News release about the Ride On, Tucson! event that drew more than 1,000 kids and adults on bikes and on foot to Armory Park today.

“Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey and top American pro cyclist Tom Danielson led cyclists on a 2.2-mile loop closed to traffic that extended from Jackson Street to 19th Street and included South Fifth and South Meyer avenues.

The event will be featured in Bicycling Magazine’s next issue.

Patrick Dempsey and Tom Danielson, courtesy of Pima County Communications

My previous blog post announcing this bicycling event (click here).

Ride on, Tucson!, courtesy of Pima County Communications

Visit Tucson and Pima County News have posted this exciting event already, but here’s another repeat story for those of you who haven’t heard that Patrick Dempsey is coming back to Tucson:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/visit-tucson/2013/01/18/ride-on-tucson/

Press release from Pima County:

Patrick Dempsey, photo by John Shearer/Getty Images

“Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey and top American pro cyclist Tom Danielson will host a bike party in Armory Park on Sunday, January 20, 1 – 4 p.m. Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry and Board of Supervisors Chairman Ramón Valadez will kick off the event and join this community ride for people of all ages and abilities.

“Patrick and I really like the community aspect of bike riding,” says Danielson. “And we wanted to get everyone out for a bike ride. It doesn’t matter if they’re riding an old bike or a new one, we just want people to have fun on their bikes.” Danielson rides for the Garmin-Sharp pro cycling team and prepares for his race season by training in Tucson in the winter.

The Ride on, Tucson! route will be closed to vehicle traffic so everyone can enjoy a leisurely ride around one of Tucson’s oldest neighborhoods. Armory Park will host music, including Jovert, Tucson High Magnet School’s steel drum band, and the Determined Luddites. Other festivities will take place throughout the afternoon. Bicyclists can ride the 2.2-mile route multiple times, meet some new bicycling friends, and pick up event posters signed by Dempsey and Danielson.

Pima County Bike Ambassadors will help keep bicyclists moving in the right direction along the route and provide information about bike safety and other great places to ride in Pima County. Mechanics will be on hand to fix flat tires and do other minor repairs.

Bicycling Magazine will visit Tucson for the event as well. Editor-in-chief Peter Flax will arrive a few days early to ride on The Loop shared use path. He will also tour other bike infrastructure in Tucson like the Rattlesnake Bridge and bike boulevards.

“It’s a great way for us to showcase The Loop to the over 400,000 people who read Bicycling Magazine,” says Huckelberry. “Pima County and Tucson can promote our region as a bicycling destination and showcase the economic development potential of The Loop.”

Like Danielson, Patrick Dempsey also has a connection to Tucson. As a teenager, he starred in the 1987 movie, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” that was filmed here. He enjoyed his time in the city then and looks forward to the ride. In a recent video interview with Bicycling Magazine, Dempsey talked about encouraging kids to ride: “Think about when you were a kid, you had the opportunity to go somewhere, the bike gave you freedom. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.”

Helmets are required for Ride on, Tucson! Event participants may be featured in upcoming Bicycling Magazine videos and articles. For Ride on, Tucson! information, go to: http://www.20-20cycling.com/ride-on-tucson/

For more information about The Loop, the bike and pedestrian paths being developed along the Rillito, Santa Cruz and Pantano rivers and on Julian Wash and Harrison Road greenways, visit http://www.pima.gov/theloop/

For info contact: Mary Reynolds, Communications Coordinator
520-724-3738, Mary.Reynolds@pima.gov

I rented that Tucson movie “Can’t Buy Me Love” a few years ago, and it’s worth seeing esp. the very young, cute Patrick Dempsey, way before he became an actor portraying a doctor on “Grey’s Anatomy”. And check out the movie scenes at Tucson High School. Please join in with this healthy, community event for a 2.2 mile ride around downtown Tucson. See the route map below starting at Armory Park, down south to E. 19th St., then back up to Jackson Street.

Final unofficial results from AZ Sec. of State & Pima County Elections Division, for Southern AZ listed below. It took over 2 weeks to count all the early and provisional ballots cast in the General Election on November 6. Voter turnout statewide was 74.36%, higher at 77.98% in Pima County. The counting apparently took so long because many voters who received early ballots only turned them in on General Election Day, which slowed up the tallying process.

U.S.Senate
Jeff Flake (R)

CD 1
Ann Kirkpatrick (D)

CD 2
Ron Barber (D), incumbent

CD 3
Raul Grijalva (D), incumbent

State Senate LD 2
Linda Lopez (D), incumbent

State Senate LD 3
Olivia Cajero Bedford (D), incumbent

State Senate LD 9
Steve Farley (D)

State Senate LD 10
David Bradley (D)

State Senate LD 11
Al Melvin (R), incumbent

State Senate LD 14
Gail Griffin (R), incumbent

State House LD 2
Andrea Dalessandro (D)
Rosanna Gabaldon (D)

State House LD 3
Sally Ann Gonzales (D), incumbent
Macario Saldate (D), incumbent

State House LD 9
Ethan Orr (R)
Victoria Steele (D)

State House LD 10
Stefanie Mach (D)
Bruce Wheeler (D), incumbent

State House LD 11
Adam Kwasman (R)
Steve Smith (R)

State House LD 14
David Gowan (R), incumbent
David Stevens (R), incumbent

Corporation Commission (3 seats)
Robert Burns (R)
Susan Bitter Smith (R)
Bob Stump (R), incumbent

Pima County:
Assessor: Bill Staples (D), incumbent

Attorney: Barbara LaWall (D), incumbent

Recorder: F.Ann Rodriguez (D), incumbent

Sheriff: Clarence Dupnik (D), incumbent

Superintendent of Schools: Linda Arzoumanian (R), incumbent

Treasurer: Beth Ford (R), incumbent

Supervisors:
D 1: Ally Miller (R)
D 2: Ramon Valadez (D), incumbent
D 3: Sharon Bronson (D), incumbent
D 4: Ray Carroll (R), incumbent
D 5: Richard Elias (D), incumbent

Prop. 114 Crime Victims Protection Act YES
Prop. 115 Judicial Selection NO
Prop. 116 Small Business Job Creation Act NO
Prop. 117 Property Tax Assessed Valuation YES
Prop. 118 Permanent State Land Fund YES
Prop. 119 State Trust Lands YES
Prop. 120 State Sovereignty NO
Prop. 121 Open Elections/Open Government NO
Prop. 204 Quality Education & Jobs NO
Prop. 409 Bonds for City Street Improvements YES

Pima Communty College Governing Board (non partisan, 6 year term)
D 3: Sylvia Lee
D 5: Marty Cortez, incumbent

TUSD Governing Board (non partisan, 4 year term)
Kristel Foster
Mark Stegeman, incumbent
Camy Juarez

Congratulations again to all the winners.