Just below the south rim, Arizona River Runner guide, Amber looks downstream from the Unkar Overlook toward the Inner Gorge of Grand Canyon.

The canyon ascends and recedes in layers of azure blue shadows. The reflections of towering red wall breaks apart in dancing patterns on the river and blue sky — golden lines merge, disappear, then turn silver — a dark line splintering against soft white foam. Like the changing seasons of our lives, the river changes colors from clear emerald green, then red, then brown as iced mocha, then clear again. The river constantly changes and we never experience the same river twice.

Exploring the river can be done in a day, a week or three weeks. If you add all the rapids in the Grand Canyon’s 280 mile length, all the excitement of white water would be less than 15 minutes long. Some see the Grand Canyon as a natural wonder, others as a religious experience, and some, like me, the canyon as our home. My first trip was the summer I turned 12 when I spent three weeks on a youth outing. My parents were separating, I was entering awkward teenage years, and change was inevitable just around the bend. Since that first trip over 35 years ago I have been listening to the river. Over the years I’ve met many people who have traveled through the canyon. They shared their passions and read us philosophy, geology journals, cowboy poems; played guitars; cooked great food; knew how to row downstream in an upstream wind. From these river jockeys we youngsters learned how to read the water at the different stages of life.

It’s not an uncommon question from passengers to the seasoned guide, “Have you ever flipped a boat?” With a dip of an oar and a coyote like sly glance downstream, the answer is humble and they remain in the grace of the river Gods. Like life, a flip is a given, it’s not if but when. I listen to the wind, “Face your danger. Keep it straight. Keep your angle. Should you find yourself in the water, actively participate in your own rescue… And don’t give up… get it right!”

When faced with adversity, spontaneous singing and hoots have occurred from the boatman. Upon entering Lava Falls one looks up for the eye of Oden for good luck. I grip the oars and squint into the blinding sun. I search for the bubble line — an almost indiscernible line that is the key to threading the needle in the midst of chaos below. I am gliding into chaos. I line up and hit it straight with feeling.

Our natural wonder is our neighborhood of good will. Trips begin and end. A fellow traveler told me, “Relationships are like campsites, we should leave them better than we found them.” People come and go but their presence remains. I have witnessed the silhouettes of our human family through the ages along the river’s shores. For many retired visitors it’s their first time sleeping under the stars. Moments like memories come in waves, overlapping and braid in the currents of the life stream. People don’t expect the effects of the long quiet stretches on either side of the rapids until they return home. All and all, running the canyon is about helping people, these newly formed tribes, find their place in the world like stones washed upon the shore. In this grand place we live, the idea of stewardship for each other and to discover the true legacies inspired by the wild places in nature and within ourselves. No matter their age or status in life, the river teaches humility and understanding that the journey is the destination. Some people know it will be their first and only trip on their Bucket List. Others will come back again, for one more run or a hundred more. I still think of a woman cancer survivor I met years ago. She quietly asked if she could have a moment to be alone and stand naked under the waterfall. When she rejoined us she was radiant with tears of joy. Those who knew her story also smiled with tears in their eyes. In a few days people celebrate, dance, share life stories, explore and experience a new vision of the world. Together they have overcome their fears of water, heights, and death. They explore the depths of their own lives and join the conversations of the river flowing by.

Thousands have camped along these shores but the only signs are their footprints in the sand. No trash, not even a cigarette butt or plastic bag. People learn stewardship and kinship in this extreme landscape. Trust is given, the guiding presence of hands reaching out to help one another across a cliff face; an older man offers a steady arm fording a rushing stream; people heave ho and right a capsized boat in winter cold. People’s faces become weather worn, sun kissed. With each day, week, the light in their eyes grows brighter. I have seen people break down from dehydration; and from their fear of the unknown and the sheer profound beauty of it all.

A river trip of volunteers work together to right a flipped boat
after a unexpected swim at Crystal Rapid on a winter’s day.

