Riding with Dad

It's not every day you get to ride with your dad. That being said I take advantage when ever he's in town. Looking back, it was my dad who introduced me to what I know consider an afinity for bikes. From my old bmx days to waking at 4am to drive me to out of town races, tearing down single track in Idaho and the local weekend road ride, Dad's been there for me.

School's out and it's 6am on Sunday. No cars in sight.




Met up with dad on the road.



Thanks for the draft!







Hey, are you guys riding too?











Food for thought...

Stone House x 2

A low pressure front moved through parts of the Southwest, bringing a tornado to Denver, CO, cancelling the Iron Horse Classic in Durango due to snow, snow falling in Flagstaff and rain in Tucson with plenty of clouds and cooler temps. Spiker and I headed to Tucson Mountain Park to enjoy the weather. Just earlier this week it was 101 degrees! Global weirding?
CDO trail to the first stone house, over to the newer 36th Street trails and the second stone house, back into Starr Pass basin, up CDO to benchcut, around the bend to some lesser known trails. Fine time to be on the bike.






What's with the clouds? This is May, right?










And then we ride over there...

Second stone house above 36th street trails

Stairway to heaven
This time next week I'll be sitting on a beach in the Carribean

Kentucky Camp

Sean, Jeffro, Chris and I headed south to Kentucky Camp for what would be the last time to ride this trail before the heat takes full effect. A short drive from Tucson, the landscape quickly changes to rolling hills and grasslands while offering another view of Mt. Wrightson. With several leg burning climbs and a little altitude thrown in, it would be quite an adventure on the single speed. The GPS data; 26.4 miles with 3,163 ft. of total climbing and topping out at just over 6,902 ft. However, my legs and body tell another tale; I swear that seemed closer to 40 miles!

So, you work for Exxon, huh?



Are you experienced?

You gunna eat that?

Time for a soak in the shade




My dogs are barking!




The Kentucky Camp





Proper! Until next year...

Lemmon Drop

Jeffro, Spiker, Trashy, Adam, Chris and I made up the "locals" contingency. RideAZ folks complete with D/H bikes made the trip down from PHX. 18 of them to be exact. Our plans to start above the ski area were scuttled by snow and ice. When the locals say the trail's unrideable, they are probably on to something. We were split into the sayers and naysayers. Looks like the sayers seized the day.

Temp at Sumerhaven: 48 degrees

Catch me ridin' dirty





















Hey, where'd the trail go?








Rest Stop #1

Bug Springs, up, up, up

















Smiles all around
















The plan was to finish out thru Milligrosa. We all agreed we'd gotten our money's worth. It could be done, but it wouldn't be pretty. Jeff had committed to leading the Ride AZ gang, so he was stuck dealing with mechanical after mechanical, interupted by the occasional spill. The locals came out with zero flats, zero mechanicals and only one brush with a rock.

It will take some time for the upper trails to thaw out. Damn, what a great day!