Cheap Thrills

RIDING HIGH: Ride into the maw of the beast and return unscathed, as another Community Bike Ride rolls into gear.

These lighthearted junkets make a deadly serious point: there's no future in gridlock and the air-poisoning use of fossil fuel. Or as one bikey puts it, "You can build new roads until you're blue in the face -- literally -- and there will always be more cars to clog 'em. Where's the future in that?"

Join the informal fun on the last Friday each month. Riders meet at 4:30 p.m. in the Time Market parking lot, 444 E. University Blvd. Call 792-1334 for details.

LOOKING GOOD: The Arizona Historical Society celebrates its 116th birthday in style with the new exhibit One Hundred Years of Fashion: Social History and Self-Image.

The display explores the last 100 years of fashion from a social-history perspective. Each decade reflects international, national, state and Tucson history and trends, and their impact upon the perception of what constitutes beauty as it relates to women's fashions and accessories. Subsequently, the exhibit features those brutish accessories women tolerated in their quest to become fashionable. The collection also includes such notables as "Stationwagon Togs," a clothing line developed by Tucson's grand dame of fashion, Cele Peterson.

Several of Peterson's contributions are included in the show, and she'll be honored at an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, January 29, in the AHS, 949 E. Second St. The exhibit runs through June. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. For information, call 628-5774.

STELLAR SLEUTH: Join intergalactic gumshoe Sam Snork and his sidekick Elmo as they uncover universal truths in Planet Patrol, now showing at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the UA Flandrau Science Center planetarium.

That's just one of the stellar laser shows now on the Flandrau roster. There's also the family-oriented Under Seasonal Skies, showing at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 3:30 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. And Our Place in Space, a timely tale wherein endangered species "explore the cause of night and day" screens at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets for planetarium shows are $5; $4.50 for seniors, students and military; and $4 for children ages 3 to 13.

Flandrau also boasts the state's largest mineral museum, and tons of great hands-on science exhibits. Museum visits are included with show admission. Museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with telescope viewing from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Admission is $3, $2 for children ages 13 and under. For information, call 621-7827.

PARK 'N' MARCH: Shut down your rig and hit the trail with the Tucson Volkssport Walking Club, as they take a noncompetitive 10 to 15 kilometer stroll in Catalina State Park.

The free trek runs from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, January 29, in the Catalina State Park day use picnic area. Admission to the park is $4 per car. For details, call 722-9530.