Like the river, life doesn’t move linearly but rather cyclically. More years go by and I find myself cycling back to the touchstones along the way. Again I am on a familiar shore, looking down steam. People and boats are small insignificant dots bathed in golden light; with a circle of chairs a community is being made. Dinner is simmering, aromas rising and strangers-now-friends visit, helping one another with camp chores. They pause and look upstream. It is enough to just sit on a rock, and contemplate the symphony of nature, the crescendo of a canyon wren and human laughter echoing across the water. A low moan of a saxophone note catches the air and lingers just like a raven’s line of flight. Don’t wait too long before you sleep under the stars.

Raechel Running has run close to a hundred trips through the canyon as a river support cook. Running has been documenting visual stories of the Southwest and the US/Mexico borderlands of Chihuahua and Sonora Mexico since 2007. Recently transplanted to Barrio Viejo, she looks forward to watching her new garden grow and calling Tucson home. raechelrunning.com

Sand dunes at Death Valley National Park, where most of the landscape is dry.

The mention of Death Valley National Park conjures images of vast dryness, sun-cracked salt flats, barren mountains strewn with boulders, wind parched sand dunes.  If an animal comes to mind, it would be a vulture or sidewinder or kangaroo rat, a nocturnal rodent that metabolically generates water from seeds and never needs to take a drink during its lifetime. If someone told me that tumbling water chock full of fish and surrounded by lush plantings of maiden hair fern and willow trees existed outside of the developed Furnace Creek’s resorts I would have accused them of an April Foolery. The joke, however, would have been on me, for Death Valley used to be a lake which dried up at the end of the last ice age. Lake Manly, as it is now called, left several remnants, and on a recent trip, my daughter Ava and I explored two.

Salt Creek in Death Valley National Park, home to Salt Creek pupfish.

Salt Creek  Tucked behind sand dunes and surrounded by salt encrusted ground lies Salt Creek. A 1.0 mile long boardwalk follows the creek’s lower reach making exploration easy. Pickleweed and saltgrass grow thick near the waterway. There are no trees, so make sure you wear a hat, and bring your own water for Salt Creek is just that, salty. In fact it’s two to three times saltier than seawater and the water temperature can reach upwards of 112 degrees (hot tubs top off at 104 degrees).

From the boardwalk, we scan the waters and easily spot what makes the creek special: inch-long Death Valley pupfish, a subspecies of pupfish that is only found at Salt Creek, and have adapted to the water’s high temperatures and saline conditions. The tiny fish dart back and forth in the shallows, and are believed to be the last survivors of what once lived within ancient Lake Manly. At several points the boardwalk crosses the creek, and try as we might we can’t spot one pupfish in the creek’s deeper sections. During the summer months, this portion of the creek runs dry and the fish find safe harbor in the pools in the upper portion, reached by trail at the far end of the boardwalk. Almost as bountiful as the fish are signs instructing hikers to stay on the boardwalk, yet, nearly every mud flat is marked with boot prints. We were careful not to add ours as we wandered about. Salt Creek is a short drive on a well-graded gravel road, off of Scotty’s Castle Road, north of Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center.

Darwin Falls Named after a prominent area rancher, not the father of evolution theory, Darwin Falls is located on the Park’s far western boundary, off Highway 190, near Panamint Springs Resort. Getting there is not for the faint of heart nor with a low-clearance vehicle. From the Park’s major crossroads, take Highway 190 to Stovepipe Wells and continue west, through the valley, and climb. My first clue to the treacherous route was a road sign that instructed drivers to turn off their vehicle’s AC. Since I visited during March’s temperate weather I scoffed at the sign’s advice. Though my Toyota sedan wasn’t likely to overheat, I should have been concerned about smoke billowing from my brake pads.

The road rises from sea level and cuts through the mountains at Towne Pass (elevation 4956 ft). No problem on the way up. But on the way down, I hit construction and the road was limited to one lane. On a downhill slope, I sat behind a string of behemoth RVs for a good half hour waiting our turn. Finally, the flagman’s sign flipped from “Stop” to “Go,” and I thought I’d whiz down the mountainside. Boy was I mistaken. Driving at 5 MPH behind touring RVs on a road scraped down to its gravel bed with the mountain falling away to my right brought sweat to my brow, but once we were free of the construction zone and on pavement again, I further drenched my shirt following the RVs around tight switch backs, pumping my brakes the entire way, hoping (praying more than once) that my car’s brake pads wouldn’t give out.

