AES: Tortolita 50 DNF - aka Cherrypicked 30

 I decided to use the upcoming AES: Tortolita 50 event as a final shakedown of sorts for the upcoming Queen's Ransom bikepack. Shannon was also coming up to ride it, but mentioned she'd be cutting it short. I thought that was a fantastic idea as I really didn't need to do excessive hike-a-bike on the back half of the route. We'd stick with the AES route through the Ridgeline trail, then loop it with Wild Burro and add a few more miles of the fast, fun Honeybee trails.

There was quite the turnout for this one. A bunch of OG riders were in attendance including a founding member of the AES series, Scott. Somehow, he got roped into taking the lead for the event and he didn't miss a beat. Some things never die.

It was great to catch up with a bunch of friends I don't see nearly often enough.

Riders gathering for the 8a rollout. We had 24 show up!!

AZT800 finishers: Kara & Alex.

A few miles of fast, slightly downhill riding for a chilly start. It was 38º when I parked!!

Lindsay giving chase.

There was a new section added to the route this year, a newer trail in the Honeybee system. Loads of fun contouring a hillside and riding up/over some outcroppings. Near the ten mile mark, the climbing intensifies as the route switches to jeep road riding. I ended up walking quite a bit of this section. As it goes up & over to connect to the Ridgeline trail climb.

We heard at the start there was a big walking event taking place on the Ridgeline loop. I guess some folks were upset we were riding the trails last year, but it's an open course on multiuse trails.

Kara finishing up the jeep rd. section as we cross into the walking event course.

Elevation is gained rapidly. I walked some, rode most.

It's a solid climb, but routed so well.

Kara's first time on Ridgeline.

Big views in every direction.

Classic shot here.

Time for the payoff, long flowy, but chunky downhill.

I stopped at one of the trail junctions where the walking event staffers were wrapping up their SAG station. They offered water, but I didn't need any. I asked how many walkers they had: 350!! Was the answer. Dang. I must've only seen the very back end of the group as I only encountered about a dozen.

This was a good place for a snack as I had to make my way across Wild Burro trail, then up/over that jeep rd. from earlier. Kara confirmed she would do the full route, I wished her luck as I split off from the AES route near mile 18. At the next junction, another SAG worker said he knew me from years ago and that Shannon was only 5 minutes ahead. Could I catch her??

Wild Burro trail is super fun. Just enough rocks to keep it entertaining over rolling terrain. I passed a couple of hikers, then rode around a corner. There was a football sized rock on the righthand side of the trail that I didn't pick up until I was right on top of it. Unfortunately, when I hit it, my left hand slipped off the grip, weight lurched forward and I rode a short nose wheelie over the rock. As my weight shifted to the right I knew I was going down. A giant bramble bush mostly broke my fall, but those things aren't too pleasant to fall into. I was well into the bush, bike was on top of my right leg and I couldn't really use my arm for leverage to get up. I had to move the bike with my free left leg, then slide myself back to the trail. Comical. I noticed my GPS had flown off in the mayhem and found it buried deep in the bramble. Back in I went. More scrapes and scratches, but I retrieved it!! Never a dull moment. Thankfully, only a few scratches, that was it.

Site of the carnage. The rock that sent my flying is just out of frame.

No catching Shannon now, so enjoy the views.

I heard my phone ping, so I knew I had service. I sent Shannon a text saying I was only a few minutes behind her and if she got this, please wait. She did receive the message and I found her at the top of the jeep rd. climb. We had both stopped for snacks, but at different SAG stations along the way.

It's a #Locorides reunion!! Look out!!

Right on cue. Our initial route had us on the wrong side of this barbed wire. Reminded me of the Painter Boy trail. Photo by Shannon.

We were making our way over near the Badlands area when a rider approached. Holy moly, it was Alex!! He was already finishing the 47 mile loop. I looked at my GPS: 25 miles. Then a couple more riders came flying by giving chase. The top 3 guys were moving!! Cool to see.

Absolutely gorgeous day with snow atop Mt. Lemmon.

We even found a lesser ridden trail that was a load of fun. Photo by Shannon.

These trails are a hoot. Photo by Shannon.

All types of cacti everywhere, so don't stray off the trail!!

Love the Mt. Lemmon views from here.

Fast and slightly downhill all the way back to the cars.

