Harold, Pete. Pete, Harold...

Pee-tar-bur-oh has a nice little trail system that goes by the name of Harold...  Harold Town Conservation Area to be specific.  

We decided to hit this on the way back from a week chasing trails in QC and got rained out of a full recon ride.  

Got a hour in of sliding and clipping trees in the pouring rain sliding around on Scwhable Thunderburts ( which suk in the wet ).  It was a fun little place though and definitely want to get back out there and check it out properly.  
 Maybe a Ganny ride in the a.m then lunch followed by a drive up there ?  The only thing is the distance vs. abundance of trail.  Hard to make this a go to outing when your driving from T.O.  If you want to check out a small sample of the trails there is a 2 min video here.

Summer Road Trip Choices...

So the short list is down to the final 2.  Both are about 30 hours drive away which multiple ride stay / stops enroute.  6 weeks and counting to the final choice.

*** original pics from the interwebs ***

Copeland

Last long weekend of the summer.  Got 3 days of epic rides in the Horseshoe area.  Despite somehow losing 3 of 6 rotor bolts during 1 ride ( thanks to Hardwood Hills for the save ) everything was mint, including the weather. 

Carbon Fiber Footprint

Santa Cruz Tallboy 2 - Durham Forest

March Madness

2 days of rain and the trails are perfect.  Like sticky tacky perfect.  No 2" of fine desert dust perfect.   Arm warmers and shorts perfect.  No one on the trails early perfect.....

PERFECT 

Shaw Butte

Been saving this one a bit.  The access road is only hard for the first 4 switchbacks ( my Garmin said 16% grade ) once you get about half way up the grade levels out to about 9% and it's about a total  2.5 km climb to the radio towers.

Gary would have liked this one for sure being his namesake Butte.  This one was for you Gaz....

Shaw Butte from the Towers

Browns Ranch

This is far from technical but what it lacks it makes up for in flow and scenery.  A good break for the constant barrage of rocky trails.  Did a 35 km loop with a climb up Browns Mountain from both sides for the view / descent.  Did not see any scorpions or rattlesnakes but the trail signs seemed to indicate they were around.  Another killer 80 + day in the saddle.

This area reminds me of Hartman Rocks in Gunnison CO with huge rocks and loops

Ramble on.....

Trail 100 Options

It's hard pressed to load up the car and venture out to ride when this is literally 2 min away.  Over the past 3 rides tried to cover off some new options.  The spin off trails are abundant and the climbs up and around the buttes are tough.  The more you ride the chunks the more you get some flow happening.  This is so drastically different that any trail back home it certainly keeps you focused.

South Mountain Preserve

See the theme ? Hot and dry and rocky.  Checked out South Mtn today this shot was from the Desert Classic trail if my memory is right.  Decided not to do the National trail...yet.  These rocks are not forgiving and when you get up close it changes your invincibility factor.  This place was packed for a Friday afternoon.  Would not want to hit this on the weekend.

Can't get this theme song out of my head while I'm out there.  Could not find the heli pad climb ?

Scuse me while I kiss the sky..

This is the view from Trail 100 right before the switchbacks heading under the hwy.  I am not sure what the green haze that visibly hangs on downtown Phoenix but I'm guessing it's not good.

This is day 2 on the trail and went to the Dreamy Draw Lot from the 7th st entrance.  Had a chance to see the group that were building the new singletrack up around Cave Creek.  They're the American Service Corps and are a federally funded program that lets them earn money for their college education.  The program is essentially community service on a large scale.  It was tough work clearing rock and churning up dirt in 80 degree heat so we can shred on it later.  Hats off to them.  It was a good loop too.

Trail 100 is pretty neat and it snakes up around buttes and around some pretty sweet homes perched on the rock and sees quite a bit of use like running, hiking, horseback riding and dog walking.
Everyone I ran into was nice which is a welcome change on a multi-use trail system.  The trail is not particularly tough, 2 + hours yesterday covered 27km and 690 m ascent.  There is a lot more stuff in here to explore on the non driving days coming up.  A good local haunt !

Trail 100 Phoenix Mountain Preserve

This is the local PHX equivalent to the trails in the Don Valley.  The similarity being it's a great urban mountain bike trail right in the middle of the city.  Difference for Phoenix is the fact they have mountains... and while the main trail is 11 or so miles long it has pretty much everything you need like spin off loops, multiple entrance / exit points, climbs, descents, and chunk. Cave Creek entrance is a 2 minute ride away and with the temps climbing up into the 80's it's time for the camelback on Wednesday's ride.  Saw my first Coyote cross the trail today.

Imagine this view at Bayview & Pottery Road

 

McDowell Mountain take 3..

I think I understand why night riding is so popular down here.  It is 80 degrees in February and its hot.  I can't imagine this would be the case in mid August when it is consistently 100f +

Can't get sick of looking at this....

Views from McDowell Mountain Race Loops ( Long Loop )

Mc Dowell Mountain Race Loops

This is a section of trail in Scottsdale that used to be the home of the now defunct Cactus Cup.  This was the classic desert race that used to grace the covers of MBA with the legends of the dirt Johnny T, Ned O and others.

Now it is a series of 3 loops set 100% aside for Mountain biking.  Trails were good and did 2 of the long loops.  That crash on Sunday was hard.  This was a welcome change and good recovery trail.

Been to the desert on a horse with no name...

What a difference 90 minutes down the road from Sedona makes.  Rode McDowell today and man what a eye opener, wheel catcher, worked over 2 hours in the saddle.  Can't even describe how difficult some of the trails were but believe me when I say my bruises and aches can.  ( rotor burn sucks btw  !!! )

Views for Days...

Rode the Tallboy 2C today.

Going to have lots to say about this in the weeks to come down here but in the meantime here are some pictures.

Can't say enough good things about the SRAM XX1 kit other than this is the place to see if the chain stays on and it does along with shifting perfection and a nice single ring range.  32 when I am back home but the 30 is good enough for me.

Rock Shox Sid.  Immediate difference felt over last years Fox.  This for besides being light is very plush and maybe it was the fact I had the Talas I am really impressed.

This is a XL frame that came in at 25.1 lbs with Thomson, AM wheels, Bonty / Salsa cockpit and Schwable 2.4 / 2.2's.

The pedal strikes are a bit unnerving on these rock strewn trails but that will pass.  Sedona ( specifically Oak Creek ) seems to be the go to place for industry product testing or launches and that makes a ton of sense given the make up of their trail systems.  If the bike and set up can perform here is is good to go anywhere else you may end up.  These trails EAT bike parts.  The 2014 Fox CTD rear shock is smooth once you set up the sag properly.  Have not really played around with the different pedaling platforms as its kind of hard to take your hands off the bar to reach down and I found the trail setting to be a good all rounder on the trails covered today.  Lastly if your unsure of sizing go up.  I am just over  6'1" and that out me in between the L and XL.  The L would have been too small.

GoPro Day

Something you don't see everyday....

At least in Sedona and it's a hardtail.   Full Squish carbon rigs with dropper posts seems to be the logical weapon of choice and on past trips I have rented a Santa Cruz Tallboy so you really can tell the difference on trails comparison.  One thing the hard tail does better is climb and that was on the menu today.  The pic below is the Chicken Point lookout after climbing up Little Horse Trail.  Will hit Mystic and Hogwash etc. another day.

Can you believe this is JANUARY ?