Wrapping up Tucson for the winter

Hey, I’m into April… almost getting caught up on the blog before the next big adventure.

March was incredibly hectic, and in the back of my mind was the opportunity to go race the Holyland Challenge in Israel. The ministry of tourism had offered to help get me over there, and I was definitely intrigued. But I had some doubts, mostly due to simply not being in race mode, mentally or physically. I had very little available focus for it. The AZTR took off less than a week before it, and though I was not racing, it meant I couldn’t arrive in Israel with any reasonable lead time. I didn’t want to go there just to race, though I did want to see the route. Turns out I wouldn’t have even been able to do that — major rain forced them to call the race and no one rode the middle 200-300 miles.

It looks like I didn’t take any photos at the start of the AZT. Eszter got some, and it left me free to focus more on setting people up with SPOTs, batteries, GPX and beta. I’m still struck by how much nervous energy gets directed *at me*, making it stressful to get the AZTR off the ground, even when I’m not racing! We hosted some racers, again, got people to the start and helped some folks with some last minute stuff. Overall it’s a very rewarding experience, but I was happy to not being boarding a plane just after to go race in a country I’ve never been to.

Instead, we were able to take the CDTC up on its offer to put on a trackleaders / bikepacking booth at the CDT kickoff / Trail days celebration. It was super fun to talk trail, bikepacking, backpacking, and SPOT tracking. On the latter, the result was the largest crew of thru-hikers being tracked, ever. I really enjoyed meeting some of the CDT class of 2015.

A few favorite quotes:

“Nobody has ever ridden as much as you guys did…. because nobody has been that stupid.” — Jerry Brown

“Those devices don’t belong in the wilderness!!” (SPOTs)

“So have you guys ridden the PCT yet?” Ummm, no. “What? It’s closed to bikes?”

“I’m going to forage my way across the CDT!”

“Huh? You can’t ride bikes in Wilderness? Why not?” — horse packer

“Weeeeeee…. I’ve been riding for 4 years! ”

Kudos to Gila Hike ‘n Bike and the CDTC for hosting a CDT bike ride for the kickoff event. We joined in with a couple kids and couple locals. Bikes on the CDT — a very good idea!

We took the opportunity to ride a few sections of trail we missed due to fire closures, and also some that didn’t exist yet and was built by mountain bikers!

Of course, we found ourselves some hike-a-bike, it’s the CDT!

After a good couple days in Silver City, we rolled on to a remote highway crossing of the CDT. It was great to load the bikes up and camp on the CDT. The passage of time has led to us both thinking most positively about the trip, and we were positively excited to get back on the trail.

Specifically, a section of the trail we did not ride. It’s not the recommended thru-route, for various reasons. We had a hunch it would be good bikepacking trail since it’s new. But last summer we had no information to go off of, and our food stores were very low from the Gilas, crossing burn areas and Wagontongue mountain. We took the ‘known’ quantity, and it was a good decision at the time.

A trick tank! Don’t see many of those.

That meant there was new trail for us to explore this year, one that we could loop in to a very desirable town. It was easy to talk Eszter into the idea.

Turns out there was a lot of good trail, even bikepackable trail.

Lunch was courtesy the lovely little bakery we found just outside of Reserve, NM. Holy yum.

The trailbuilders gave up on the previous goal of contouring. Oh crap, gotta gain some elevation!

Pleasant forests of ponderosa pines, colorful flowers, meandering trail. The promise of the CDT.

Oops, where went the forest? A small controlled burn.

True to CDT style, you must go over every mountain. Not around.

The following section was an old stock route, with lots of water, mellow descending but not much singletrack and lots of dust.

Ahhh, there we go.

More goodness.

This is a newly signed XC route. It was entertaining enough while pointed somewhat downhill. Once it flattened out into the plains it was rideable/doable, but pretty punishing. When nearby roads take you to the same place, it’s only logical.

The day wore on and the head winds sucked the life out of us. The goal easy to motivate for….

PIE TOWN!

We shared the toaster house with another couple out bike touring on the GDMBR. They were fun to talk to and just about as shelled as us when we arrived. Thank goodness for the toaster house.

We did have to wait until 10am the next day to get what we desired most: Pie!

Pie in pie town, while out on the bike — I think that’s the definition of winning.

The GDMBR served as our route back, for the most part. We could have taken the de facto CDT route over Mangas Mtn, or stuck with the GDMBR. The day was still early and the Pie still filled our bellies with energy, so we turned to climb back up to the CDT and take the sweetness back.

