Chad's Bikepacking Diary

Ride Around The Santa Ritas (RATS)

2012-01-17T20:44:00.000-06:00

It has become sort of an unspoken tradition to do (or at least plan) this ride every year. The first year was nothing less than a beat down. Check out that last picture of Max Morris spread out on the ground after the RATS ride back in 2008. This ride has become somewhat of a gauge for me to see how well I am really doing on the bike.

I got a nice wake up call at 4:15am from Max to meet him for breakfast. Biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, hash browns, toast, and coffee; these are all the things needed for a 12-hour day on the bike. After parking the car at the intersection of Box Canyon and Madera Canyon, we set out under the moonlight, with a light tail wind.

Max riding in front of Elephant Head

I love doing these 10+ hour rides on the bike. After doing a handful of said rides a year, I know just how my body reacts. First, you carb load in the morning. Then, reality sets in, so my stomach begins to do an awkward combination of butterflies (nervousness, maybe) and giddiness. After I begin pedaling, my legs begin to ache for the first 2 hours as I begin to warm-up. Does this happen to anyone else doing these big rides?

Mt Hopkins Road looking south toward Rio Rico

It was a similar start for me this year. The entire time climbing up Mt Hopkins Rd, my legs ached and begged for some relief. No such relief with Max off the front. I tried to keep up as he sped ahead. No luck. Max was ripping it up.

Nearing the top, we rested to take in some of the views. This one looking southwest toward Rio Rico shows most of the climb up (far right, middle).

Greeted by singletrack and snow, my legs were slowly beginning to wake up. Things got interesting after the snow.

Steep...that is how I sum up this ride. There was a recent thread on TucsonMTB.com about the steepest climbs in the Tucson area. A few of these climbs were mentioned multiple times. If Max was beating me on the climbs, then I was going to leave him on the descents...and so, that is how the day continued. Max would jump ahead on the climbs, and I would catch up with him on the ascents.

The big unknown was some of the "immigrant trails" that are used to connect the dirt road. The condition was, to our dismay, very poor and mostly unrideable. It made for about a 45 minute hike-a-bike. There were some signs of some recent hikers, like this "Naranjada Borbon" that intrigued me. It does not take a Spanish teacher to guess what that translates into.

We bombed down...

...climbed up...

and climbed down. Repeat process until you have around 13,000 feet of climbing.

As we neared Kentucky Camp around 3pm, that 20% chance of rain seemed like it was creeping up. The temperature dropped and clouds begin to accumulate. For the next 2 hours, we got a light rain, just enough to make it necessary to wear arm/knee warmers.

Previous rides have all pointed to a 12-14 hour finish. The plan was to rest as little as possible and ride at a descent pace. The Kentucky Camp AZ Trail contoured singletrack went by in a flash.

11 hours, 20 minutes later we got back to our car. No mechanical, about four 15-minute stops and a descent pace contributed to the faster than expected pace. At days end, it was a beat down on my body. Although not in the shape that I want to be in, I am happy that the hopeless "survival mode" was never needed. The next couple of weeks (APC and Tortolita) should help in getting me back to where I would like to be with respect to fitness.

AZT Jamboree and Outside Magazine Bike Testing

2012-01-10T16:28:00.000-06:00

The Arizona Trail Jamboree is in its 3rd year now. The trail has expanded so much since then, in part to monetary donors that see the trail in a similar manner....a gem that can be used by many users.

With a little under 100 people signed up this year, shuttling was going to be the easy part. As in the years past, SW Trekkers donated their time and vehicles for the shuttling. SDMB had a killer aid station, beer, water food and above all baked pizza on demand from their oven! (Thank you Vern, Cat and Brian)

Scott showed up as the shuttles were leaving us a little under 3.5 hours to play around on the bikes doing an out-n-back before the shuttlers began their tumultuous arrival back at the camp.

Tire choice seems to be a hot issue these days....

With two sides of the argument being hotly contested....weight vs. sidewall protection. We are still not sure who is winning the debate.

After the ride, we grilled and drank, and above all talked and laughed all in the name of helping out the Arizona Trail. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. So, thank you to everyone that helped. I am still waiting for a final figure for this year, but I estimate it to be around $3500 for the AZT.

If you want more pictures from the event, check out the following:

AZ MTBR Thread
TucsonMTB.com Pictures

The next day, Aaron Gulley from Outside Magazine invited us to demo bikes at Starr Pass. I was able to do this last year for Aaron and really enjoyed it. This time is was 29ers. Similar to last year, you ride a loop and then rate the bike.

We did two different loops... Cat Mtn or Hooligan/Stone House (both from from the Genser TH). I was able to ride some great bikes, among them the Sultan Turner(below), Cannondale Scalpel and the Niner Jet 9 RDO (below). It's interesting to see how these differ from my current Lenz Sport Behemoth and Leviathan.

We had a good group running loops during the entire morning and afternoon.

The Hooligan Loop was a hit with some of the testers. Check out Aaron with that smile! A few more pictures from the day.

Starr Pass really is a special place to be. I was reminded this as the lighting began to set and the moon started to come up over the Catalinas.

Cowboy Trails Revisted

2011-12-29T18:44:00.000-06:00

Family time in Las Vegas means some more short rides at the Cowboy Trails near Red Rock State Park. With names like Bomb Voyage, Bob Gnarly, and Boneshaker as the technical trails, it's bound to give anyone who rides it a smile. Add in some beautiful background and you might just make the drive from southern Utah to come visit the area. Today,

After two days in the area, here are a few of the pictures.

N. San Diego Loop

2011-12-24T12:16:00.003-06:00

It has been a few years that I have been vacationing in northern San Diego. Over the years, I have slowly been accumulating several connectors to the reserves in the area. With all of the dots connected (see here for previous rides), Collin and I set out to do the 60 mile loop. We started out on San Dieguito Path, right out the back gate of the house. The weather was beautiful, temps were perfect for a long ride.
This section of the loop was inspired by the Archipelago Ride that is done every year. The route winds its way to Black Mountain and later Los Pensaquitos. Collin's longest ride before this loop was the 4-hour, 30 mile Kentucky Camp loop. Doubling that longest ride would prove to be super challenging. We were moving at a fast pace in the morning, but that was slowly slipping as the telephone line trails began to get steeper and steeper.

Los Pensaquitos is part of the the 100-mile Sea to Sea (Del Mar to Salton Sea) that is used a multi-user trail. It seems that some of the trail is hard to find and rarely signed. The trail continues toward Poway, going under Interstate 15 (shown above) and continuing on toward South Poway Trail. It was at this point where we had to decide to take the highway up to Mt Woodson or continue on the unknown South Poway Trail. Due to the amount of climbing ahead, we decided to take the easier road route. We continued up Poway to Highway 67, skipping the out-n-back on Iron Mountain.We climbed the backside of Mt Woodson. This is the section that I had never ridden. Information on Mt Woodson calls it a technical wonderland for mountain bikers. I was not quite sure about the front side of Mt Woodson until a hiker asked us if we were going to "descend that steep trail!?" I answered affirmatively. His response made me a little gitty, "You are going to have to walk a bunch, there is no way you are going to ride all of it!"Ahhhhh........sounds like the perfect way to descend a mountain. up to 2900 feet.The hiker could not have been more wrong...the tight switchbacks and water bars were a perfect switch from the mostly double/singltrack that this loop has. Singletrack bliss! Shouts of joy were followed by slow switchback moves, even an occasional impressed hiker commenting, "I cannot believe you are riding down this" or my favorite, "How did you guys get up here!?"Collin descending the front of Mt WoodsonThe option to go down a trail called Fry presented itself, but the left option seemed steeper. At the bottom of Mt Woodson, we quickly rode through Poway Lake Trails and over to the Espola Rd.Having just descended some singletrack, I was high on life and we picked up the pace. We stopped at the Circle K on Rancho Bernardo and I15 to buy some snacks and gatorade. Collin had an dinner party to attend, so he went straight to cut off some miles. I would continue straight to finish the loop solo. We made a silly bet to see who could get back to the house faster. Twisting around Lake Hodges on singletrack was a great way to get closer to the finish off the loop. I put my head down and pedaled fast.

Climbing this hill on Elfin was the last part of the epic.
------------

We finished the loop at roughly 8.5 hours, 7.5 hours of moving time. Topofusion says that there is about 7500 feet of climbing for the entire 60 mile loop. It was a fantastic loop, Mt Woodson being the highlight.

If I were to do it differently, I would have continued on South Poway Trail to Highway 67 and try to scout out a way to get from Iron Mountain to Mt Woodson. Also, I had previously scouted out a way to get away from using Espola Rd by using the trail that connects Hodges with Mule Ears, Old Coach (Maderas Community). I think that would make this a classic loop.

Any other suggestions from anyone that knows N. San Diego? Click here to get the GPX file.

(demo version of Topofusion, sorry Scott, I have the demo version on this PC)

New Antelope Peak Singletrack

2011-12-16T11:47:00.000-06:00

Having finished the McDowell 60 on Saturday, I was hoping to do some bikepacking on Saturday night. That fell through because of some time constraints (and some rational thinking), but some recon for the AZ Trail Race and Antelope Peak Challenge was in order.

Scott and I met up and headed out to the Tiger Mine Road. If you have ever wanted to learn switchbacks, this section of the Arizona Trail is your training grounds.

At the beginning of the gasline, we veered off for some new AZ Trail. The beginning of the trail was similar to the first few miles after Tiger: awkward. We took a break as it started to climb up a ridge.

I joked about hoping to continue to climb to the next ridge...

and sure enough it kept climbing!

Beautifully built trail with superb views abound in all directions.

Does this ridge resemble any other AZT segment?

This is the last section of the trail before it bombs down to the wash.

At which point we had several options (Scott eloquently placed them on his site):

Out and back on the singletrack – we would run out of daylight, and probably food. Not to mention energy. We had underestimated the new trail.
Gasline/Bloodsucker return – we would run out of legs on all the massive climbs and sand churning
Camp Grant Wash to Mammoth via the GET route – we would be eating at Chad’s favorite mexican restaurant in no time, pronto

I trust you would have made the same decision we did....Camp Grant Wash.

Picture by Scott Morris

I was beat down and this was my recovery stop to help in the last 2k foot climb back to the car.

Picture by Scott Morris

Oh La Casita, how you saved me...1 tostada and a mixed burrito. 7 hours later, at 6pm we got back to the car only to get sick the next day with a bit of a sinus infection and cough. Looks like a week off the bike is in order.

Whirlwind

2011-12-03T22:44:00.001-06:00

The last two weeks have seen a whirlwind of riding, Kentucky Camp, TTT, commuting, tech/CC rides and group rides. Here are all the pictures from the past 2 weeks. Looking forward to more cold-weather riding.

50 Year

2011-11-13T19:08:00.001-06:00

50 year goof off from Scott Morris on Vimeo.

Did you enjoy that crash scene? I am not really sure what happened there. As for the Behemoth on the 50 year, it's the perfect bike. I only need to work up some courage on some of those B-lines that you see in the video. It's the next transition for me from endurance geek to all mountain wannabe. I hope to get better in the coming months.

TTT

2011-11-10T20:53:00.001-06:00

A few weekday rides with Scott this week on the 50-Year...And then the weekly ride on Tuesday. Only this week, it was the "Dueling Behemoths Ride." The pictures speak for themselves.

Behemoth

2011-11-08T22:10:00.002-06:00

This build took a little longer than I imagined.....

TOR50LITA

2011-11-01T20:49:00.003-06:00

Great evening rides are now the norm at the 50 year trail, so much so that I have been timing the sunsets perfectly. The best place for sunsets is the top of Gem Trail.

Tuesday had another good showing of riders.

Lighting was incredible as the evening progressed.

Then, Benji and Ty met at my house for a new idea that Scott and I had been mulling over. It's called the TOR50LITA....a combination of a 50 year and the Tortolita Loop.