Darwin Falls is a lush oasis in the western
portion of Death Valley National Park.

The scary ride continued once I was on flat land and turned onto the unpaved and poorly maintained access road that led to the trailhead. If I hadn’t spied another sedan ahead, I would have turned back, if there had been a place to turn around in. The narrow, boulder pot-hole poxed road hugged the side of a dry creek. At one turn the road narrowed further, as part of the bank had slipped into the wash following a flood event. After 2.5 very bumpy miles, we arrived at a small parking area and the trailhead.

Ava and I hiked the 1.0 mile trail which followed the dry creek bed. To our right was a jury-rigged irrigation pipe which dripped water at its seams, so I knew we were headed in the right direction. At 0.7 miles, we spotted running water in the creek, albeit merely a thin trickle choked with algae. The canyon walls narrowed and willow trees appeared, growing thicker and taller as we climbed higher. The trickle turned into a full-fledged creek when we rounded a bend. At several places we had to cross the stream on well-placed rocks and logs, and at a few spots we scrambled up boulders.

We passed a dammned area and located where the irrigation pipe originated. The tiny pool was thick with lush watercress. After a few more wet-feet crossings, we heard tumbling water. The falls, actually the 3rd in a series, fell from the cliff above into a deep pool which filled the slot canyon edge to edge. Maiden hair fern grew underneath the cascade and a huge willow tree’s limb dangled invitingly over the pool. At the edge, away from the fall’s turbulence, a sphinx moth alighted onto a floating bark raft and sipped.

Ava climbed out on the willow’s branch and dared to dive into the water’s coolness. In the end, she climbed down and stuck her toes in near where the moth had drunk its full and flown off then waded into water up to her thighs. “Imagine water in Death Valley,” she said, threatening to drench me with a splash.

Tony Donaldson Photo

Each year the Cochise County Cycling Classic is dedicated to a special person who has made significant contributions to bicycling and the community. Perimeter Bicycling is pleased to honor Seana Hogan – cycling legend; elite, world-class ultra-marathon racer; Transcontinental Record holder (9 days, 4 hours, 2 mins) and member of both the Race Across America (RAAM) Hall of Fame and the UltraCycling Hall of Fame.

Seana holds numerous solo records: winner of RAAM six times – 1992, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’97 and ’98 – more than any other person. Many refer to Hogan as the best endurance cyclist ever – convincing because she either holds or held nearly every endurance cycling record available from 100 miles to RAAM. In fact, she still holds the overall (male or female) California N-S record time for the distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco – in 1996, she rode that in an incredible 19 hours 11 minutes. In 1995 she was the outright winner of the Furnace Creek 508. Hogan also holds the world record for fastest down HWY 1 from Seattle to San Diego (3 days, 16 hours, 5 mins). Seana rides her 8th RAAM in June 2013.

Last year Seana set the women’s overall outdoor track record, reclaiming a record that she set over fifteen years ago. In November 2012 she won the women’s overall Worlds 24-Hour Time-Trial. She’s a a Stockton Bike club member, a member of the Delta Velo racing team, a wife, a mother, and has a professional business career with a Masters degree in Mathematics.

Our dedication recipient for this year will be honored at the Pre-Ride Pasta Dinner & Dedication Ceremony – Friday, October 11, 2013 – 6:30pm – 8:00pm. Admission is included in your entry, so be sure to attend and meet our honored guest! Same location as the EXPO at the Cochise County Fairgrounds.

Click here for Cochise County Dedication Recipient page to learn about recent honorees.

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society manned Aid Station #4 at Beeline & Bush Highway. Associate Event Director, Wayne Churchman spoke with many El Tour de Mesa riders about their aid station experiences and received the glowing recommendations about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  ”Many riders told us how helpful and encouraging they were,” Churchman said. “One rider even said it was like having room service in a five star resort!”  Congratulations and thank you L&LS volunteers!

That is Meridith Miller, with Team in Training, from the leukemia and lymphoma society. She might be on the contact list for ETM-I wonder if she had any photos of them on the route at aide station number 4?

