Winter is riding season in Southern AZ. There are so many good things going on. Chances are if you’re here for a weekend, something fun/nutty/competitive/{all of the above} is going on. Here are a few that I’m involved with and that I’d like to highlight quickly.
Jan 11th – Late notice but the AZT Jamboree is tomorrow. Shuttles are full, but you can still donate your money to the AZT and self-shuttle it, or do like I have the past several years – ride out and back as long as you want.
Jan 25th – Antelope Peak Challenge / Gila 100. Lots of riding and desert solitude on one of the more remote and beautiful stretches of the AZT.
March 14-16th – Camp Tucson V2.0 – 3 days of big loops in Tucson, open to all as self-supported group rides. The idea and timing are for AZTR prep, but they are darn good rides regardless.
April 11th – Arizona Trail Race – 9th year running … 300 miles on the classic course, or tackle the canyon for the whole trail.
Back to regularly scheduled programming…
A threat of rain (that turned into nothing) got us to ditch the computers early and head out for a healthy loop while the sun was still in 70* full effect.
love that tree, love that girl
We climbed Redington road, nearly car free on a weekday, rolling the empty 4×4 roads towards the AZT.
And the AZT was good. Beyond good.
Pads came out for Milagrosa.
Eszter rode some new sections.
And felt less scared on others. Progress.
I convinced myself dropper posts are awesome, as are ~functional suspension forks.
What we rode is day one of Camp Tucson – an absolute classic Tucson and AZT ride. It’s got a perfect mix of dirt roads, 4×4, singletrack and gnar. Come on out!
I got Chad out for a big bike day at the 50. When he moved out to the 50 I assumed we’d do lots of these, but so far it hasn’t happened much. Shame on us!
Shame on him for not getting his brake bled since our last taco ride. He did hit this one with a few brake pumps, but ended up on my bike for others.
We randomly picked up a third, Tim, who was looking for someone to show him some lines and to afford him the safety of doing semi-dumb things (as opposed to doing them while riding solo, which is closer to fully-dumb).
Semi-dumb? Maybe, but at the same time, brilliant! Not often do you run into someone that can ride so well, and happens to be looking for a good group.
New one for Chad! Oh yeah.
Things are getting smoother out there for me. We did several laps on Cheezy Pleazers, trying to get it a) ingrained in our heads and b) going smooth. Chad was *this* close to following me off the Lunch Rock at the end of the last lap. Next time!
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