A handful of the fast riders already back at the finish. Mutants!!

What a great ride!! We ended with 30 miles and 3000' of gain, so no slouch of a ride for us either. We hung around watching most of the riders come in. The best part was after Max finished, he fired up carne asada tacos for everyone. Legendary status keeps on going for this guy.

After all these years of doing AES rides, it's great to see it's still going. If you want to challenge yourself, ride great routes in areas you probably haven't been to, check it out. It's FREE!! Say whaaa. Just have a means to navigate. See you out there!! Yes, Kara did finish, in daylight!!

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Ironwood Overnighter - Bikepacking 101

 My friend, Kara, and I have been wanting to resurrect the Bikepacking 101 rides I used to host a bit more regularly. Both of our schedules can be a little nuts sometimes, but we found a weekend to get away for a night. At first it was suggested to do another loop over at Hawes, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted something new. I've been trying to complete all the published bikepacking routes in AZ and one of the newer routes looked like it may fit the bill. The Ironwood Overnighter down by the town of Marana, which is NW of Tucson.

Image courtesy of Bikepacking.com

This route is 48 miles, all dirt roads and a little bit of pavement. It appeared we could cache some water easily too. Kara put together all the details on social media and we cast a good sized net to hopefully attract some bikepacking curious riders. Almost immediately the interest was high and as the days passed along we had a good feeling we'd have a nice sized group. Kara organized a Q&A session at her place where folks could see how to attach bags to their bikes and borrow any necessary gear from either of us. The following week she took a few of them out for a short shakedown ride which is always a good thing to do for first timers.

We would be riding the published southern loop, however there is also a northern loop and Kara and I planned to ride that on Friday. Unfortunately, some weather moved in and we decided to save that for another day. (See the bottom of this post as we were able to ride the North Loop the following Friday)

Ride day finally arrived and we drove down early to stash some water at a trailhead near the southern end of the loop, but a few miles beyond where we'd be camping.

On our way back to the start we had to track down something I spotted on Google maps. The Shiva Saguaro. On the map it states this cactus has 80 arms!! We had to take a look.

Whoa!! Look at that thing.

I counted 58 arms just in this photo, so maybe it does have 80. Wild.

This Saguaro-on-a-Stick was right next to it, which was funny.

We saw a truck drive by with bikes on the back, figured they were part of our group. The truck turned around and sure enough it was Christine and Jodey. They just happened to see the giant Saguaro and wanted to check it out, not knowing we were already there!! Haha.

For our ride we'd be staging at the Titan II Missile Interpretive Site. It's more of a cool historic site than anything worth driving to see. Only a couple of concrete pads remain and the interpretive signs are getting hard to read due to sun exposure. Perhaps a shade structure should be built?

Lots of cool info, but it's fading fast.

This one was tough to read.

A couple of riders were already there getting their bikes in order. One by one people arrived. We received a message saying a group of three would be running late and to not wait for them. Plus, another friend, John, would be starting in the afternoon and meet us at camp. Counting those four, our group totaled 15 riders!! A few came up from Tucson, one from Florence and everyone else from the Phoenix area.

11 of us rolling out from the start. Empty bike: Mine!

Slight uphill on wide dirt to get things going.

The route quickly settles in to a more rugged feel.

The stunning Waterman Mountains.

We re-grouped often, at most obvious junctions.

Ian cruising by an Ocotillo stand.

Rapidly riding away from the Waterman Mtns. Photo by David.

The routes namesake: Ironwood tree.

The first of three short, punchy climbs. Jake leading the way.

Can you spot the two riders approaching??

Flint keeping his distance from the spikey Buckhorn Cholla.

Cruising through the open desert. Photo by David.

We passed by a few available water tanks, but it was early in the route and not needed.

We were in the thick of mountainous terrain, yet the route was very tame. Dare I say: singlespeed friendly?? Indeed.

Kara powers up the second steep bit.

A gathering of young Saguaros.

Top of the third climb and high point of the route in the Roskruge Mountains. Great spot for a lunch break as we neared the halfway point to camp.

The route contoured the high section for a bit offering fantastic views.

We didn't see too many OHVs out there, this group was very polite, slowing down to a crawl as they passed.

Looking south, Kitt Peak's observatories can't quite been seen from here. PeakFinder app.

