National at EveryTrail

East Loop >> Beverly >> Javelina >> Mormon >> National >> Rest at the Saddle >> National >> Pima >> Chocolate Milk.

Great morning to be out. Ran into Harry doing repeats on Javelina. Good to see a friend sweating as much as me at 6 AM.

Got chased by a giant fly for a half mile. I couldn’t climb fast enough to rid myself of the thing. It must be the new shampoo. Why I even use shampoo is a mystery in itself. Last week the wasps were swarming me at the park and the pool. Note to self: No more new shampoo. You don’t even have enough hair to warrant its use.

Sketched big time trying to ride the spine. Lost all confidence after three attempts down the waterfall. Maybe next time. I can ride to the right and to the left of the spine, just not the spine… I tried to ride the chunk to the far left too. Sketch. Looks easy enough, almost had the drop-in but stepped out. My motto: “Next time.” I’ll session a climb five or six time to get it, but for some reason three is my max on descents.

Punctured my new Weirwolf with a hole too big for Stans while simultaneously tore the sidewall…those sharp Arizona rocks…Thank goodness for a spare slime tube and three cartridges of CO2 (thanks to the 59cent sale at Global Bikes a few weeks ago).

Shot some good video, not great, just good. I didn’t hit any of the hucks down National. If only climbing real slow and technical made great video…

It was a fun ride, I just didn’t have any game descending. My brakes were bothering me. Yea, that’s my excuse. They were squishy and need a bleed. But that’s OK, there is always “next time.”

Best part of the ride…the frozen chocolate milk waiting for me in the car that had just thawed out completely by the time I finished. So cold, so delicious. Best post-ride drink ever. Thank you Chocolate and thank you Milk.

Western South Mountain Perimeter

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I dreamed this loop up after reading about this VOAZ built trail skirting the northwest boundary of South Mountain from the End of San Juan road to 35th Ave. The plan was to find more trail East of 35th Ave that hooks up to the main system at Central, then find my way back to where I started via Kiwanis or Ranger… whichever trail inspired me.

But first I had to get there. Still enjoying the newness of the Bees Knees climb I started off at the Desert Foothills lot and jumped on the Gila. Weather was perfect if not a bit chilly at 9am. Sunny and poofy clouds galore.

Just starting the Bees Knees I met Mike and his Kubota on the trail -just putting on the finishing touches. Mike was really cool and told me how much he’s enjoyed cutting this trail and being out here the past few months. If any cities or towns (Payson) want to hire Mike to cut superb singletrack in their area, he’s available. I’ll get you his number.

On to the new connector to National. Coming off the awesome descent of Bees Knees, the climb out of the Gila valley via the new National connector was very disappointing. About 60 percent HAB. Sure it’s really loose and brand new, but it’s also really steep does not look to ever be a rideable climb by bike, at least the upper 2/3 of it. I’ll give it some time.

Out to the San Juan stone hut to find that 35th Ave connector. National from the San Juan picnic benches to the stone hut is an interesting trail. Half of it’s awesome, the other half is nothing special with a side of babyheads. But it gets you there. It was easy to find the 35 ave trail VOAZ built last year. The first quarter mile is existing old trail, not very smooth, or flowy, but after a few ups and downs, it forks right and turns into magnificent singletrack.

It was really cool to be out this side of the mountain. I’ve never seen the city from here or had this vantage point of the infamous Alta trail. South Mountain continues to amaze me. I kept to trail past 35th Ave and found doubletrack and more singletrack out to 28th Ave where it hit residential and no sign of any continuing trail. Zig zaging through less than a mile of street I found the Elliot dead end trail and followed it to the 19th Ave Trailhead. Doubletrack and singletrack options all the way out to Max Delta. I’d like to explore more out here including the Warrior loop and look for something that hooks up with the Alta ridgline.

On to Ranger, love that climb, and National. Not 100 yards up National with my face buried in the climb, I heard my tire start to fizz like it was leaking Stan’s from the sidewall. I stopped looked down and reached at my tire to see where I’d torn it and instead saw the tail end a rattle slithering into the rocks. I instinctively jumped behind the bike and walked backwards, listening to the late warning. I’d ridden right over it with the front tire, my leg and left had were less than 18 inches away from the rattling tail as it slithered into the rocks. Didn’t see that coming.

