The ultimate beach cruiser: Electra Townie

I recently bought a new bike, the 3-speed Townie by Electra. Love it too. I was looking for a beach cruiser to ride the area Phoenix Valley trials and stumbled on this bike.

I found this bike almost by accident at Sun Cyclery on North 7th Street. I was looking for a used bike on Craig’s List … that turned out to be a fiasco. No one would call me back. The one person I did make contact with lived about 25 miles away, and I didn’t feel like driving that far just to check it out. I started looking at area bike shops.

Long story short, I had decided to buy new as beach cruisers, even new, are priced reasonably. I went back to Sun Cyclery, the first place I had stopped to make my decision as they had the best selection of Electra cruisers. And this 3-speed used Townie had just been brought in and they made me a nice used bike price deal!

The weather in Phoenix, AZ is perfect over 8 months of the year to ride. When I go for a ride, I am into a leisurely pace with a destination in mind that has a cool beverage, ice tea, or coffee. A place with chicken wings also qualifies as a preferred route.

The valley canal system offers some of the best biking and walking paths. Yesterday we went for a ride along the Arizona Canal from Squaw Peak over just past the Biltmore. It was about a 5 mile ride each way according to my Endomondo application I have on my Droid phone.

Here’s the view of Camelback Mt., a Phoenix landmark. Just about anywhere in the valley you can see Camelback. Temperatures on this January day were in the low 70s … it was late afternoon.

As the sun prepares to set, Squaw Peak looked stunning. We were on our way back at this point. Riding east to west is just slightly an uphill peddle … and I use uphill loosely as the valley, for all intents, is FLAT. But I admit that I used first gear on occasion when I felt the elevation gain — because that’s what riders on a 3-speed Townie do.

Riding along the canal by the Wrigley Mansion and through the Biltmore is probably some of the nicest areas of any place in the valley. The golf course was in great shape.

Living in Phoenix offers such wonderful opportunity this time of year to enjoy the outdoors. As the days gradually offer more daylight, I look forward to hopping on the Townie and riding more of the canal trails across the valley. It’s my kind of fitness plan!

Perfect winter afternoon in Phoenix for a ride