• Ride #6
• Date: 2020-11-21
• Distance: 35.8 miles – Strava 1 Strava 2
• Drink: JetBoil Aeropress
• Location: Hawes Trail System, Red Mountain Park

I wanted to get one “Cofeeshop Without Walls” badge for this year’s challenge. I planned out this route pretty well, including a canal that I was pretty familiar with and connecting that with some singletrack that I’ve run but never biked before. I left it up to how I felt at the time to decide where to make the coffee and whether to do an out-n-back or make a loop and return home via roads.

The Ride

It was a beautiful morning for the canal, probably even “crisp” by Phoenix standards.

This canal is probably my favorite in that is passes through some areas without any houses and leaves some really nice views of Red Mountain and Four Peaks. It is also part of the Maricopa Trail.

It gets pretty close to Red Mountain, offering up some great views like the one below.

I also found this chair sitting along the canal near Power Road. I was not brave enough to sit in it.

I eventually made it to Wild Horse Trail which I’ve run a few times but never ridden. It was a blast. It was essentially my first real time on singletrack on this bike and it felt great. The last time I picked too hard of a trail and got a flat tire, so this was a nice change from that. I’m running tubes with Flat Attack so I kept the pressure pretty high, so I think it would’ve been even more comfortable if I went tubeless. But overall it was a ton of fun and I can’t wait to get back out there. It was a little crowded but I went during a peak time, and picking the occasional weekday morning should have it be pretty empty.

After the 3.5 mile stretch of singletrack, I ended up about halfway up the north side of Usery Pass. I made it to the rest of the way along Usery Pass road and saw a few other cyclists, but I’m guessing I was the only one on 2.4 inch tires and a load of gear to make coffee. My reward was some nice downhill (during which I accidentally turned off my GPS) and a stop at the Phoenix arrow sign.

The Drink

I thought about stopping somewhere along the trail to make coffee but it was kinda crowded, and I was in a rhythm so I didn’t want to stop until I was on the downhill. I thought about pulling into Usery Regional Park but I realized I only brought my ID and credit card and left my wallet at home, meaning I didn’t have my yearly pass to get in. Ugh!

But I made it down to Red Mountain park, which had a ton of space and some open ramadas. I made coffee, ate some peanut butter packets, and chilled in my camping chair.

One Good Thing

Singletrack! I rode up to Hawes one other time and hopped on the trails and immediately noticed I had a goat head puncture flat. I didn’t get out again for awhile, so it was great to try it again. I’m pretty much brand new to off-road cycling so it was a cool confidence builder that I can tackle the easy stuff.