Today was another fine event in the Arizona Endurance Series, the Rock y Road 50/50. I was too much of a coward to line up for the full meal deal, knowing my fried state, post Coconino, and also knowing the projected high temperature — record temps of nearly 100 degrees!
But the ‘rock’ portion of the ride hits some of my favorite trails anywhere. Trails I haven’t ridden since before heading to Flagstaff for the summer. They are also ones I think I have largely failed to capture in photographs. Of course I know that it’s impossible to ‘capture’ what it is I am trying to capture, and that by trying to capture it, you alter / forsake the actual moment you could be experiencing. But maybe I’d get a few cool shots anyway.
I felt terrible riding into a headwind and towards Redington Road. It’s a good thing I had plenty of time to stop and wait for the racers to catch up. Then, I cut the course to run into the leaders again, finally leap frogging with some of the riders as they made their way down Milagrosa.
Chuck was in the lead,
with Chad on his heels.
Push that singlespeed!
Dave M pedaling hard. If I am not mistaken, either Pirate Girl or Mr. Pirate Girl can be seen one switchback down.
Ridge running on the AZT…. pure singletrack bliss.
Nicette on Milagrosa.
There were a number of Milagrosa virgins in the group.
“Someone’s cruel idea of a joke?”
“That trail was…. interesting.”
SM: “It’s one of my favorites….”
They handled it well.
It has its moments.
A mid-summer’s bake was in full effect upon our return to lower paved surfaces. Upper 90’s and no clouds. After 5-6 hours hard mountain biking it was pretty cool to see that most everyone hopped on their road bikes to begin the long climb up Mt. Lemmon. Except Chad, who stayed on his singlespeed, making it to the top first only to be passed twice on the loooong descent (!).
I was happy to be heading back to air conditioned spaces after my 6 hours on the bike, but also utterly thrilled at the day, savoring a last chance to get scorched on some of AZ’s finest singletrack. Anything (even oppressive heat) becomes valuable when it is in short supply. At least for me.
More pics from the race here:
Thanks for posting this Scott and the other pics. It was great to see you out there cheering us on even if you weren’t “racing”.
And as you’ve mentioned, and it’s worth repeating, Chad kicked butt on that single speed up Lemmon. I tried sticking with him for a bit, but he was just hammering it out while I was wilting in the heat. A brutal day but extremely satisfying to finish.
Thanks Scott for helping push us along. I had a blast and am looking forward to more of the AES races.
Lovely shots Scott. Thanks for coming out!
A great day on the bike despite the heat. Sadly, the end score……..Extreme Heat 5 Cyclists 4