In a nutsheel....50-year, Deer, Cherry, Round the Mtn, Gem, Chutes, Edwin, Goat, Wild Mustang, Upper Javelina, Moore Rd, Como, Maus, Powerline Rd to a rarely used (near bushwack) double track back to Oracle Rd.

Brilliant, eh? We did the route counter clockwise, but I think it might be best clockwise.

These two pictures are reason enough to do the ride again.

Very little of this, given the techy nature of this route. Here is the group on Around the Mtn.

I need to bring some loppers up here soon, Cherry tank is pretty overgrown. Around the Mountain is hard to navigate at times.

Some amazing new trail (thanks to Mark F and Co.) in the Tortolitas make this route work.

Scott and I helped reroute this section with Mark a few years ago. It's fun to see what happens after trail building occur.

Photo by Ty Brookhart

After dropping from Upper Javelina, Ty had a flat at the bead. I had to be somewhere, so I bolted and left Benji and Ty. All of us skipped the Como-Maus option that I mentioned before.

It was about a 6 hour moving time ride, 7 hours of overall time. I expect the final route to be posted in 2 weeks, February 11th is the tentative date.

Some more riding at 50 Year the rest of the week....

Krein

2011-10-22T15:32:00.004-05:00

I might argue that I have one of the best commutes to work....ride up Golder Ranch Rd, ride the 50-year Trail to Catalina State Park. Brilliant way to start or end my day at work. Last Monday, I brought the camera to take a few pictures and took the above picture from 50 Year Trail.

Tuesday was the usual Tuesday Techy Taco Ride, only this time people showed up. Max, Scott, Jonathan and I rode up and down Ram.

This ledge was one of the hang ups, although a few managed to get it.

It's great know that it is cooling down. Scott had some Mt Graham on the brain, but I had to stay local. We compromised to do some Starr Pass from home....

and ride up Krein, aptly chosen as Scott's MTBR handle. More importantly, people were riding this beast of a trail even before I was mountain biking. I love how the rating is "sick fun." That is exactly how I would describe it.

Some sections went, other did not. I did have some tire and brake issues that slowed the ride down.

I honestly can't remember when I rode this trail last, perhaps 3 years ago. Starr Pass is a pretty diverse place to ride

Brilliant ride lines, eh? Great ride for a (somewhat) hot Saturday morning. Thanks Scott.

Fall Colors

2011-10-15T17:53:00.004-05:00

The colors are slowly starting to come to Tucson. The ocotillos out at 50 year trail were nothing less than stunning. Ty and I did a fast, late afternoon ride from my house. The lighting really provided for some beautiful moments. Multiple "wows" and "sweets" were said as we marveled at the pleasant mix of ocotillos and setting sun color.

At one point, Ty mentioned that these were "fall colors for Tucson". Well said. After a brief cooling trend last week, we have heated up a little bit.

A second attempt on this line was successful for Ty.

Picture by Ty Brookhart

A fast ride on Lemmon was my thinking when I asked who wanted to go up and down Prison-Bugs. Six people showed up at Le Buzz to ride up Catalina Highway.

There was a bit of discussion on how to clean some moves and switchbacks before we even started the ride.

And guess who decided to join us?!

Scott Morris! This line nearly conquered everyone....I think 3 of us ended up riding up it after a few attempts. The line has seen a bit of work on it as it is now doable.

After a bit of rest at the Hoodoos, we bombed down Bugs. At the expense of Ty, we had a little laugh as he tried to do a line that only caused a wild endo. Classic. Of course, we had to laugh only after we realized he was fine.

Near the end of the ride, I had a little tire problems. One of Scott's plugs fixed that problem right up. Dave had a water and gatorade stash that was a godsend. Great ride, despite the high temperatures.

It's great to be back on the bike. I expect many more rides as the weather begins to (slowly) cool during the next few weeks.

Coconino Loop Race 2011

2011-10-11T18:10:00.003-05:00

It's good to be back on the bike for long rides. After more than 5 months without doing a 8+ hour bike ride, I logged 3 long rides this weekend during the Coconino Loop Race.

As you may know, this race is from the collaboration of Scott and I. After riding the Grand Loop, we decided that we could come up with a singletrack-filled loop in northern Arizona.

This is the result...

Good food is a staple for this ride....pulled pork!

The old faithful...Don Miguel. Turns out we grabbed some frozen ones. Very bad idea when you want to eat it on the way up Mingus.

Brad Mattingly cheering us on during the Sand Flats climb.

In honor of Lee....Country Fried Steak

Wing Mtn

New AZT singletrack to bomb down into Flagstaff

Neglect=Good

2011-10-06T11:00:00.005-05:00

During the last few months, I have neglected the camera a little bit. Summary of the time spent riding: Road touring, California urban trail scouting, enjoying the local rain storms, built my first wheel set (with help from Ty) and got a little out of shape (see below pictures of Cherry Coke Bonk during the modified TMP Challenge Course).

Let the pictures do the talking...

Coconino 250 starts tomorrow. Good time as any to get back in shape and see if those wheels can hold up to the test. Check here to see updates from the SPOT tracker.

Rain abounds all over the state. A few pictures from the ride today with Scott.

Reserves

2011-07-01T17:54:00.004-05:00

Ahhhhh San Dieeeeeeeaaaggggoooo. Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego..... Ron Burgundy

The cool temperatures have been a welcome relief from the Tucson heat. After a week of riding northern San Diego County, I have a good grasp of what needs to be done to make a ~60 mile epic loop. This area is home to dozens of preserves, when connected together, you could have a potential for a huge, full day epic. Enter a week of scouting and "getting back into shape."

A few pictures from the scouting this week to get you a taste of the riding.

Here is the proposed epic loop

San Dieguito
Hodges Lake (south and North)
Mule Ears
Old Coach Trail
Poway Lake
Mount Woodson
Iron Mountain
Poway Trails
Pensaquitos
Santa Luz
Black Mountain

N. Arizona

2011-07-01T17:42:00.003-05:00

Another family in Las Vegas meant a road trip of riding in northern Arizona. I spent a few days in Flagstaff...

before riding at Bill Williams...

and, wait, riding in Kingman, Arizona?! Yeah, did a quick stop to check out the trails in Kingman. Fun stuff. I'd recommend stopping if you are ever in the

As you can see, the camera has taken a back seat recently in my solo riding during the past month.

New Starr Pass Trail

2011-06-30T09:20:00.002-05:00

I had a few opportunities in May to hit up some Starr Pass, something I have recently not been able to do. Jonathan gave me a tour of a new (to me) trail. Climbing in granny gear was the theme of the entire ride. Check out the views of Tucson in some of them!

Beginning of Summer

2011-06-30T09:14:00.003-05:00

I have some pictures that I have not been posting during the past month. The end of the school meant a few of my students were moving on to college. Pretty cool ride before they move on to college and beyond.

It was also (as this was back in May) cool enough to do some weekday techy rides.

More pict

Grind

2011-05-05T00:10:00.004-05:00

I really been enjoying the new house lately. The commute into work on singletrack combined with some weekly rides to break up the daily grind has been a delight. As May comes full swing, daylight really is allowing more riding time....

Photos by Chris Campy

Just in the past week, I think I rode nearly every trail in 50-Year and CSP. Everything is in primo condition (save Cherry Tank, too sandy).

I managed to forget the camera this week for the Tuesday ride. Luckily, Chris was taking several that you can see here.

Cherry Tank

2011-04-30T18:03:00.003-05:00

I met Cody this week at the Monday Mahvalous ride (Hank's theory for this ride: "Monday's always are the worst, so why not start the week out right with a +2-hour night ride." I love it.) Consider me a regular for Mondays.

Later in the week, Cody and I road from Catalina, Sutherland to Baby Jesus on Wednesday (my "long commute" from work).

Today, we rode from my house a sweet 3-hour loop: Upper 50-Cherry Tank-Around the Mountain-Gem.

Cherry Tank has its fill of rocks and Arizona Honeysuckles in bloom (not pictured).

We saw three gila monsters...

Photo by Cody

...and I somehow managed to clear Around the Mountain on the first try.

A great loop, especially when done from the house. Nonetheless, I would recommend waiting to go up Cherry Tank until some rain comes. It is pretty sandy. Although if you wait, you might miss some of the blooming that is happening up there. I will leave it up for you to decide....

Return of Tuesday Techy

2011-04-28T14:26:00.002-05:00

Photos by Scott

After a few weeks of solo Tuesday Techy riding, Scott and Jonathan showed up for some tech and $1.50 tacos (prices went up $.25).

A few pictures by Scott and Jonathan below:

Some of my photos from the ride...

Bikepacking Lemmon

2011-04-26T18:11:00.003-05:00

In no particular order, here are some pictures from this past weekend of bikepacking on Mt Lemmon. Pictures are from me or Maad (if I am in it, the picture credit goes to Maad). Check out James' blog here for more details about the trip.

Max: Grand Canyon

2011-04-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

Max: Easter Update

2011-04-24T21:02:00.000-05:00

45 miles force Max to wait another day before leaving Flagstaff. Listen to the above link for more info.

Max Update: Flagstaff

2011-04-23T23:00:00.002-05:00

Click the above to listen to Max's call in while he does the AZ Trail Race.

Max Update: Highline and Beyond

2011-04-22T19:22:00.001-05:00

The above is Max's recent call in for his AZ Trail Race ride. He just made it to pine. It is a 5 hour hike-a-bike to do the 10 miles before Pine. He is loading up on food before he climbs up the Mogollon Nightmare. He will give us another update with a bigger summary of the past 4-5 days the next time he calls.

Prescott MC 2011

2011-04-21T12:51:00.003-05:00

Perhaps one of the best loops on the Arizona Endurance Series, the Prescott Monstercross went down last week. Although I brought a camera, I took very few pictures. Here are a few courtesy of DagN:

It has been awhile since I have raced this hard. I really tried to have a fast time, stopping for less than 10 minutes at White Spar. The 7 hours and 25 minutes was about 1.5 hours faster than last year. Seeing Scott continuing to get faster has made me start thinking about training a little bit. I even went out and did some speed training with him a few weeks ago. Ouch. I remember why I don't train. It might be time to get motivated, especially when you see a riding buddy like Scott tear up courses in 6 hours. Great job, Scott.

Results are up here.

Max's Voicemail from the AZ Trail Race

2011-04-21T11:55:00.002-05:00

The following is a voice mail from Max as from the AZ Trail Race. You can also track him here.

If the following link does not work, you can also find the file here.

The sad, beautiful fact...

2011-04-18T22:13:00.008-05:00

...that the vast majority of singletrack in the world we will never really be able to ride.

Of course, when you start to think about this, you can really respond in two different ways. The first is surrender, you understand that you cannot simply ride all the singletrack and that you must narrow it down to a select few hundred thousand miles. This is the preferred response. The other option is culling. Culling is simply the choosing you do for yourself. It's the how you sort out what is worth your time and what is not. For example: Is a trip to South Mountain worth my time? The AZT 300 is too hard for me. Sedona is not worth my time, so I am going to ride here instead.

What I've observed in recent years is far more culling than surrender. "All those non-technical trails are trash." I have even found myself saying, "Doubletrack? Blah, I prefer singletrack or nothing." You just simply reduce your surrender load by tossing out so much at once.

It's an effort, I think, to make the world smaller and easier to manage, to make the awareness of what we're missing less painful.

Culling is easy; it implies a huge amount of control and mastery. Surrender, on the other hand, is a little sad. That's the moment you realize you're separated from so much. That's your moment of understanding that you'll miss most of the riding out there.

It's sad, but it's also ... great, really. Imagine if you'd seen everything good, or if you ridden everything difficult. Imagine if you really got to ride all the singletrack out there. That would leave you empty, with nothing left to explore....

...it would be a failure, quite honestly.

The excitement of new singletrack would be lost, rocks would be ruled as "impossible" and never attempted. Even some big bikes would be left unbuilt, collecting dust in the garage. Laps and training would become the preferred biking method.

Luckily, this is not the case.

Photos by Kendall G. and Louis G., the Boulders and Area 52 respectively

Rather what we've seen and ridden is always going to be a very small cup dipped out of a very big ocean, and turning your back on the ocean to stare into the cup can't change that.

