AES McDowell 50

eventual race winner Shawn Gregory in the Kokopelli jersey

There was a big turnout for the AES McDowell 50 event this year. A rider for every mile, at least.

Heading out from Basha’s, the sun was not quite up, but it wasn’t cold. Perfect day to ride around Phoenix/Scottsdale.

The early miles were fun on Lost Dog and other trails, though there were some bunch ups and conga-line singletrack moments.

I need a break from riding hard, so I joined Krista in a “base pace” ride of the loop. Base pace for Krista is still pretty fast, a little faster than I was expecting for sure.

Jeff was one of many riders without a GPS, and a GPS is pretty much the only way to stay on course in these events. He yo-yo’d with us, jumping ahead on his singlespeed, then waiting at the next intersection.

Interesting trail design on the “Sonoran Trail”. Some of the switchbacks might go with some retries. Others… not so much.

Still a fun trail, though. Just not that great for keeping steady power on the pedals. The Pemberton loop fit that bill, and while I actually quite enjoyed it (perhaps thanks to many people setting me up with low expectations) I was getting a little tired by the time we started climbing to the base of Tom’s Thumb.

We rode with Amy for a bit, who also had no GPS. As we started pushing our bikes up the switchbacks up to Tom’s Thumb I’d look back and often see her riding!

I was really looking forward to this trail (a new addition to the route this year) once I saw the GPX. Tons of switchbacks, a climb to 3800′ (in Phoenix?!) and some interesting topo.

The climb was steep, kitty-litter loose with lots of turns. I’d like to go back and give it a whirl with fresh legs.

photo by Krista Park

We pushed our bikes for twenty minutes or so. “I think this is the longest hike-a-bike I’ve ever done,” Krista said. “I guess I’ve just never felt the need to take my bike somewhere I can’t ride it.” Oh but there are so many reasons to take a bike to places where you cannot ride it! 🙂

Reasons like topping out on a ridgeline full of turrets, spires and hoodoos.

Like weaving a narrow trail between giant boulders, stealing glimpses of Phoenix thousands of feet below. Like a never-ending switchback descent (missed a perfect score by ONE dab – gah!) that led into still more descending off Windgate Pass. I was really bummed that Chad wasn’t out there enjoying all the switchbacks too — he is off the bike for a few days yet with a hurt wrist.

We wrapped up the loop on Windgate and a few other trails with quite a few people on them. It didn’t bother me since it is only one day, but did make me realize how spoiled we are in Tucson with such empty trails. Overall I was really impressed with the riding in the McDowell Mountains, and very happy I made the trip up.

After dropping Chris “Campy” Campen off back in Tucson I went straight to Paula’s school’s holiday party at the Westward Look resort. It’s such a small school that it’s almost more like a family than a normal co-worker relationship. It was fun to see everyone, and the food was tasty (esp. after 6+ hours on the bike), but it did make for a long (but great) day.