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Goat has my goat. I spent lunch out under the cloudy sky today. I wanted to give Goat a second go, and a third and a fourth… After almost cleaning the trail last week I thought if I adjusted the tire pressure, seat height and played around with gearing I could sail up the loose stuff and glide over the tech.

I was wrong.

The only sailing I did was on Desert Classic. It was the maiden voyage for my brand new Specialized Captain Control 2Bliss front tire. My Roll X blew a sidewall while it was just sitting in my office… you gotta love the Specialized tire guarantee. Credit 40 bucks, slap 5 down and I’m sailing with Captain Ned Overend. I’ll give a proper review for the Captain later, but for now, all I can say is this tire sticks to the trail like no other front tire I have owned.

Back to Goat. I cleaned everything up to the false summit except for the last bit before the saddle. That’s where I rode into Trouble spot #1. Five tries and I nailed it.

Trouble #2 came right at the top of the real summit. I made a silly slip, lost my groove and then couldn’t find any way over the last two sets of steep tech. It’s not lose there, just tricky. I sessioned this spot a few times before giving in to the “I gotta save something for next time” excuse.

I think I did everything right except warm up enough. Three circles around post marker 59 just weren’t quite enough. Maybe next time I’ll do four.

The ride down Helipad was true bliss. If only the trail was longer. Then I rode back up Helipad. Even truer bliss. Down Goat is a blast. As U2meetoo says, “it’s a hoot” and I fully agree. He rode up Helipad and down Goat a couple days ago. Here’s his sweet vid.

I’ve ridden Desert Classic as an out-n-back from Pima plenty of times. But how far “out” I go varies…since I’ve never made it out all the way, I decided to shake up the normal routine. With a hankering for fresh, steep, and technical Goat, I set out yesterday at lunch from the Telegraph Pass lot and rolled through the west end of Desert Classic.

The west end of DC out to the Corona Loma loop is awesome. It’s more technical than the heavily trafficked east side. While the east side has Secret and Warpaint alternate loops,, the west side has Goat and Helipad. I’d heard stories of these two trails…so actually riding them after so many years was nice.

Goat: It’s name says it all. If your name is Billy you’ve got a good chance of staying on your bike. It’s been a while since I got worked by a hill. I got bucked twice but got back on the Goat and kept climbing. I’m certain the entire trail is all rideable. I guarantee Ill be back again and again until I clean the Goat. From DC post marker 59, you climb south. Only a half mile, but 400 feet elevation gain.

Helipad: From DC marker 54 head south down to the wash and then comes the climb. Steep and loose at first but then the singletrack appears carved into the mountain, steadily climbing the ridgeline to the namesake helipad. I climbed Helipad first, descended Goat, then turned right around and climbed Goat to descend the glorious Helipad singletrack.

U2metoo took some video footage coming down Helipad last year. It’s a great climb and a really fun downhill. South Mountain continues to amaze me.

From Goat-Helipad

Wednesday I had lunch on Desert Classic: It consisted of a Power Bar Berry Blast Fruit Smoothie, Cherry Kool Aid and 14 miles of dessert. Kool Aid’s not your traditional performance hydration choice, but when I’m thirsty on the trail all I have to do is yell out Hey Kool Aid and you know what happens next…

It’s been almost one year to the day since I rode Desert Classic last. Why don’t I ride it more often? This year was the year of exploration. I spent my time in the San Tans (no return on my investment) the Goldfields (very profitable…I need to post up my maps of the primitive singletrack up there) and the base of the Superstitions on Lost Goldmine.

Back on Desert Classic it felt like I was riding it for the first time. See, I was on my singlespeed. The trail takes on new character with only one speed to propel me in-n-out, up and down over and under. I still have yet to complete the entire out-n-back. I ran out of time (again) but I got a couple miles past the Corona Loma jct this time. I was surprised how the tech steps up a notch in places way back there. I’ll have to try riding DC backwards from the Telegraph TH to Pima. Throw in the climb up National to telegraph and it sounds like a Double Double animal style.

I needed a mini epic so I headed to South Mountain. It was cool and breezy but still short sleeve and shorts weather for me, I wanted to climb.

I started at the 46th street lot and warmed up on Javelina. I love that trail. Then up Mormon to National to the Buena Vista lookout. From there it was down, down, down… Geronimo. I was having so much fun I didn’t even see the junction to the east leg of Geronimo. I just kept rolling down the roller coaster on Scout Camp to the bottom.

Still feeling some legs in me I road to the Mormon TH on 24th Street and headed up, up, up. I’ve been down Mormon before but never up. There were more rideable lines than I thought and I was able to stay on the bike for more than half the climb. The other half I was spinning out, clipping out and falling over. Eventually submissing to hike-a-bike to ascend what I couldn’t ride.

