Sierra Vista: Up & Down & New AZT

 While I was down in southern AZ, I reached out to the LocoRides crew to see if I could crash at their place and we could do a ride the following morning. In spite of their busy life schedules of the moment, they were more than willing to have me over. Yay!!

Before I made the drive back to Sierra Vista, I went a bit north to check out a brand new slice of AZT being constructed in Oak Tree Canyon, which is a few miles north of Kentucky Camp. It was a very last second addition to both the AZT300 & AZT800 routes. It was also the first time I staged a ride from the relatively new-ish trailhead off SR83, Oak Tree Canyon trailhead.

As I was getting ready to ride, a pest control truck pulled into the parking lot and parked next to me. The driver hopped out and asked me if I knew about any trails in the area as he saw me drive in with the bike on the back of my car. I gave my best 5 minute preach, giving him the website for the Arizona Endurance Series, the AZTR, Trackleaders and my blog. He was stoked!! Maybe I'll see him again at an upcoming AES event, who knows.

There was only about one mile of 2-track riding before reaching the junction with the AZT. I saw the new cut up on the hillside, so I went right on the AZT, but opted to keep riding a bit more as there is a nice overlook at the gate at the top of a rise.

Ready to roll.

Easy 2-track mile to get warmed up.

Turnaround point at this overlook. I checked Trackleaders here, as the lead racers were in the area. I had already missed Alex Schultz by 5 minutes or so. Crazy fast!!

New tread peels off to the right after I ride back down from the gate.

Nice views of the Santa Rita Mtns.

Really nice to see this section of dirt road get bypassed with singletrack.

Back on familiar tread.

Chase Kaufman, the current AZT300 leader and 2nd overall coming through.

The beginning of the second new section of trail.

Miron Golfman coming through, 2nd in the 300, 3rd overall. He warned me about a washout up ahead...

I didn't think much of it, until I saw it. Yikes!! That could ruin someone's day.

Brand new trail too, no good ride around and big enough to swallow an entire wheel!!

Barely 100' later, the trail equipment.

I didn't realized this section was still under construction. The gpx I had made it appear it had linked into the current AZT, but in fact, it was about 10' down the embankment from the current alignment. With the washout, I was kinda glad it wasn't obvious to the racers where to access the new tread. It can wait. I think Miron was one of the few who rode this section. It'll be fantastic when complete. Also, there was a second similar washout just ahead of the dozer along the newest 25' of trail. Goes to show how much rain we received last week.

I rode on a short bit further, but no real need to reach Box Canyon Rd. 

I thought the grass would be higher here, glad it wasn't. The tread was still easy to see.

Heading back the way I came on the new trail. Ooohh.

Golden Hour view towards the Sky Islands. PeakFinder app.

Beautifully contoured trail.

This will be so good once packed in.

Route:

I finished my ride right at sunset, which was funny because my friend, Kara, was doing the AZT800 and was the final rider to make it through the sunset closure area. I received a text from her exclamating: I made it through with 6 minutes to spare!! Nicely done.

I made the hour drive south to Shannon & Beto's place, had dinner and settled in for the night.

The next morning we rode out from their house over to the foothills of the Huachuca Mtns. One thing about the trails here, while really good, you're either climbing or descending. No flat sections here. The past couple of rides I did, I felt pretty good, but on this day I knew I was in for a bit of a beatdown. The grade wasn't overly steep, but it was pegging my heart rate. I had to take a couple of short breaks, even walked a few sections. Oof. Shannon and Beto were kind enough to schedule a couple of longer stops as I'm sure my panting was obvious.

Nice and lush.

Stop, catch breathe, take pics.

The towering Huachuca Mtns.

It's nice riding under a canopy of big trees, here in Hunter Canyon. Photo by Shannon.

Beto blasting off on a fun downhill section.

Shannon in hot pursuit!!

There they go!!

That's Mexico in the background. Photo by Shannon.

It was a Team Binary LocoRides board meeting kind of ride.

Sweeping views from the Perimeter trail.

The Perimeter trail kept things interesting!!

The downhill portion of this ride was an absolute hoot. The climbing was good too, I just wish I had felt a bit better to really enjoy it. Sierra Vista has some really nice riding, it's worth a visit.

Route:

Parker Canyon Lake Loop

 The third Thursday in October is quite the day for me. The annual AZTR kicks off and when I'm not riding in it, I enjoy watching all the riders pass through the Parker Canyon Lake area. It gives me an opportunity to capture at least one action shot of every single rider. It typically takes a few hours and this year was no different. Afterwards, Connor was hanging around and we noted that for all the years we've known each other, we had never actually been on a ride together. Today would be the day. Per the nudging of the Red Rock Chica, who I haven't seen in forever - but more on that later, she suggested we ride a clockwise loop around the lake. All the times I've been down here, I've never done that. It's only a 5 mile loop, but appeared to be fairly scenic.

The RRC and her trusty KTM.

The trail and views were fantastic right out of the gate.

Beautiful lake-level panorama.

Naturally, a short hike-a-bike brought us up here.

Connor riding across the dam.

A few fishermen out enjoying an absolutely perfect day. Mid-60's.

Creek flowing down Collins Canyon.

There appeared to be a trail heading up the canyon, but it soon faded away. We aborted our exploration and returned to the main loop.

Stacks of perfectly cut logs line the trail.

Benches placed for moments of reflection.

Not sure what this was originally for, but the trail went around to the other side of it.

Starting a fun technical section of trail.

We could see plenty of large fish in the clear water.

Route:

For only 5 miles, this was a really fun route. It had a bit of everything, flowy trail, hike-a-bike, views, flowing water, fun technical riding and could be done relatively quickly. If you're in the area, check it out.

I eventually made my way out of there driving north through Sonoita before heading back south to Patagonia to meet up with the RRC for lunch. She was there, hanging out at one of the newer eating establishments, Quail Covey. It was so good to catch up with her, we figured it had been over 5 years since our last ride. Our schedules never seen to mesh, but we'll figure something out for a long overdue adventure.

The coffee was spot on.

A racer popped into town looking for water.

Always great to track her down in person.