Since we flew out there for a very short weekend trip we needed to find a place to rent bikes for the day. On a whim, we decided to try out electric bikes for the first time ever and decided to rent from Pedego Glendale. Excellent choice. The owner, Steve, was one of the nicest and most helpful bike store owners I've ever encountered.
His shop has great ambience.
A really neat stool at the checkout counter.
(Pardon my lacking Photoshop skills. Attempted to remove an offending cardboard box on the floor ruining the shot.)
After a short tutorial from Steve in the parking lot (basically, pedal assist is set from 1 to 6, with 1 being you essentially ride it as an electric scooter, and 6 you ride it as a manual bike and hit the throttle on the handlebar if you want a boost from the motor), we decided 6 was the setting we preferred and we were on our way for the day, with the timeframe that we had to be back by the time the shop closed at 3:00.
We rode on a variety of trails throughout the day. The trail that runs right beside the bike shop was Skunk Creek Trail, so that's where we started.
In the first week of December this was not a big concern.
In the first week of July, it would be.
At some point we branched off onto the New River Trail.
There are our electric rides in front of the sign.
Baseball in December. Kind of after my own heart right there. 
These are the benches along the trail.
It is a cement slab on top of a metal cage full of rocks.
Kinda cool in a use-what-you-have kind of way. But let's think about this.
Wouldn't any variety of critters, from cute
to creepy, make their homes in there?
I'm picturing a rattler or scorpion slithering or crawling out as I'm sitting there. No thank you.
Supposed to be a picture in front of the cactus, but the cactus isn't real visible.
Desert landscape
Lots and lots of "Do Not Enter When Flooded" signs
This was the only body of water we encountered on this day, however.
Yet another trail we branched off onto, the Peoria Trail System.
This guy looked like he could mean business.
One of the trails took us out around and alongside the Arizona Cardinals stadium.
From a distance.
Alongside a canal as we approached it.
Closer up.
Riding through Grand Canal Park beside the stadium.
I liked this cell phone tower camouflaged as a palm tree.
A couple of real-life saguaro cacti.
Not sure what kind of tree this is, but I found the green bark very pretty.
Lunch break at Chipotle in the Westgate district.
It's funny to be sitting in 70 degree weather, people walking around in tank tops and shorts, hearing "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" playing on the outside speakers and seeing a huge Christmas tree surrounded by palm trees.
After lunch we had to book it to make it back to the bike shop before closing time. We relied a little heavier on the electric motor than we had prior to that by just getting a little boost up the hills, so we got to try out the "scooter" aspect of the electric bike. We hit 30 miles distance just as we pulled back into the bike shop parking lot about 10 minutes before closing time. Steve came out and inquired how our ride was (awesome!). He was curious how much we had depleted the charge on the motor and was a little surprised when we both still had a full 5 bars of charge. Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised, too. I think that speaks to the range you could expect from the charge of those batteries. Riding an electric bike for the first time was a great experience. I believe we have a bucket list purchase to save up for in the future!
The other activity on this weekend's agenda was to
head back to the Westgate district......
..... to watch the St. Louis Blues lose to the Arizona Coyotes.
After game vittles at State 48 Funkhouse Brewery
She had a vegetarian topped flatbread.
He had a peanut butter/bacon/jalapeno jelly burger....
..... and a very tasty peach-mango beer.
Check out the shaky, amateur video of our ride! Zoom, zoom!!
Looks like another fun time. We rode some of those same paths last year. We referred to those green barked trees as alien trees.
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