It was a choice of the highest excellence. Trail was even more fun in the other direction.

A storm built behind us and blew us back to the van. Perfect timing.

On the way back we practiced some ‘make it up as you go’ road tripping, a model that would serve us well later in the year. We found free forest service camping, good food, a trail to run up to a mountain (Maverick Peak), and even a hot springs, before rolling back to Tucson.

Time in the desert was getting limited. Only a week or so before our lease was up, meaning we pack things into our cars and head northward.

The Ridgeline trail was a focus of some of our last rides, this time with the Ridgeline builder himself, Neil Stitzer.

And then, again, with Chad — back on the bike!

We didn’t ride nearly enough in the Torts this winter. Next winter!

Next up was another weekend in Prescott, where Kurt and Kaitlyn were kind enough to host us in their little cabin in the woods. It was a nice break from the warmth and April allergies.

The three of them (including Eszter) were racing Whiskey, but it was just a riding vacation for me. Kurt waved his finger at a map that outlined a solid ride for me. It led me to climb Spruce Mountain (which had been skipped in the shorter Prescott Monstercross AES event that Ez and I had ridden on AZT weekend) on singletrack.

It started hailing on me as I rounded a blind corner. Hey look, three bobcats! Big paws, long tails… those aren’t bobcats! Mountain Lions!

My heart rate didn’t have enough time to spike before they turned tail and ran off. I believe it was only due to the impeccable timing of the hail that I was able to see them. It sure threw my sense of hearing and time off to suddenly have hail falling around. I think they would have bailed before I got around the corner if not for the hail.

I pedaled with some vigor and nearly hit an all-time high heart rate around the next corner when I saw brown fur moving on the same side of the trail. It was a small herd of deer!

The rest of the ride featured a half hour tire change, a burger, some death mud and a bushwhack down through some luxury homes. All I could think is, “man, I love mountain biking.” I needed some good and unexpected adventure, and you never know what’s going to happen out in the ‘wilds’.

My thoughts next turned to the wilds of the Granite Dells. A solo ride would be exceedingly lame there, with me avoiding all the fun stuff, not knowing what I was doing.

I dropped the good doctor Enel a note once in town, skeptical that we might hook up. Luckily, he was game, and I told him I had neither the appropriate bike or the appropriate level of rock confidence. He suggested an area of the Dells new to me, that he called more “XC”.

The XC designation might have been appropriate for the trails themselves, but we spent very little time on the actual trails.

Enel is a rock monkey extraordinaire *and* a local. So he knows all the fun lines.

He knows all the silly lines. He was putting on a clinic on how to own the place, for me. It was fun to see his excitement as he’d clean moves he hadn’t ridden that many times, or ones he hadn’t ridden for a long time.

I certainly balked at many, but rode well all things considered. It woke up a side of my riding that has been sleeping for a while. I wish we had trails like this in Tucson! What brilliance.

I can’t believe we didn’t get rained on.

At some point he told me there’s a strava segment coming up, which I should have heeded as a more dire warning. I was rallying ledges and corners, almost keeping pace with him as we floated down a huge slab. I didn’t see the patch of pea gravel that happened to be right where I wanted to turn. Bike went one way, I went another. Ha! Finally a crash. Sometimes I being to worry when it’s been a long time since my last crash…. like my next one is going to be big because I’ve forgotten how to crash. It’s always good when you walk away from one with only minor cuts and scrapes. Makes you feel alive.

Thanks for the solid rock thrashing, Enel! Also just what I needed.

unorthodox line by Kurt!

There was also a race going on. It was fun to see the excitement the Whiskey brings to people and to the town of Prescott. Kurt raced hard with the big boys. Kaitlyn and Eszter fought a hard and close battle, with Kaitlyn bringing the hometown win. Racing is fun.

Has anyone seen this man? We got to meet and host the next CDT-bike contestant, Dylan. It went quite well for him in New Mexico, despite the heinous weather. At last report he had detoured off to Moab/Durango to wait out all the May snowfall. It was exciting to have someone like Dylan out on the CDT. We have a southbound rider that should be starting soon, too.

J-bake had new bike powers and was killing it

Dylan joined us for my combo Birthday / Farewell Tucson ride.

Get it Chad.

Ride from my house to the Tucson Mountains, find some silly trails, have fun until dark, roll into town, eat burritos. You know, the good life!

See ya Tucson, we’ll be back when it cools down! We packed up ‘the house’ over a leisurely two days, then pointed north.