Outstanding Volunteer Group: Superstition Springs Endodontics

Superstition Springs Endodontics manned an aid station for us last year, but wanted to be even more helpful this year by helping with the chute at the finish line.  They worked all event long marking off rider numbers, answering questions about where the water, food and medallions were and just doing anything that needed to be done.  Thank you to all the wonderful staff, family and volunteers from SuperEndo.

Sheila Foraker Photo

A Conquistador Trophy goes to Dennis Richards who has shown tremendous dedication to the development and success of El Tour de Mesa. His help with several big administrative and registration projects ~ getting rider number envelopes together, data entered and confirmation letters out ~ was supremely helpful! Our events would not exist without the exceptional individuals who volunteer. We work with a number of extraordinary volunteers, and each year recognize the one who has performed the highest level of support.

Dennis has been working with Perimeter Bicycling for upwards of 12 years doing just about every volunteer job available from routine tasks to special projects.  Sometimes referred to as the “Midnight Man,” Dennis generally does his work while most of us are slumbering.  “It’s wonderful,” said Barbara Franklin, Perimeter’s Registration Director. “Work is left for him at the traditional end of the day and it’s done when we come in.  I am grateful for Dennis – his work, his cheerfulness, his thoroughness – most people don’t see him but he is a big reason we are able to be prepared for the cyclists and the event.”

Dennis’ contributions to Perimeter Bicycling are only part of his commitment to the community.  Dennis works with the Red Cross helping donors after giving blood and he helps keep the plants at Handmaker growing for all to enjoy.

Congratulations, Dennis! Thank you!

Don Porter (patriarch and team captain) of Laveen, AZ with five other family members won the Family award. All rode the 70-mile event with an average time of 3:28:12; one member, Tyler Rogers earned platinum designation.

Pictured left to right: Kate and Nate Porter (son and daughter-in-law); Tyler Rogers (nephew); Don Porter; Nick and Jacie Porter (son and daughter-in-law). The Porter family has twice won the Family Award for El Tour de Tucson 2010 and 2011.

Other family members who normally ride on team Porter include: Micah Porter (son in Dallas, TX), Candice Porter (daughter in Phoenix, AZ) and Mari Porter (daughter-in-law in Phoenix, AZ).

The Porter family also take to the road for family vacations. Two years ago they did a two-day tour from Prescott to Sedona to Lake Mary and back. Last year they rode old Route 66 from Seligman thru Kingman to Oatman, AZ to the Colorado River on the Arizona/California border. This year they are participating in the Salt to Saint relay (Salt Lake City to St. George, UT) ~ 430 miles in 24 hours.

Family patriarch, Don Porter returned to cycling after a heart attack in November 2008. Don actually began cycling in 1965, riding one of the first 10-speed bikes in Prescott. He cycled on and off thru his youth with neighborhood kids. He used to pull them seven miles down the canal road (with a rope, not drafting) to play with cousins!

To qualify for the Family Award, a family may have as many members as they wish (with a minimum of three). Each member earns points based on his/her finish time in the 70- or 28-mile events (for El Tour de Mesa). For information on the Family Award competition for a specific Perimeter Bicycling event, click on the Awards button for that event. To be considered for the Family Award, an awards form must turned in before the event. Click here for El Tour de Tucson Awards information.

Team Winded cyclists. Photo The Winded Foundation

The Winded Foundation is a new El Tour de Mesa beneficiary, which means, if you elect, you can raise money and ride for The Winded Foundation in the 23rd Holualoa Companies El Tour de Mesa presented by AW Construction Corporation.

The Winded Foundation is a non-profit, 501c3 organization that raises funds for asthma research and spreads awareness of asthma through exercise programs. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the foundation operates through partnerships with organizations and individuals spreading knowledge of exercise-induced asthma with a junior athlete team and individuals.

The Winded Foundation supports Team Winded ~ a junior team of athletes and/or individuals that will also help to spread knowledge about asthma. They strive to instill hope and inspiration for children around the world affected by asthma. Their goal is to provide knowledge to children on how to prevent attacks, and manage their asthma with the provided tools to maximize peak performance in their exercise. With appropriate diet, exercise, treatment and technology, The Winded Foundation believes anyone with asthma can achieve their dreams.

