Guy's Singletrack CAMP

We kicked in the New Year "Guy" style!  Taylor and Sadie went to SLC to spend time with their siblings so Guy and I headed south where the weather would surely be more pleasant for a biking adventure!

Day One:  We drove to Black Canyon City which is 50 north of Phoenix in hopes of some 65+ temperatures.  We got there at 4:30pm and squoze (is that a word?) in a quick 6 mile ride before dark.  It felt good to get out and move with the wind in my face after being stuck in the car all day long.  We set up camp at the Table Mesa trail head in the dark, cooked up our yummy Mountain House dinner of Chili Mac with Beef, mmmmm, enjoyed a warm fire and went to bed early.

I have been so busy with Christmas festivities and such that I haven't been on my bike much in the last month.  Guy was going to make sure that nothing would stand in my way this week!

Day Two:  We were focused on getting a good, LONG ride in, that's all.  We awoke to a cool overcast sky, a chilly breeze and 50-55 degrees.  Normally 55 is a great temperature to ride in.  I like it better if the sun is out, but I was set on enjoying the week in warm sunny weather.  That meant no arm, ear or leg warmers.  Not the case.  I fumbled around for a couple of hours waiting for the sun to shine.  Finally I put all my cold weather gear on and headed out for an epic day. Epic may be much different in your eyes than in mine.  To me, epic is 25 + miles of steep technical climbing.  To Guy, epic is three or four times that.  It's all relative, keep that in mind:)  I took my geared 29er that I have never ridden on this trail and clocked in 24 miles in 5hours  I say this because I rode my singlespeed the rest of the trip.  I rode from Table Mesa to Rock Spring.  That is actually some slow riding but this trail is some tough terrain.  I will show pics from day 4 & 5.  Guy, of course, went twice as far in the same time!  He went from Table Mesa past Rock Spring to Bumble Bee and back.  He's an animal.

Day Three:  We woke up this morning to a very chilly WIND.  At this point I made a mental note to self "WHY IN THE WORLD DIDN'T WE BRING OUR LUXURIOUS TRAILER?"  We thought tenting it would be easier because it is a very long drive with the trailer.  We will definitely rethink that next time.  I was not very motivated to get out of my tent to ride in the wind.  As a matter of fact, we cooked breakfast in the tent, read in the tent, then made lunch in the tent before we couldn't stand being in the tent any longer.  I was getting claustrophobic but it was so cold outside.  We drove to the Rock Spring trail head and rode North to Bumble Bee.  We got a late start that day so I only went half way and back, about 11 miles.  Guy, of course, doubled me!

Each night we make a trip to the local KOA to take a hot shower (again, the trailer would have been very nice) after our ride.  Sometimes we would drive south to eat and most of the time we would eat a hot Mountain House meal around the campfire.

This night was New Year's Eve.  We are such party animals!  We sat around the campfire and watched the early (8p) fireworks show that was illuminating the sky from town.  By 9:30pm we were in our tent ready for bed.  This area that we are camped at is very popular to the locals for jeeping and as a shooting range.  Most nights there are fully automatic weapons and canons being fired off  (hopefully into the side of a hill).  It sounds like a battlefield all day and all night.  We are always prepared with earplugs.   There were several large groups camped close to us.  Most of them were jeepers.  At 11pm I was jolted from my sleep by an extremely loud engine that sounded like it was parked outside my tent.  The music that was blaring from the vehicle was enough to frighten a hardened criminal.  The picture in my mind was an old scary beater car with a drunken lunatic revving it's engine at my tent, contemplating at which angle he was going to demolish us (something like the scene on a dirt road in Raising Arizona).   The only thought going through my mind was whether or not I would survive the night.  Guy slept through the whole thing.  I was terrified.  I kept thinking I should just take a sleeping pill and this would all go away.  But I also thought I would eventually fall asleep.  Every time I fell asleep I would have the reoccurring nightmare that someone was chasing after me with a knife or a gun.  I got very little sleep and needless to say, the next night I took an ambien.

Day Four:  Guy dropped me off at the Bumble Bee trail head and I rode from there to Rock Springs.  He parked at Rock Spring and rode to Bumble Bee and back.  We like to do this so that if one of us has a problem (usually me) on the trail, he is usually bring up the rear and can come to my rescue.  This part of the trail is the newest portion and is the furthest north section.  It is 13 miles one way.  It is very raw and still needs a lot of work.  By 2011 there will be 39 more single track miles added north of it.  This is an awesome trail system with a lot of hard work behind it.  Oh, the weather was beautiful today, 65 with sun! Yippee...

The singletrack is tight with a lot of prickly vegetation close by.  This is one reason it is not a fast trail.  The consequence for a mistake would be very painful via cactus or sharp rock.
This section below is gnarly.  It is not actually singletrack.  It SUCKS!  I look forward to the day that they convert this two miles to some great, tight singletrack.  But for now, I won't complain.  I can tolerate a few miles of jeep road here and there.

This area is still under construction.  These steep switchbacks cut into the mountain are insane.  I never really realized how much work it is to build this trail until I came to this spot.  
There is a lot of rock moving, shoring up, and filling in to make it all happen.  I am a very grateful bike rider.

More singletrack, woohoo!

More rock bridges!

 
So, any of you bikers out there notice something wrong with this photo?  Ya, I had to do some mechanical work on the trail and ride out with no rear brake!  I had about 6 miles left to the trail head and I could feel and hear something wrong with my bike.  After looking at it three separate times I finally figured out what the problem was.  I only had one screw, out of six, holding my brake rotor on.  That only screw was on its way out too!  I thought at first that it was my spokes or my hub.  After I diagnosed the problem I called Guy (who was an hour behind me on the trail) to let him know what my predicament was.  You never want to walk your bike back unless absolutely necessary.  He gave me my options and instructed me how to proceed.  I took the rotor off and rode out without the rear brake.  I guess that's better than walking or riding without a front brake!  I only lost control once.  I am grateful for a great mechanic who is always available to me!  BTW, I guess I only had three screws to start with due to saving weight.  I now have all six!
Day Five:  Guy and I have never ridden below Table Mesa to New River.  So, today was the day.  I was quite worn out already so I didn't know how far I could go.  The first part of the trail is very rough and steep. I was mentally worn out and I didn't know how much further it was to the next trail head.  
By about the tipped over outhouse the trail gets better so I continued on.  Guy rode out and back then drove to New River to pick me up.  I rode to the end of the trail.  While I was waiting for him I rode back half way and then back again.  It was about a 22 mile day.  The bottom of the trail is fun and I got my second wind after I was more familiar with the trail.

And that was "GUY'S SINGLETRACK CAMP"  It was a great way to start the New Year.  It seems to be a new tradition for us as this is the second year we have been there over New Year's.  We intend to return again soon in the next few weeks.  So now I can honestly say I have ridden almost all of the trail.  We still haven't ridden the southern end from New River to the Carefree Highway.  I think it is just straight and flat, but I'm sure we will soon find out.  There are already some more improvements to the trail since we have been there.  They are busy little trail beavers over there.  Your recovery dollars at work, thank you very much!

work hard, play hard, rider harder.