Last Thursday I woke up pre-dawn for the long haul to Phoenix. We needed to make a business meeting by 11:00 AM. Luckily, the business meeting wouldn't last too long, the conference center was within eyesight of South Mountain and we had our bikes.

The ride started at the Pima Canyon trailhead. We climbed the Mormon Loop until the intersection of National.


The ledgy, chunky climbs were a fun challenge.


Everytime the National Trail is mentioned, the first question is "Did you ride the waterfall?"

The first line I scouted was riders left. My first attempt was actually a good go until I got caught up on the exit. I'll let the photo sequence describe my second attempt.








We were still climbing at this point, so after a few more unsuccesful attempts we decided to keep moving.

We climbed National to Buena Vista Lookout and then decended until the intersection of Telegraph Pass Trail and then taking the paved road back to Buena Vista Lookout. From that point it was all National Trail descent with some more playtime at the waterfall.

The second session of the waterfall I was able to nail the rider's right line first time and finally got the rider's left line right, problem is no photo evidence! (Ya, I know....).

Back at the parking lot we took in the beautiful desert sunset and got ready for hot food and cold beers.


Friday morning started with a quick 6 miles on the Desert Classic trail to shake out the cobwebs. Then the boss was off to golf, while I headed out to McDowell Regional Park to sample the race course. McDowell has a purpose built, directional race course meant for race speeds. Leisurely hikers and riders are encouraged to go elsewhere.


The race course was empty mid-day Friday, good thing because I wasn’t exactly moving at race pace. The old Cactus Cup course swooped in and out of washes and up and around saguaros. The short, technical and long loops resulted in a 14 mile ride in just over 2 hours.




An interesting change of events brought us north of Phoenix Friday night to the town of Cave Creek. We drank ice cold Coors lights, ate excellent BBQ and watched live bull riding at the Buffalo Chip, a local bar and honky tonk that draws most everyone in this small town on a Friday night.


After a quick stop Saturday morning at Flat Tire Bike Shop, we discovered our guesthouse sat along a 20 mile loop that connected Spur Cross Conservation Area, Cave Creek Regional Park and the town of Cave Creek. This loop turned out to be a pleasant surprise as we made our way into the local hills and twisted amongst the saguaros.










The Bike: XXL Turner Sultan DW-Link

Early last week both my fork and rear hub blew up on me, leaving me without a functioning bike for the trip. Luckily, I was able to make a quick call and arrange a Turner demo for the weekend. I really enjoyed my time on the Sultan. It was the first time I ever felt like I was riding within a bike, not sitting on top of one. The Sultan absolutely killed the ledgy technical climbs of South Mountain. The 29” wheels kept the flow going on the rolling desert singletrack of the Desert Classic and Cactus Cup trails. The only problems I had was on the descent of National, where I felt like I needed to managed the bike rather than let it go. Even with the wagon wheels, the front tire would catch up on some of the larger chunk. My feeling is this was largely due to the 70 degree head angle. All in all, the Sultan would kill on everything except the chunkiest descents and would be the perfect all day epic bike.

Awesome preview of what is coming for me with GP_pilot and crew in a week and a half. Man, that looks like my kind of scene. Except for the Coors Light that is... Better pack some IPA.

Very Kool TR. All cuz of one short, little meeting...

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. - H.G. Wells

I wish I have meetings like that, nicely done Matt

Nice! That was a work trip Those trails look fun.

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strava:instagram:activejunky

Thats alotta bike for a little guy like you!
Looks like a great place to ride.
By the way....Don't get hurt, I need you in April!

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www.nbbikes.com

nice!!!!


i love South Mountain!!!!!

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'the notorious North County Sancho'

awesome TR. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the ride stoke.

Waterfall is a fun & challenging section. Here's the upper enterance leading into the water fall section.



There's 4 ways to ride the waterfall. Most folks ride the rock spine or right of it



or you can ride right of it



Here's the hard line that Moondogg attempted



The most extreme line is just to the left of it, but failure here will result in a 20' dropoff the the left on to more rock below you.

GP, thanks for the clarification. I took a look at the far left line and could tell some people have ridden it, but with high consequences for failure. My two videos:

Failed attempt during the first session. It took me a couple of attempts to figure out my entrance point was screwing me up and sending me too far right.
http://www.viddler.com/explore/Moondogg/videos/1/

90% success during the second session.
http://www.viddler.com/explore/Moondogg/videos/2/

Great camera work. Thanks for sharing! Like GP_Pilot said, good preview for the group of us who'll be heading out to Phoenix in a couple of weekend.

Thanks!

B

No matter, you get massive bonus points for trying that without pads!