Bill Walton's sense of joy jumps through the phone and shakes me. He's had 36 surgeries, the last of which probably saved his life, and sees it as an obligation to feel the sun on his face and reflect on his life.
To ride his bike, the way he did as a boy in San Diego, as the world's greatest college basketball player at UCLA, and in the NBA championship parade in Portland.
And, Saturday, at El Tour de Tucson.
"My bike is my gym, my wheelchair and my church," he said.
Pain in the 6-foot-11 Walton's back became almost too much a few years back. Walton said he considered suicide.
"You go from thinking you're going to die, to wanting to die, to being afraid you're going to live," he said. "All of a sudden you feel better because someone is able to help you."
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That man was Dr. Steven Garfin, a University of California-San Diego doctor who performed a new spine surgery technique on Walton in February 2009.
"I was saved," he said flatly. "I was saved by another little short guy from the Midwest - like John Wooden."
Whenever Walton had surgeries, he'd ask when he could ride again. He's been a serious rider for much of his 59 years, going longer distances than Saturday's 111-miler on frames custom-built for him by the same man, Bill Holland, for decades.
Remember when Walton grew long hair and a beard to protest John Wooden's policies, and the coach threatened to throw him off the team?
Walton rode his bike to the barber.
"I live to ride, and I ride to live," he said.
It's soothing, almost mystical.
"I like long climbs," he said. "I'm not good at it. But you get in your rhythm, and answer all the questions.
"One of the great things about riding our bikes is you get a lot of time to think and to reflect. For people like me that have been given another chance in the game of life, we don't really have another choice."
He feels "the most solemn obligation" to share his joy with others, and to help them. He's captivated by El Tour's charity arm, which will help 19 beneficiaries this year, and the sense of community the ride instills.
Improved health and fewer work obligations, along with cycling legend friends John Howard and Greg LeMond, encouraged the Big Redhead to travel to Tucson for the weekend.
"I'll celebrate my perfect and dream day, when I get up in the morning and have a great breakfast and kiss my wife and ride my bike all day long," he said. "I don't ride fast. I'm not a good rider. I cannot accelerate. I cannot climb. I cannot ride out of the saddle. My nicknames are 'Crash' and 'Always Lost.' "
Still, he said, "I'll be tallest guy with the biggest smile."
I love enthusiastic people, and Walton is no phony, even if some find him ripe for parody. He makes breakfast sound transcendent.
When he says he's looking forward to "the glorious Sonoran Desert" - a place he visited often to watch his son, Luke, play from 1998 to 2003 under Lute Olson - you feel his energy.
You'd be a robot not to.
"We spent so many great moments, memorable moments, in Tucson," he said. "To be able to come back to Tucson and ride our bikes … we're going to celebrate all the things that the bicycle stands for - freedom, independence, health, life, the team, hope and dreams."
He quotes a post-apocalyptic love song, "Morning Dew," covered by the Grateful Dead, among others. A man is walking around a wasteland, and closes the song with, "Guess it doesn't matter anyway."
That's wrong, Walton said.
Events like El Tour allow people, including him, to come together.
"We get to ride our bikes with purpose," he said.
The Finley five: Five things we'll be talking about this week
The Duel!
1 Rivalries are awesome. Who cares if the Arizona Wildcats will bring their worst team in seven years to Tempe on Saturday? A win like the one in 2004 would provide some antidote to the frustrations of a horrible season.
El Tour
2 About 8,500 riders will participate Saturday in an event that has become synonymous with the area. El Tour de Tucson's start/finish line has moved to Armory Park, near Children's Museum Tucson.
The gantlet
3 Dave Rubio's UA volleyball team has a hellish road trip this week. On Friday, the Wildcats (17-10, 9-9 Pac-12) travel to UCLA, which will probably fall from No. 1 today after losing to Oregon last week. The next day, they go across town to No. 4 USC. Yikes.
MSG
4 It feels like the Thanksgiving season already, doesn't it? The UA basketball team will play St. John's on Thursday at Madison Square Garden; the next day, the Wildcats will play either Mississippi State or Texas A&M. Both are on ESPN2.
Southern Arizona showdown
5 For our money, it's the high school game of the year: On Friday night, a Division II state semifinal will feature two Southern Arizona teams, Cienega and Ironwood Ridge. Check it out: not having to drive to Phoenix is reward enough.
Patrick Finley
Milan Momcilovic not a loss for Arizona Wildcats | Greg Hansen
