Bulldog Canyon - Mesa, AZ

Today was the shakedown ride for Chollaball's new bike, the Kona Hei Hei 29r. We all (Chollaball, Chongoman, NoelG, Juan, Durtgurl, and Gary from Ohio) met up at the Bulldog Canyon trailhead off of Bush Highway about 9:00. Before we hit the trail we had a few little glitches to deal, like a missing front wheel, broken spoke, and I broke my temporary crown when I was chewing on a old Cliff Block. Other than a flat five minutes into the ride, there were no other mechanicals.

The trail is actually a jeep road that makes up part of the Great Western Trail, and it goes south from the Salt River off of the Bush Highway to a radio tower overlooking Apache Junction. Although it wasn't single track, it was way fun and way challenging. It has a little of everything, challenging climbs, sections with high speed descents, rocky sections, all surrounded by beautiful views. I gotta say the climbs were a challenge, because while putting a strong focus on the rocks immediately in front of my tire I was left with little time to glance up trail. When I did look up, I was treated with another hundred yards of rock garden to pick my way through; leaving me in the straits of anaerobic breathing. The descents were similar, except the trail came at me really fast, and I had better pick the right line down the rock garden. While rolling down the baby heads and volley ball sized rocks, turning is not allowed. I don't make the rules here, its just a limitation of the bike. The pollen in the air didn't help my contacts either, as I struggled to blink at the only the most opportune time.

I had my eyes peeled for a gila monster, but we saw none. I did catch a rattlesnake slinking towards me during a vid shot.

Thanks Chollaball, for the tour of Bulldog Canyon.

Here's a vid of the day:

Click to play

A high res Quicktime version can be found here: Bulldog Canyon