Can't say I've ever seen a Sagauaro in the middle of a road before, medians don't count.

Ride co-hosts, Kara and me. Photo by Kara.

Riding away from the Saguaro-in-the-road. Photo by Kara.

This had to be the most luxurious cattle guard ever. Fancy.

Shawn gliding over the rocky terrain.

Private!! No Coyotes!!

Touchdown Saguaro??

Isaac, Carolyn and Kim giving chase to the group. Photo by Kim.

Looking back north to the Waterman Mountains, you can see the Silver Bell Mine across the road from where we staged the ride.

We reached our turnoff to where we wanted to camp. I wanted to get a bit away from the main road, making our way over towards Cocoraque Butte. This area was known for having petroglyphs, so after setting up camp Kara and I went hiking to see what we could find.

Around the corner from camp, the hillside boulders revealed all kinds of petroglyphs.

It was fun trying to decipher what we were seeing.

We saw a couple other small hills across the way and made our way over to see if more petroglyphs could be found. Jake was also on the prowl, in his flip-flops no less!! Brave!!

We are camped on the righthand side of the dual mound.

Believe it or not, Tucson is right there. PeakFinder app.

Almost instantly, we began finding drawings all over the rocks.

Petroglyph hounds: Jake, Kara and myself. Photo by Kara.

Some larger boulders were covered with them.

A few were quite detailed. A desert Centipede perhaps??

We saw a few of these spirals.

One of the larger rock canvases. Photo by Kara.

Another group of rock hounds found this spooky looking tree atop the hill by camp. Photo by Flint.

A nursing Cholla for a Saguaro?? Hmmm.

My spot for the night, 0% chance of rain = cowboy camping.

It was a really nice spot for our group. Flat, soft desert and not many rocks on the ground.

I think everyone was quite pleased with their chosen camp location.

This is what it's all about. Hanging around camp, sharing stories with new friends. Photo by Kim.

Yes, the three riders who started a bit late arrived to camp only a half hour after the group. John made it in with daylight to spare!! We were now at 15 riders for the group.

I was treated to this view from my sleeping bag the next morning.

The sky was on fire!! Photo by Kara.

Kara caught me taking photos from my sleeping bag!! Haha.

The sandy path we took to camp had gathered moisture overnight. Photo by Jake.

Isaac, on a borrowed e-bike - which he never powered on BTW, leaving the camp area.

Funny photo, I was taking a selfie of the full 15 of us and somehow managed to not get myself in the photo!! Hahaha.

Day 1 had around 1200' gain over 23 miles, Day 2 would be about 26 miles and only 500' of gain. I was expecting a faster track today, and it delivered early.

Keep out on the right, go forth on the left....

Back of the pack rolling in.

This fella had quite the bark, but thankfully no bite. He followed most of us north and abruptly stopped at the property boundary. Good guard dog.

Roadside singletrack surprise.

Onto the tarmac for a mile or two. Photo by David.

Ironwood Forest Nat'l Monument boundary and the trailhead we stashed water.

While it wasn't hot out, it ended being a good thing we stashed some water. The group ended up using three gallons. Being the camel I am, I still had half of the 3L I started with. I had other stuff to drink, so it wasn't that I didn't consume anything out there.

Topping off water and snack time!! Photo by Kim.

Happy to report 6 of the 15 riders were women!! Photo by Kara.

Re-grouping near the top of a steady climb.

This. Right here. Seven riders. Seven first-time bikepackers!!

Overlapping a short section of the route here.

Jodey coming through.

There was a short climb up from the gate, we had descended it the day prior. I figured I'd give it a crack and see how far I could get. So far I had been 0-for-3 on the steep climbs. I made it about halfway up and was still able to slowly turn the cranks over and my rear wheel wasn't spinning out on the loose terrain. I rounded the one slight turn and the group began hollering encouragement as I neared the top. A few pedal strokes later, I crested the climb!! Holy moly, I actually made it. Stoked!! Cleaning a tough climb, even when it's relatively short, sure makes the ensuing downhill more fun.

Now on the final loop of the route and riding fast.

Rider Roll Call:

Ian

Isaac - First-timer and did not use the battery on the eBike. Nice work.

David

Shawn

Mike

Kim - First-timer!!

John

Carolyn - First-timer!!

Jake - First-timer!!

Me (Bikepacking since 2012)

Christine - First-timer!!

