From Desert To Snow

I’m not talking about the winter storm that came through here.  Why would I?  I’m still on vacation.

Sunday morning after SSAZ, I woke up tired.  My legs felt fine, so it was more from the fact that I’d had a very long day (and a late night.)  D-Wayne and the ladies wanted to ride, and I just wanted some “me” time.  I sat out in front of the house and just relaxed, eventually hopping on my bike for a spin around the neighborhood.

Our hosts had a plan for the day when everyone got back from riding (and me from staring up at the sky.)  It involved a trip up to Mt. Lemmon, which I thought would be pretty rad.  At over 9000 feet, it would be nice to check out the views.  After lunch, we started driving up the mountain road, stopping along the way at various viewing areas.

This particular mountain is popular amongst the roadie crowd for training, with that brutal climb to the top giving them an awesome workout.  I was impressed that people did that until we saw this dude rolling up the steep road.

A unicycle?  That guy must have some good legs.

We kept going up and the views kept getting better.

And we saw some people riding on two wheels this time.

As we got closer to the top, it started looking less like desert mountains and more like “regular” mountains.

Once we got to the top, we saw some snow.

It was near the 80s down below, and cold enough for snow up top.  I love elevation changes.  It made me think how brutal that climb up to the top must be on a bike.  You start out sweating, then freezing to death at the top (and on the way back down.) 

I didn’t just stare at the views and watch people suffer on bikes though.  I had the most awesome pie.

I didn’t climb up there to earn that.  Who gives a shit.

And yeah, we played in the snow (even though we weren’t supposed to do so.)

It was another long day, capped off by some Arizona brew.

I know I’ve said it before, but I want to give a big thanks to D-Wayne and Meghan for letting us stay with them.  I miss the fact that they aren’t in North Carolina anymore, but it was awesome to be able to go visit them in their new home out west.  Hopefully we didn’t cramp their style too much.

And hopefully we’ll be back real soon.

Now, back to the cold.  Maybe.

The Family Reunion

Saturday morning started early.  Up around 5 a.m., departing Casa de D-Wu shortly after in two cars due to bike-carrying arrangements.  One quick stop for breakfast and another for gas with shady gas station bathroom action had us getting up towards Cave Creek right on time.

We were still in the desert (duh), and out of nowhere this Wild West sorta town appeared.  We rolled up to the Flat Tire Bike Shop and starting poking around.  I ran into most of the AZ DrunkCyclist crew, Chewie from MN, Dejay,  and even some old friends from here in North Carolina.

Everything was a little behind schedule while they figured out how to shuttle everyone to the start location.  They had luxury limo van service for the people and a U-Haul to take the bikes.  Since we had two cars (which turned out to be pretty smart), we followed the convoy that eventually started heading out of town.

After about a twelve mile drive (including a dirt road) we made it to the Bronco Trailhead in the Tonto National Forest.  The riders gathered around to hear Dirty give his speech…

It included the most important advice for any kind of race or ride…

“Don’t be a dick.”

This was not a race.  It was a family reunion of single speeders from all over with a group ride thrown in for good measure.  We rolled out of the trailhead let out by some kind of enduro dirtbike (not Enduro™) and hit the road to find the singletrack.

Since it was a party pace, I had plenty of time to take photos…

It was a beautiful day in the desert mountains, rolling up and down the hills on a road for quite sometime.  Once we hit the singletrack, it was gridlocked.

And it stayed that way for a while, meaning that even the simple climbs had to be walked.

Once we started to spread out, I dropped back to get some “riding” photos before I caught up with the group.

Then we backed up again because of a really rocky creek crossing.

There was actually water in this one.

With no real steep climbs at first, it was still a challenge due to the gnar of baby heads all over the trail.  We actually rode a lot of it though, and of course I stopped often to take in the views.

And we took a few breaks along the way to practice the DrunkCyclist secret handshake:

Did I mention that the views were awesome?

During one of my shutterbug sessions, I spotted Shanna rolling down the mountain, showing the fellas how you ride the gnar.

Then it got really uh, technical…

It was like the desert was giving us a big F U.

We kept going though.

And of course it opened up again.

And I stopped for moar photos.

And yeah, I’m nowhere near finished.  More to come on Monday from Single Speed Arizona.

I have to go get ready to heckle this weekend at the next short track race.

The Wash

A little side note first.  After our ride (that I talked about yesterday), we stopped at a local watering hole for some eats and beer.  I barely remembered the name of the place (Noble Hops I think), but I will never forget the décor.  Especially since I took a photo of it…

I looked at all of them.  I remember seeing some Bobby Brown, Janet Jackson, and R.E.M.  It was odd, but really cool at the same time.  I once had a cassette tape collection that big.  Sigh.