No warning until after I was in range, and a warning that sounded like Stan’s leaking from a sidewall? I should have been bit. Thank you Guardian Angel. This was the first rattler I’ve seen in Phoenix in 9 years riding. I guess it was my time for a run in.

Eyes on the trail scanning ahead was all I could do while every sound from the brush below made me look…

On to Marker 33 for some tight, twisty, slow and careful rollercoaster descending down the new Ridgline trail. Here is all 9 minutes of it if you want to see the whole thing. It’s sketch. It’s fun if you can handle you bike. It’s a hikers trail for sure, but it a mountain bikers grad school for tight steep switchbacks.

From the junction to the first small climb:

The last bit of trail out to Desert Foothills:

Complete.

From East Mesa Epic

East Mesa Epic

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From East Mesa Epic

Yesterday was a triumph for me on the bike. Hawes to Peralta trailhead. 60 miles, sunrise to sunset in the saddle. A direct route would have been about 45, but I wanted to push myself so I added a few trails along the way. Climbing the Mine trail, Moon Rock tail in Usery, and the full Pass Mountain loop.

I’d planned about 10 more miles of singletrack in the Lost Goldmine area, but light was really fading on me so I cut those out. Options are good on a long ride…

Biggest mistake of the day: not drinking enough water in the beginning. At 30 miles, just finishing up Pass Mountain I cramped up and had to take a 20 minute decramping break. After eating and drinking I continued onward at a slower even pace.

Best decision of the day (there were actually two): First. mile 42 I decided to make a 2 mile detour and head to the Ray Ruiz Marina Snack Bar and gift shop. A chocolate shake and a hot dog really hit the spot, not to mention the refill on water as I was out. Second, deciding to skip the Lost Goldmine miles and just head straight to Peralta before dark, achieving my goal even though it was not 70 miles like I wanted.

Biggest time waster of the day: Taking so many pictures. I could have put in more miles if I just didn’t stop so much for the sake of a shot. My pictures aren’t even that good, so next time I’ll do it in the fall when it won’t be so gorgeous and green out.

It’s also amazing I had no mechanicals, no falls, no injuries. Simply, I can’t believe I stayed on the bike all day, especially when the last 15 miles was the most technical of the day. Lost Goldmine West! That trail is tough when I am fresh, throw in 50 miles worth of used up legs and it was even more of a beast. By that point I was close enough that nothing was going to stop me, except the setting sun. But I beat that sunset.

Then I hitched a ride from Peralta to Walgreens with some really nice hikers, and met my family who took me home. Couch, dinner and a movie with my wife: the perfect end to a perfect day.

Some of the better shots:

From East Mesa Epic

From East Mesa Epic

From East Mesa Epic

From East Mesa Epic

From East Mesa Epic

I set out to explore the Ruins trail up to National and then down Mine drop, but as I got out on Gila I saw the two new trails being cut that will have access from the new 620 area. I just had to explore…

From Gila Trail Exploration

From Gila Trail Exploration

This new trail follows just off the existing ridgeline footpath, it’s fresh cut, a little loose, but is going to be an extremely fun climb, and fast descent. I rode it up to where one of the trail crews was working. They would not let me pass… The machine had gone through earlier and they were rocking the McLeod’s. This trail will continue west and hook up with National by April give or take.

From Gila Trail Exploration

On to the Ruins. Not a spectacular trail to get there but a must see at any rate. I know nothing about the history of this place, but it is cool to see. I had planned to HAB up the Ruin trail, to National, then drop down Mine Drop, but decided against it as my time was slipping away.

After the ruins I wanted to head to the Gila Saddle via the existing Gila trail. I’m not sure who built this trail, but it is well established, and narrow as all get out. True singletrack. It’s a great climb, and a fast flowy descent. See for yourself:

Heading out via the Gila trail, I came to the spur that will connect with the Gila View trail (aka marker 33). I rode up it for a quarter mile or so, there were crews working up on that as well, I knew they would not let me pass, so I didn’t plan to summit…yet, but I had to take a peak…

From Gila Trail Exploration

From Gila Trail Exploration

As soon as these trails are finished, this are will be a very sweet area to ride. Even without the new trails Gila trail is an awesome alternative to the crowds on DC and Telegraph Pass. New South Mountain Loops will abound incorporating the new trails…

The next week or so will be really good for wildflowers…get out and enjoy the green, yellow and purple while it lasts. Heat, brown, and sweat are coming all too soon….

