Winter is never that far away in Tucson. 60’s in town, but just keep pedaling and eventually you’ll find cold temperatures and snow…
I joined Tucson MTB’s 8 days of Christmas extravaganza (8+ days of rides) for a little Bugs, Molino, Milagrosa action.
Chad wanted to pedal the ‘big’ bike up the pavement for a while, so I was happy to oblige. His singlespeed may have been lighter, but it hurt my legs more. I think I have the antithesis of singlespeed legs.
We met the rather large shuttle crew at the top of Bugs, and a few bailed down to Molino, looking at the snowy scar in front of them.
I had high hopes of some traction despite the snow, but it was not to be.
Dave M joined us for the paved climb, rounding out the trio of “self” shuttlers.
The scar slog.
Time to head down. Snow made just a few spots a little more challenging, otherwise it was fun to pretend we live in a cold place, knowing there’s no shortage of dry dirt awaiting us below.
The ‘new’ rock move had snow/ice on it. Grr… was really looking forward to giving it another go.
Vern rocked the rigid singlespeed throughout! It wasn’t long before we exited winter into sun and bone dry trails.
Even when you pedal up the highway, all the chunky descending on this ride feels pretty darn gluttonous. It was a group that moved well — no major delays and everyone seemed happy cruising at their own pace.
Brian on lower Milagrosa.
By chance I ended up at the bottom wash of Milagrosa with Landon from Grand Junction. He was a part of a different ride, and had heard the rumor that the climb out had been cleaned, while Mike Curiak was here.
That led to a combined 50 or so attempts between the two of us. Banging your head against the wall seems a little less stupid when someone else is doing it too. Actually it helps to visualize and learn / adjust, too. But it was not to be. Finally every one of the 15+ in the group had passed on. Even Landon’s bud who had triple flatted was past the wash. I gave it a couple solo attempts and finally realized I was really tired, the sun was going down, and I was all alone. Time to move on and relight the fire on the rest of the trail.
Great ride, and fun to ride with some new folks.
Leave a Reply