Got the bikepacking bug

Sometimes it seems like memories are triggered by temperature. Perhaps also by the sounds and smells that are accompany the seasons. The warmth this week has seen me thinking about one thing — spring bikepacking in AZ. The prime season is here, now. So Lee and I are heading out for a loop including Ripsey, new AZT along the Gila River, Martinez/Box Canyons and Area 52. The focus being MTB gluttony and flower hunting. That, and crossing all major waterways on honest-to-goodness bridges!

I’ll carry a SPOT, showing on trackleaders’ main AZT tracker:

http://trackleaders.com/azti.php?name=Scott_Morris

That tracker, by the way, is open and free to anyone doing a section or a thru hike/ride on the AZT.

We’ll head out tomorrow (Sat) morning. Looking forward to trail views like this one:

In other news, if you haven’t been following along with Mike Curiak’s journey, he is approaching his final miles and still going strong. It’s been fun following along and writing little speculative updates. Regrettably, I won’t be able to write anything while out bikepacking and might even miss his finish! Jill Homer is also out, as she is doing a snow bike race out of Fairbanks this weekend. I think Mike would approve of both of our excuses…

Also, if you are having trouble downloading Color Aerials in TopoFusion, you should upgrade.

Otherwise, it has been a really nice week of edits on the dissertation, and super fun rides.

First up, Chad’s Tuesday Techy Taco ride:

photo by Chad Brown

Then the Wednesday suburbo ride, when I had an great horned owl swoop down and glide down the trail for what seemed like minutes.

And finally, flower and new singletrack hunting in the Tucson Mountains during a swiftly paced solo ride from home.

Flight path, the newest trail in Robles, gets my seal of approval. I was pleasantly surprised by how chunky it is — forcing dabs, a near crash and tons of grins. A welcome addition to the Robles repertoire, reminding me of a mix of the Tortolitas chunk with Hidden Canyon style trail building. Awesome.