Gila

2011-04-11T17:34:00.004-05:00

The rain on Saturday was perfect timing. From the snow on the Pinals to blooming ocotillos, everything seemed to come into place for another trip to Area 52.

Cool, slight breeze out of the west...oh man, this is the kind of riding to follow a cold, white Saturday.

All the pictures are in this slideshow:

Post-ride swim at the Gila with some mandatory recovery drinks...Enjoy the weather this week!

Gila River Scramble II Day 2

2011-04-07T16:51:00.003-05:00

If you did not ready Day 1, click here to see more.

That night, the wind was blowing just enough to keep me cool inside the sleeping bag. Stars were out, and beside a little rodent nibbling at my bag a few times, I slept so peacefully.

The next morning, we figured out our water source was just a few yards away from where we thought it was. We filled up and headed down to Ripsey.

We checked out another water source for future beta. The more you know about water in this area, the better your chances of riding more miles when the heat comes on.

In about a 20 square mile area, I can point you to (besides the silty Gila) about 6 places to get reliable (when filtered) water.

I have never ridden Ripsey on such fresh legs.

Could the switchbacks of doom be ridden on fresh legs?

Perhaps a bit of luck and the fresh legs, I managed to clean the entire section. Ripsey alone is reason enough to get happy, add in some riding like that and there is bound to be some shouting.

We saw two of these little guys while on Ripsey.

While we stopped, Scott had borrowed my camera to find where he had dropped his water bottle and tire. The former had been dropped at Area 52, while the later must have fell even before Area. We pondered where the tire fell?

Perhaps Trader Joe's had a hedgehog in mind when the made this delicious treat.

Do you see the resemblance?

We carved as much we could...

nailing the switchbacks along the way. It was (and always has been) a beautiful descent.

Riding up the Florence-Kelvin Highway has been getting a little old, this is my 3rd time in a little over 3 months. At least the views are nice.

Time to head back to Area 52

Picture by Scott

Redemption? Not quite. I managed not to break my frame while riding the Gila Scramble, but I fail a little short of cleaning the toilet tubes.

And alas, the missing tire, about 1/4 mile from the car.

Gila River Scramble II Day 1

2011-04-06T02:00:00.002-05:00

A great way to start the first mile of your bikepacking trip with your favorite Arizona bikepacking crew...

Add some record high temperatures and you might just bail. The Florence weather was 98 degrees as we were making our turn on to the Diversion Dam Rd.

The heat did cause a few stumbling blocks, like we had to leave later in the day. That meant less riding. That said, it turned out to be a great decision because we arrived at Area 52 with some of the best lighting ever.

Each time I ride out here, I always mumble the same two things: this place is going to be one day famous and why is that I only visit this place twice a year!?

Next three photos by Scott Morris

We found a good path that I had never taken down the east side of the mesa. While stepping up to a small lip, I encountered this guy ready to strike.

Truth be told, I did scream a little bit when I first saw it. Although it was not really close, it’s rattle was going as I was focusing on the move to get up the lip.

We drifted off to the top of Ripsey to set up camp when some amazing lighting really set the mood. I am not sure what it really is about sunsets, but the more I ride a bike the more I can truly appreciate what the sun does every morning and night.

It’s the kind of things you hope for when you are packing your bags…You often find yourself wishing for fun singletrack, gorgeous sunsets, good company and hot food. I was lacking on the last as I watched Scott cook his food that night.

I really need to think about bringing better food on these trips. Day 2 tomorrow.

Sedona (not so) Big Friggin Loop

2011-03-24T11:58:00.002-06:00

There are some great pictures and an interesting read from the SBFL this year on the Mountain Flyer website. Check it out here. The decision to change the course to due waters really shortened the course this year. The results are also up on the AES website. Scott raced the 37 miles in an impossibly fast 3 hours, 40 minutes.

Other things related to the Arizona Endurance Series, check out Mike Curiak's video on the Coconino 250 Race.

Touring the Coconino. from lacemine29 on Vimeo.

Ripsey Revisted

2011-03-02T08:58:00.000-06:00

Newly built singletrack beckoned some out-of-town visitors, Ty and I to do the Ripsey Segment of the AZ Trail again. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Bike Testing

2011-01-30T17:31:00.002-06:00

A friend from Outside Magazine asked if I wanted to try out some of the 2011 big bikes out at the 50-year. It had been since Interbike 2007 since I sat on a rig that was more expensive than my 5k Subaru and the weather was perfect. How could I pass it up?

We mostly rode short, 1-hour loops on the Upper-50, watching and trying to mimic Louis' lines. The camera did not come out as much as it should have, nevertheless, I did manage to take a few notable pictures to summarize the day.

Ripsey

2011-01-30T17:07:00.002-06:00

If you are not familiar with the Ripsey Segment of the Arizona Trail, check out the Antelope Peak Challenge 115 mile course (that happened yesterday).

Sometimes it's just easier to let the pixels do the talking.

You can see why this section was voted "Best Ridgeline in Arizona" by me.

Max said it best as he was doing the 115-mile ride yesterday.."Even the open pit mine (see above picture, background) looks amazing."

Switchback masters needed during this segment. Steep and unforgiving, this is where you learn how to ride a switchback.

The day ended with a recon on some short (albeit sweet) section of the Arizona Trail. In case you ever wondered where your money is going each time you donate to the Arizona Trail Association, look no farther.

Snow!

2011-01-30T15:44:00.002-06:00

Ty and I took advantage of the recent snowfall to ride up to the snowline on Ram (lower and upper) and Alamo (upper and lower).

Even the Tortolitas got some snow (in the background).

Look closely to really appreciate the amount of rocks on this trail.

Christmas

2011-01-30T15:34:00.003-06:00

It's been awhile since I have updated the blog. Upon realizing the hand was not broken mid-December, I quickly jumped back on the bike to start doing some local rides and spending time with the family as Christmas neared.

Kendall's sister visited Tucson with a mountain bike. Having just purchased a mountain bike, she was eager to check out some of the beginner trails in Tucson. The urban bike path was the first place we visited.

While celebrating Christmas, Max and I also had some time to do a Baby Jesus ride from the house.

We even had some fun exploring new lines.

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This trail needs some trail love soon. I am hoping to ride up there this weekend (assuming I can ditch this cold) to clip some of the cat claw.

Como Trail

2010-12-18T18:21:00.003-06:00

After a quick breakfast at our friend's house, K and I headed up to Como Trail with said friends. I did a loop past the windmill to the Saguaro Ranch No Trespassing Sign (west of Como windmill), then dropped back down Como for some fun descending while they did a quick hike up to Como Trail. Timing worked out really well as she got to run back down the technical sections while taking a handful of pictures.

The wrist has been cleared by the doctor, timing could not have been better.

Quite the amazing ridgeline when you get up on top. Last time Scott and I rode this uber technical descent, we got a standing ovation from some hikers. Today, a simple "Wow, I can't believe you are riding up this" and "Those are really big tires."

A near perfect descent of Como, the rocky wash is still by downfall.

Nearly all pictures by Kendall

I have been organizing pictures by location for the past few months. Lemmon and Tortolitas are two of the biggest photo albums since I have started. Here is a two month overview of the riding in the Tortolitas. If you have not ridden out here yet, perhaps this will be enough to push you over the edge.

Shattered

2010-12-16T12:40:00.002-06:00

Have you ever had one of those days that you were on? Where the impossible became the possible?

Prison (up/down), up Molino and on to descend the elusive Milagrosa.

Oh Milagrosa...How many of us can say we have cleared every technical section on this trail? A few locals, I think. But who has cleaned the entire thing in one shot, one ride?! *crickets, crickets* Can anyone say "yes" to this statement?

I know I have a resounding "no" to that question. But, on this day, I actually thought I had a glimmer of hope. A near dabless ride up Molino is where it began. It continued on toward Milagrosa, excited, yet cautious.

Focusing on the prize became ever clearer....Milagrosa. Waterfall. Cleaned. Rock Garden. Cleaned!

Oh my gosh, could it be the first dabless ride on Milagrosa!?

We continued on, stopping to check the now empty bottle of Tequilla...bummer.

At the green gate, I boasted of my endeavors to Max, perhaps even boasting too much. The now forgotten quote was "Hey Max, do you want to follow my line to clean this section. I cleaned it all a few weeks ago."

We set off after the green gate, cleaning the sketchy, uber rocky chute section.

"Well done, Chad." Max commented.

Next thing I know, I look back and Max is gone. Turns out he went over the bars...and I was next. I took the second to last technical move on Milagrosa way too fast. Not realizing there was about a (relatively small) rock, at the bottom of the drop, I hit it with my front tire, Stan's blew and then I went over the bars only land really hard on my palm. First lesson: never underestimate Milagrosa. Second: don't get cocky.

After a visit to the urgent care, turns out I may have a broken scaphoid. They outfitted me with a splint and told me to wait for two weeks.

Ah Milagrosa, one day.......I will conquer you in one, single ride, top to bottom.

Which brings us to today. In a few hours, I will be heading in for more x-rays to see if I will continue to be off the bike. Stay tuned for more.

Giving

2010-12-07T18:39:00.003-06:00

Just one of the many ways we give back and say thank you for building so many miles of trail. We started this charity ride to show our contribution as mountain bikers. All monies earned from the ride go directly to the Arizona Trail Association. Details about the ride here.

If you can't make it to the event on January 15th, help promote by sending this link, printing the above flyer to distribute to your LBS, posting it on FB, blogging or even donating to the ATA in your absence.

Thanks....

Cowboy Trails

2010-12-02T20:38:00.004-06:00

If I was to say "Mountain Biking in Las Vegas," without doubt the first trail that would come to your mind would be Bootleg in Boulder City. And rightly so, there are some fun shuttle-able trails.

Last year, I had the opportunity to ride the Blue Diamond Trail system (click here to see pictures). Since my family lives in Las Vegas, I trend to visit with the bike on an annual basis. I new the Cowboy Trails near Red Rock could possibly provide the needed excuse to live the city (key word city, we tend to avoid the strip).

The best part of the Cowboy Trails is the non-existent trailhead. When you pull up, the big Horse Stables sign leaves little wonder to the imagination. In fact, if I did not know about the trails, I would simply drive by and think it was a private ranch.

I think I could show you the Bunny Trail backdrop and that would simply convince you to visit these trails. Check out that background.

From the Bunny Trail, we continued on to all the Fingers, as they call them on the signs.

Most of these sections would be great for any intermediate rider.

Photos of me by Kendall Gin

As the trail nears the top, you veer off to Fossil Trail, then over to Sars and Anti Sars. I didn't really have a printed map nor GPS handy, simply followed the bike tracks around the mountain.

After the radio towers, you top out at this view of Las Vegas.

But the real view was this fun ridge that you got to ride on. The trail got progressively difficult as you descended.

Veering right at the saddle (where equestrians tie up there horses). You have 3 options. The first right will take you down to Bomb Voyage (which apparently is new). The second right is Bob Gnarly and continuing past both of these turns will take you near full circle back to the Boneshaker.

We chose a combination of the two, headed down Bob Gnarly (not recommended for intermediate riders, this is an advanced trail).

And over to Bomb Voyage, the steepest trail in the entire network. This is a fairly new trail (no tracks on the trail) that climbs up and around to a group of rocks, then over to Ridge Ride/Three Amigos.

It's a beautiful trail, as you can see; but you really have to enjoy climbing to enjoy it. The contouring at the beginning turns into some steep ups....very fun stuff.

Some sweet trails. Click here to see the map of the network. Note that Bomb Voyage is not on this map. These trails are rarely used, especially some of the trail on the north side. It's a shame given the scenery, technical aspect and rideablitiy. Hope to get up there again and explore some more trails near the north of the Red Rock State Park.

Baby Jesus

2010-12-02T10:21:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, Max and I did a from home semi-epic ride to Catalina State Park

up the Sutherland Jeep Road (playing the classic Who Dabs First game)

and over to Baby Jesus.

