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The second half of the AZT 300 route has been calling me ever since I dropped out back in April. I’d been biding my time, waiting for a good weather window that lined up with my fitness/recovery/life. And it never really came. Forecasts called for 100+ degrees in the next week signaling the end of …. [Continue reading] It looks like I’ll be heading out on the Arizona Trail 300 route again. This time, going top to bottom (Superior to Mexico). Umm, yeah, it should be interesting. I felt like I had the northbound direction a little too dialed in. Should be plenty of intrigue going the other way. Most of these trails …. [Continue reading] 
The capacity to suffer is a quantity, measurable like any other. Sometimes you have it, and sometimes you do not. I had built a large stockpile in preparation for the AZT 300. But it came up lacking (or rather, I did). Not enough suffering, and then it was over. You can only store so much …. [Continue reading] 
… the ‘scar’ on Bugs? You know, this one: The answer is: more than 600. Or more accurately, I don’t know, because I didn’t clean it. Here’s the power plot: The four red spikes on the right side are my four attempts to clean the steepest (fall line) part. I cleaned …. [Continue reading] 
I debated about Prescott, and other trips for the weekend. But it’s been too long since our last Sweetwater Friday ride, so I rolled out from home, en route to Paula’s school. My friend the NW headwind was there, but it had no hold on me, with bodily systems finally over whatever flu/allergy/asthma nastiness plagued …. [Continue reading] 
Enough ‘careful’ riding. After babying my injured sidewall during the AZT 300 and generally trying to avoid contact with rocks at all costs, it was high time to hit rocks hard, catch air, and be stupid on a bike again. Jobie and Brian were scheming to head to Phoenix for South Mountain. Nobody had to …. [Continue reading] 
It was a great year for the 300. I couldn’t have been happier about how it all turned out. Well, except that I didn’t finish it myself. 11 riders started out from Parker Canyon Lake. I took the lead, with Kurt on my wheel. Somehow we got far enough ahead in the first …. [Continue reading] 
AZT 300 starts tomorrow (Friday, 9am). I’m riding, and there looks to be a strong field. Follow along here: http://topofusion.com/tracker-azt.php Tracking software written by yours truly. Fingers crossed that no gremlins rear their heads while I’m out there pedaling along. Both in the software, and in my brain/bike/body complete system!! Snow on Mt. Lemmon …. [Continue reading] 
It was a bit of a challenge to make it out to Paula’s school for our customary Friday Sweetwater ride. That (above) is what the wind was doing, all afternoon. 30mph gusts, if not higher. Tis nothing when you feel half decent. Last week’s Sweet Friday ride was dismal. By the time I …. [Continue reading] 
It’s been a rough couple of weeks since returning from Utah. Seems like right when I walked in the door I got sick. It wasn’t much for a few days but just as it seemed like it was fading I got hit with asthma like I’ve never had before. I literally could not sleep one …. [Continue reading] 
Paula hammered to finish her report cards so we could skip out of town early Friday. Destination: St. George, Utah. It was primarily a family visit, and the first time in some time that all of my siblings have been together. Pretty special just for that, but I also managed to ride every day. First …. [Continue reading] 
After spending the first part of the week working out on the road (with eventual trail reward), I decided to flex the technical muscles. This meant climbing my brains out on Gnat’s Ass trail. I had a good run, but my 36t granny cog (100% necessary on this climb for weaklings like me) still slipped …. [Continue reading] 
The sun sets. Time to attach lights and ride out from the house. The crew, led by Mark Flint, pedals past on the river trail. I catch up. The bats fly. Right on schedule. A ghost rider coasts through the Sunrise Rd. culvert. Jobie followed me on …. [Continue reading] 
I decided to try my luck at the GR Time Trial. It’s decidedly not an endurance time trial — the best time so far was: “climb time†27 minutes 30 seconds “final time†43 minutes 30 seconds Making the descend time 16 minutes I found myself pedaling up the Catalina Highway. I …. [Continue reading] 
I finally put away the book of excuses and rode out to Paula’s school for our Friday Sweetie ride. This is the only thing preventing Paula from a nearly traffic free (14 mile!) commute to work: (the Santa Cruz River) I crossed it, but I’m not sure I’d want to do it every …. [Continue reading] 
The Arizona Trail enters the Mt. Wrightson wilderness area soon after leaving the town of Patagonia. The AZT 300 route follows a long detour around the west side of the Santa Rita mountains. One of the great open questions in Tucson mountain biking is whether a viable off-road route exists east of the wilderness area. 
Mark Flint has revived the FSA (Foothills Suburban Assault) night ride. ‘Bout time, says I. I waited for the group at the Country Club bridge, having ridden from home. Golden light. They whizzed by, en route for some bat watching at the Campbell Bridge. We were just in time …. [Continue reading] 
Digging through some old files today, I came across a piece of software I wrote when I was 14 years old. I had just bought my first cyclometer, and was pretty excited about having answers to questions like “how far?” and “how long?”. I was also teaching myself Turbo Pascal and was blown away by …. [Continue reading] 
Hello! Who’s that? Photos taken today in the Catalina Foothills. The cat was not scared of me, equally curious as I was. It crossed the trail just in front of me before jumping behind the rock wall to observe a goofy mountain biker in his happy habitat. Later I heard coyotes …. [Continue reading] 
Paula and I joined a strong crew of Arizona Trail volunteers, led by trail hero Zay Hartigan. The object of our wrath was a ~mile stretch of Canelo East that could be a case study on how NOT to design trail in the desert (no fault of Zay’s — he didn’t design it, he just …. [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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