Click here to learn how you can ride with Team Winded in the 23rd El Tour de Mesa.

Uphill Into The Wind is returning for the third consecutive year as an El Tour de Mesa beneficiary, which means, if you elect, you can raise money and ride for Uphill Into The Wind in the 23rd El Tour de Mesa.

Uphill Into The Wind is dedicated to supporting the 501(c)3 charities whose mission it is to do research, find cures and educate patients and their families in the numerous diseases affecting mankind. They do this by loaning bicycles to individuals participating in charity cycling events who could not otherwise afford to buy their own bike for the event.

By providing loaner bicycles to individuals who wish to participate in a charity cycling event, Uphill Into The Wind allows them to focus their efforts on fundraising for the charity rather than face the expense of buying a bike. Through a loan application and agreement process, potential borrowers are screened for financial need. They must show proof of registration and fundraising effort for a qualifying charity cycling or triathlon event. Once approved, the loaner bicycle is professionally fit to the cyclist and available for a maximum of 14 weeks of training and completion of event. Upon its return to the foundation, the bike is inspected and prepared for loan to another individual.

Lisa Daniel with her son Garret after completing the 2012 El Tour de Tucson. Daniel Family Photo

A testimonial from Lisa Daniel, Team in Training and Uphill Into The Wind Alumna

On August 27^th 2009 Michael died, and I can’t change that.

When my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer I felt helpless and hopeless. Watching someone you know slowly, painfully, be taken from you by cancer is a horrifying experience.  Two years after his death I still could not shake those feelings. That sense of helplessness was preventing me from being the kind of Mom (and now Dad) that I wanted to be for our son Garret.  I had to do something.  I had to shake that feeling.  I had to find my own personal journey to fight back against cancer.

I decided to do a triathlon, and raise funds for cancer research.

Just one small problem – I did not have a road bike.  I was trying to support one charity, but it was another charity that came to my aid and supported me. Uphill into the Wind loaned me a bicycle. I would not have been able to complete that physical and emotional journey without a quality road bicycle.  If it were not for their generosity, I would still be stuck in that hopeless stage.

I’m happy to say I’ve completed several fundraising rides.  I’ve met an amazing community of philanthropists and cyclists that I now call friends.  I know I’m helping, and I am once again filled with hope for a cure.

For me, the path to healing started with giving.

Citi volunteers handed out thousands of medallions on El Tour ride day. Citi Photo

Perimeter Bicycling events are made possible by the generous support of our generous underwriters and volunteers. Welcome back Citi for the 10th year of corporate and volunteer support.          Thank You!

Citi, an international financial services company with a call center in Tucson employing nearly 2,000 people, provides employee volunteers and financial support to many non-profit organizations including El Tour de Tucson.  Though their corporate Volunteer Program, Tucson Citi employees have been an important and dependable part of the Tour of the Tucson Mountains and El Tour de Tucson since 2004.  ”They arrive happy to help and ready to do whatever is asked of them,” said Sally Valenzuela, Perimeter Bicycling marketing director.

“We’re proud to have the support of Citi and their wonderful, hardworking employees.”

According to Jason Ott, community relations for Citi and the person responsible for spearheading the partnership, “El Tour is a great community event and it tops the list of our partnerships created over time.” Since 2004, Citi volunteers have logged over 1500 hours of service. Last year, some 47 Citi volunteers logged 376 hours handing out finisher’s medallions on El Tour ride day and helping with packet pick-up at El Tour Expo.

Citi's 2012 El Tour de Tucson Team KIND riders. Citi Photo

Citi’s support for El Tour and Ben’s Bells Project was also evident on the road.

Click here to learn more about Citi’s community development work.

Click here to learn about career opportunities at Citi.

Each e-News bulletin features a Perimeter Bicycling community member who contributes to the success of our events. Contact Elaine Mariolle, Public Affairs for Perimeter Bicycling to suggest someone you think deserves the recognition – it may be a rider, volunteer, sponsor, or beneficiary.