Talk about overgrown and destroyed. Hijole! We need to do some trail work up there. I did bring loppers to cut a few branches, but more needs to be done.

Some of the lines where washed out, but on the whole things were still pretty rideable.

Stunning views of Samaniego in the background, the new go-to trail for Tucsonans. However, it seems as though some of our local trails are not being used very much and/or missing some trail work time.

Casa Grande Mountain

2010-12-01T20:30:00.005-06:00

Some recent forum chatter about the trails at Casa Grande led Kendall and I to make a stop on the way home from LV.

Before getting to the new singletrack, we rode most of the older, existing trails. The existing trails a zigzag of near perfect trails. The best part: Kendall could pick the shorter, easier line while I stayed high and rocky. Each respective trail would eventually meet.

Picture taken by Kendall Gin

It's like riding a groomed singletrack trail, you feel like a king riding in this place.

I had read about the corduroy-like trails from local builder Phil, the main. He comes out in his spare time to maintain the trails. Judging by the amount of raked trails, he most come out here a lot.

Nearly every section we rode to the north had some evidence of his raking.

The new, trail was about 1-mile long of high, contouring and ending appropriately abruptly to hide it from the ATVers out there. We took a jeep road back down the mountain, but not before scouting out some of the flagged future trail. Good stuff planned for this trail.

Kendall and I even got to meet the legendary Phil and his son, working on the trail! We chatted for a bit. He mentioned that the city of Casa Grande contracted Mark Flint to lay out the trails and now the locals are laying out the trails. If you want to help out, just check out MTBR for the most recent volunteer dates. They really have some sustainable, fun trail out there (both new and old).

I love the lighting on this picture. Great ride to end a great vacation with Kendall and the family in LV.

Great trails, definitely worth the stop. If was going to go again, I would avoid the Peart St entrance and go directly to the the truck stop (the one that used to have a Starbucks). Here are the directions.

Directions: Exit 200 Sunland Gin Rd. from Phoenix/Chandler go right, from Tucson go left. First right is Arica rd. it will be after the truck stop. Follow Arica rd. and when you reach the unpaved area you will see signs posted.

Trail Map available here from MTBikeAZ.com

Also, I would love to take the higher line to check out some of the technical options that are on the ridge. Perhaps that could be the carrot for those readers that maybe want to check the CG Mountain out....If you are driving on I-10 or I-8, stop by and see the new/old trails, perhaps you may just find yourself riding up on the technical trail.

4th Annual Kentucky Camp

2010-12-01T11:14:00.004-06:00

We had another great turnout this year for the Kentucky Camp. I played camera duties this year while doing some sections of the short course.

One of the best times of year to get together, ride, camp and just hang out with fellow mountain bikers. Thank you to Topofusion for making maps for the event.

The 2011 Arizona Endurance Series calendar has been posted. Check it out at the AES website. We already have about 30 participants signed up for the McDowell 60 on December 11.

Ridgelines

2010-11-30T21:43:00.003-06:00

A cool 54 degrees at the start of today's Techy Taco Ride meant knee and arm warmers along for the ride.

Max, Scott, Duncan and I headed up the typical route, Lower Ram to Upper Alamo (out-in-back), and down the dreaded Lower Alamo.

Scott managed to get the slickrock move this week. It seems as though he has conquered the fear of falling back. Time for some Area 52 soon?

Perhaps the best ridgeline anywhere in Tucson...

This was Max's first trip out to the Techy Taco Trails. We used to have Wednesday Night rides until he suggested the $1.25 tacos at Rubio's. The rest is history.

What technical trails have you been riding recently?

Area 52

2010-11-14T20:05:00.005-06:00

Is it safe to say that all slickrock begins with a sandy, wash ride?

Max is back on the bike. I convinced him to take a trip to Area 52 this past weekend. The theme of the day: slickrock.

We explored new (to me) routes, dead ends were frequent, nevertheless it was all entertaining and unique.

Max rolled this one...only to double flat.

"I forgot my glue."

I loaned him one of my non-slime tires, but that did not even help. Without glue, Max resorted to burning the patch to the tire. And guess what?! IT WORKED!

He was forced to play it easy the rest of the day, having no more extra tubes.

Look close at this picture, it almost looks like my front wheel is on that rock. Don't be fooled. Look closely.

The classic House of Cards drop was a good place to have to fix some flats. I kept riding it up and down. If you remember last time Scott and I were out at Area 52, I broke my frame. We switched off the bike for the remainder of that evening.

Max and I did the same.

Add that one to the "Faces of Chad Coffee Table Book." Not really sure what I was doing there. *blush, blush*

Lastly, it was time for the last drop of the day....the classic camping spot roll.

Max nearly rolled over this on the way back to the car. Some post-ride beverages in the shade at the car was the perfect way to enjoy the weather.

Apple

2010-11-11T14:27:00.003-06:00

The day after the Samaniego Epic, Kendall, Pocket and I drove up to hike and bike some trail on Mt Lemmon.

Apple was blooming with fall colors. It is the newest trail that extends from 1918 and heads back to Box Canyon TH.

This picture alone should lure you into riding Apple. The only downside of this trail is that it needs a little work; there are three downed trees and one small drainage that are uncleanable.

I was surprised to find another mountain biker hiking Apple. We introduced ourselves to Chris and his partner, chatting away about the fall colors. Word is spreading about this trail. Did I mentioned it is even marked for cross country skiing?

We found some new b-lines were found on 1918.

Kendall was snapping most of the blog-worthy pictures, so I have none of her. She was pushing herself up some technical sections she had never cleared.

The Samaniego Epic

2010-11-09T22:02:00.005-06:00

Check out this post on the recent trail work on Samaniego Ridge before you read this write-up. If you frequent my blog (or live in Tucson), you probably know that how much work has gone into Sammy in the past month. As soon as I heard about the trail work, the obvious idea passed through my (and Scott's head)...the Samaniego Epic, ride up Lemmon singletrack and down Samaniego to 50-Year, finishing at Catalina State Park.

If you look at the Red Ridge Epic last February, you will understand the scope of this backyard epic. There is something about starting/ending a 12+ hour ride from your house, especially one that is latent with primo singletrack.

We started at 6am after a hearty 5:30am breakfast at Bobo's. The early bird special plus 2 biscuits and gravy was the secret fuel to propel us up Lemmon to the first signs of Prison Camp singletrack. I don't claim to have all the answers to endurance mountain biking, but I do provide you this secret....calories count.

Photo by Scott Morris

Do you know anybody else that makes road riding this much fun? Look at that picture!

"I forgot how much fun riding up Prison was, this is great," commented Scott.

Truly a great way to start the first section of singletrack. The thought of going up Bug Springs was laughed at when the option came.

There are just too many unknowns when you do a ride like this. It's best to do the hard singletrack and leave the super hard, time consuming singletrack for later....and yes, you can quote me on that.

The up-and-over is still rideable on Secret.

1918 Trail was full of fall colors, the kind of stuff you would expect to see in other parts of the southwest.

Photo by Scott Morris

Since few people ride these trails, you'll notice the lack of "singletrack" in some of the pictures. We did see a few hikers taking pictures.

After Sunset Trail, we headed up to Mt Lemmon General Store. Last year you will recall that I was boasting about the Big Tex. 500 calories for $1, simply amazing.

The tradition was kept alive by both Scott and I. We loaded up on the type of calories normal for the General Store, Peanut Butter M&M's, nuts and gatorades. On a quick side note: We could be seeing more of Max Morris, as he owner of the store mentioned that his last day was the following day. Good news for bike lovers every where, you might start seeing him on this blog soon.

We filled up some water at the 24-hour Summerhaven public restroom and went up Upper Sabino and Turkey Run

Photo by Scott Morris

onto meadows before hitting the main event...Samaniego.

Wilderness of Rocks, Pusch Ridge and the Santa Ritas in that order (from front to back) in both of these pictures.

We took the "better" route that forks off to the east. It was a lot more rider friendly...

Photo by Scott Morris

...well, minus this little section. Riding an epic is special enough, when you realize that it was made possible with the volunteer of local mountain bikers, I think it makes it that more special.

From where we started 3 weeks, the trail has seen a little under 2 miles more...

including this, which Scott coined as the "Tree of Souls."

Plenty of b-lines exist on the trail, knowing where to find them is easy when you ride with someone that has been down this trail 3 times in the past week.

We stopped for lunch to check out the Cork Screw of Death and Mule Ears.

Photo by Scott Morris

This is my favorite picture from the trip as it underlines the amount of adventure needed to take such a ride. Although the reward eventually pays off.

Continuing on past the Cork Screw was the highlight of the trip. At one time, Scott mentioned something I was thinking..."Does this singletrack ever end?"

The rythym went something like this: ride supper fast, get some air, ride fast again only to slow down for a switchback, look for the trail among the high grass, then repeat.

As we neared Charouleau Gap, the amount of difficult switchbacks increased exponentially. It really was a great way to end the trail.

We continued on toward more singletrack, in the form of Cherry Tank. Despite the overgrown warning Scott had mentioned earlier, we pushed on through some of he growth and erroding trail.

Photo by Scott Morris

Sammie Epic 2010:

81.2 miles
11,447'
12:15 moving

and to compare, our ride last November, 2009

Red Ridge Epic
80.8 miles
10,100'
10:21 moving

The only question that we have to ask ourselves: When will we do a 24-hour epic from our house? We know the route, funny thing is that it is probably under 100 miles. Although 100 of the hardest, technically demanding miles anywhere. It might even be a Behemoth-worty ride.

What say ye, Scott?

Enough?

2010-11-07T23:58:00.001-06:00

From the weekly Tuesday Night Rides....

.....to the occasional Wednesday Night Tech Fest,

...my legs have finally mustered up enough words to whisper something to me, "Ahem, we need some rest in the form of non-technical trail."

Have you ever been there? I know my recovery time very well, especially in the endurance realm. This is not an endurance type of recovery, it is slower and is more focused in the thighs. No recovery sock I have can go up to my thighs. Basically, I have realized the following profound statement to be true: that a 10-mile technical climbing ride takes a heavier toll than a 40-50 mile cross country ride.

That's is not to say that Scott and I did not do a 14-hour ride last Friday, although the pain during said ride was when I realized that I need a 1-2 week rest from technical riding. You probably saw on his blog the video from a similar ride we did last year, if not check it out here before tomorrow's post on the Sammy Epic.

Milagrosa II

2010-10-31T22:08:00.004-06:00

Nearly 4 years ago to the date, my friend and I began the idea of offering free, grassroots endurance racing. We started this first race, the Rock y Road 50/50 at this time. Is was this past weekend here in Tucson.

We started riding up the road to Reddington with predicted temperatures in the mid-80s. The night before when I checked the weather, I was tempted to only do the mountain biking portion. When more people (that I assumed) had arrived to the parking lot, I decided to do both sections of the route, the Rock and the Road portions.

I was slow on the start having done plenty of technical rides this week. I normally take the day off before a race, even drive into work that day. Seems like a good idea, no? I chose to not only commute, but I did a quick 1-hour technical climb on Friday.

Veryyyyyyyy bad idea. I barely caught Chris C. at Italian Trap (shown above).

Chris, Dave and I rode as a group for most of the first ~30 miles. Chris had to eat some food, ergo he dropped behind us for a little bit.

Dave and I continued on to Milagrosa, although toward the bottom near the first gate, I noticed that Dave was no longer with me. For those that are not familiar with Milagrosa, it is one of the hardest trails in Arizona.

I pulled into the transition zone about 20 minutes before Dave. The thought of riding my mountain bike to Palisades (I had done it twice on a road bike, once on a ss mtb) was very unappealing. I had already made up my mind not to ride the road portion since I did not have a working road bike.

Despite this, Dave rallied me to head up Lemmon. He was prepared with a road bike and immediately left me.

As I rode up (I even passed a tandem heading up Lemmon?!), I even stopped to take a picture of Milagrosa.

This got me thinking about the possibility of doing Milagrosa twice in one day, not shuttling of course.

