My Two Schillingsworth: Flag-dona Weekend

Armed with a three day hall pass, I pointed my car north. I'm not ready to tackle any huge bikepacking rides yet, so I opted for a suitable plan B: two days riding around Flagstaff and one day in Sedona on my way home. Sounds like a winner to me.

Ray was kind enough to let me crash at his place up north, so before I stopped by I made my way over to Mountainaire / Kachina Village for a quick loop through Kelly Pocket.

This hidden gem of a trail is virtually isolated from any trail system, but it can stand on its own. It's only about 4 miles long, but seems to ride longer. A nice lollipop route can be made from Raymond County Park utilizing the adjacent forest roads for a sweet 9 mile spin.

Directly across the street from the Shell station off of I-17.

The first 1/4 mile starts off chunky & rutted, but quickly turns to this.

Optional log roll.

It has a singletrack skills clinic feel to it.

Natural balance beam & more rollers.

Short steep HAB to keep things honest.

Junction with Fry Canyon.

On the forest road return.

Back at Ray's we cracked open some brews and discussed our route for Saturday. We settled on doing the Flagstaff Loop Trail (FLT) from Ft. Tuthill in a CCW direction. Both of us had ridden significant sections of the FLT, but we wanted to tie it all together and check out some new additions as well. Plus, the following weekend's AES event was also being held in Flagstaff and we had the chance to scope out an iffy section of the course due to road construction.

We were rolling fairly early, but first we had to do a lap or two through the new Ft. Tuthill bike park!

A Bell Helmets grant from an online contest got this project going late last year.

Look closely, that front wheel is going airborne!!

We satiated our gnar craving (didn't take long) and made our way out of Tuthill onto the FLT. Our route ran near the airport and was new to both of us, it was a nice mix of trail & forest road before finally giving way to some primo singletrack. The kind that has just enough rock hits to keep it entertaining, but not enough to wish they wouldn't be there. Ahh, mountain biking.

A beautiful morning to be out on the trails.

Ray squared.

We were whooping it up pretty good by the time we crossed the AZT. Such a fun trail and it was about to get faster. The FLT from the AZT to Campbell Mesa is 'pedal to the metal' kind of singletrack, buffed out and fast!! We zipped through here and Campbell Mesa, crossed under I-40 and rejoined the AZT heading north.

The pavement portion was short lived, crossing over the railroad tracks, then darting off into the forest once more.

The lowest I've ever seen the growth in this meadow, the benefit of an early season spin.

This guy can't be stopped!!

We paused for a bit on our slog up through the volcanic ash, let some equestrians through along with another group of riders. This section has some really nice spots, but the cinders can suck some of the life out of your legs. We were both ready to exit the AZT when the loop trail veered left onto the Christmas Tree trail after the US89 underpass.

A short HAB up Fat Man's Pass led us onto Forces of Nature. What a fun section of trail. I winds in/out of giant boulders with short ups/downs thrown in. It commands your attention, but is highly addictive fun!

Forces of Nature.

We stayed on FoN in lieu of Pipeline, more bouldery techiness ensued. This time the trail kicked up a bit more and had some HAB sections.

We were about 3/4 the way around the FLT and decided to cut a few corners to speed things up & give my wrist a bit of a rest. A short jaunt onto Pipeline led us to a spur trail down by the Elden gravesite. From there it was the Easy Oldham trail out to the Elden Lookout road.

Never knew about this.

Ray blasting off down the trail.

We were curious to know the condition of the Elden Lookout road as it was under construction for annual maintenance. Reports had indicated it would be open on weekends, but as we rode down towards the barricades we had an inkling this wasn't the case. Closed indeed, complete with a 'No Bikes' sign. This meant Ray would have to alter the AES race route scheduled for the following weekend.

We quickly re-joined the FLT near Observatory Mesa and were pleasantly surprised by the sweet singletrack here. A well graded climb to attain the mesa, superb trail up on top, then a screaming downhill back towards town had us grinning.

Rip it!!

I could climb for days on trail like this.

We opted for the fastest way back to the truck to meet our lunch date, skipping a few miles of FLT leading back into Ft. Tuthill. It was a great loop, a hearty test for my wrist and good to be pushed a bit faster than I normally ride. I think Ray enjoyed the more relaxed pace for a change, can't hammer all the time!!

Historic Brewing Co. was our next destination before calling it a day on the cool deck in the pines. Thanks for the great hospitality Ray, but I still had one more ride to do on my way home.

Sedona was calling.

My goal was to ride a route with more flow & less chunk. I found a route in an old mtbr forum that sounded promising, so I loaded it up and gave it a whirl.

I parked off of Vultee Arch rd and as I was preparing to leave the parking lot a hiker warned me about the warm temps and made sure I had enough water. I told him I was from Phoenix and he simply said 'have a good ride!' I thought it felt quite nice out. I then immediately jumped onto Chuckwagon for a CCW loop.

It's really tough to take a bad picture in Sedona.

Exiting Chuckwagon at Long Canyon rd.

What is it about riding new trails? Not necessarily newly constructed ones, just new to your tires. The unknown, the thrill of seeing a new slice of Earth, it's just awesome. I had a few 'new' trails to check out on this day and Canyon of Fools was one of them.

CoF is one of those trails that needs a couple of test runs. It's primarily a downhill trail through a tight twisty canyon often only marginally wider than your pedal girth. It has high banked turns, jumps and some chunky tech descents thrown in. In short, a blast!!

Next time I'll hit upper Canyon of Fools.

Let the fun begin!

Be alert for other trail users as there are many blind turns!!

Rather cozy in some spots.

Next up was a CCW loop on Anaconda & Snake trails. This was an interested loop as it really didn't have much, if any, red rock. It was mostly a well graded climb to the top of Garnet Hill then a bomb down the other side. I think I chose the better direction too as the descent seemed a bit more loose than the climb up.

Well signed and maps!

Top of Garnet Hill.

My final loop was a more familiar one, a CW loop connecting Dawa, Cockscomb, Aerie, Mescal and Chuckwagon back to the car. What a fun few miles of rippin' trail!! It was also nice to not worry about high volumes of trail traffic since it was too hot for most tourists to be out on the trails. The entire ride ended up being exactly what I was looking for and I finished early enough to be back in PHX before sunset. Perfect ending to a fantastic weekend of riding.