From Gila Trail Exploration

From West SoMo 2-24-10

My insatiable thirst for steep adventure climbing and descending led me to my next West SoMo adventure… This ride would include three more brand new to me trails (Bajada, Ranger, Marker 33) plus three trails ridden in a new direction (DCX, National, Telegraph Pass).

West SoMo Epic

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Clockwise: DCX > National > Bajada > Ranger > National > Marker 33/Gila View out-n-back > National > Telegraph Pass.

Bajada is a beautiful beast. Techy XC climbing, in and out of washes, a cpouple of big moves, really fun. I was fresh, but if I was tired, Bajada would have been an ugly beast.

Ranger was all I dreamed it would be. Awesome climbing, switchbacks, and some tech thrown in the mix. National eastbound from Ranger is a hoot. I’d never ridden it that way before. Makes me want to do a National C2C2C.

I finally explored the Marker 33 Ridgline trail. Some call it the Gila View Trail. I’ll always call it Marker 33. It’s fun. Rough, narrow, looks like some trailwork has been done recently. I rode it to the end… It will eventually drop down the ridge and connect with the new 620 area, so I have heard.

Marker 33

I rode the ridgeline back to National and then bombed down the hike-a-bike. Took a nasty endo, but got lucky and didn’t fall off the mountain. I was sketching out down Telegraph, some of those drops are just too big for me, but it was still fun to find a few lines down that beast.

My endo down National. Not too exciting. You can listen to me cry and then act all cool when some hikers walk by…

Descending Telegraph Pass. Yes, I walked a lot, but I rolled a lot too…

Part II

All that’s left on my list for extreme south mountain riding is Viejo (Old Man), Cochise, Old Lady Ames, Mine Drop and the Ruins. Are there any that I missed? Wish me luck.

South Mountain in 1936

South Mountain in 1942

South Mountain Park in 1964

Current South Mountain Map

A better, but lesser known, South Mountain Park Map in 2007

Welcome to the future in South Mountain mapping — 2010 and beyond.

Larger map click here.

All historical maps courtesy of the South Mountain Blog

Do you have a list of trails you’ve been meaning to ride for a long time? Ones you just never get to because there is always “somewhere else” to ride? I’ve got a nice long list like that… but yesterday I traversed a loop on the west end of South Mountain that checked off 8, yes 8, bucket list trails. Here’s what I rode:

Telegraph Pass > Kiwanis > Las Lomitas > Max Delta > Bajada > Alta > National > DCX (aka Ruins, Western) > Sidewalk > Telegraph Pass Lot.

South Mountain West

Trails on South Mountain west of Telegraph Pass have eluded me (as well as many others) for years. I’ve heard rumors about the chunky descents on Kiwanis and Alta, as well as the relatively tame XC trails like Bajada, Las Lomitas and Max Delta. But what’s amazing is how you can use all these trails to connect together some super cool and crazy loops.

The first trail. Telegraph Pass. I knew there was a lot of HAB, but just how much? Quite a bit I, found out :) But it’s the good kind of HAB, big and steep. My new pair of Pearl Izumi X-Alp Enduros (review coming soon) really paid for themselves on this HAB. I rode some of the moves up, but really, just coming from the Foothills Lot (which has doubled in size recently allowing parking for way more cars…) I was hardly warm enough to have any groove. Loved all the hiker comments though. Is it really that rare to see a bike going up? Now coming down Telegraph, I imagine that will be a hoot.

At the top I stopped and talked to Bruce, a Coloradan, here on business, out for a ride on a rented Stumpjumper. I could tell he had the MTB mojo. He was out to explore and asked if he could tag along as I explored the west.

I told him that Kiwanis was big, how big I wasn’t sure, but we would both find out. Right into the first big step drop I had to dismount. Not a good sign, but I didn’t want to risk a crash before even getting onto the trail! I can sum up Kiwanis with this short clip:

It’s Holbert-esque, big drops, big steps all sequenced together for a super chunky ride. For more Kiwanis vids visit http://vholdr.com/users/mtbikeaz

Here’s what that spot looked like from the bottom.

On to Los Lomitas. Descent XC trail nothing spectacular, fun and fast in spots. On to Max Delta. More XC, some climbs, and really good views. Bruce and I parted ways at the Bajada trailhead, he went East back to National via the road, I went west on to the infamous Alta Trail.

The climb up Alta was all I had dreamed it would be. Narrow, tight, loose, exposed, steep, relentless…all good things when you want to suffer. It was kind of like Toms Thumb with the swithcbacks, but there was so much tech in between it doubled the suffer factor.