Which is dumber: riding your mountain bike to Palisades only to head back down or doing Milagrosa twice in one day?

The real question was...which would be more enjoyable? I rode to Prison and jammed down, climbed Molino and enjoyed the view at the top.

The weather was perfect and, well, Milagrosa was going to be re-visited by me.

It's safe to say I could look at this view for hours. Something about this rugged, off-the-map trail screams out to my wild side. I can't explain it. I consider Tuesday a training day of sorts, Milagrosa is where I put that training to action.

I have passed this tree many rides and kept going...not today. Celebration comes in many forms, even a nice little drink and a simple thought..."Today has been a good day on the bike, a first for me....two times on Milagrosa."

Technical

2010-10-29T12:33:00.003-05:00

A few thoughts on cleaning technical trails that I have noticed in the past few weeks of riding.

First, I have noticed that sessioning these trails is key (an obvious statement for most of us). During the do-overs, I found it really necessary to be honest with myself. Sometimes I try to say to myself, "Oh, I missed it this ride, but yesterday I nailed it" and simply move on. Be honest with yourself. If you have the time, make sure to get it right. Starting down the trail might even put the trail in perspective, instead of "cheating" and starting closer to the difficult section. This is often the case for trails loaded with switchbacks.

Photo by Scott Morris

Next, it might be helpful to leave yourself a reminder on some sections that you have not cleaned. I have a trail close to my work that is loaded with technical moves, switchbacks and waterbars. So much, in fact, that I start to even question what I have/haven't cleaned. I started to leave a few reminders in the form of rocks (they even taunt me at times) near the uncleanable sections.

Finally, I have found rocking to music really helps. It's hard to get pumped while riding in granny gear sometimes at .5 mph. The added music does wonders for me, especially if I go semi-exhausted after a long day at work.

And about the shouts and screams that you impulsively do after you clean that impossible section, well, don't you love doing it?

Do you have any other suggestions, things you do to help you improve? Improving...that really is the key.

Hidden Canyon

2010-10-29T11:47:00.004-05:00

Scott suggested we move the Tuesday Techy Taco Ride over to Starr Pass.

Scott explains Hidden Canyon on his most recent post:

"My good friend Master Flint designed Hidden Canyon to be so hard that I wouldn’t want to ride it. He failed in that regard, because when something is too hard, that just makes me want to learn to ride it even more."

A nice shot from Hooligan, Scott is pointing over at the infamous Hidden Canyon switchbacks (he is a sucker for pointing).

Plenty of cholla on this skinny trail. If you are not careful, you might end up with some in the knucle.

Let the technical switchbacks begin!

Topping out at Hidden Canyon, we started trying to move faster as the sun was setting.

As we were descending, Scott warned me about this next switchback that was "impossible." He did stop to take a picture (see above). Some how, I am not really sure, I managed to keep my front wheel on the trail and clean it.....wooo hoooooooo!

Photo by Scott Morris

I love these pictures that Scott puts on his blog. I think they accurately show some of the difficulty of these rides.

My final comment: Wouldn't it be cool if we set up some "challenges" that had us riding up a certain section of "impossible" trail? I was thinking about how fun it would be to see who cleans/doesn't what and count. This is something Scott and I already do together, but it would be fun to do it with a group of people. Any thoughts?

Tortolita Skills Clinic*

2010-10-27T22:32:00.004-05:00

This past weekend, we had a great showing for a "ride" out at the Tortolitas. The theme of the ride was "rocks and sessioning." We did out-n-backs on every trail/spur that is connected with Wild Mustang.

The stats for the ride explain the technical aspect of the course....13 miles in 5.5 hours.

The route: Upper Javelina (west)-Cochie-Spur-Wild Mustang-Upper Wild Burro-Lower Javelina-Wild Burro

Upper Javelina

Upper Javelina Spur

Wild Mustang

Upper Wild Burro

Lower Javelina

The post-ride BBQ was....

delicious. Add in some IPA and some good conversations, and you have the perfect way to spend a cool Saturday afternoon.

*name used by Scott on his blog also, check out some more pictures there.

Milagrosa

2010-10-17T22:40:00.003-05:00

Up the road

Then up Prison

and on to Milagrosa by way of Prison/Molino. I had to ride ahead of the gang in order to make it to work. There is something to be said for riding some trails solo, Milagrosa is one of those trails.

Oh, how I miss this trail. It has been about 8 months since I have been on this trail. In said time period, my skills (thanks in large part to the Tuesday Techy rides) have improved immensely.

It's reasonable to say that I will be seeing a lot more of this trail in the next few months.

Wild Mustang II

2010-10-10T17:30:00.008-05:00

The crew is out doing the Coconino Loop Race right now. Some 10+ riders showed up for this year's stage race. Matthew Lee is knocking on the my record at the moment. He has been and is a little under 2 hours below the current record. Check out his setup he is racing with here. I also got a call from Scott. Seems as though Mr. Lee only got about 3-4 hours of sleep before starting the Coconino. I'd love to see him turn on the burners right now (he is currently in Williams at the time of this post).

I am enjoying some technical rides all this week instead of doing the Coconino. I convinced Chris C. to take a tour of the Tortolitas with me. Having just ridden here on Friday, some of the lines were still fresh in my head.

Wild Mustang is sort of like riding up Bug Springs, only longer and more technical. It's probably a 95:5 ride:hike ratio.

Photo by Chris C

As with any ride I lead, a few mandatory hike-a-bikes. Chris was thoroughly impressed with the trail.

A second later and you would have been able to see Chris a little better.

You can see why...the views are amazing as you begin to climb to ~1500 feet above Tucson.

Toward the end, I pulled a do-over on a technical section. I nailed my sidewall and stan's began squirting out. No dirt or duct tape would helps this one. I was surprised how long it stayed on. After putting a regular tube in the tire, it quickly had a small leak.

I limped back down some of the trail, unable to really ride most of the Upper Wild Burro (near the overlook). This is the section that screams technical!

I am hoping to maybe do a monthly ride out here, should timing permit in the next few months. Anyone interested? This could be your tour guide....

Photo by Chris C

Agua Caliente

2010-10-09T22:45:00.004-05:00

The Agua Caliente Hill is a beast. At a mere 4.5 miles, you scale a little less than 3,000 feet. Its path is littered with rocks and overgrowth. It is a nightmare for any mountain biker. For those that know Tucson, it's pretty safe to say that it would be easier to go up Milagrosa and Molino than to climb up Agua Caliente.

Those kind odds make it ideal for a person that is looking for solitude and very hard saddle time.

Granny gear..... check
120 ounces of water....check
Two chicken legs when you reach the top....check

Beware though, if you are not ready for this ride, you could end up walking a lot.

The first mile of the trail is everything you ever wanted in a trail. Technical water bar riding at a decent grade, even a few switchbacks that to keep you on your feet.

But then, woooooaaaahhhhh. The trail takes a turn (for the worst?) It seemed to get really hotter right about here.

Once again, the solitude. The kind of silence one dreams of. You could be down there in the city, but why would you? The pattern to ride this trail is simple. Do what you can, rest....then repeat. Talking to yourself even helps..."I can do this." Then draw a line mentally in your head. Then attack it!

Victory! I savored every bite of the chicken and the view.

Just a little section of the 360 view at the top.

Neglected

2010-10-08T15:19:00.007-05:00

A sure sign that fall is officially here in Tucson is when you can begin to start riding late in the morning. Today, I woke up at around 8:30, enjoyed some coffee and began to get my bike gear ready. For the past few weeks, I have been curious to see how the trails over in the Tortolitas have held up to the recent rains.

Why the Tortolitas? Well, I consider myself an expert on neglected trails. Silly as it may sound, I get delight in solitude. Also by definition, these neglected trails are inherently harder. A good day is when you ride a rugged trail, sessioning those hard sections, sweat is dripping down faster that your pedal stroke and (above all) you have the trail to yourself.

Not a soul in sight for today's 2-hour spin...

\

I went up Wild Mustang to Upper Javelina. Any golfers recognize that green down there?

I took the snap a picture as you ride trick from JennyJ o. She seems to be the master of doing this on her technical rides.

Yeah, to be honest, I am not very good at this. Maybe I should have brought a tripod.

This is one of the hardest sections of the climb. I tried it several times without success. Perhaps another day.

Here is the same climb taken in the previous picture, only opposite view. Do you see a rideable line in there somehwere?

The legendary Alamo Trail and the Catalinas in the background.

And, of course, some B-lines that help you in some tight sections.

It appears I may need to work on my solo, technical picture taking skills. They seem less than perfect.

Never get old

2010-10-08T10:20:00.003-05:00

Ty and I had the perfect pace for yesterday's ride on Lemmon. We went up Bigelow and over to secret.

Some maintenance on the trail was in order. The large, unrideable log is now a fun up-and-over and there are a few water channels to help with some of the erosion this trail has seen in the recent monsoon storms.

We tried to only continue when everything was cleaned. A pretty daunting task at times.

Photo by Ty Brookhart

There were, of course, a few sections that we could not (ever?) clean.

On Sunset, we managed to clean this section but the next lip in the background denied us each time. Perhaps next time.

Amazing crepes, with less than enthusiastic service...Planet of the Crepes.

Roasted duck, arugula, havarti and olive oil....wow, it was superb.

Retracing our steps back up Sunset was a delight.

The front view of Secret's new up-and-over.

then down to the car by way of Bigelow.

This ride will never get old. My legs hurt this morning. Time for a quick recovery spin.

Apache Enduro 200

2010-10-05T13:49:00.003-05:00

A few pictures from my attempt at bikepacking the first ever Apache Enduro 200.

A few things happened. First, I had some saddle sore issues. I waited from Troy near Greer to get some chamois butter. That seemed to have fixed the problem, but not before I came up against the wall. Not sure how to explain it but after riding a little under 100 miles, I was ready to just be done. Lame, I know. But if you are not into the race and time is not on your side, better to jump out.

Lessons learned: bring more equipment and have a back-up plan for touring should your race-pace begin to grind to a hault.

Samaniego Trail Work

2010-10-05T12:53:00.001-05:00

In cooperation with the Forest Service, Louis planned a trail day on Samaniego Trail. The plan was to strap on all the equipment to the bikes, ride down the roughly 4 miles, 1500k of descent to the that work site, work for about 4 hours, and then ride back up.

I had only ridden this trail once before, and that seemed like a failure. The brier patches along with a "trail" took my rear derailleur and hanger with it.

Evan with the Wilderness of Rocks in the background.

Zach had a flat tire about midway down. The rest of the group pushed on as Zach and repaired his tire. I got a few shots of him flowing down the mountain to catch up with the others.

We began the work about 45 minutes after we had left the Meadows parking lot.

Ty sharpening his machete. 8 of us worked, generally in groups of two on different sections of the trail. We had a pretty good system going.

Excellent work. I can't wait to ride from my house Lemmon Trails (Prison, Bigelow, Secret, 1918, Sunset) and down Samaniego, to Cherry Tank, Upper 50, and over to Catalina State Park and back to my house!

On the way back up, we had the opportunity of watching nature in some brilliant ways, like this rain and dust storm in Tucson.

Here is the Fire Lookout station near Meadows with the Bigelow Towers in the background.

The next day, Benji and I rode Lemmon again.

Having climbed out of Samaniego the day before, my legs were a bit sore We managed to find a small section of trail off of 1918, that allows a near pavement-free loop from Bigelow. Not really sure of the name of the short hollow which the trail spirals through, we decided to put the name "Apple Hollow" (I had an apple as we rested on the trail).

More Lemmon

2010-09-28T19:52:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago (very late posting), we headed up from Molino Basin to ride up the following trails: Prison, Bugs, Bigelow, Secret, 1918, Sunset. Then to go down, 1918, Secret, Bigelow, Bugs and Prison. Arguably one of the best rides in Tucson.

David, ScottM, Benji and Campy showed up for the climb up Bugs

and climb we did.

This was Dave's birthday ride! Congrats Dave!

Benji and I continued on as the others headed back.