Anyway, when we sat down to eat our server made a comment about the beer on my shirt.  You know, this one:

I said, “Beer?  That’s me.  The uh, cartoon version.”

“No way”, she said.

“Yup.”  And I pointed at D-Wayne and told her, “And it’s this guy’s artwork.”

She thought we were full of it.  I guess I wouldn’t have believed me either.  I mean, what kind of asshole goes around with a cartoon picture of himself on his own shirt.

So yeah, silly story I know.  When we got back to Casa de D'wu, we started talking about “The Wash.”  I’d asked the day before why they have a river behind the house with no water in it, and I was informed that it’s basically a spillway for the few times it rains in the desert.  I thought it was neat, but my curiosity grew when D-Wayne said we could ride there after he worked on his bike a little.

He needed a test ride.

There was a short trail there and it was pretty fun.  Well, until the part that had washed away during the last big rain a short while ago.

A lot of was still intact, and we rode out there for a little bit while the little lady napped.  Some of it was fast, some twisty, and sometimes you had to watch where you were going.

Two rides in one day.  Maybe all that training is paying off.

In other news, tomorrow’s regularly-scheduled Fun Friday will not be seen.  Instead, I’ll get to the story of  Single Speed Arizona.  It all started at the crack of dark, and a quick stop for breakfast before Phoenix where I got to see the sun rise in the desert.

I told y’all I was gonna drag this out…

Change Of Scenery

It was pretty chilly when I left for Arizona last week.  With off and on rain as a bonus, I couldn’t wait to get out of here and into some different terrain.  I don’t care for flying, but looking out the window as we got closer to our destination made me kinda giddy.

The little lady and I landed in Tucson around 12:30 p.m. local time, and after grabbing our bags and rental car we headed right over to D-Wayne’s house.  He’d already put our bikes together, but after flying across the country we weren’t quite ready to ride.  Some food and beer were in order first.  We hit up a local spot and hung out for hours (eventually being joined by D-Wayne's better half, Meghan), watching the sun go down, and planning our ride for the next day.  I was excited to be warm, and the little lady was ready to see some cacti and ride in the Arizona desert.  The next morning we headed north to Oro Valley for a “shakedown ride.”

It was warm, but there was a little chill in the air.  We hit the road for a little bit until we reached the trail head, and followed our host into the desert.  Since we were tourists in a foreign land, I took pictures at every opportunity.

It was different for sure.  I’d ridden in the desert before, but this was a little more challenging because one wrong move or poor line choice meant that you would get cut up pretty good.  I kept that in mind the whole ride, but that didn’t stop us from having a good time.

 It was beautiful out there.  At one point, we came up to some open range cattle (which we had been warned about.)  The little lady grew up on a farm, so she had to stop to hang out with them.

The whole time we rode, I was in awe.  The trail was fun and not overly challenging, but the scenery was so amazing (and different from NC) that I couldn’t stop taking photos.  I’m sure D-Wayne was tired of waiting for us so much, but I didn’t want to miss the good picture-taking opportunities.  I’m getting older and I’m sure my memory will become worse at some point, so photos seemed like the best way to remember it all.

Plus, the little lady was so excited to be out there that I didn’t want to take anything away from that.

Besides, he got into the photos a little too.

The little lady was inspired out there in this new (to us) land, and got out of her comfort zone a little.

Sand, rocks, and plenty of cacti.  The Saguaro, which is the type of cactus everyone thinks of when they picture the desert, were plentiful.  They were huge.  The little lady was fascinated by them, and when we found a prime photo op she was happy to oblige.

She is small.  The Saguaro is not.

I am not small, but the Saguaro is still bigger.

The second half of the trail (as you can see) had plenty of rocks.  It was a little bit challenging, but so damn fun.  And yeah, it was pretty.

The views were amazing in this one particular section, so I stopped for yet another photo session.  D-Wayne was happy to oblige.

And he even took a photo of me.

Then things just got silly.

What an awesome day.  We’d been there only 24 hours, but already the trip out west was worth it.  D-Wayne was way more patient than anyone should have to be, since we did more picture taking than riding.  The ride was great, and now I have tons of photos to stare at whenever I want. 

I took almost 400 photos, so you know I’m gonna drag this trip out for a while.  Especially since I wish we were still out there.

Moar photos and maybe some words tomorrow…

Huge thanks to D-Wayne and Meghan for putting us up (and putting up with us) while we played tourist.