House of Ruin: South Mountain

I got my bike back, but all is not well. Life is good again, but today's ride I could've done with out showing up to the trail with a flat tire and dropping a paper thin Performance Bike's special tube I knew was going to bring me trouble. That and my derailleur needs to be replaced. On top of all that, I need some new tires. Enough about things that should be done; my Lefty (fork) is feeling good again. Woot Woot!

I met up with MTBR's Kortface and BritMtnBiker at Warpaint at 8:00 for pedal up to the helipad, out to the end up Desert Classic, and then on to new trail to myself to homestead of where just the fireplaces and foundation remain.

Although I've been getting my commuting miles in, it had been four weeks since my last ride on the trails. I really was looking forward to mountain biking again, but legs need a little getting used to differing levels of exertion.

I've been up to the helipad a bazillion times, but I've only ridden the approach most people take a handful of times. I usually ride up the Goat Trail, but today we road up the Helipad trail, and down the Goat Trail. These stretchs aren't ferociously long, but you do end up gaining about 400 vf. The ride down the Goat Trail was a hoot. I thought it was gonna be sloppy, but actually the drops really let you flow down this thing.

Next our destination was to get to the end of Desert Classic and leave the park at the Desert Foothills Lot. We took right and on Desert Foothills Parkway and continued on for about 3/4 of a mile. Kortface lead us into a wash that connected us with a trail that took us out the the ruins of a home from long ago. Actually this trail prolly doesn't get much traffic, but it kinda reminds me Trail 100. Actually it was pretty fun.

My derailleur had been clicking the whole ride, so just before we left the house I decide to see if I could remedy this. This is when I noticed my tire was flat. Boo Hiss! This is the first punctured tire on the trail in about 2 years. Thin tubes suck, are are worthless in the desert. I threw a patch on and we rolled on back home.

Here's a vid of the Day:

Click To Play

A high res Quicktime version can be found here: House of Ruin 11/23/08

Boyce Thompson Arboretum 11/11/08 - Superior, AZ

Not much to post lately, with my mountain bike still waiting on parts and other stuff happening. But I did take my mother-in-law and her friend out to the Boyce Thomposn Arboretum on Veteran's Day, for a little stroll around the grounds. Things are alive, but obviously not blooming.

Here's a vid of the day:

Click To Play

A high res quicktime version can be found here: Boyce Thompson Arboretum 11/11/08