...and getting caught in the rain.

I planned a sweet lunch ride for today to include some new trails out in west South Mountain. DCX, Ruins, National, Mine Drop… had the makings for some sweet blooming singletrack, steep HAB climbing and wicked loose descending.

But as I got closer and closer to the TH the imminent downpour turned to plain downpour. I was riding right into the storm. I called the audible and flipped a U-turn, heading back to the East Valley where it didn’t look to be raining…yet.

In the car, a couple of hours to kill, surrounded by rain…where to ride? The only place that even hinted to be “less wet” was Silly Mountain. I decided to get there, ride the quick 2 mile loop and call it good. Timing was just right, a slow drizzle started as I approached the TH. I geared up inside the car as the drizzle, drizzled out.

The sun popped out and I took the queue, launched off into the forgotten trails at Silly Mountain Park… the system is fun, about 4 miles of loops, some tech, great views. As I reached the mile mark I saw a spur that looked interesting…so I took it. Fun, loose techy descent followed by pristine singletrack up and around the north east part of the mountain. Fun stuff but I think I was out of the park boundaries.

As I started to make my way back into the park, the rain hit hard. If I had only stuck to my two mile loop, I would have avoided the floods. But there is something to be said for the fun you can have getting caught in the rain. The desert just smells so good right now. The flowers are creeping out, ready to pop over the next week or so.

As I write this the sun is out and it’s clearing up. Just in time for AZSF 2010. I’m looking forward to some good rides the rest of the week.

Superstition View Trail

Wagon Wheel Rd

Queen Creek’s only hill. One mile long, 135 feet gain. I’m ready for Alpe d’Huez! It ends at the Skyline lot of San Tan Park. I rode it as far as I could. Then I rode it two more times. It’s the best I have from my door with only a couple of hours to ride. I didn’t feel like riding to Sacaton…

The End of Skyline Rd.

Wagon Wheel Hill

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Video made by out of towners who frequent the state of Arizona for its magical riding. I’ve never met or rode with them, but their video captures the essence of South Mountain and the northern country…and is well made. Enjoy.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=598510

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.

View Alta: South Mountain in a larger map

Alta is a South Mountain technical gem. It is a favorite for hikers and one of the legendary technical trails for mountain bikers. At 4.5 miles coast to coast Alta gives you a gorgeous sufferable climb for 1.5 miles — followed by a mile of climbing reprieve with challenging exposed descending. Add another half mile plus of climbing and you are at the saddle ready to descend into Alta tech oblivion.

If the tech up to this point didn’t buck you right off your bike, there are a few moves down this section that surely will. Switchbacks, exposure, loose, tight, cactus, and did I say steep?

Do not attempt Alta unless you are a seasoned skilled rider that is bored with National, Holbert and Kiwanis. The “easier” climb is East to West, the gnarly of all gnarly climbs is teh opposite. Make sure you have your SPOT messenger, it you ride solo. Better to bring a buddy that is strong enough to carry you down the mountain when you endo.

Access to Alta is limited with the closure of the San Juan Road. Hikers and bikers can enjoy a stroll along Bajada south of San Juan Road to get to the Alta Trailhead. Enjoy, be safe. Good Luck!

I hooked up a nice long loop incorporating Alta. See my ride at Everytrail.

South Mountain West

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My Videos riding Alta

Props to Tisser and gang. They rode everything I walked. Studs. Watch their vid and be impressed.

3/22/09 Alta from Tisser on Vimeo.

Photos of Alta (the first few are of Telegraph Pass and Kiwanis)

This is too good not to share. By Vladimir Chaloupka

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo from Vladimir Chaloupka on Vimeo.

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo
Feb. 13-14, 2010 — Tucson, Arizona

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

Only four days to order your AZSF 2010 T-shirt. Get it now or you will regret it!

But plenty of time to plan your trip out to Arizona for some awesome spring riding with the locals. Visit the this thread in the MTBR Arizona forum for all the details.

March 10-14 – Ride Arizona’s finest trails in Tucson, Phoenix, and Sedona — guided by locals, come ride Miligrosa, South Mountain, and the Black Canyon Trail (just to name a few of the our gems).

Four days or riding and celebrating the best of Arizona. Different rides for different level riders. No excuses. Come to Arizona!

The current South Mountain Map that is wide-spread throughout the net has little to be desired. There is a much better semi-interactive, yet less used map of South Mountain hiding out on the City of Phoenix website. A PDF is available for download here (740 KB).

As a service to the hikers and bikers in Phoenix as well as all the visitors, I have created an interactive map of the majority of the South Mountain Park trails. Every trail included has been mountain biked and tracked my me. There are still a few trails I have yet to track. This is a work in progress, I hope you enjoy it — and share it!

Alta Trail
Bajada Trail
Beverly Canyon
Corona de Loma Trail
Cross Cut Trail
Desert Classic Trail
Geronimo Trail
Hidden Valley Trail
Holbert Trail
Javelina Canyon Trail
Judith Tunell Trail
Kiwanis Trail
Las Lomitas Trail
Ma Ha Tuak Trail
Marcos de Niza Trail
Max Delta Trail
Mormon Loop Trail
Mormon Trail
National Trail
Pima East Loop
Pima Jeep Road Trail
Pima Wash Trail
Pima West Trail
Ranger Trail
Ridgeline Trail
Telegraph Pass Trail

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.