Flagstaff Wins!
The original plan was to drive to Sedona and ride bike there, but our bottoms were getting tired of riding in a car, so we made a pit stop at Flagstaff, AZ and discoverd a wonderful set of trails there. Obviously, we couldn't pass the opportunity up to ride, so we hit the trails.
To say it was beautiful up here is an understatement. Lucky for me the trails were just what I liked. Single track with a few rocks strewn in to make the ride interesting.
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| Riding buddies, Darius and Ken showing me the way. |
The part I didn't like so much - the altitude. We started on Shultz Creek Trail and we rode five miles UP HILL starting at 7,185 feet and ending at 8,089 feet. Do the math. . .that is almost 1,000 feet of climbing. Considering I LIVE around 0 feet and right by the ocean. . .well. . .I definately felt the altitude. I had to stop every mile to catch my breath. My lungs were burning, big time! The guys were gracefully patient with me. In spite of my lack of oxygen, I LOVED this trail. Only next time, I wanna ride it DOWN!
Through the gate and we hit another mile of climbing. My thought at this point was that there better be some darn (trying to keep it clean) good downhill coming up. I'm working way too hard at this.
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| LOOK! MAPS! 5 miles in - you can make sure you are taking the right trail. |
The terrain is starting to level out and the scenery was incredible. Some of the trees were turning yellow and they were embedded in the green stuff, so the contrast in colors required me to stop and take pictures. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. The regaining of my lungs while stopped was an added bonus.
Somewhere along this beautiful trail, we missed a turn. Guess we weren't paying enough attention to the trail, but who could blame us with all the cool stuff to see?
What that meant was another mile of STEEP, ROCKY climbing (I had to hike my bike a bit on this one) to the top of a mountain where we peaked out at 8,372 feet. The view was spectacular. Unfortunately, the trail just stopped. There was nowhere else for us to go.
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| The view from the top |
Did I mention I hate being lost in the woods? The guys didn't seem to be all that phased about things, so I tried to go with the flow. But, honestly, all I could think of was how much longer until we hit that downhill stuff? It's gotta be somewhere out here. The climbing was getting old at this point and being lost wasn't helping.
A quick perusal of our map told us we needed to go back. Not so bad, at least it was DOWN this time. We added two miles to our ride and another fifty feet or so of climbing - I was getting a work out!
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| No More Trail for us to Ride |
A quick perusal of our map told us we needed to go back. Not so bad, at least it was DOWN this time. We added two miles to our ride and another fifty feet or so of climbing - I was getting a work out!
A mile back down the rocks and we were looking at the map, comparing landmarks and wondering where the trail was at since we didn't see where our turn off was. I rode a little further than the guys and BAM, I found our mystery trail.
Lower Brookbank Trail was DOWN HILL, baby! I was in my element at last. ROCKS and DOWN HILL! Did I mention the DOWN part? We dropped 600 feet in one mile. I even scored Queen of the Mountain. OK, I am the only female on strava riding this - but hey, I don't see where the other gals would even want to avoid this - it was FUN!!!
I came off this part absolutely elated. The top was totally freaky with cliffy stuff and all the big rocks had smaller loose rocks running between them It took me about a third of this to figure out how to ride in this stuff. Once we cleared the end and hit the road at the bottom, I was ready to do it again. I'll be back, Flagstaff, you can bet on it!
The last two and a half miles was on a trail called Rocky Ridge. I KNOW - just what I always dreamed of more rocks and more down hill. I was in for a bit of a surprise on this one, though. It wasn't all down hill and I had finally hit my wall of concentration. I was hitting rocks that my bike shouldn't have even been near.
First there was the 300 foot drop and then the 200 foot climb. Dropped another 50 feet and then climbed that same 50 feet. I was DONE with climbing. I was now OFF my bike and doing the "hike a bike" thing. I was on a rollercoaster made of rock. Down 20 feet, up 20 feet. Ultimately, we were descending, but it sure didn't feel like it. I bonked in a big way and hiked DOWN the last 200 feet because I had almost gone over my handle bars once too many times at the end of this ride. I determined I was too tired to concentrate and gave it up. I'm calling this my goal for next time - don't BONK!
We finished our ride and in spite of my exhaustion at the end . . . it was AMAZING!!!
ONE LAST NOTE: Camping is fun (hahahahahaha), but Flagstaff dropped below freezing the night we were there. I refused to exit the tent until the guys promised me breakfast in a warm restaurant instead of cooking at our 35 degree campground. Guess who won? OR maybe they just agreed that it was REALLY COLD outside.
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| What our detour looked like on strava |
A mile back down the rocks and we were looking at the map, comparing landmarks and wondering where the trail was at since we didn't see where our turn off was. I rode a little further than the guys and BAM, I found our mystery trail.
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| ROCKS |
Lower Brookbank Trail was DOWN HILL, baby! I was in my element at last. ROCKS and DOWN HILL! Did I mention the DOWN part? We dropped 600 feet in one mile. I even scored Queen of the Mountain. OK, I am the only female on strava riding this - but hey, I don't see where the other gals would even want to avoid this - it was FUN!!!
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| DOWN HILL |
I came off this part absolutely elated. The top was totally freaky with cliffy stuff and all the big rocks had smaller loose rocks running between them It took me about a third of this to figure out how to ride in this stuff. Once we cleared the end and hit the road at the bottom, I was ready to do it again. I'll be back, Flagstaff, you can bet on it!
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| OH YEAH! |
The last two and a half miles was on a trail called Rocky Ridge. I KNOW - just what I always dreamed of more rocks and more down hill. I was in for a bit of a surprise on this one, though. It wasn't all down hill and I had finally hit my wall of concentration. I was hitting rocks that my bike shouldn't have even been near.
First there was the 300 foot drop and then the 200 foot climb. Dropped another 50 feet and then climbed that same 50 feet. I was DONE with climbing. I was now OFF my bike and doing the "hike a bike" thing. I was on a rollercoaster made of rock. Down 20 feet, up 20 feet. Ultimately, we were descending, but it sure didn't feel like it. I bonked in a big way and hiked DOWN the last 200 feet because I had almost gone over my handle bars once too many times at the end of this ride. I determined I was too tired to concentrate and gave it up. I'm calling this my goal for next time - don't BONK!
We finished our ride and in spite of my exhaustion at the end . . . it was AMAZING!!!
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| Holding out for the heat to arrive |
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