I finally got around to downloading my camera and editing some pictures I took on a couple of rides
I and others did on Thanksgiving weekend.
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Some friends wanted to start an annual T-day ride and 12 people showed up for the inaugural event.
They ranged in age from 13 to late 50's (I'm guessing),one rider from South Africa(riding a 34+ lb.
Santa Cruz) and one from Colombia (one of two ss guys).
This was an out an back trip on Trail 100 in Phoenix, Arizona from Dreamy Draw Park to the base of
Shaw Butte where we had hot chocolate, donuts and muffins waiting. Since I live at the base of the
Butte I had ridden to DDP (42°F in route, that's chilly to us here in the desert) to meet with
everyone else and road back to the Butte with the group. I didn't make the return trip to DDP. It
took me 40 minutes to ride the near 7 miles there alone and it took nearly 1-1/2 hours to ride back
so I had plenty of time to take photos. We had quite a diverse group of riders.
The second ride was in the Pima and Dynamite area in North Scottsdale, Arizona. I hadn't been out
there in some time and was surprised to see all of the trails marked and numbered. There was some
talk about losing this area to ride in but I think the state and riding groups have put a lot of
effort into keeping this an open area w/o housing.
Five riders (and one dog) showed up for this ride. The dog was like the energizer bunny for about 11
miles then she started running down and continued the remainder of the ride backpacked. We had three
flats and one broken chain (mine) and had one of the best rides I've been on in some time. We did
about 22 miles of single track, never hitting the same trail except for the last 1/2 mile stretch.
We even found a new stretch of trail that only a few people had ridden.
The only drawback to riding this area is that many of the trails are open to motorcycles and some to
four wheelers. Most of them are courteous but there are always a few that give the others a bad
reputation for dusting out the bicyclists when they ride by.
Gary