AES: Prescott MonstercroSS CCW

 The Prescott Circle trail has been a bit of a nemesis of mine. Many years ago I rode it, but it wasn't quite completed and I've tried on multiple occasions to ride the entire 50+ mile loop. For whatever reason: knees, cramping, no lights, etc. I had yet to complete the loop since it's full build out. The Arizona Endurance Series, AES, hosts a ride up there that encompasses almost the entirety of the Circle Trail and adds an out-n-back, OnB, from the Ranch trailhead. I've managed to finish a couple AES iterations over the years, but again, that was long before the Circle trail connected all the dots.

Would today be any different or could I finally complete a big Prescott loop as planned. Of course, I'd be doing it on my singlespeed and I wisely geared down to a 22t rear cog. The year the AES event had to switch to an ITT format due to inclement weather - think death mud and the following weekend was the ever popular Whiskey Off-Road race. No sense trying to bump elbows with hundreds of racers. So, a few of us set out the following Saturday. I'd be riding the loop in a CCW direction. Ian would be arriving later and I figured he'd catch me at some point.

Just as I was ready to begin the climb up Ranch trail, Jeff & Nancy pulled into the parking lot. They too, would be riding CCW and I said I'd get a head start and see them a couple miles up the trail.

It was a steady climb up Ranch to the Badger Mtn. Connector trail.

Now officially on the Circle Trail.

Slightly downhill and nice views of town.

High atop Badger Mtn. Granite Dells in the distance, my next goal of the route.

I was surprised I hadn't been caught by Jeff & Nancy yet. I was about to begin a long downhill to the SR69 underpass and doubted I'd see them before then.

On my way down, cruising along, I rounded a blind righthand corner and came fact-to-face with three Javelina!! For a split second we all froze, then they scattered, each going in a different direction. Whoa!! That sure got the blood pumping. I probably came within 6 feet of contact. Wild.

On to the flats of Peavine trail.

Watson Lake approaches.

That means the rock crawling riding begins.

The Granite Dells are spectacular. Hard to believe there are trails through here.

I was making my way through the rocks, up, down, around. I got to a section where the track wasn't really making sense and I backtracked a bit just when Jeff & Nancy showed up!! It was around mile 18 or so. Jeff and I tried to make heads or tails of the track, but opted to stay on the Circle trail. Soon enough everything lined up. We were now through the rocks and back on the flat bike paths on the north end of the loop. I couldn't keep pace with the geared duo and settled into a more sustainable pace.

The section over by Granite Mtn. is my least favorite of the entire loop. A fair amount of hike-a-bike on some crappy tread, but it's over relatively quick. I knew the fun trails of Spence Basin were on deck, I just had to get there.

I caught back up to Jeff & Nancy at a 5-point intersection where once again the gpx was a bit confusing to follow. After some discussion, they continued straight as I pulled up my ridewithGPS app. I had the course loaded there too and it's a bit easier to get a wide angle view of the route when needed. It confirmed we should have made a sharp right, staying on the Circle trail. I yelled up to Jeff, but they were out of range. I backtracked to the turn, and stayed on route.

I popped out on the dirt road section and saw a rider up ahead, it was Ian!! Not sure how he ended up ahead of me since he started after me. We rode on & off together until Spence Basin where he got ahead of me for a while.

Back in the trees after the low lying flatlands.

The start of Rusty Fender trail.

The Spence Basin trails are a blast. Some trails have enough rocks to keep you on your toes.

At some point a few miles later, I was climbing up a sideslope when I saw Jeff & Nancy down below on another trail. I yelled down to them that they were going the wrong way. Jeff said he was right on the gpx line. Hmmm. I wonder which track he has? We both confirmed we had downloaded the tracks straight from the AES webpage. After the ride, we discovered Jeff had downloaded the CW direction version, which does vary slightly from the CCW version. Now it all made sense!! Pay attention, kids.

Nearing Thumb Butte and a water source.

Down at the trailhead I caught up with Ian. Snacks and topped off water, we were good to go. Ian gradually rode away from me and I didn't see him the rest of the ride.

From Thumb Butte, it was generally uphill until the top of Wolverton Mtn. I was beginning to really feel the effects of the day, but determined to finish.

Nice views from the top.

A short bit of dirt road, then singletrack descending!!

I love the Wolverton Mtn. descent. Awesome views, fun trail, some tech and it's long!!

I was nearing the bottom as I approached White Spar CG. It's another water stop along the route, but I was doing good there. The trail had mellowed considerably, but was still fast rolling through the forest. Well, that is until I got pulled into the soft shoulder on a bending righthand turn. I got sucked in good, too much to recover from. Front wheel went cockeyed and I went OTB. I noticed a rapidly approaching tree on the right side of the trail and knew I'd hit it. Thankfully, I landed on my left side and only bounced slightly into the tree. If anything, it was more hilarious than painful. A week earlier, I had scraped my right knee really good at Brown's Ranch of all places, so I was glad I didn't re-open that mess. The only casualty was a small chip broke off my Garmin mount...that was only one week old!! Dang it. One of the tabs on the bottom of my GPS had also bent down. That's not good. It did seat in the mount firmly, so I wasn't too worried about it. What's the saying: Rubber side down? I really need to be better about that. Sheesh.

You can kinda see where I dug into the trail shoulder on the outside of the turn and the tree I tagged.

Nice water tank next to the trail.

A couple was hanging out in their tent across the trail from the water when I rode up. I was chatting with them for a minute when Nancy appeared!! Uh, where's Jeff? She wasn't sure. Then Jeff called. They got separated at one of the intersections a while back. Nancy was going to wait until he arrived. I told her I'd keep going and see them at the end...if I could stay in front of them. But now I realized we each had a separate ride gpx, which one of us had the quicker finish?? Hmmm.

Coming into Goldwater Lakes.

I reached the Senator Hwy fairly quick and began the steady climb up Ranch trail, the final trail of the day. I knew it was almost all downhill once I reached the Badger Mtn connector, but that was still a few miles away.

When I did get there, I was still riding solo, no sign of the others. I think I'll hold them off!!

Nearing the end.

Some locals came out to say hi.

Strava link.

Barely 5 minutes after finishing, Jeff came rolling into the parking lot, followed by Nancy another 5 minutes or so later. We were all glad to be done. That's a tough ride and I'm really glad I swapped out cogs for this ride. Overall, I felt pretty good, just a bit sluggish over those final 15 miles or so.

I guess I'm still searching for a full Circle Trail completion, but this will do.