Baby Jesus SDMB

Another ride for Paula and I today: Baby Jesus. We were planning on heading towards the 50 year trail / west side Catalinas when I noticed there was an SDMB ride on Baby Jesus. Really?

Paula has always wanted to go on Baby Jesus, so it seemed like a good fit.

We pulled into the Golder Parking lot to the largest gathering of mountain bikers I’ve ever seen in Tucson outside of the 24 hour race. I couldn’t believe how many people were there to ride the 50 year trail and/or the chutes. 9 were there for the SDMB ride which is quite the turnout.

We rolled out the first couple miles of the 50 year trail in typical group ride fare. People get excited, think they have something to prove, and ride hard. I let some people pass–hey can’t we just ride and save the one-ups-manship for the teenagers?

We dropped into Sutherland wash then began climbing Baby Jesus. It’s pretty easy/tame for a while, then some challenge starts to creep in. Before you know it you’re hiking your bike. I rode with a guy named Kyle until the first extended section of hike-a-bike where we stopped to wait.

Everyone was not far behind and I was surprised to hear very little whining. We had ourselves a group of good riders here. We kept riding. Eventually I let Kyle ride in front of me–he rides with much more power/momentum than I do, so my slower style was forcing him to unclip in sections he might have been able to clean otherwise.

At our next waiting spot I amused myself by trying to ride up a 3 footish rock face, which finally happened on the 3rd or 4th attempt. The ledge itself was fairly easy but the transition into it was difficult since it robbed you of any trace of momentum.

Kyle and I kept riding, and, well, we rode a bit too far. The next time we stopped was well beyond the intended turn around point, so by the time everyone was there Hank (our excellent ride leader) decided we had gone far enough that we should just close the loop. Sounded good to me and everyone else was on board too.

This meant riding down the Sutherland Trail, otherwise know as the rockiest road on the planet. It’s a much better climb than downhill, but several flat tires and other stops broke up the descent enough that my hands still had feeling in them by the bottom. I will never forget watching brother Ahlgren PEDALING down this descent. I’m riding my brakes while he is pedaling hard down it. The fact that this road is his favorite climb in Tucson says it all.

One good thing about riding trails like Baby Jesus (even moreso CDO/Red Ridge) is that it really makes you enjoy trails that are rideable. Once we popped back onto the 50 year trail it seemed like a little kid’s trail. Nice, fast and easy. In the end the loop was only 11 miles but it took us over 3 hours to do it. That’s Baby Jesus for you.

We grabbed some grub at a cafe in Catalina, enjoying some laughs and good conversation with most of our riding group. I had never met any of these guys before, so I was happy to meet some good riders who are also great guys. Hopefully we’ll ride together again.

In the evening we got a call from Mike Mcann, who we saw near Flagg Ranch out on the Great Divide trail. He had finished up the entire GDMBR in 46 days and was now heading home. I hopped on the tandem to go meet him on his way to our place. It was great to hear about all the various people we both ran into on the trail. He had many a story to tell but not enough time to tell it all. He told us that the Portland boys (saw them at Colter Bay) are also in town. I hope to be able to chat with them as well.