Recognize that guy? Max is working up the Mt Lemmon General Store. Sweet shirt, eh? Next time you are up on Lemmon, stop in to say hello.

We headed down Bigelow

only to push our bikes up Bug Springs. Benji summed up Bug Springs, "the quality of living for every mountain biker in Tucson has increased since the building of bugs."

It's easy to see why.

Cleaned!

2010-09-24T14:31:00.003-05:00

After more than 8 months of trying to clear the Ram Canyon technical climb, Scott finally cleaned the last remaining section. Combined with a killer sunset as we were descending Alamo, this was one of the best weekday rides I have ever had in Tucson.

The meaning of a storm II

2010-09-06T23:11:00.004-05:00

From one end of the spectrum to the other...

Sentinel Peak (Saturday's ride) with the mighty Catalinas in the background (Labor Day ride).

The proposed Catalina plan: Prison Camp to Aspen and back. You can laugh, I am laughing now as I write this. I came close. Aspen was the only missing ingredient. I will partly blame this on the ~2 hours of rain.

I started at Molino, climbed Prison and Bugs, before heading up to Bigelow. However, just after the San Pedro Vista, it started raining and hailing. 30% chance of rain....hmmmmm.

I took cover at Palisades along with 10 other hikers from the Southern Arizona Hiking group.

I scored this little fella' out of the deal. Mmmmmmmm. Did I mention it was 55 degrees while I was waiting here at the bathrooms?

I had some funny laughs while waiting at the outhouse. I stayed there for about 30 minutes as it kept raining. People would ask me if I was in line, others if I could watch the door (broken lock), one even asked me about toilet paper. I smiled and said, "this is the only one with TP, but hurry, there is not much left."

Soaked, I opted for climbing instead of bailing. Sound familiar? Secret (shown above) was superb. I dived into more singletrack, taking 1918 and Sunset to the General Store.

Can't pass this one up. I had to put the camera in a plastic bag as it continuously rained for about an hour as I rode the Catalina Highway to Sunset. I was soaked and the rain was not letting up; it was so bad that 2 cars stopped and asked me (during the storm) if I was doing okay.

I took a shortcut down to 1918, climbed 1918 and Secret. Warmer temperatures even encouraged me to ride Incinerator Ridge despite that HAB at the end.

Lovely trail, just a little overgrown at times.

Bug Springs and Prison Camp were next. 6 hours in, the scar on Bug Springs would not let me pass without a fight. Although fight I did, it like the kind of moment worthy of a picture. The waterbars at times seemed like giant logs. Prison Camp was a flash. Chocolate Milk as the recovery drink of choice along with some NPR.

Montrose

2010-09-02T20:55:00.002-05:00

A few shots from this week's Tuesday (Wednesday, again this week) Techy Taco ride from Montrose.

More next Tuesday.

Awakening

2010-08-24T21:54:00.003-05:00

August is finally here. In Arizona, that means a few things. Green is slowly becoming the norm once again. Rain is increasingly awakening all of your senses on each ride. If it does not fall during your ride, there is a strong chance the ground is still saturated. If that is not enough, the sunsets are getting more and more lively due to the late rains. It is good to be here in Arizona, more importantly it is good to be outside.

Photo by Scott Morris

A few pictures from the previous two weeks on Lemmon and Techy Tuesday.

Kaibab Plateau, Day 3

2010-08-10T19:01:00.003-05:00

It was an easy choice not to drop down off the plateau only to have to ride back up. For us, that meant shaving off about 50 miles of the proposed 200 miles. That was a-okay for me since I came up here to enjoy the cool weather [dropping down meant 90-degree weather]

More Arizona Trail goodness to (nearly) all the way to the car awaited us.

Dog Lake

The closure sign was nowhere to be found, so we continued on toward the burnt area.

Flower goodness...one can only hope the burnt area will recover to something as spectacular as these two pictures.

The perfect bikepacking trip to end the summer. It's easy to feel alive when you are on the bike in such a beautiful area.

3 days, ~150 miles, 3 different views into the Grand Canyon (Rainbow Rim, North Rim, East Mesa)

Kaibab Plateau, Day 2

2010-08-06T17:35:00.003-05:00

We woke up to this view....

Before reaching Sublime Point Rd, we came across a water tanker (it reminded me of the time Scott and I found water on the Florence-Kelvin Highway, I just walked up and pulled the right lever).

It's easy to see why I have been visiting the Kaibab for the past 5 years.

We detoured from the Arizona Trial to make a quick stop at the North Rim for some pizza and beer. Well worth the extra miles.

We also took a quick detour to climb up an historical lookout tower

That is the fire near Fire Point (no pun intended)

Well worth the struggle. Check out James' blog for some more pictures of the East Rim.

We spent the night near the East Rim, taking advantage of the views and solitude. More on Day 3 tomorrow.

Kaibab Plateau, Day 1

2010-08-05T23:20:00.006-05:00

Not really 100% sure what our loop would be, James and I started riding from Jacob's Lake toward the Rainbow Rim Trail.

The idea of completing the 200-mile loop was one option, our second option was to take the best parts from the 125-mile and the 200-mile versions and to form a 150-mile version. Both would use at least 30 miles of Arizona Trail from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon until our car or perhaps even farther to the Utah border.

Frankly, this early in the riding, I did not care what we did. I just wanted a few days on my bike.

Despite a late start, we were chugging along mostly in part to James' zeal. Although not new to the outdoors, he had never officially bikepacked.

As we got closer to Rainbow Rim Trail, the lighting really provided for some surreal moments. Mandatory breaks were necessary.

This is a special place, visited by only a handful of visitors a day. Definitely a stark contrast to its counterpart, the North Rim.

60 miles completed for Day 1. It turns out that I had a friend camping at Locust Point. Free PBR and a water refill was the best part of this coincidence. We chatted until late about biking, river rafting, hiking...basically anything about the outdoors.

Havasu

2010-07-11T15:41:00.001-05:00

Dixie Day 3

2010-07-07T01:18:00.001-05:00

The next morning, Scott and I rode down less than 5 miles before he turned off. I rode to Hatch for some of the best breakfast at Galaxy Cafe.

I got a ride from a local rancher, Tom Hatch, that was driving to Kanab for some golf. We chatted about his ranch and ancestors (who settled in Hatch, hence the name) before he dropped me off at Long Junction.

No luck after an hour at Long Junction, but finally I got a ride to the Village, about 12 miles up the road. From the Village, I took some scenic back roads to my car. Even found some singletrack to ride.

An incredible route. The colors were out of this world. The Colorado Plateau truly is one of the best places on Earth.

Another example on the Colorado Plateau that I passed on the way home, the Coyote Buttes.

Dixie Day 2

2010-07-06T23:50:00.006-05:00

We were a bit slow to rise in the morning. Donuts for breakfast before continuing up Pole Canyon.

and on to my favorite trail on the route, Grand View.

Later, we dropped 1000 feet off the plateau only to ride back up. I was questioning Dave's route choice for a few miles.

As soon as I turned this corner, my faith in Dave returned. Why did I ever doubt him?

...

A thunderstorm caught up with us just before Chimney Rock TH. We hunkered down under an awning at a camper's site. After being tempted by beer and soda (we politely refused), we pressed on only to catch the same storm that had just passed.

Chimney Rock Trail

Thunder Mountain

At the beginning of Thunder Mountain, it was too dark to take pictures. As we neared the end, the light finally opened up. Some amazing lighting really lit up the place for 30 minutes.

Last two pictures by Scott Morris

After Thunder Mountain, we zipped down the highway toward the lodge for dinner and a place to stay. Scott ordered the chicken fried steak (which was delicious), I made the healthy mistake of ordering the chicken balsamic (less calories and so-so). After dinner, I called my girlfriend. She was slowly progressing from food poisoning in Mexico.....time to bail.

Although, Day 3 still had plenty of riding and hitchhiking back to the car.

Dixie Day 1

2010-07-05T10:16:00.006-05:00

Scott and I met in Cedar City at 11am, 4 days after the scheduled start of the Dixie. The 311-mile version seemed too far out of reach with my work schedule, thus making the late start an option. Once we decided upon the date (Scott was a bit sick on the start date), we opted for a little bit of each version which would still be ~200 of bikepacking through southern Utah. This allowed both of us to spend some time with our respective family and provide us with some tracks to follow.

We rolled out a little bit before noon on Tuesday, climbing up to the

Virgin River Rim Trail.

As you can see from the pictures, the trail is quite a gem.

Scott debated the best line to descend...

before descending.

A classic view from the VRRT, the pink and white shown here was pretty much the theme for the next day also.

As we neared Long Junction, late afternoon thunderstorms began to appear in the sky around us...just enough motivation to pedal a little faster to out ride the storms.

We rolled into the Chevron at Long Junction just before sunset. After buying some chips, fig newtons and cashews, we began the quick 7-mile stretch of highway to the forest access. The option to eat on private land (aka the road) only to have to continue up the road to sleep was not very appealing. We pressed on toward Pole Canyon.

The cue sheet says the route up to Pole Canyon TH looks like "someone's backyard." It took Scott and I several failed attempts to find it. We post holed through a section of bog before finding the trail. Tired and hungry, we sat down at the first available section. In reality, this would mean sleeping on the trail. It sounded okay with me, but as soon as we started pulling out food we heard the sound of bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....mosquitos. No good.

We packed up and began hiking up the steep trail. After about 30 minutes of riding and hiking, we found another section of the trail that was flat. We pulled out our freeze dried food and began the nearly effortless pleasure of eating on the trail. We slept right on the trail, with very little room for anything else but the sleeping pad.

I awoke to some tree branches breaking off to my right and later a mosquito began to bother me. It was less than an ideal night of sleep.

Cookie Cabin

2010-06-26T12:02:00.002-05:00

Reports of downed trees being cleared on Lemmon prompted Scott and I to investigate some the classic out-n-back from Secret to Meadows.

Instead of the loop on Meadows, we stayed on the singletrack. Classic part of the ride was when I guy called us a "chicken" for not going down to Samaniego Ridge.

Back down Aspen to Summerhaven.

to the Cookie Cabin.

before finishing up on Cafe and Secret.

Monday is when I am starting the Dixie 311. Check out the tracker here. 311 miles of backcountry, singletrack awaits.

Organized

2010-06-17T23:16:00.005-05:00

Finally got around to changing the parts over from Scott's old frame (thank you again Scott) over to my new one. A very similar blue color, but there is a very slight difference when you pair them up. Same parts, just new frame.

The frame bag got a good cleaning too; that is why it is absent in the picture.

Also, I got around to fixing up the gear room...

...which included a peg board that is mobile. ~2 hours and $20 in labor/money respectively to crank this small project out. The "mobile" part is really to allow me to either work in the bike cave or outside. I figure these recent additions, along with some future tool purchases, will increase my motivation to maintain the bikes a bit more.

Next bike build....the Behemoth. It should be arriving in a few days!

Just continue to pedal

2010-06-15T15:33:00.009-05:00

After missing an AZT 300 run this year, I was yearning for some form of nutty ride that would really allow me to push myself. More than two months ago, I began tinkering with the idea of trying to take down a record on the boards. What started out as a joke quickly became a serious endeavor. I chose the date, June 8th, and decided that not even weather would deter me. Easier said than done, right? Highs in the 90s were predicted for the race date.

After loading up on two gyros at the Pita Pit in Flagstaff, I set off immediately on classic Arizona singletrack. Some of you might recall that last time we rode this, the Fish and Game Department were putting up fences that blocked the trail. They claimed it was to protect some of the lakes off the trail.

Less than a year later, the Arizona Trail Association has responded by putting in fences. Your donation dollars at work.

The heat seemed mild on paper, but when you are "highly motivated" to pedal fast, the heat slowly began to eek its way into the ride.

A few ATV riders thought it was a good idea to taunt me while descending near Munds Park. They pulled up, honked, and sped off shooting dirt and small rocks on me. Nice, very nice. As I topped off at the next hill, I saw the same ATV and its drivers. Should I escalate the situation? I did have a water bottle. I imagined myself tossing the HEED water on the crew as I sped by only to be hiding in the woods to escape certain punishment. What to do?

