Although a bit removed from Phoenix proper, the White Tank Mountains offered a great campsite setting for the weekend.



White Tanks Regional Park even contains a competitive MTB track, one of 4 in Phoenix. Yet the culmination of the entire weekend was preparing for the legendary Goat Camp sufferfest. But getting to the illicit chunky payoff requires nearly 10 miles of climbing. So after stuffing down breakfast burritos, we’re on the trail.



Climbing up Mesquite Canyon, we’re given a scare from trail sanitization work since last year’s trip.



But our worries are short lived this year.



And the climbing begins.



Just one of 6 climbs for the day, Elfin & SJT have nothing on this route.







Willow Canyon splits off from Mesquite for climb #2



There’s some good tread that here that allows you to open the throttle up for some swoopy fun





After intersecting Ford Canyon, Climb #3 is all about pacing yourself



Yep, this is what the weekend is about



But first order of business: more climbing



Evdog glad to finish another climb



The climbing legs get a brief respite before yet more climbing below the towers







It seemingly never ends



But it finally does



Which signals the donning of battle armor



Because you’re heading down this in short order



The first battle is completing this section. If large chunks of rock moving about under your tires with no clear line doesn’t bother you, then you’re ok to proceed



Robo dumbfounded on how to ride this section



Once through, it’s just a matter of riding normal chunk with massive forearm pump until you hit the infamous Spiral Staircase.



Here the real trail terror begins for most, while others laugh Death’s in face. Robo gives it a shot.





Evdog is determined to conquer it this time



But making the last part is even harder than drop in from the top



Gman is the only one making it top to bottom without stopping, but is seemingly tossed about like ragdoll in a tornado.

Then it’s on to Jack Hammer



Pure unrelenting chunk





Evdog changes this 3rd tube for the weekend and give the rest of us a break



Then it’s back to more





All the way to the end



The battle is over. As the adrenaline subsides, sensory overload leaves a shaking corpse and a mentally blown brain. All that is left is a 3 mi spin back to collect your mind.



A perfect sky blue Arizona day and not a single other biker seen. At a paltry 16 miles Goat Camp could hardly be considered a serious epic ride, except for the fact it takes nearly 6 hours to complete and the 2 miles of unadulterated, terrorizing chuck. The perfect all mountain epic in my book.

Nice. I can't wait until my chance at these lines. This is my kinda stuff...

Unreal, you guys rule

Legs and hands were sore on the third day.




About 12 miles of contant climbing and we lost it all in 3 miles.




Gman, the descending hero of the day.




Pad up, head down.




And the bottom pretty much falls out from under you.




GP took about 3 or 4 rolls up to the start of the Spiral Staircase before dropping it.




And kept up the pace.




Until he saw the wreckage of rocks awaiting at the bottom, apparently worse than a year or two ago. In a moment of lunacy and frustration, Sean begins building up a route where there appeared to be none. I believe some people call that "sanitizing."



I would attempt this bottom part by launching over the rough stuff, but my rear wheel got caught on a lip, sending me OTB. Thankfully, my cold wasn't as bad today and my ninja moves were back - I rolled a somersault out and popped up on my feet unscathed.


The hills have eyes - adding to the audience at the Spiral Staircase.




Then on to the jackhammer section of Goat Camp. Gman drops.




...and rolls on down the line.




Sean hits the same section. Don't ask what he's ranting about, the guy is high on chunk.

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Yeah, trying to have a conversation with Sean the last couple weeks reminds me of this commercial - only one thing on his mind:

Noooo! (insert pic of guy slapping forehead - I'm too lazy to go find one)


Isn't that what all the hype about Goat Camp is all about, the chunkiness factor???

found a video of Gman's 'victory' run down the spiral staircase:

^^^^^ Wow, loved that bump-n-go at 0:12!

broke my wrist on this trail.

_________________
A mountain biker who doesn't ride road has no legs
A road biker who doesn't ride mountain has no soul

Some of my day 3 pix:
The mountain on the left with the towers is where we're heading.



Baja shot


Robo sizing up whats to come.



Pad up because we all know what's next.


Just another walk in the park. Yeah right!!!

Day 3 and Goat Camp was the most anticipated ride of the weekend. Its like going back to final exam time in school years, when you had 3 in 3 days, and the hardest one being the last. You have to work hard for the first two but save something for Day 3 if you don't want to get worked.

Fortunately we had a nice warmup again with a couple miles to get from the competitive track over to the bottom of Mesquite trail where the climb began.







A lot of work had been done on the lower section of the trail. Some nice looking water bars


If only they had made it twice as wide it would meet the high standards of the City of San diego. I can see this work proceeding through the worst of the rock chunk at the bottom, but hopefully no further than that as the rest isn't too bad.


Looking back


Looking back again. I took plenty of rest stops to take in the scenery.


A bit of a down was a nice break from the climbing


GP_pilot around the corner, ahead


"The Story Behind the TR"


And yes, this is what we were here for


You might have to squint, but you can see the trail on the far hill side


Dropping down before climbing back up


Climbing aside, this trail is pretty mellow for the most part (til the last 3 miles )


Another short descent


The climb didn't seem as bad this year. Maybe I was in better shape? Reaching the top, we stop to snack and prepare...


The first section of descent is just stupidly loose. I really had no desire to even try most of it.


Weapon of choice


It seemed like we had barely started when I rolled over a double drop, then realizing it was the spiral staircase. While I cleaned the entrance perfectly I immediately picked the wrong line and stopped. Once I knew where I was it ironically took about 3 run ups to clear the entrance again. I remembered having to talk myself into it last year, but then thought it was easy once I had done it. Since last year I could remember thinking it was easy, but had forgotten why it looked hard at first to begin with .

The boys check it out


Gman plans his attack


Robo was determined to clean it, but foiled at the last moment by "The Lip"



Stang rolls in






GP_pilot takes a couple cracks at it





We had almost forgotten about Gman. He was so stealth in his approach that I missed the top of his run. I got the most important part, though...good job!, and yes, it definitely counts. You're gonna have to change your username to Pinball, though.



Last year's TR was "The Land of Unsanitized Trails." That name could not be used this year, and not because of the exacavator at the bottom of Mesquite trail. Dude...


The roll out wasn't the problem though, as GP_pilot still dabbed


To conquer this beast I think you just have to suck it up, get back, and roll straight in over that lip that sticks up. Next year....

Kreechan sits back to watch the action


Cactus backdrop


Hey Sean, no knee pads? I thought Goat Camp was the chunkiest trail around?


Robo cleans another section


A tricky climb


This one near the end was too tricky.


By the end of the ride I was fully reminded of how hard this trail is. I had a great day on it last year, cleaning a lot of stuff I didn't think I would. But over time I had forgotten about all the sections I had walked. Hard to say if I actually did better or worse this year, but it definitely felt like it took me longer to get in the groove. Still a great day of riding, and a great way to end the trip.

We stopped at some rest rooms on the ride back and Rob entertained us with some fancy moves



Another great trip. Thanks guys for letting me tag along!

cool.

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