. Neutral start at 3 PM for safety along Ina Road to North Camino Verde (1 mile). The race starts once you turn onto North Camino Verde, and the gasline starts just down this turnoff. You’re racing to the shrine at the base of Tumamoc Hill, so please read below for details on the finish.
Come ride, race, and hang with us to kick off the New Year with something a little different. Celebrate at the end with a snack potluck, and I'll have a pot of (vegan) homemade hot chocolate to keep the cold off as we wait for riders to finish!
Rules/suggestions
- Entry fee: Snack-like dish to contribute to post-race potluck. I'll collect these at the start and shuttle them over to the end. This is the best part so don't skimp, but don't go crazy either. Low-key snacks are great.
- Getting to the start: Depending where you're coming from, it's about 13 miles from town to the Circle K along the Santa Cruz River Path. I suggest pedaling there, but if you’d like to drive, you'll need to make arrangements for picking up your vehicle after. There will likely be a group of folks who pedal up together. More info on that later.
- It was chilly last year at the end while we were hanging out, so I’m happy to shuttle a layer to the finish as well.
- For much of the time, the route essentially runs in the alley between houses, and as such, you'll be subject to barking dogs, turkeys, a donkey (I think it’s still there), and a smattering of private property/no trespassing signs. My understanding is that these are to keep vehicles and off-roading from happening. In places, you'll notice that there are pedestrian cut throughs, horse tracks, and a general sense that folks use this right-of-way. I've ridden the route several times and have never had any issues. You might come across other folks out walking their dogs and enjoying the road/trail, so be kind and courteous.
- You’ll cross several roads on your way, and no one is expecting a bicycle to pop out from the brush/wash/wherever the heck the gasline takes you. Please be super careful.
- There are random little sections of secret urban singletrack, an apartment complex parking lot to cross, and a couple downed telephone polls where I built little ramps/jumps up and over. Send it.
- No route file is provided. The road is dead straight and essentially way-marked by yellow gasline signs. Keep an eye out for these. Google Maps in satellite mode is the best option for navigating if you get turned around.
- The gas line starts at this GPS coordinate off of North Camino Verde (32.333787, -111.105587). Save it on your phone if you like, but it’s fairly obvious.
- The gas line essentially dead ends when you arrive at West Calle Mecedora (32.230918, -111.008222). Save it on your phone. From there, you must find your own route to The Luminous Mother of Tumamoc Hill shrine at the base of Tumamoc Hill to sign in and end your time.
- Time starts when you leave the gas station, and time stops when you reach the shrine and sign in. Don’t stop when you see me/the potcluck crew. Turn up the path to Tumamoc Hill and sign in at the shrine.