I opted for peace. But as I rode by, the continued to taunt me. Moment of truth. Escalate or ignore? I chose to ignore them and do my thing....pedal.

After some more dirt and honking, they left me to ride solo in the woods. At last, alone in the pines. I filled up some water at the ADOT on Schnebly and pressed on to one of my favorite places in northern Arizona....

Schnebly Hill Vista just above Hot Loop Trail. I packed pretty light knowing I could fuel up at Circle K. I spent about 20 minutes fueling up before heading for more singletrack in the form of Broken Arrow and Templeton.

Cathedral Rock, Sedona

Sunsets and sunrises have a special place in my heart, especially when you experience either on the bike.

"Just continue to pedal." That was the advice I got from a friend when I began to complain about the heat. At 9pm, I was still sweating. *Giving up* passed through my head several times. This was clearly a low point in the ride; mentally, I had to push forward. Just continue to pedal he said when I had called to check in. Just continue to pedal sank into my head.

Well, that's what I did. Lime Kiln came and went. At Dead Horse State Park, I stripped down at one of the canals to bathe. Immediate relief from the heat. I got in my bivvy and slept for about an hour.

Just what I needed. I gassed up at the Maverick Station and began the climb up Mingus. About 3am on steep Trail 105a, I came to a complete stop near a step up. Thinking I could clear it, I pulled up haphazardly. As I did, I found myself drifting to the steep, dark edge to my right. I fell about 5 feet down the trail only to be caught by some trees. Not only was the bike on top of me, but my spokes were wrapped around a tree that had been caught. After about 10 minutes, I managed to free the wheel.

It was time for a quick break. I decided to wait for some light before continuing up 105.

At about 7am, I topped out on top of Mingus. Trail 28 was going to be a highlight for the ride (shown above). I felt confident and cleaned nearly every section, even opting for a few new kickers that they had put in.

At the private gate to the telephone line/forest service access, I met the property owner. He was impressed with the route and was content to let us use the road (normally, he charges vehicles to use the road).

The high at the Verde River was supposed to be 95 degrees that day. Getting water and leaving as fast as possible was the only motivation I really needed.

The greatest gas station item ever? Do you have a favorite, click here to add yours.

I rested for less than 20 minutes at the Verde (mile 140), barely sufficient to eat, hydrate, and purify water. I rigged a synthetic device to help shade myself from the heat. Additionally, I had some arm coolers that I would soak in water periodically (I carried some water that was not treated for this simple, effective idea).

At the beginning of the climb out of the Verde, I was pretty motivated. The heat quickly squelched this motivation. Two cars passed me, both offering some assistance. One asked, "are you doing okay?"

It was very slow going. 30 minutes riding, 5 minutes in the shade, wet the arm warmers and hair...repeat. After you veer away from Perkinsville Rd, the chances of seeing anyone is pretty remote. This is the most remote section on the route, in fact. It felt remote and super hot.

I needed to hit 7,000 feet to reach some pines (the Verde is about 3,300). As I climbed during the pines, false summits were prolific. More resting.

As I climbed Benham last year, I ran out of water. This year was no exception. It's a great ride, one of the best in northern Arizona. I was smiling despite my lack of water, counting the switchbacks as I went up. You would have been proud. Despite less than 3 hours of sleep, I was on my A-game. Nonetheless, the trail needs a chainsaw soon. There were about 10-15 downed trees while riding up.

Bill Williams was a different story altogether. It had no downfall, just smooth sailing down to Williams. I stopped at Circle K for the normal groceries and headed out of town to get to Sycamore Rim before it got dark.

One of the few "paved" sections of the route

I managed to get about half of Sycamore Rim completed before complete darkness fell over the rocky, technical singletrack.

The road around Garland Prairie was pretty. Stars were shining and there was very little traffic. I had to change my batteries after passing the closed Texaco on I-40.

Mentally, the singletrack of Wing Mountain and Elden were the hardest and longest. It would have been easy (very easy in fact) to stop and rest for a few hours. But alas, I wanted a strong finish.

A few minutes before 3am, I rolled into Flagstaff to find my car with my pad and sleeping bag. Ahhhhh. I tried to wash off the dirt but opted to just go to bed dirty.

My bike setup

The next morning at 8am, I was awakened by Gnome and treated to breakfast by Troy M. It was simply a beautiful morning, made even more beautiful that I was able to ride such a route like the Coconino Loop.

Truly remarkable country and trails. 39 hours 1 minute, 241 miles with ~21k of climbing, ~40% singletrack. Thank you to anyone that was watching the SPOT and to Scott for Trackleaders.com support.

A few have asked my setup, so here it is:

Osprey 22 Bag
Pearl Izumi Arm Coolers
Headsweat
Synthetic Head Shade (made, used Velcro to put on helmet)
Pearl Izumi Knee Warmers
REI lightweight long sleeve shirt
Emergency Bivvy Sack
Tools
Sunscreen
2 HEED and 2 Perpetuam packs
16 Water Purifying Tablets
100 ounce bladder
random food to start out, peanuts, jerky, etc.
Extra lithium batteries
60 ounce platypus
Sunscreen
Random bike emergency stuff (bolts, etc.)

Lenz Sport Leviathan 29er
Carousel Design Bag
1 tube, 1 slime tube
patch kit
brakes
Topeak pump
Crankbrothers multi-tool
EOS Princeton Light (AAA)
Feenix Bar Light (AA)
Etrex Legend
20 ounce bottle

Join us for the next race date, October 9th, 2010 of the Coconino Loop Race.

Coconino 250 ITT

2010-06-08T12:01:00.005-05:00

Summer is finally upon us....drinking sun tea while watering the plants, long commutes in the heat with arm coolers, hanging laundry in shorts and sandals, late-night BBQing, watching Pocket chase lizards around the hot dirt while strategically navigating to certain sections of shade and above all, bikepacking season....it's a special time for us all.

A cousin's wedding in Las Vegas this weekend opened up the perfect time for an ITT Coconino attempt. Here is the trackleader image that Scott has helped put up:

More information about the race here and the route here. I will be starting at noon today, about the time this post comes out.

Lastly, head over to trackleaders.com and dream your way onto the Red Rock singletrack, climb Mingus Mountain in the early morning hours, or imagine yourself putting your feet in the Verde River in 100-degree weather, or perhaps you prefer to see yourself attacking each switchback in the aspens of Bill Williams Mountain, only to finish the edge of the Sycamore Rim and cruise into Flagstaff rippin' singletrack on Elden.

If you have never ridden these areas and want to see pictures from the route, check out the following blog entry from last June.

Photo by Scott Morris, taken on Bill Williams Mountain

Around the Mountain

2010-06-07T12:13:00.006-05:00

After getting back from my Memorial Day trip to the Kaibab, Scott, Lee and I headed to Mt Graham to do the first epic of the summer. Scott put up his version of Around the Mountain here.

We woke up at 5:15am to Lee making the bacon. I told him if he woke up early to start cooking for me. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm....despite the smell, I just sat in my sleeping bag listening to the many birds singing. It was not until Lee came over with chocolate covered espresso beans that I really perked up. I woke up and finished the taters and eggs (in bacon fat) for our endurance-style breakfast.

The estimated time for the Around the Mountain ride was about 8-10 hours.

We rolled up the highway toward Swift Trail

stopping to enjoy the views. Scott is such a sucker for pointing. I am going to make a picture book with all his pointing pictures The Book of Scott Pointing the Route.

Despite the fire, life seems to be returning to the mountain. But the trail still was difficult at times due to the large number of downed trees, probably in the neighborhood of 250 trees on the trail.

We descended 2,000 feet on 2 miles of trail in over 2 hours. Very slow going at first.

Photo by Scott Morris

The downed trees only allowed us to take more pictures, for a time. I was quickly intent on destroying ever tree.....or at the minimum, moving it off the trail. A 100 yard ride was very uncommon. Most of the time we dodged some trees and then walked to the next section of downed trees.

Would there be any hope to Around the Mountain?

Some beta gave us hope, so we continued on. Eventually, the trail became nearly clear of downed trees.

Despite a sprained ankle, Scott was hitting nearly all of the switchbacks with his 20x36 gearing. I was floundering behind him hoping to keep up. If you look closely at this picture, you'll see an intent concentration. Therein lies the key to nailing a swtichback; and of course the correct gearing.

Methinks it is time to put those 20t and 36t rings on my bike instead of leaving them on my dresser.

The sounds of breaking branches was replaced with grunts as we began to try to ride this super, steep terrain, doubt turned into excitement, and the look of puzzlement....

....well, it turned to smiles :)

The crew....me, Scott and Lee (left to right). This may be our first group shot that we have ever taken. Show me your mountain biking friends and I will show you what kind of rider you are...I am blessed to have some pretty nutty mtb friends.

The ride from here on could be summed up like this: descend 2,000 feet on trail (amazingly well built given the terrain), cross a large creek, then begin to ride up the 800 feet of trail....repeat three times.

I have decided that Scott really is the master of switchbacks. There are times, on occasion, that he fails and I prevail. But these are moments are short lived. If you cannot ride, the best thing to do is push and we did that a lot on this 14.5 miles.

Lee probably had the best idea; he simply walked the majority of those steep, technical sections. Lee also blasted by Scott and I as we headed back to camp on the road.

12 hours later, we completed the loop. Mile f0r mile, that 14.5 miles on Around the Mountain Trail was possibly the hardest of my life; harder than climbing singletrack to Lemmon. I look forward to spending another weekend on Mt Graham soon.

Colorado Plateau

2010-06-06T20:55:00.006-05:00

The Colorado Plateau is arguably one of the best places on Earth. After graduation on Friday, Kendall and I drove (she slept, I drove) to the Kaibab. The timing could not have been better.

We walked out to the East Rim Mesa during the sunrise

and began to enjoy the sunset from the Arizona Trail.

We headed to camp for about an hour of sleep (having drive all night) and headed down

below the rim.

It really made me think hard about a Rim2Rim2Rim. Tentative date is set for Labor Day. Anyone want in?

As in every Kaibab tradition, we headed to the lodge for views and beer. Thereafter, we drove down to Page to get kayaks and head down to Marble Canyon.

History in the rocks abound in this canyon

left.....right.......left.......right. It takes a little practice on a tandem.

A semi-late start into Marble Canyon meant a nice sunset from the kayak.

The next morning we drove to Lake Powell to kayak some more, this time with the dogs.

then hiked the short jaunt to see Marble Canyon from a different perspective.

Horseshoe Bend

In case you have not heard the flash flood story, remind me to tell it to you later. Lastly, we went canyoneering at Waterholes Canyon. The southern portion is closed to hikers per the Navajo Nation, while the northern section is open to hikers. A great option for those not wanting to pay the $32/person to see the often over-crowded Antelope Canyon.

Dixie

2010-05-18T17:23:00.004-05:00

It looks like Dave has been busy working on his late June bikepacking event. Check out this link. It looks as though the route is going to become an instant classic. The forum for questions is up on bikepacking.net.

This route pieces together 311 miles of the of finest trails and remote terrain of Southern Utah. On June 25th, 8 AM riders will embark from Parowan, UT to begin this self-supported route challenge. The moon is full and the days are long.

See you there?

What: This is a multi-day self-supported mountain bike race.
When: Friday, June 25 8:00 AM
Where: Near Parowan, UT.

Casner

2010-05-17T16:13:00.007-05:00

After a quick greasy spoon breakfast at 5am, we set off from Flagstaff to do the Casner Dirty Century Ride. Originally toted as a race for Flagstaffers, I halfheartedly decided to make this a ride. Curiosity prevailed as the date approached for this now rote ride, the new "group" factor could add some new flavor to the ride.

After meeting at Safeway, we drifted through Flagstaff to some forest roads and later, the main attraction: the telephone line to Casner Mountain. It borders wilderness on both sides; ergo as you can imagine the views are unique to northern Arizona.

The steep, rocky doubletrack squeezes through the Sycamore Wilderness (show on the left side of this picture) and the Red Rock Wilderness (right side).

