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 Post subject: Tucson - AZT Jamboree
PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:57 pm 
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Kreechan, Robo and I headed to Tucson for MLK weekend to check out some new AZ dirt. Phoenix had been the plan, but Robo really wanted to hit Tucson and would not be able to make a trip later on.

Maybe it was the suggestion of a 35mi ride for Saturday, or endless flow and chunk Sunday, but Robo had a change of heart by Saturday morning and pulled up lame with an apparent bout of debilitating fake back pain :lol: . He skipped out on the first plane out of town, abandoning his beloved Ibis Mojo SL like a used kleenex as well as his stash of Stone IPA. He did not expect to see any of these again.

Saturday's ride would be to join a fundraising ride for the Arizona Trail Association, a 35 mile point to point shuttle from south of town back into Tucson. While it is a shuttle, there would be 3800 feet of climbing among 5500 feet of descent. From what we heard last year's event drew maybe 15 people. Thanks to the wonders of facebook this year's event drew over 120 people and raised well over $4k for the ATA. A ton of flowing trail and meeting some cool people made this a great day of riding.

Kreechan prepares to help load a shuttle vehicle
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One of the ride organizers (light blue) gives a speech. This guy is responsible for much of the trail we'd ride this day.
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We hit the trail. Jeep trail gives quickly way to double track and then singletrack
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We started in grassland at around 5000 feet
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Wide open terrain offered incredible views
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Whiskers finished the ride. They actually fed her gu to keep her energy up
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Distant mountains
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Kreechan rolls a switchback
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The first 15mi or so had lots of undulating terrain, much of the trail was loose, being fairly new construction.
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Some more climbing.
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And then descending. While we descended a net 1700 feet it did not feel like it - there were no sustained descents and they were not high speed due to frequent switchbacks and loose trail surface. It was a great ride, however, fun stuff.
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Another switchback
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And some more descent
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Cactus replaces grass as we get to lower elevations
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The trail down here is older and more bedded in, so we are able to increase cruising speed
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The view opens up as we traverse
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We begin climbing in and out of washes
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More rock appears. The most technical parts of trail appeared in the last few miles
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Shadows get long as we near the end
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A ripping descent gives us a chance to rest tired legs
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Cactus impressive in late afternoon light
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A short steep climb, be careful to stay on the trail
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A brief rest then more climbing
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Final leg
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Finish with beers and bbq with the other riders
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We met some of the organizers of the event at the BBQ. Great people, and great ambassadors for MTB who are dedicated to their local trails. If only SD could be as progressive. Having AZ Trail nearby would be like being able to ride PCT...imagine that :roll:


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The following 17 users would like to thank evdog for his or her post:
antipop, bajamtnbkr, bankerboy, Bolo, boone29er, Brian, Canaan, Christ D., Gman, kreechan, OhNooo, Red Hot Sloth, Robo, shano, sierragoldens, Steven Tucker, tfitz
PostPosted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:14 am 
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La-la-la-la, I can't hear you! Not looking at the pictures! Nope. I'm sure it sucked.


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evdog
PostPosted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:31 am 
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wow, that looks like fun.

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The following user would like to thank 406 for his or her post:
evdog
PostPosted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:48 am 
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Robo wrote:
La-la-la-la, I can't hear you! Not looking at the pictures! Nope. I'm sure it sucked.

Yeah, those sweet pics are YOUR punishment.

Our punishment: seeing 50 consecutive pictures of Kreechan (and with the same green shirt he always wears). Aren't the new DT shirts ready now? Can someone donate one to him?

The low light pictures are works of art BTW. Thanks for the TR EvDoG.


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The following user would like to thank sierragoldens for his or her post:
evdog
PostPosted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:37 am 
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sierragoldens wrote:
Our punishment: seeing 50 consecutive pictures of Kreechan (and with the same green shirt he always wears).
Thinking the same, not to mention a disproportionate number of his ass. :lol:

Thanks for another great report Evdog. Did you guys come across any migrant trails south of town?


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:51 am 
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sierragoldens wrote:
...

Our punishment: seeing 50 consecutive pictures of Kreechan (and with the same green shirt he always wears). Aren't the new DT shirts ready now? Can someone donate one to him?...



I could mix it up with 50 shots of Evan, but I forgot my camera in his truck and he tells me it's already on craigslist together with Rob's bike (we did drink all his IPA ourselves though) ;)

Also you should be looking forward to the Monday report - was wearing an all new blue roadie shirt :lol:

[quote=brian"]Thinking the same, not to mention a disproportionate number of his ass.[/quote]

edit: wrongly asigned the quote above (fixed) - somehow I didn't think Brian could have said that - unlike 406 (also Brian in real live) :lol:

yeah, I wish he didn't take so any of those pics :oops:


Last edited by kreechan on Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:34 pm 
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406 wrote:
Thinking the same, not to mention a disproportionate number of his ass.


yeah, I wish he didn't take so any of those pics :oops:[/quote]

For someone I've never met in person, I feel I know you a liitle too well, now. :D

Nice TR, Tucson has some sweet stuff, especially this time of year.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:45 pm 
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Thank you, I just can not get enough of the Arizona outback.

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evdog
PostPosted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 6:06 pm 
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So with a long weekend and still no riding I am finally running out of excuses for not posting my 50+ pics of Evan from the various rides we did that weekend in Tucson. Here you go...

most took the short bus, but Evdog and I got lucky with a trip in the FJ to get t the trailhead
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when I took this pic I felt really sorry for this little gal, but by the end of our 36 mile ride I was thoroughly impressed that she still had energy to beg for scraps from the BBQ (the owner would not let me feed her any unhealthy bacon though - she had sustained the entire run on GU energy gels...)
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shootin' backwards from the hip while riding - gotta adapt to wild-west style out there ;)
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I really liked the grasslands at the start of the trail - wide open
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Evdog trying to align with the angled ruler in the left side of the image
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this guy is having a good time
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navigating some switchbacks
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vegetation takes on desert flavors
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shadows are getting longer
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a technical feature at the end of a long day - makes it harder than it looks
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almost there
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A truly awesome start into a great weekend of riding


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The following 7 users would like to thank kreechan for his or her post:
bajamtnbkr, Canaan, Christ D., evdog, Red Hot Sloth, Robo, sierragoldens
PostPosted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 6:38 pm 
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^^^ Better late than never. Nice pics -- thanks for posting.

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The following user would like to thank Canaan for his or her post:
kreechan
PostPosted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:13 pm 
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awesome pics!


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