AES: Tortolita 50

 It wasn't until the night before the event that I decided I'd head south for the AES: Tortolita 50. It kinda snuck up on me. Then, the following morning, my lower back was feeling a bit stiff. Should I go? Stay in bed? Go? Sleep?....I debated long enough that when I finally gave in and opted to go ride, I knew I'd miss the 8:00a start. Oh well. What's another long solo ride anyway?

Down at the start there were plenty of vehicles and no riders since they all were out on course. I readied myself and by 8:30a I was off, as was another late arrival. Didn't catch his name or see him the rest of the day.

It was a cool, crisp morning and I was thankful the route began slightly uphill.

The first 10 miles or so are fast too, ripping through the Honeybee trail system.

The easy stuff ends, and a rugged jeep road goes up & over bringing you here: the base of the Ridgeline trail climb.

Wonderfully contoured climbing on Ridgeline.

Unfortunately, the Tortolita Mtns. were not spared from the 2020 wildfire season.

Thankfully, the tread was unharmed, only the landscape was charred.

Ridgeline is still one of my top trails to ride. Simply amazing.

Some green could be found and I soon exited the burn area.

Distant mountains to the west.

I failed to really study the route and after Ridgeline I didn't really know where the route went. I thought there may be a jeep road connection tucked in there somewhere, but when I made the left turn onto Wild Mustang trail, I knew the slow going was ramping into full gear. Lots of big rock waterbars, steep grade and general chunk had me walking plenty. Yet, I topped out sooner than I expected, but this trail took a mental toll on me.

There were some very rideable sections of trail too.

Still a long way to drop down to the valley floor.

The technical onslaught continued on Upper Javelina trail.

Ahhh, smooth gravel bikepath and my legs were coming around.

I briefly entertained the idea of cutting the route short, but as the riding became easier, I made the turn to continue around the backside of the Tortolitas. I really wanted to see this part of the route since it was all knew terrain to me. I heard it was tough going, but now that I was in the groove, I was mentally ready for what lie ahead.

Random desert levee?? As abruptly it started, it ended.

The route dropped off the levee and proceeded to get pinched by fencing on both sides. The track was showing straight, so I had to make a decision, which fence to hop? I chose the one to my right since there was a 2-track next to it. I began riding on the 2-track and noticed my track was now veering off to the left. Drat. Time to hop the fence again. This time I noticed the backside of some signage, it was a private property sign, so that would have been the first clue I shouldn't have hopped fence No. 1!! As I was getting set to ride on, I saw another biker coming off the levee. I assumed they were part of this event, but didn't stick around. I never did see who it was.

The route begins to feel more 'out there'.

I'm often amazed at some of the route connections Chad manages to find. Brilliant!!

I dumped out on a wide, well graded dirt road - Carpenter Ranch Rd., and began a steady cruise around the north side of the Tortolitas. A blue jeep was coming towards me and slowed, I thought that was nice of them to let me by without blasting me with dust!! Then, a head poked out of the rear driver's side window, cell phone in hand...

It was Damion!! His bottom bracket imploded and these nice people were giving him a lift back to civilization. Next time!!

Smooth sailing on Carpenter Ranch Rd.

Clear view of Picacho Peak to the north.

Then the jeep road pointed skyward and the hike-a-bike took over.

Snack break at the top of a push, watching some 4x4's navigate a steep downhill.

Looking back from the top of 4x4 hill.

Another steep, loose pitch.

Most of the hike-a-bike efforts were only a few minutes, followed by some riding. It really wasn't all that bad. Very cool terrain back there. Sometime before the 7 hour mark of my ride my GPS beeped at me for 'low battery'. Dang it. My trusty Edge705 is getting long in the tooth and the internal battery doesn't last as long any more. I didn't have my dynamo hub or bring a cache battery since I figured I wouldn't need either. I like to have gpx tracks for all my rides and hoped I could finish this one out before the unit died. The high point of the jeep road was less than two miles away, then it was a fast finish over the final 11. I guessed I had about an hour or so of riding left.

More good riding until the next walking grade.

Makes you wonder how this thing got here to begin with. No easy path.

The climbing had mellowed as the summit neared.

Interesting sign at the top.

Let the downhill begin!!

The first few miles remained on the jeep road, becoming less chunky as I descended. Before long I rejoined the fast, flowy singletrack at Honeybee.

Zoom!!

There's something cool about windmills in the desert.

Snow clinging to the upper reaches of Mt. Lemmon.

What a great finish to the route.

The singletrack ended on Edwin Rd., my GPS was still ticking. Out on AZ77 for the final mile+ I hit the 8 hour mark for the day. I felt pretty good in spite of the slow start and the GPS ended up making it the entire way. Cool.

I think part of my issue early on was not realizing Wild Mustang trail was part of the route and I wasn't fully mentally prepared for that. Next time, I'll be ready. This was a really interesting route with just the right amount of fast, slow, great views, tech, pushing and even some route sleuthing!!

Flyover via Ayvri

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