I’ll say, Alta has got to be one of the gnarliest rides I’ve encountered in Arizona. So remote, so many technical features, so much exposure. You put all that on one trail and you’ve got ingredients for a super fun ride…if you’re into that kind of fun…

Here’s a clip from one of the downhill spots on the west end. I am not ashamed to say I walked a few of the more treacherous moves. After all, riding solo, I do have to make some concessions. Some stuff was clearly out of my league…

For more Alta vids visit http://vholdr.com/users/mtbikeaz

Not too sound overdramatic, but I felt real lucky getting down Alta without incident. This is really a “bring your buddy so he can carry you down the mountain in case you endo big” ride.

On to National, took a break at the shady rest and watched the roadies fly by…

The last leg was the little known Desert Classic Extension/Western/Ruin trail. No official names, not even official trail, but it’s there for the riding. Heading East was a nice climb to a saddle, then really magnificent singletrack all the way to the sidewalk. Stellar trail system. Stellar day on the bike.

East Loop/Javelina/Mormon/National/Beverly/DC at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Geotagging Community

Solo ride at South Mountain yesterday. I started at Pima lot and rode around the East Loop to Javelina. I love the Javelina climb. Only 2 miles, but steady. Then came the climb up Mormon Loop, one I always look forward to.

Just past the Javelina/Mormon junction – before the real climbing starts…I ran into a Candy Blue 2008 Turner Sultan. I was very happy to see this bike. The guy riding it just had to ruin the rest of my ride by telling me how much he paid for it… practically new, only three rides on it, he bought it off Florida Craigs List for $750. That is an absolute STEAL. I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of that bike for so little money (so little in the world of high end bikes that is). Guess that’s why I dabbed so much climbing the next mile… bike envy took its toll…

Once the climbing was out of the way I turned off the brain and fell rapidly into downhill mode where there are no thoughts of anything except the next set of boulders to get down.. enjoy.

This section, lower East National has got to be one of the funnest spots on earth. It’s tech after tech, move after move until you hit the junction with Mormon Loop. I always look forward to this last decent…

South Mountain Medley at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Geotagging Community

Pima fireroad to Ridgeline >> East Loop >> Javelina >> Mormon Loop >> National >> junction with Old Man >>back down National proper.

This morning I went on a little stroll through South Mountain. Temps moderate with the sweet cloud coverage. I started out with the goal of riding the Ridgeline Trail to the East Loop around to Javelina. After climbing Javalina, I’d see how I felt. By the time I got to the top of Javelina I was feeling the need to climb so I set out up Mormon Loop. Legs kept going and I ended up at the top of National.

On the way up, I took a nasty spill off the back of my bike. A reverse endo that slammed my lower back right into a rock. I’m glad no one saw it, cuz I was crying like a baby as I tried to walk it off. I ended up riding it off and finished the climb up National. Weakened, beat and sketching I made it down Natty safely.

It was my first time on a hardtail down National in about 4 years. What a difference suspension makes. While it was refreshing to get intimate with the mountain again, my back is telling me the intimacy is overrated.

Yesterday morning I met up with Harry and Kevin to burn through a little DC. It’s still cool enough in the wee hours of the day to get a couple hours in without it feeling like summer. This was my only shot at a ride this week so when Harry invited me I took it (even though it meant I had to get up at 3:58 to get there).

Harry is the owner of the Mountain Bike Phoenix Facebook group where he organizes rides for all skill levels. He’s also blogging at Active Spide.

It was a great to ride with these two from “Team 29er” Kevin on a Hei Hei and Harry on a Sultan. We were all about the same endurance level, Harry a bit more fit than I. Kevin was taking it easy (20 miles in from a Sunday ride at BCT plus recovering from a spill down National). His “taking it easy” was the same as my hammering.

It’s great to ride at pace, especially following someone who doesn’t stop to take breaks. Riding solo, I find myself drifting, losing focus on the push and just letting the flow take control of the ride. Not yesterday. If I didn’t keep pushing the pedals hard, Harry got too far ahead…

Needless to say I didn’t get many pictures from the trail, but at least I got a solid workout. Thanks for the ride guys.

Since I’ve used my free 10 rides on motionbased I’m looking for another web based mapping tool that’s free and offers unlimited ride uploads. Not sure if I like MapMyRide. Too much going on in there…