Hawesaholics: Bike Pub Crawl

I had seen the event posted in the Hawesaholics FB group, a bike pub crawl. What's not to like there? I wasn't sure the Mrs. would give me another hall pass, but I thought she may be interested. She enjoys a good brew. I threw out the idea and was a bit surprised when she agreed almost instantly!! Bikes & beers!! It was also a perfect opportunity to have a Team Voodoo reunion!!

We made our way over to the starting location, Two Wheel Jones bike shop, where the owner, Travis, was generous enough to not only provide a starting location, but he had a couple coolers of beer, and offered up some prizes to whoever could turn the most watts on the Zwift trainer set up in shop.

Quite the turnout for a first-time event, maybe it was the beer?

Christmas themed jello shots!!

 Travis decided to put a wattage powerhouse on first to see if anyone else could match the him. I don't know who it was, but he effortlessly seemed to crank out 1500+W!! I had never done such metrics, so I was a bit curious to see what I could do. I few other friends went, 900W, 715W, etc.

My turn...433 wasn't my max!! It was a 10 second mash, I topped out a bit over 800W. Not bad, I guess. Photo by Shawn.

The crawling portion begins!!

We easily filled the patio at Red Mountain Bar & Grill.

Our next stop was going to be Lucky Lou's, but it was an NFL Sunday and they were packed. Plan B.

Roadies!!

The Monastery was our next stop. I had heard about this place forever, but had never been.

It was great having K meet finally meet Deanna & Walt. Deanna's son is the cool cat in photobomb pose.

We continued to crawl, making our way to Desert Eagle Brewing at Falcon Field. Yet another place I hadn't been.

Team Voodoo!!

Golden hour takes hold on the McDowell Mtns.

We didn't have lights and K's knee was beginning to give her fits, so we skipped the final stop.

It was such a fun gathering, meeting new people, places and getting K out on the bike!! A shout out to Bridgit for suggesting the idea. I'm sure it'll become a more regular happening. K hasn't been on the bike in a long time, so it was really great to get her out there. She ended up riding over 9 miles, way to go!!

Looking forward to the next one...

Thanks Hawesaholics!!!

BCT: Voodoo ReSSurrection

My buddy, Eric, posted up about a Black Canyon Trail, BCT, shuttle ride on Friday. I couldn't turn it down. This time we'd start a few miles farther north than my northern turnaround point a few weeks ago. We'd be riding from the Big Bug trailhead off SR69 down to Bumble Bee.

The big difference, aside from skipping the road climb north? My bike. I was beyond overdue to dust off the Voodoo. I hadn't ridden it since Jan. '17 I think. It sat in my garage collecting dust and forming Stanimals. When I destroyed my rear wheel during the Estrella Xmas ride, I just had to get the Voodoo up and running again. It's now a dedicated singlespeed, SS, rig. I swapped out the stem and put on wider bars. It felt perfect!! I was excited to take my 'ol riding bud for a spin.

The Voodoo back in its natural habitat.

I met up with the group, Eric, Mike, Tom & Matt in Bumble Bee and we made our way north. It was a chilly morning, hovering in the upper 30's, but the sun was shining and there were a few hills early to warm things up.

I was a bit surprised I was almost able to clear the first sustained climb of the ride, made it through all the chunky bits, but the last switchback sucked all my momentum. So close to the top!!

Mike & Matt cresting that climb.

Tom joins the fun.

Now the really fun section begins: Antelope Creek.

Can you find all 3 riders??

Shortly after this pic, Matt clipped a trailside boulder with his handlebars and took a tumble off the trail. Lucky for him he missed landing on any Prickly Pear cactus or other boulders. His knee took a good whack and after a few minutes we were back on our way.

Dropping into the Antelope Creek drainage.

Miles & miles of downhill contoured trail.

Ribbon of dirt weaves through the desert.

Nice perch to watch the fellas roll by.

Matt cruising, stiff knee and all, through the Treasure Mine segment.

Mike navigates a tricky turn into a chunky wash crossing.

Singletrack silhouette. 

Tom lines it up.

Matt's turn at the chunk.

Obligatory Bumble Bee Creek shot.

The crew.

 I wasn't exactly looking forward to the upcoming jeep road climb. It's not steep, but makes you work as you bump along over the rugged terrain. I was curious to see if I could clean it on the SS. Not quite, one small dismount, but otherwise a solid effort.

Matt topping out on the mile long jeep road climb.

Eric & Tom reach paydirt.

 We took a short break at the top of the climb and noticed it began to flurry. WTH? It wasn't that cold, but it was cool to see the flakes flyin'.

Mike rides into the big views of the Bradshaw Mtns.

This is another favorite section of mine. The trail curves around a bevy of hillsides, slightly up, then slightly down through boulders & Saguaros.

Eric among the giants.

We ran into these two bikepackers from Santa Cruz at the Bumble Bee trailhead. They were taking three days to ride the trail.

End of the line for the day on a most successful Voodoo ReSSurrection!! I really love this bike, it just fits.

Snow squalls on the drive home.

Thanks for putting this together, Eric. Super fun day on a rad trail. I think it's time to SS moar...

Full photo album

Route:

Vail: Empirita Lite Loop

Team Loco was itching for a board meeting ride, it had been a while. I had yet to do a local ride with Shannon & Beto since they moved into their house. It was about time!! Beto had a route in mind, but the only question was if this ride would be a local #loco ride? I wasn't sure what to expect, just lead the way.

We gradually ascended into the hills south of their home in Vail. That's Vail, AZ, not CO!!

It was amazing how quickly we left suburbia behind.

The dirt roads were in great shape too. Photo by Shannon.

We linked up with this trail...I forget the name, but I've been on it before.

Practicing my 'no passing' form. Photo by Shannon.

Christmas Eve and short sleeves in the desert!!

We hopped over SR83 heading for the pass in the mountains ahead.

I think the street signs are trying to tell me something...

The happy climbing couple.

Odd to see this bit of road paved, but it sure helped attain the summit.

Closing in on the top. Photo by Beto.

Looking south towards the Huachuca Mtns. Mexico is on the other side.

A long gradual downhill led us through the foothills. It was mostly fast, but there were a few chunky bits.

So far, we had the entire route to ourselves.

The downhill kept going...and going...

The 3 Amigos with a stellar view of the sky islands that surround Tucson. It was interesting to come at these mountains from a different angle, everything looked a bit different, yet the same. I love exploring new routes!!

Anyone Jonesin' for a bike ride now??

Rut-roh, powerline riding!! Clearly, this is where the ride gets #loco.

Or not. Sure was a nice piece of singletrack. I wonder if it's the same trail from earlier in the ride?? We were on a time schedule so we stayed straight, making a beeline for home.

A sea of Prickly Pear cactus.

Even Bumble was in disbelief that our Loco Board Meeting wasn't #loco at all.

Well done, Beto!! I thoroughly enjoyed that route, just enough climbing to make you work and a ton of downhill as the payoff. It closely resembles the north section of the bigger Empirita Loop. By the looks of it, there are countless ways to ride the surrounding mountains. Let's do it again soon.

Flyover

Route: