Brrr…

It seems winter is here. Tucson is now, officially, the place to be.

I’ve heard about inches of snow in SLC, Flagstaff, wherever… so I’m very grateful to be where I am, riding and happy. It’s even cold here. We finally got below freezing this morning. Saturday’s ride was on the chilly side, whether you’re from Tucson or not.

Mcuma was in from SLC, looking for a few good rides. We were happy to oblige–it is not hard to convince me to ride.

So we headed east to Redington. We did the standard Redington-AZ trail-Milagrosa loop, with the addition of dropping down toward Chiva, the side door and even more new AZ trail. Mcuma rides well, so we made good time throughout the loop.

The wind was howling all day, but it was at our tail for virtually the first three hours of the ride. Later, it was furious atop the ridgeline descending to Bellota ranch. We donned our jackets and held onto our handlebars, our composure and the trail in desperation.

I did better than average on grosa, still riding with confidence level perhaps a tad too high. When everthing was said and done: 35 miles, 5 hours, 5000 feet of climbing.

On Sunday we rode the 50 year trail from home depot, including all of the newly built trail. There was still one section that Odin and I helped build but had yet to ride. I’m very happy with how all of the new stuff turned out.

The difference between the north and south new sections is striking. The south side still looks like a brand new trail, while the north has already been ridden to death. The new northside stuff is almost indistinguishable from the older stuff. This is clearly one of the most popular places in Tucson to ride. And it seems everyone does the same thing: Golder parking lot->Chutes->back. I can’t say I think that’s worth driving out there for, but I’m obviously in the minority.

Upper 50 year / deer camp was a treat. I really love that trail, even though I rarely get out there to ride it. Confidence was still high, so I rode well technically. It was a nice roll through the desert at a relaxed pace. In the end, 25 miles, 3.5 hours and 3000 feet of climbing.

Work is still on hold for me. It looks like we’ll be riding tomorrow at Starr Pass. Sounds good to me.