I met a few downhillers from Flagstaff down to escape the snow. They were headed for Geronimo. From the Mormon junction it was sweet sailing back down to the 46th Street lot via Javelina again.

From Geronimo

What I post today is a work of art…a masterpiece in mapping technology. A local outdoor enthusiast who goes by the name Nothra Bin sent me his latest Google Earth map of South Mountain. He meticulously built the map using existing GPS tracks on the web, as well as freehand routing and labeled just about everything you can think of.

New Google Earth high resolution imagery shows some really awesome detail for more than half the trails on the mountain. You can actually see the boulders and rocks along the trails. The waterfall looks awesome. Download the KMZ and visit SoMo anytime for a virtual ride.

Nothra also posted the map on the Google Earth Community site. Thanks Nothra for sharing this map with us. You rule!

Trail Reviews: Desert Classic, Geronimo, Javelina, Mormon, National

I’ve been living in Phoenix over seven years. Mountain biking regularly each year. It wasn’t until this year that I finally rode Desert Classic at South Mountain…
Read Full Review

Here is a nice collection of user submitted videos of mountain bikers on South Mountain. Enjoy

I shot this footage on National Trail, South Mountain, Phoenix. Nothing too spectacular, just a little XC riding down the waterfall and steps, two technical spots that South Mountain is famous for.

The highlight of the day was waiting for a group of senior citizens to walk up the waterfall, they asked me if I was going to ride down that…I said, sure am. Some said they just couldn’t stand to watch…the rest gathered around and became spectators. When I successfully made it down they all cheered for me. Nothing like putting on a show for a bunch of old people (who were mighty fit I might add).

Riding my 2006 Trek Fuel EX 9. One sturdy steed. Riding music, Comfort Eagle, provided by CAKE.

Dave Wissenbach, a GPS and mountain bike enthusiast, has labored diligently to map many of the South Mountain trails. You can download his GPX file from his South Mountain website as well as view details and photos of the trails.

I’ve taken Dave’s GPX file and loaded it into Google Earth, creating the ultimate South Mountain GPS trail guide. Although the GPS tracks don’t always align with the view in Google Earth, it’s close enough to follow the trail. Also included are waypoints marking trailheads and other interesting South Mountain info. Have fun with this!

Trails included: Pima Canyon, Mormon Loop, National, Hidden Valley (Fat Man’s Pass) Desert Classic, Corona Loma, Telegraph, Ridgeline, Javelina, Beverly Canyon, South Ridge, San Juan Road, Warpaint, Geronimo, Scout Camp and Holbert.

Dale Wiggins’ Topo of South Mountain is even more descriptive and includes Alta, Mine Drop, Ranger, Los Lomilitas, Kiwanis, Old Man, Secret, Goat, Helipad, and the Pima East Loop.

Related South Mountain Posts

South Mountain Google Earth Mapped

South Mountain, Phoenix; Javelina to Mormon

National/Mormon Loop: South Mountain Phoenix

In Phoenix in the summertime, there is no such thing as a lunch ride. In the desert, from June through about the middle of September, the only kind of riding I do is the early morning wake-me-up ride.

That means a 4:30 AM alarm clock and a 5:30 AM trail time. This morning I was at the top of Javelina where it meets the Ridgeline trail on South Mountain before the sun decided to join me.

Javelina is a rough and rocky double-track that slowly turns into a wide singletrack with just a little forgiveness. The 46th Street parking lot is a good place to start if you want to do a quick ride up Mormon and then down the less ridden back side of Mormon. It’s a couple of miles of pretty gnarley singletrack that’s littered with boulders, shutes, steps, and some of the sweetest technical lines I’ve been blessed to decend. If Javelina was a little forgiving, the north side of South Mountain has never even heard of forgiveness. She’ll lie, cheat, and steal your soul right off your bike just to watch you bleed.

I went over the handelbars twice down the mountain. I got lucky on one landing and controlled the fall. The second endo threw me and my bike onto a a series of sharp rocks, but we caught ourselves just before gravity pushed us down further…both the Trek EX 9 and I are doing well, just a bit bruised and scratched.

When people say this trail is not recommended for beginners, they are not telling the whole truth. This trail is not recommended for anyone who does not want to fall. I never thought I would say that I could use more suspension, but on this trail it would have come in handy. Now I’m really thinking about the 5 and a half inches on the 2007 Trek Fuel bikes…

Mormon is an awesome challenge. It has just enough of the good stuff to keep me coming back again and again and again.

Mormon Trail Links

MTBR Javelina Trail Review

Mormon trail video: pete fagerline has excellent footage of the north side of Mormon trail - 50 MB