Friday, November 06, 2009

Lighting here in Arizona

It's hard to beat the lighting here in Arizona. Every time the sun goes down while I am on my bike, I can't help but be amazed. I usually have to quietly utter a "wow" each time. Ty, who has lived in Tucson since August, put it this way:"Arizona has some of the best lighting I have ever seen. Tucson is amazing in the evening."



Starr Pass is no exception to this superb lighting. Get your camera and bike, and head out to the trails at 430pm.

In fact, the lighting is multiplied by the rocky, at times Gothic landscape in this trail system. Besides a few hikers in the parking lot, we had the trails to ourselves. Even harder to imagine seeing how amazing the weather has been recently.

The first flat by Ty killed his tubeless. This is a different bike from last week's flat fest on Molino. You can't help but smile when you continue to have flats on a tubeless setup....



Check out the contrast in those mountains.






We headed to Golden Gate for a quick loop around to Kinney Rd. The first flat was followed by another flat at the top of Golden Gate. Simple fix: burly sidewalls. Rampage Panaracer or Saguaro Geax are my two recommendations.




The descent down the backside of Golden Gate at night was blissful. Technical water bars and the perfect amount of up/down/tight turns made for one of the most enjoyable night rides I have done all Fall. Only regrettable part of the ride was not "sessioning" some of the drops with the camera.

At Kinney Road, Ty flipped his light for the ~2 miles of road ride to get back over to Acupuncture and Yetman. About 2.5 hours of riding (30 minutes of flats)...followed by some "recovery" drinks in the parking lot.

I also rebuilt the Reba fork this week with Scott, new enduro seals and oil. Good times. Now that I have that fork working again, I was able to build the Leviathan back up again. By next weekend, I hope to have the Leviathan changed over to a SS.

A full suspension 29er Lenz Leviathan singlespeed....could you ask for anything else?

8 comments:

Rockin' said...

Wish I was down there. I need to plan for getting back.

You are also going to inspire me to get the full suspension SS back going again. Got to get off my butt - the new lights show up Monday...

Chad said...

Let me know when you wanna come down again...we can plan it around my vacation time. I would plan around the Spring Fling or an AES event for maximum riding.

ScottM said...

Two more flats for Ty!? Gotta love Arizona! Flats and non-flat lighting. Thanks for the pics.

Dave Harris said...

Nice shots Chad. What is your camera of choice these days? It takes great micro/macro shots.

Leviathon SS! I set mine up SS and rode it for exactly one day. It was awesome, but because the chain length constantly changes it requires a decent chain tensioner. The one I put on was acquired for its light weight, not strong spring. It didn't work very well...a derailur might actually work best.

Looking forward to hearing how it works out for you and what you set it up with. You know I love the milk money and it's about the same bike...

Fishmonger said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fishmonger said...

Scott, it was really only one flat....kinda. i'm hoping this is just random bad luck- because honestly, how gets sidewall tears in their front tire when they are "just riding along?"

Andrea said...

We did our first night ride at Starr Pass tonight. I agree the lighting is absolutely amazing I loved the sunset colors!

chollaball said...

great pics in your last few posts...yeah give up some details about what, how, and if you are doing and post-production work!

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