Photo from Scott After 4 months of riding in the Tortolitas, I have come to one conclusion....this is my favorite place to ride in Tucson.
Scott said it best while we were riding Wild Mustang, "This is like a piece of the Arizona Trail that we just discovered, over-built, amazing views with an occasional over growth section. I love it. Chad, you are the best mountain biker ever."
Well, I think it went something like that.
The Tortolita Tour....a little under 40 miles, 7 hours with only about 3 miles of pavement. GPS or guide required. If you want the later, I am available for hire. Just bring some coffee, a camera, and a sense of humor.
Plenty of slickrock to keep you happy and grinning.
and of course, plenty of b-line technical sections to make you wish you had bought that 4-inch bike.
Nathan, Scott, Kurt, and I headed out from the over to Pocket Trail (HoneyBee Canyon) before heading over to Como Trail. Laughter set in as I quickly realized that maybe Pocket Trail was not quite to the "trail" status yet. It may need a few more weeks of cow traffic.
Scott and I went solo over to Wild Burro, ascending Upper Javelina (west of the resort). It was our first ascent of the trail. Scott was doing his thing, it must be the new bike, right?
Ritz Carlton in the background
This is how mountain biking used to be. Nobody on the trail, you have to find the line (it is not made from overuse) while dodging the overgrowth....the result, as seen below, is a big grin that continues during the length of the singletrack.
At the Upper Javelina-Wild Mustang Intersection, we headed east on Wild Mustang.
Picture from Scott
Mt Lemmon in the background as we topped out at 4300 feet on Wild Mustang. An angle of Lemmon that you rarely see....
Can you see the shiny observatory on the top of Lemmon?
Click here to see the entire Tortolita GPX Network if you want to ride in the Tortolitas. You can email me about possible routes.
Photo from Scott
4 comments:
That quote is bogus. I only remember saying this part: "Chad, you are the best mountain biker ever."
But then I say that all the time, don't I?
Great ride, thanks for the guide service and great pics/writeup.
Thanks for all the sweet beta on the Tortolitas. I am pumped to get there and feel the trails for myself.
Let me know the next time you tour, I would love to join up. I just may venture out there solo with the GPS tracks... thanks for sharing.
Done, I'd love to have some out-of-towners come down for a tour.
I too have been fascinated to check this place out. I'm an outatowner and live close to MTBikeAZ (although we've never ridden together yet). I'll one up ya on the coffee and bring some Dale's.
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