Flint - First-timer!!

Kara (Co-host)

Julee - First-timer!!

Jodey

While I was taking everyone's Roll Call photo I noticed we had picked up a couple more riders. When I asked about them, someone said they knew me from the internet!! Uh-oh. I hope they didn't ride one of my crazy routes and were cursing my name!! Turns out, the girl, Caitrin, and her friend, Courtney, had ridden the Queen's Ransom not too long ago. They are from Vermont and you never know who or when you'll bump into someone that's ridden that route. So cool.

One final powerline climb back to the main dirt road.

Kara leading the bikepacking peloton.

Shawn's diggin' it.

Jake, from State Farm, was all smiles too.

Even our new friends couldn't wipe the grin off their face.

Go Flint!!

A bunch of the prominent peaks around the Tucson area. PeakFinder app.

Back at the start, by the Silver Bell mine.

The day before, when Kara and I were driving back to the start after dropping the water, we saw a small Mexican restaurant. It was kinda out in the middle of nowhere, but we had a feeling it would be great. We pulled in to check it out and wouldn't you know, Feb. 14th - today, was their Grand Opening. We figured it would make a great post-ride lunch spot to share some stories. 

A few of us drove over there and as luck would have it, their opening day was such a huge success that they ran out of food and had to close on Sunday to go shopping!! Oh well. Maybe next time.

It's on the NE corner of Avra Valley Rd. & Anway.

We still wanted some lunch, so Google maps to the rescue. We found a highly rated taco truck not too far away perched in the parking lot of Family Dollar.

Sonoran Hotdog from El Bebo's Street Tacos and Hot Dogs

So good!! It's right off the Marana Exit on I-10. Check it out.

This was so much fun. It was a perfect route to introduce new bikepackers and the desert out this way was absolutely stunning. We rode the route in a CCW direction for both loops. We're hoping to do another Bikepacking 101 ride in the coming months up in Sedona. Stay tuned for that.

Route:

Fast forward to the following Friday. I had most of the day off and Kara was able to adjust her schedule, so we made our way back down to the Titan II Missile site to set off on the North Loop of the Ironwood Nat'l Forest. As we approached the area, the skies weren't looking too promising. Threatening clouds all around and the occasional sprinkle. Hmmm, good thing I brought my rain jacket. Kara...nope.

By the time we were ready to head out, things were looking better. It was still a little chilly, so I wore the jacket anyway. Our ride, a 36 mile, clockwise loop, would begin and end on a steady, but pleasant paved uphill.

Paved miles as we ride by the Silver Bell Mine.

Turning off pavement onto pristine red dirt. 

The pedaling was fast and the mine tailings expansive!!

The road eventually remembered it was Arizona as the embedded rocks increased, but overall it was in great condition.

Some seven miles into our ride and we're still trying to get around the mine.

Large flat chunk of asphalt on the side of the road. Perhaps a foundation for a previous structure? Or something else??

The skies and views began to open up as we made our way around the Silver Bell Mountains.

Saguaro studded landscape. Looks to be a structure out there too...

...and appears to be abandoned.

Ragged Peak poking out.

Signs of ranch life.

The fast riding continued through this magnificent Sonoran Desert.

Entering the Ironwood Nat'l Forest.

Making our way around the north side of Ragged Peak.

Near the halfway point we spotted this amazing camping area

Looks prime for another installment of Bikepacking 101 rides.

Easy vehicle access to drop water too.

The route turned back to pavement and we re-entered civilization for a bit. The nice part about the paved section: downhill coasting!! We covered ground rapidly.

Turning south, we were back on dirt, but now a good ways away from the mountains and the lush desert. Mostly Creosote out here.

Back on Avra Valley road for the uphill finish.

Had to stop by the Shiva Saguaro again, this thing is so cool and massive!!

A baby Shiva!!

And another one of these anomalies. We ended up seeing two more on our drive out, but none bigger than the original. All 5 were along Avra Valley Rd. must be something in the soil around here.

We really enjoyed the North Loop. It's a different ride experience from the South Loop, smoother overall and faster riding. Lots of options here: Ride each as a day ride, do both as a big day ride, split each into an overnight ride or combo both for a mellow 3-day bikepack.

Like last week, we finished with some food from El Bebo's Tacos. So good!!

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