AZ is the place to be these days, I have little doubt of that. Besides the warm temps, there are some good things happening, a few worth mentioning here.
January 29th is the 4th annual Antelope Peak Challenge.
pic from Ripsey on the 115 mile APC
The 65 mile version is one of my favorite rides anywhere, and the time bonuses add even more fun into the mix. There’s also the uber-epic 115 mile version, which Chad and I barely finished last year, in just under 16 hours. We battled very cold and wet conditions, so I expect it to go much faster this year. I’ll be sticking with the shorter course this time, though the idea of reaching the Ripsey ridgeline still tempts me. As with all AES events, registration is free, come one, come all.
A little closer (about a week away), January 15th is the Arizona Trail Jamboree.
Come out and ride 35 miles (or less if you want) of built-in-the-last-5-years AZT, and show some love for the AZT. It should be a great ride.
The next day, on the 16th, Krista Park is giving a skills and racing/training clinic. This one is in Tucson.
Krista has kindly let me tag along on some of her rides since she arrived in Tucson a few weeks ago. So you could say I’ve been getting a bit of a clinic, or butt kicking as the case may be. And I’ve learned a lot.
heading over gates pass
Yes, I have an admission to make on this here at Diary of Scott Morris. I’ve done multiple rides now where my tires did not touch dirt — road biking! And let me introduce you to my most excellent steed:
Is that not a thing of beauty?
Key features include: heavily abused 29er full suspension frame, 38c road/cross tires, super nerd side view mirror (I love my mirror!), bike path bell, a single bar end, useless disc brake rotor, 1 grip shifter, one trigger shifter, rim brakes, long travel marzocchi fork. Total weight of bike = ~30 pounds. But boy is it fast!
It may be AZ, but we still have some cold days. I’ve had to relearn several road lessons, one of which was how to dress appropriately. Other basics I’ve had to relearn (the hard way) include aerodynamics and tire pressure. Once I got my tires aired up appropriately it was fun to feel the rush of the tiny tires, gliding over the pavement. Going fast while still muscle powered is kind of a thrill, I have to admit.
a snow capped Rincon Peak at sunset
The day out by the Rincons may have ended beautifully, but it was a bit too cold, and unfortunately my knee didn’t take too kindly to it. My roadie days may be numbered. But I hope not, since so far it has been a nice change of pace and I feel like I am making progress on some of my MTB-only weaknesses. Yes, I have a secret training plan. In fact, it’s so secret that even I don’t know what it is.
Certainly the junk/road bike will start collecting dust in a couple months, though it will stay around as a fast long commuter bike.
Lest you think all is lost, there’s still mountain biking in the mix. No way I could ride on the road all the time, even for a week. We’re getting the TMP Rock ‘n Road course dialed in. The addition of the new Explorer / Cat Mtn trail (the pic above) definitely ups the difficulty level on the loop. It’s been great to see more people getting out there for the ‘virtual race’ challenge.
Desert sky…
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In other news, I think I finally have everything sorted out from the server migration (which affected all my sites, and saw some downtime on bikepacking.net and topofusion.com’s forums). It’s times like these that I realize how I rely on a bunch of ancient tools that are becoming less and less standard (as it probably should be). I had to download and compile my own versions of emacs, pine and sz/rz. Anyone out there still use those? It’s funny, but I still use zmodem (sz) to transfer files, all the time. And pine is still the superior email client (and Pine Is Not Elm, in case you were wondering). Maybe one day I’ll join the late 90’s.
You speak truth. For verily your road bike is not a thing of beauty. I like it!
Of course you understand a “real” road bike will perform like a formula one car compared to your current “road bike”. You oughta consider adding one to your stable (1,500 – $2,500). The mountain bike/road bike schism is a fiction. They are completely complementary. And once you get into the fine points of group riding, it offers a whole new level of enjoyment, as well as training. There are few things as engrossing as a fast pace line with a group of evenly matched riders. Also, a good change of pace for the brain, the organ that is the most vulnerable to overtraining…..
I do see something in road riding, and I have owned an actual road bike in the past. Spent a summer doing group rides and learning tactics and speed, mostly because there was no singletrack around. I don’t see a real road bike in my future, but I do like my ghetto hybrid — it is so fast.