Visit

My knee recovered quickly from all the cold of riding Over the Frozen Lemmon. It was still so cold in Tucson that I actually broke out my trainer, just to spare my knee the cold blasting of wind.

Backtracking…

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12/31 – Spent the morning building 2.3 miles of new singletrack out at the 24 hour (Old Pueblo) course with a small crew. The frozen Catalinas loomed behind us, peeking out of an overcast sky. It was a nice walk around in the desert, though I likely won’t ride out there this year.

I picked up my older brother at the airport right as it started to rain. We rushed off for a night ride around Suburban Assault, despite the rain, which was generally light. But by the time we returned we were soaked, cold and ready for some hot chocolate.

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1/1 – New Year’s ride: Charouleau Gap to the top, then up to Cherry Spring tank. Through Sutherland Gap on some nice singletrack, then out and back to Deer Camp itself. Back around on the 50 year trail / Lago del Oro to the CGap trailhead.

There were more cars at the CGap parking lot than I have ever seen. Two tire tuffy’s finished their ride and warned us to watch out for traffic, it’s crazy up there. The ride proceeded and everyone seemingly vanished. We saw less people than normal out there, and no one anywhere near the top.

I hit the rocky wash section (the beginning of the climb challenge to the top) with vigor, and nearly made it to the top w/o a dab. Things were a bit wet, which helped, but my determination still failed me on one of the last ledges before the Gap. A good run, overall.

The rest of the ride was just enjoyable riding. We stopped for a few videos at one of the rock ledges on upper 50 year, and we all proceeded to stink it up. Me, Odin, Brian, in that order, and in order of stinkedness, with Brian crashing it.

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1/2 – The Stronghold loop. My apetite whetted two weeks ago, I really wanted to return and complete the loop. We decided it was worth the trip to the east stronghold and departed with a car full of people. We were a bit limited on time, but ended up crusing the loop in a bit over 4 hours.

The snow had all melted with Wednesday’s rain, leaving the trails in perfect condition. The whole ride was incredible. I cannot explain how much I love riding in that area. Even the hike-a-bike on trail 277 was enjoyable. The downhill was a bit hairy and we ended up walking a bit. I’ve now done the loop in both directions and am still not sure which I prefer. I like both.

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1/3 – Starr Pass. Camino De Oeste, Tech pass, Krein, Golden Gate, then back over Gates. Tons o’ climb challenges and general screwing around. The weather was absolutely perfect, a gift of a day.

My brother needs to visit more often. The trip was a whirlwind of great riding, pigging out (anti-bonk) and attempts at recovery. The focus of every day was riding and enjoying the day.