Richard and Russ
This time it was an e-mail, Richard and his friend were coming into Tucson. Richard was going to be in Northern Arizona doing a running race/event. Him and his wife were going to go through Phoenix and pick up his friend Russ and then head down to Tucson. E-mails were exchanged, plans were made. They wanted three days of mountain biking. Times were confirmed for pick up. Location for pick up were put on the calender. The day before the first outing Richard calls and reconfirms place of pick up and time. I, the guide, the professional guide, prepares the night before to make sure everything goes perfectly the next day. The alarm goes off at 5AM. I don’t have to pick them up until eight, but I make sure I have it all together. Remember, Southwest Trekking, The Professional Guide Service. Arduous Journeys for those who indulge extremes thing. I head down the road. The resort is about 45 minutes away. I plan on being at least 15 to 30 minutes early. You know, The professional thing to do. I always try to pride myself on being at least 15 minutes early. I read somewhere that this famous person attributed part of their success to being 15 minutes eary at all times. Sounded good. I have played by that, as much as I could. I park out front of the resort. Go in to use the rest room. Go figure, it is closed for cleaning. I walk up to the front desk and ask, I might add, a wonderfully beautiful young lady, where the closest restrooms is. She does not only tell me, she takes me. OK. OK I know I am making a long story out of short story. Be patient. Finish my thing. Walk back into the lobby. Now understand, I arrived 25 minutes early. It is now 15 minutes before pick up time. I am standing at the front door of the lobby. Standing with my hands behind my back like a good little professional. This young lady walks past and we strike up a conversation. As it turns out she is the fitness and spa director. Cool, good networking opportunity. We go at it. You know, the professional thing. I am peering out the door and around the lobby to make sure I can see the clients when they walk up. Of course I point out to this new professional contact that I am The Professional Guide Service and we try and arrive early for each outing. Hmmmmm 2 minutes after eight. No Richard, no Russ. Now, I do make mistakes at times, it is possible. I pull out my handy dandy smart phone attached to my hip and try to impress my new professional contact and pull up my calender to re-re-confirm my time and pick up location. “Damn, wrong resort.” I run out the door.
Richard, his wife and Russ were cool about me being late, after I told the story. The Professional Guide Service.
Richard, looking strong
Russ
Richard, showing how it is done
OK, you are looking at these pics and saying to yourself, these guys are, well, older than the usual mountain biker. And you may just be right, but I will say the are also stronger than the average mountain biker. They were great. I/we had a grand time. Lawyer to boot. And we had a hoot. Sorry. I always wanted to be a rapper.
Redington Pass, Arizona Trail
Richard says,
“russ and i really appreciated all you did for us. we could not have done the biking without you. you took us on and trails which suited our abilities to a “t”.”
John Heiman says,
“Three days of riding. Three days of fun. Damn. My life sucks.”
Southwest Trekking
Marianne
