The riders: Randy Sheppeard, Jennifer Otterson, Leo Ferrando, Lulu Henry and Carrie Barlau
The maps: Cosmic Ray's Fat Tire guide to AZ and Emmit Barks Flagstaff Trails Map (a must have!! This is a great map!)
Ride #1: Dry Lake Hills (and then some)
Date: 8/30/03
Mileage: 27.2
Elevation gain: 3130
It started out as a 9.3 mile loop, really. "A short loop," I say, to get used to the higher elevation. "We can always ride again in the afternoon. But just in case, everyone pack a PB&J and some snacks." It's a gorgeous day. We ride from the house to the trailhead and start the easy ascent up the Lower and Upper Oldham trails (DL1), then head up Brookbank (DL2), one of the technical challenges (DL3) of the day. We reach the top of Brookbank and stop for a snack. How's everyone feeling, I ask? Good? Great! Because if we just take this other trail up a bit further instead, we can hit this really cool trail that follows the contours and then there's a great downhill, it's only a couple extra miles. So we head up Upper Brookbank, another technical challenge, then reach Little Bear, where we decide to have a lunch break before we head down. An absolutely spectacular view. (DL4) There were so many great photo ops on this trail (DL5) that it was tough to enjoy the view and speed along the great single track at the same time. Little Bear dropped us onto Little Elden Trail which was a nice gradual uphill that brought us to the bonus track of the day: Schultz Creek Trail. (DL6). Man, what a ride! 4 miles of roller coaster bliss. Everyone was out of snacks and nearly out of water, and definitely starting to get cranky, but that trail put a grin on everyone's face. But we weren't done yet. We took the Rocky Ridge trail (DL7) instead of the road back, because, well, we were there to ride. It eventually hooked back into the Lower Oldham trail where we started out, then a quick road bit back to the house where we lazed about, completely devoid of all energy. Definitely an epic ride.
Ride #2: Arizona Trail C
Date: 8/31/03
Mileage: 12+/-
Elevation gain: 630+/-
Another beautiful day. We decide to do a shuttle for this ride, in case we don't feel like riding the trail backwards. For some reason the rides seem to end up being longer than originally estimated. We park in a neighborhood and bike a couple miles up the fire road leading to the trailhead. A gorgeous view of the western end of Walnut Canyon (AZ1). And then we hit the trail. And what a trail it was! Miles of extremely fun roller coaster singletrack, with beautiful views of the canyon.(AZ2). There was a nice little steep section towards the east end (AZ3), then a gnarly switchback section back up. The last bit of trail took us through a field of flowers (AZ4) that was picture perfect, where Randy managed to get the only flat of the weekend, at which time he accidentally reset the trip computer when he flipped his bike upside down to change the tire. So we're not exactly sure how far or how much we climbed. But it sure was a great ride!
Ride #3: `Round the Mountain II
Date: 8/31/03
Mileage: 23
Elevation gain: 1700
Sometimes one ride a day just isn't enough when you're in beautiful singletrack territory. So after lunch, Randy, Leo and myself decide to head out again. We choose a system of trails that will take us around the base of the mountain, which hooks up with the Schultz Creek Trail. Riding it once just wasn't enough. We head from the house and take the Oldham Trail for a bit then hang a right turn that dumps us onto the Pipeline Trail heading east around the mountain. It's a fast, gently rolling fire road. Pipeline turned into the Forces of Nature Trail which was a bitch (RM1). I would probably avoid this trail in the future. But if you want to go `round the mountain there's no avoiding it. We keep going `round and hook up with the Little Elden Trail (RM2, RM3), which gradually took us back up to Schultz Creek once again. Woohoo! What a ride. I start having thoughts of moving to Flagstaff, just to be able to ride this trail on a regular basis.
Ride #4: Sunset Trail
Date: 9/1/03
Mileage: 10.3
Elevation gain: 870
Randy and I are the only ones interested in a ride before leaving Flagstaff ( I had to get one last Schultz Creek fix), so we drive up to the Sunset Trailhead for a short loop. I suggest to Randy that we leave my vehicle at the end of Schultz Creek, so we can shuttle and both ride the trail one more time. Randy says, nah, I've ridden it twice already. I raise my eyebrow, knowing he'll be sorry. It's another friggin gorgeous day and we make our way up the Sunset Trail. Not a bad trail for going up. We're on a bit of a time crunch, so at the top of Sunset we head back down Upper Brookbank (SB1). Definitely more fun going down this trail than up. We cruise through a nice meadow (SB2) then down Little Gnarly Trail (although I didn't notice anything particularly gnarly about it), at which point Randy starts whining about wanting to ride Schultz Creek again. TOO BAD he has to get his truck and meet me at the bottom of Schultz Creek instead. Just goes to show you that males cannot think for themselves and should listen to the advice of a female more often than naught. So I head out once again down Schultz Creek (SB3), even faster than the last two times. Weeeeeeeeeeeeee! I really dig this trail. I finish with a silly grin on my face just as Randy pulls up in his truck. I'm sure my ride down the mountain was more satisfying than his.