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Tomorrow (Sunday) I’m off to ride in the Colorado Trail Race. It’s been a semi-crazy week of moving back to Tucson, trying to find all my gear and setting up the SPOT tracker to be bombproof (hopefully!). We have a new site, trackleaders.com, for all this SPOT tracking fun. The link to follow the …. [Continue reading] 
Paula and I always try to do at least a day of trailwork whenever we ‘summer’ in a new place. With the AZT going right through Flagstaff, it was a no brainer to join a ‘Close the Gap’ work event. There aren’t too many more miles to be built ’round the peaks, and …. [Continue reading] 
Paula and I headed west from Flagstaff to meet up with Enel (Eric Nelson) for some Williams singletrack. I commented to Paula as we left town that this was the first time we’ve driven to ride/run since arriving in Flag early in the summer. In this case, the trail is well worth the half hour …. [Continue reading] 
Dave Harris put on a gem of a race, the Paunsaugunt Enduro, that started just around the corner from Paula’s Bryce Canyon Half Marathon. It was too good a fit, so after the marathon, we moseyed on down to the campground to join a good crew of enduro nuts. I was tired, but couldn’t sit …. [Continue reading] 
Paula and I headed north from Flagstaff again, this time to Bryce Canyon, for a duo of races. Paula’s foot race was first. Having broke her back some five weeks ago, she didn’t know what to expect. She bounced back incredibly fast from the injury, but is still not 100%, and training has been light …. [Continue reading] 
Paula and I drove up to Salt Lake for my sister’s wedding. We enjoyed the shorter drive, from Flagstaff, rather than the semi-epic of the usual Tucson->SLC trip. It was mostly a family affair, and a good one at that (it was great to get everyone together). But we managed to squeeze in a bit …. [Continue reading] 
With the help of some friends (thanks Troy and Nathan) I was able to piece together a singletrack heavy loop around Flagstaff’s biggest landmark — the San Francisco peaks. I’d done a loop around the peaks some 8 years ago, as part of a now-defunct race, but it was all on dirt roads. I wanted …. [Continue reading] 
Chad: “Remember when 30 miles used to be epic? …I miss those days.” I do too, in a way. But epic is relative, and sometimes, like a cool Friday morning in Flagstaff, 30 miles can be epic again. No limits pushed or boundaries crossed, but satisfaction nonetheless, and no need to go further. 
There’s a lot going on these days. Wouldn’t have it any other way, though I’m going to need to catch my breath at some point. First, Mike Curiak is up for voting into the MTB Hall of Fame. His nomination is here: http://tinyurl.com/mertzw. He’s up against some pretty serious competition, and I may …. [Continue reading] 
Completing the Grand Loop last month left Chad and I feeling a little empty. We knew there were better loops out there, waiting to be dreamed up, explored and possibly raced. One such route presented itself to us as we drove back from the Grand Loop, through Northern Arizona. The idea – Flagstaff, Sedona, Prescott, …. [Continue reading] 
It’s hard to believe, but not long after breaking her back, Paula’s running and riding again. We’re keeping the rides mellow/smooth, of course, and likewise for the runs. One ride was to head south on the AZT from Flagstaff. Well, we rode more urban path than singletrack, but it’s AZT. This area (above) …. [Continue reading] 
I pedaled through a world that was somehow different. The sun was warmer, the clouds cooler. The blood coursed through my body with more power. Each breath was deeper. … For a while I feared that I had lost Paula. I was inside when she fell off the ladder. I heard it …. [Continue reading] 
Pre-Loop: It wasn’t hard to talk Chad into my brilliant (ha!) idea. I dropped a quick email and was surprised when he responded that he was in. We’d head north a few days later, determined to race the 360 mile Grand Loop, backwards. It had never been done before, but then there’s only a …. [Continue reading] Look for some moving SPOT points tomorrow morning here: http://topofusion.com/tracker-grandloop.php Chad and I are going to try the ‘Grand’ Loop in reverse (the wrong way). This route nearly torched me back in ’06, but I did finish. Weather is looking MUCH cooler, but mud/rain could be an issue, and it’s still a difficult loop. More …. [Continue reading] 
There was a bit of noise about the Red Ridge trail. A large crew were shuttling, Max was going to ride from town, much like Chad and I did a few months back. With temps still reaching for 100 degrees I didn’t much like either of those options. Then it hit me. Combine Red Ridge …. [Continue reading] 
Enough Sweetwater rides with my sweetie? Not possible! Enough Sweetwater pics? Not possible! I can only speak for myself, but I can’t get enough of either. Something we’d never seen before here (above). There was a puddle in the middle of the trail, and that inverted Saguaro arm …. [Continue reading] 
It was high time I explored the latest additions to Robles Pass, and after surviving my PhD comprehensive exam, it was high time for a solid ride. I rode from home. Early, but not too early. Sleep meant more to me than surviving the heat. Moon + giant Saguaro flowers. Look close and …. [Continue reading] 
What’s a poor Tucson couple to do when it’s 100 degrees and you’re too lazy to wake up early to ride/run? Head to the trees, of course! Like winter dwellers flee to the desert in the winter, we flee to the forest in the summer. With the rest of Tucson, so it seemed. …. [Continue reading] 
We’re regularly topping 100 degrees these days in Tucson. But that didn’t stop me from rolling out at 3pm, en route to the Friday Sweetwater ride with Paula. I sought refuge in side trees along the river path. The west wind was there, at 10 mph. Yet I felt top. I’ve struggled with …. [Continue reading] 
I needed to find my way up to Superior to fetch my car. Jobie kindly obliged when I asked, and to entice him I suggested we shuttle the nearby Six Shooter trail. Neither of us had ridden it, but it was rumored to be 98% downhill (about 3500′ of downhill to be exact) and nearly …. [Continue reading] |
 Scott Digital Nomad, nowhere, USA Lifelong mountain biker, trail mapper and programmer. Sometimes bikepacker, sometimes runner, sometimes packrafter. I love to ride my bike, get out, and explore this beautiful planet we find ourselves on. I live in a 20 foot GeoPro Trailer, traveling about the west. Main author of TopoFusion GPS Software, co-founder of Trackleaders.com. More... Projects / Sites  
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