Soaked in the San Tans
I hit the San Tans this morning for a little singlespeed riding. I haven’t been out on the converted Avalanche since Lost Goldmine at the end of May.
It was a gorgeous sunrise at 5:30 AM. Yesterday afternoon the park was hit with a deluge of rain. While there was no standing water on the trail, you could feel the moisture rising up from the ground. It was as humid as Houston out there. I was practically dripping beads before I even started pedaling!
I opted to take Goldmine to the San Tan loop ccw around Hedgehog then cw up the wash to the southern trails and then back with an out-to-the-saddle-n-back on Malpais before descending Moonlight to the trailhead. It was 10 miles of rigid singlespeed bliss and three miles of “I need stronger legs.” The great part about recent rains in San Tan Park is that the sand washes are rideable. Woo Whoooo!
The trails were in decent shape, washed out and rutted a bit from the rain plus a little sandy in non-wash areas. I’ve ridden in better conditions out there. I talked to Dave the park manager and he’s still hopeful of new trails being cut in the future. A nice ridge trail and some winding singletrack in the foothills at the north end of the park would be nice. It might be ten years but at least there’s a chance. I still love to ride the San Tans. To me the solitude and views are worth the horse tracks and sandy spots.
With the new 202 open from University to Power, Hawes is no longer a 30 minute drive on surface streets. If I can shave 10 minutes off that commute, Hawes will be seeing a lot more of me this summer. Can’t wait to drive there.