Papago Let Down

After a good time on “easy” trails at South Mountain, I thought I would give Papago Park a shake. In 9 years I never had the desire to ride out there. Friday it was make or break, and I have to say break.

Granted, I only rode a couple of loops around each of the buttes, and didn’t ride anything west of Galvin Pkwy, the real down factor for me was I never felt like I got out of the city… I guess that’s good and bad. For a Friday at lunch I sure saw a lot of people. I can only imagine what weekends are like… the trails are nothing spectacular, wide, loose in a lot of places, and there are so may spider trails running off all over the place… I pictured Papago begin really wide and really flat, but the two loops I rode actually had some decent singletrack, but it’s too short lived to warrant another ride.

I can see how Pappy could be a regular if you lived close by. Hammer out a few fast loops before or after work…but since south mountain is 10 minutes closer to me, if I need a quickie I’ll ride where the trail brings me joy. For me there was no joy in Papago. The most exciting thing that day was hitting the deck to avoid a raging swarm of bees.

Honestly I’d rather ride the San Tans than Papago. Sorry Pappy, no soup for you!