My Two Schillingsworth: AES: Sedona BFL->SFL

March 28, 2026

AES: Sedona BFL->SFL

The Arizona Endurance Series, AES, calendar has been on a roll lately, week after week!! That's not typically how we do it, but we had to move some things around this year and this was the result: Lots of back-to-back riding.

This week's ride was the resurrection of the Sedona BFL (Big Friggin' Loop). We hadn't had a group start for it since 2019, but decided it was way overdue. I guess others were craving it as well, 44 riders came out for it and it's not an easy route. Sedona miles hit different, short ups & downs, tech, not a bunch of flat stuff here, you're always working.

This year the route had some changes, most notably the start & finish. We would stage on the west side of town near the cultural center. There's a large trailhead, so parking wasn't an issue. I managed to oversleep a bit and missed the 7:30a rollout, arriving at 7:40a. I got my things together and started on route at 8:00a sharp. I doubted I'd catch anyone with that kind of head start, but I often ride these things solo anyway.

Paved start?? Just a short connector from the trailhead until you could shred the red.

The climb up from Dry Creek on Outer Limits was pushing my limits, so I pushed my bike. A lot.

Over the steep stuff and more flowy here.

Fun, techy climbing section along Aerie trail. Only a few quick dabs.

Light smoky haze from a prescribed burn near Flagstaff. Made for cool images and I'm glad I couldn't smell any smoke.

Ima headed that way.

I crossed over Boyton Pass Rd. and through the hiker centric trailhead. I was beginning Deadmans Pass when I passed a small group of riders and one called out my name. Schilling!! I locked up the brakes to find a buddy I knew through a mutual friend. We had ridden together many years ago and he, along with the other guys were doing the AES ride. They also started late, so it wasn't too surprising to catch them. I slowly began to pull away from them as I made my way up to Mescal trail. I almost cleaned that climb, one of these days I'll get it on the singlespeed.

Mescal trail offers some classic Sedona views. It's a really fun trail too.

Making my way towards Chuckwagon.

I was curious how Chuckwagon would go. Last year I rode it the opposite direction and enjoyed it. I thought this direction, my usual, may seem more difficult. In the end, I really didn't think so, about equal I suppose. Both directions have some work, it's Sedona afterall.

Short forest section..and smooth!!

Somewhere around here I bumped into another rider I knew from the group start, Ryan. Then, a few miles later, I saw Karey and Patrick taking a break on the side of the trail. They mentioned taking a short detour to Famous Pizza. It was almost 11a and I hadn't really eaten anything yet. Pizza sounded great and it's not far off route. In fact, I usually stop there during this loop.

I didn't recall having a multi-use pathway next to Dry Creek Rd. but it was nice to have.

We arrived in the midst of a No Kings protest.

Ice Cube has been hanging around Famous Pizza for decades!! Glad to see he's still chillin'.

Me, Karey & Patrick getting our grub on.

It's generally uphill from Famous Pizza back to the route, then continues up for a bit to Thunder Mtn. trail. Man, my legs were feeling heavy. I hoped they'd come around soon, maybe some undulating trail along Andante would help.

I caught back up to Ryan when he got all turned around at the top of the Teacup descent.

Teacup winds down and below Coffee Pot rock, pictured ahead.

A few fun, some tricky, rock obstacles along the way.

Overlooking some fancy homes.

A short jeep road connector brought us past Devil's Kitchen.

My legs still weren't coming around, sluggish. I guess those two pizza slices went straight to my legs.

Patrick caught up to me and informed me Karey wasn't feeling it and went back to the car. I told him of my woes and that I was considering it too. We were barely halfway through the loop and I didn't want to just survive the ride today. I wanted to have fun, like I did before lunch. I kept waffling on the idea, but didn't need to make a decision until I reached 89A.

The haze slowly lifting.

Patrick pulled away from me, so strong. I was cruising along down Javelina trail, when I got sucked into the soft right shoulder of the trail. My old tires weren't grabbing and I could feel the bike sliding away from me. I began to slow down as an ejection was lurking...so was a mid-sized tree!! I finally set the bike down and did a slo-mo tuck & roll. I did smack my elbow kinda hard, but other wise, all good.

Scene of the crime.

I could feel my elbow tighten up almost immediately and took that as a sign to bail out. I was not even a half mile from 89A at this point. I was somewhere around 28 miles and 2800' for the day. I was hoping I could finish over 30 & 3000' by the end.

There was a nice road climb to start and the car was farther away than I thought. 30 & 3000' complete.

When I arrived back to the staging area the four fastest guys were already done. Damn. The winner rolled in about 10 till 1:00p. That's flyin'.

I wasn't too bummed about bailing, it was still a great day out there. While it wasn't a BFL, a SFL will do. That's Short Friggin' Loop. It was fun doing it on the singlespeed too. I can finally tell my fitness is getting better. I just have to keep the rubber side down.

I hung out for a while watching a bunch of folks finish and noted their time on the AES official scorecard: Pizza box.