~25 miles into the ride, the first sings of red rock appeared

As usual, pictures never really do justice for how steep the ride is. All 13 riders chugged along, some staying a bit longer to take some pictures.

We even fought off a few mechanicals...a broken spoke, seat post, and a flat tire.

The gang: Phil, Hobie, Jim, James, Max, Jeff, Nancy, Scott, Dave and Captain Irish

The only section that I had now ridden on this route was a brief 5-mile section between Casner and Dry Creek ST.

At first, the trail seemed to perfect for a group ride.

As Jeff called it, the ride quickly became a "death march" in some sections.

Even the singletrack was too sandy too ride. Here is a section that crossed Dry Creek.

Alas, singletrack in the form of Two Fences TH.

After a quick stint at Burger King (chicken sandwich, fries and Lemonade for me), we headed up to conquer Schnebly. Last year, I skipped the singletrack in favor of the road. I chose the harder, rockier singletrack this year.

The singletrack put me right behind the singlespeeders (Phil, Nancy, and Jeff). They were cranking up the mountain. Nancy was a climbing fool, I can't believe how fast she was motoring up that mountain.

A quick fill up in Woody's at Munds before taking Frog Trail to Iron Springs to Old Munds.

After Old Munds, we took the dirt option into Flagstaff, Fort Tuthill. This picture sums up the day. The chatting, smiles, and picturesque moments....these form a group ride that is truly a delight.

A few friends and I formed AES to promote endurance cycling, "races" being the objective....I never thought a group ride would be the vehicle that was possibly the most effective. Case in point...Phil, pictured above with his smile and thumbs up, wrote the following today:

You totally opened my eyes. Races are fun but, rides like that are awesome to be able to stop and take pictures and to chat a bit as you are rolling along. I had a great time riding with you, Jeff, Nancy, and Hobie. I am afraid you have ruined me, I can't stop thinking about the next big ride.

The first and last sentence life-changing; Phil is hooked on endurance riding now, having just finished one of his longest single-day rides. To the naysayers of group rides, this group ride was a near seamless ride. Check here for more pictures and positive comments.

Casner Dirty Century

2010-05-12T12:00:00.002-05:00

This Saturday, May 15, the Casner Dirty Century group ride will be starting in Flagstaff. The past two years, this has been a race with ~5 riders in attendance. I decided to make it into a ride in order to increase the amount of participation. The weather seems to be cooperating, highs in the 70s for Sedona.

The views are amazing as you descend from Casner Mountain.

With nearly 11k of climbing, 100 miles, and about 30 miles of singletrack...

...I am guessing it will take about ~12-14 hours to finish. Anyone want to join us?

Tracks

2010-05-06T22:45:00.006-05:00

The solo Tuesday Ride went as planned. The trail had no mtb tracks of any kind, just a few old footprints here and there. I decided to keep sessioning stuff until I cleaned each section. It made for some interesting moments, like re-ridng one section around 25 times. I even had a huge stan's burp while I was riding the what-I-thought-was-impossible section.

Alas, nearly two hours later, I cleaned all 1.5 miles and moved onto the bypass to Alamo.

I have been riding some slow, technical stuff in order this week in order to ease back into riding. This only after nearly 2 weeks of wheezing/coughing, blowing the nose, sinus pain, etc. It seems like this is an annual thing that really puts me out for 1-2 weeks. At the moment, I still have a light cough. Nonetheless, I can manage to ride 1-2 hours at a moderate pace with the aid of the inhaler.

For that reason, I have been riding to and fro work, adding in some quick sections of technical, like that less than 1 mile of Pima Canyon Trail before the Wilderness. If you ride it up and down and hop around some of those rocks, it makes for a quick treat on the ride home.

Next week, I will be heading up to do the Casner Dirty Century ride from Flagstaff to Sedona. I just finished uploading the GPX file to the AES website. There should be a good sized group in attendance for the 12-14 hour ride.

Rocks

2010-04-14T21:47:00.003-05:00

What started as a unique, scavenger style race by Dave C. more than 4 years ago has now turned into quite the the loop. A few days before the Prescott Monstercross, Eric sent Scott an email about the route and a final suggestion, add the Dells. At first I pondered just adding the section next year, but after looking at some aerial shots of the Dells (along with its proximity to the starting line), I opted to add it...and I am glad I did.

We rolled out from Costco in a neutral start before heading on the railroad grade warm-up to the Dells. Having never ridden the Dells, I was anxious to see all the hyped singletrack…

Photo by Eric Nelson

…and let me say, all the hype is justified. The slickrock lines matched up perfectly to form a rideable line. In many sections, a nice fit rock wedged between a gap made for a perfect line. Eric, Scott, and Dan were off the front and disappeared.

Aaron and I would fend for ourselves, following the white lines to the first stream crossing, where we found Eric again giving us cues on where to go next. Eric snapped a few pictures of us as we rode by, giving us specific directions on where to go next. Not only did he have the idea to add this singletrack, he singlehandedly coached us through the area.

Photos by Eric Nelson

After the Dells, Aaron (riding a singlespeed) and I found ourselves alone again. I realized he was without a GPS. I suggested he either catch Scott or take the slower approach to the route, ride with me. He choose the later, smart guy. We descended into Granite Basin flying over water bars and enjoying every turn. A figure appeared on the road crossing. It was Scott, he had twisted his ankle on a slickrock section of the Dells and was pulling the plug. We stopped for a second only to get energized by his encouragement, “Go catch Dan!”

We sped off and had a good run. Our undoing was a gun-like, Stan’s explosion. I was chatting with a local as we rode neared the turn to ride down to White Spar and Aaron was about a few turns back. We waited for about 20 minutes before he rode up. A few feet behind him were Steve Becker and Nino. Shoot, while waiting for Aaron to change his flat, Steve and Nino had caught us.

I rode ahead until the start of Spruce Mountain, where Steve eventually caught up to me. I still thought I could beat him up Spruce Mountain. Oh man was I wrong. My legs did not want to catch him. He dropped me, never to be seen again until the finish line. I blame the lack of big rides on my inability to stay with Steve. I need to start riding bigger rides.

Trail 305 is a brilliant way to end a race, add in some Dells at the beginning and you have a race that will soon become a classic. At the finish line, we enjoyed some PBR and Costco pizza. Scott’s ankle was getting worse. We chatted about the route and future endeavors. A few more riders came in before we started heading back to Tucson.

After a rest day, I headed out to the Tuesday Ride. More exploration in order followed by what could be the last ride with wildflowers. It is starting to get warmer here in Tucson. With the warmth comes two things: less flowers and later start times. I think next week we will be starting at 3:50 at Rubio’s.

Adding the normal route at a “fast” pace made things interesting

Nearly 3 hours of riding and we never had to ride the same trail more than once.

The “fast” pace also meant I took less pictures until we got to the flower paradise.

This really is the best time of year here in Tucson, perfect weather, crisp mornings for commuting followed by a nice cool temperature for a late, after work ride.

And to the many times that we just skipped cleaning a section in favor of speed, we will be back next week to re-session. The picture above has a move that I have yet to do…perhaps next week.

Rocks… they are what make singletrack interesting. I love to ride them. I might not be the fastest person, but I can ride the rockiest of trails with a grace that is hard to find in these parts. Perhaps it is me rationalizing my failure to ride up Spruce Mountain with the speed required to take 2nd place, but man it feels so good to ride what once was thought to be undoable.

The only remaining question now is how to balance technical rides with the longer, all-day endurance rides.

Montrose Canyon

2010-04-06T23:23:00.004-05:00

Riding up Lower Alamo was everything a technical ride calls for, plenty of rocks on some steep singletrack. The only thing missing...

....a few riders.

As it turned out, I would be riding my ride solo today. As I was riding up Lower Alamo, I realized that we had always ridden by a trail that ventured north. You would only see the trail if you were walking down (cha, which of course we do not do....ever) or if you were riding up.

The trail is even more technical than most of Lower Alamo. The trail eventually led to the Promise Land of Wildflowers.

Not a soul in site the entire ride today. Bird chirping, water running while I was snapping pictures.

After the past few weeks of riding amongst wildflowers, I can honestly say this is the place to see 'em. I have never seen this many so close to the trails.

So I did what any solo rider would do, take some pictures

and more pictures.

Scott's old bike (if you remember, my orange Leviathan broke on the Gila Ramble and this blue stallion is on loan from Scott) did not know what to do in some sections. Too many flowers and rocks. It slowly warmed up to the new trail.

Despite the recent neglect from its original owner, it is still riding as good as it ever did. Reminds of the classic Old School quote..."you're my boy blue!"

I even found one sweet B-line that is on the trail. Next weeks ride is going to do the same loop. Methinks I may even head back out on Thursday for a quick ride to see more wildflowers.

Black Canyon Trail to the Bradshaws, day 2

2010-04-06T18:47:00.000-05:00

The next morning, Lee and I awoke to a cooler morning. Today would dictate the rest of the trip. Plenty of unknowns lay ahead. Lane Mountain Trail, Bradshaw Trail, Milk Ranch, Cottonwood Canyon and De Soto Forest Rd along with numerous forest roads that I had drawn in from aerials. In deciding to take forest roads (instead of the Crown King Rd), we would be doing a steeper, longer route to the north through De Soto Mine.

Basically, all of the proposed route was from aerial shots and moto GPXs...

We finished off the remaining Black Canyon Trail (BCT) singletrack

before pressing on to Crown King Rd to the town of Cleator.

At the town of Cleator, we found a closed bar and General Store. Cleator is a town of about 8 people and 9 corresponding houses. It was still pretty early in the morning, so the ghost-like feel of the town only increased our curosity to take a quick break in look around.

After a quick snack, we pressed on to the De Soto Mine Rd.

Lee has is running a 20x36 on his Leviathan, ergo you know it is steep when he is walking something. We went up and up on the De Soto Rd.

Checked out the De Soto Mine and a few others only to see that we had to drop down into the next valley.

and then climb back up again. We did this a 4 more times, super steep drops followed by a super steep ups, some of the steepest I have seen. We did find some singletrack on route, but it was too late.

The General Store at Crown King was closing at 4pm, nearly 2 hours and about ~4,000 feet of climbing from our current location/route. Also, snow storms were predicted for that night and the following day. We re-calcuated and hased out the plans. Continue up on route to Crown King or bail back down to Cleator?

The words from Lee echoed in my head as we chatted about the next pass..."Crown King or Bust!"

We hit the wall and hit it pretty hard. Getting shut down by your own route, a route that you carefully designed for at least a week, is tough. Weather dictated our change of plans to the BCT (instead of doing the McDowell-Cave Creek) and it was forcing us to change again. Although shortly lived, I felt discouraged.

Another epic quote from Lee put things in perspective...."We are lucky, lucky to be out here, to have time off, the fitness level required or even to have bikes and gear that are capable of doing these things"

Amen, amen and amen...we are lucky.

Crown King singletrack exploration will have to wait a few more weeks/months. For now, I was just happy to be riding in this remarkable area. We headed down to Cleator for some much needed food and liquid that came from the only place really open.... the 100-year old Cleator Bar. The place looks like it has not been cleaned for the past 15 years, dust from the dirt road in front lines every inch of the place. Insulation is sticking out of the ceiling, the place is lined with old license plates, signed dollar bills, and mining memorabilia.

We got the background about the bar and town of Cleator from the only paid employee in Cleator, the bartender. Basically, 90-year old Betty Cleator owns the entire town. Nobody has ever seen her; they just send her checks each month to her address in Texas. When she passes away, her son will inherit the town. Nobody has seen him for 15 years.

Bailing to Cleator also meant a change in the food. The Cleator Bar only had beer and chips. We had to head to Cordes Junction to resupply, a 10-mile, one-way detour. About half way up the dirt road to Cordes, a local of Bumble Bee asked us if we needed a ride. We politely accepted and got whisked off to Subway.

Stomachs full (and an extra sandwich for each of us), we headed back to Black Canyon Trail singletrack.