RR: Sweet Desert Singletrack

[brendagilbert]

This was the best riding I did while in Arizona.. located in Catalina State Park in Tucson. I was a little hesitant about setting off riding in the middle of the desert right before a huge monsoon, ALONE, but my love of riding got the best of me. This trail starts off steep, nothing like Chiquita Ridge though, besides it was only 7:30 Am, and a brisk 90 degrees. The trail is 3 miles to the gate and park boundary- and I rode about 2 miles past the gate before I made myself turn around. I met exactly 2 people on the trail. A man and his wife, who had just returned from a 10 year hiatus in the Carribean as mountain biking tour guides. I took a picture of the guy for TrojanInsomniac- his tattoo matches Mark's avatar!

The ride back down the trail was nothing short of spectacular. It was about 5 miles of fast rolling singletrack, with sweet waterbar "jumps" , rocks to roll over and lots of cactus. Now, you know that if youve ever ridden with me, I hate to go fast and do anything crazy. But today, I let myself go. I thought over and over- this is why we all ride. The pure beauty of this pristine trail made my heart sing. The only thing that would have made this ride better would to have been joined by my friends
I am back in the OC now, ready for the Vintage, looking forward to riding familiar dirt for a change, but I will never forget this ride

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[KeepsWhatHappens]

Awesome Brenda! You're such a mountain biking stud-ette!

Kristine and I are looking forward to riding with you tomorrow.

[KBL]

Right on! Looks like a fun trail.

The only Arizona riding I've done is South Mountain Park in Phoenix, but it was world-class, and makes me want to go back to AZ for more.

[pshloss]

I was in Catalina St Pk in late May and it was really spectacular. I only rode around the main loop of the park, plus I climbed/pushed up a really technical trail and rode back down it. Here are a couple of pics I took from the trail. It was a right after the weather changed from like 105 degrees the day before to 65 that day.

I'm looking forward to going back in the fall and really exploring the area. I did mostly road biking when I was there due to the heat. My favorite road ride was going up Mt Lemmon road which goes up to 9000 feet. It's smooth as butter with wide bike lane, great views, and a ski resort town (sort of) at the top.

[brendagilbert]

Thanks for the photos pshloss! I kept looking up at that craggy, rocky "mountain" wondering- where is the ski resort?! How on earth does anyone ski that thing?
I plan on going back in the fall to enjoy the cooler weather and ride to my hearts content. My Mom has offered her home, and to mind the kiddies all day to whomever I can drag along with me!