Near misses, cactus & hike-A-bike... An Arizona adventure

While on holiday in Arizona we decided to hire a couple of mountain bikes and check out the local trails as like many areas in the US Tucson is surrounded by mountains. So with high hopes we headed down to one of the local bike shops who for "lack of service" will remain nameless and picked up a couple of 2011 bikes. Being a first time mountain biker Megan jumped on a Gary Fisher Xcaliber knowing the bigger wheels and lighter weight would work well, while I decided to throw my leg over a Specialized Epic Expert.  I was hoping to test out the competition and try and understand what people love about the Epic as I had ridden one years ago and wasn't much of a fan of the brain concept.

At this point the days adventure was ahead of us and anything could happen... New trails, new bikes, maps, spares and food, we were ready.  Just one more thing to check off before we head into the hills, coffee.  And it was at at this point the dream of a perfect days riding started to blur a little. Without going into too much detail, the calamity involved a caffeine deprived driver, the sight of a Starbucks going by, and an evasive lane changing maneuver into a lane that was already occupied by a very large Chevy truck.  No contact, no foul was the call from the ref, but talk about close call.

So with small coffee in hand (XL by our standards) and a 10 minute break to calm the nerves after our little driving incident we headed off to the Tucson Mountain Park where there are a myriad of hiking and mtb trails south west of the city. Once we arrived, we grabbed our Camelbaks, helmets and were ready to go. "I'll just grab the bikes off the rack" I thought, but 10 minutes later I still couldn't get the ratchet to release the hook that holds the bike onto the wheel cradle.  What the? To be fair this problem may have been caused by the operator as somehow I had managed to put the outside bike on in a way that the large chainring was about 2mm in front and completely covering the mechanism that needed to be released.  A challenge!

But after some wrestling, the removal of a bottle cage and a couple of  "walk aways" to keep things real we eventually got the bikes off and we were set to go.  Now I personally don't mind an adventurous trail, in fact I believe too many trails are being sanitised, and dumbed down to make the riding safer. However being Megan's fist ride, those groomed swoopy trails without too many rocky sections or scary technical challenges is exactly what I was after. Not to be.  Although the trail started off well, albeit a little rocky, it quickly turned upward and with it so did the technical skill required to just stay on the bike.  The trail was gnarly! Oh yeah, and so far I have failed to mention that around every 5 metres or so was a cactus on the side of the trail ready to pierce your skin with hundreds of little needles.  And take it from experience, they aren't very easy to get out, and in fact have a barb on the end making them quite painful.  Not fun for a beginner, not fun for a seasoned mountain biker.  What is wrong with these Tucson riders? This is crazy!

Finally, after getting down off what was definitely a hiking trail, we made our way back to the car to load up the bikes, this time making sure not to cover the ratchet device, and head off to another area hoping to find more biker friendly trails. Sweetwater trail network was where we were headed, and the moment we turned up it felt more like a mountain bike park.  Gravel car park, trail map, and another car leaving with a high end bike attached to the roof.  It may have taken us all day and a lot of adventurous setbacks to find it, but we had finally found a nice area of singletrack that was well kept, and well marked for those unfamiliar with the area. Megan had finally got a taste of what mountain biking is all about.  But as we all know, those days full of adventure and mishap can become as talked about as those days we would consider perfect.  That's what I believe makes mountain biking so addictive; No two days are ever the same, and you never really know what is around the next corner.  Of course if you are in Tucson you can guarantee there will be a big cactus around the next corner...they are everywhere!