I saw this route on bike packing.com and called my buddy Craig to see if he wanted to ride it. With a resounding "Yes!" I shipped my bike to the Phoenix hotel and met him there and we rode out for a 5-day adventure in the Arizona Desert.
Day 1 saw us make a large dent in the hotel breakfast buffet, and then ride surface streets to head north where we could access the trails and arroyos that made up the route. By noon, we refueled at a burger place and both order the cowboy burger (yeeeeaa - haaaaa!) and they giddy-upped onto the afternoon's portion of the ride.
With the heavy protein and carb lunch, we made it through deserts and singletrack into desert, passing golf courses and watched as the suburbs faded away into rural "wasteland."
Riding out of Phoenix the morning rain was just ending, and we had a rainbow
A few miles out of lunch we're following the GPS route and it leads us into a cul-de-sac. The GPS "red line to follow" goes straight into a PRIVATE PROPERTY driveway and beyond. So, while looking perplexed at the foot of this driveway, a neighbor exits his driveway and pulls alongside asking what we're doing. After an exchange with him about what we're doing, the route we're riding, and our quandary with the GPS route vs PRIVATE PROPERTY he tells us go right ahead - they just want to keep out undesirables. And clearly we weren't. So good on common sense. We ride on.
While we made good miles in the morning, once we got into the desert, the speed and distance slow down. This is the trail we navigated for the next 15 or so miles until we hit gravel roads
After 50-or-so miles and 3500' of elevation gain on the day, we succumb to the light and camp in the desert. No tents, just a groundcloth, sleeping pad, and quilt
