I described this section of Arizona Trail as “dreamy.” I might be biased.
Haven’t found anyone that disagrees yet.
Oops. (Tim in the sharp rocks)
Jerry: “Every time I ride out here, someone on the ride gets a sidewall cut.”
Scott: “That’s funny, I’ve never seen anyone cut a sidewall.”
And thus my fate was sealed. I didn’t slice it while riding, but while putting my bike down to quickly snap a photo. I’m sure a pro wouldn’t have made such a mistake.
It turned into a pretty comical tire change. First solo, then with Jerry’s help. Converting my tubeless tire to a tube was easy. But somehow my chain got a loop in it, and neither of us could reason it out. After a while we were just laughing, in disbelief that it was so hard.
Tim, Jobie and Jim had kept riding, luckily (I don’t like slowing other people up). It was an out and back ride, so we were just waiting for them to come back from 3 bridges. I finally pulled the chain apart at the powerlink and fed it through correctly. It was only then that I realized the derailleur had no tension on it. It had been flipped around (a side effect of shipping my bike this summer) thus causing the loop and the lack of tension. Easy fix once you know what happened.
Heading back down.
I
II
III
Tim pointed out this was the first time we’d ridden this stretch together since his ’06 thru-trip on the Arizona Trail. I met him after a work event (he having ridden from Mexico). We cruised the Rincon Valley stuff, eventually heading back to our homes, only to rejoin the AZT the next day.
On Pistol Hill Road:
!!
Somebody was taking the corners a little too hot in the ‘ole garbage truck.
So Scott, was that pickup truck just balanced on two wheels like that? Action photo taken while it was rolling? Just as the wrecker was pulling it back up onto it’s wheels? Crazy.
That bit of AZT from Rincon Wash through Collosal Cave to I-10 and beyond is among my favorite Tucson-area riding. I’m going to hit it a couple days before the APC.
Don’t you just love those chain loop puzzles. And I have the same questions as Tom regarding the truck…?
Ed
TomP’s last guess was correct. It was on its side, blocking the road when I came up (proceeded by skid marks). I snapped the pic just as the winch was pulling it back over. It’s about to fall back on its wheels.