TR - Phoenix AES Picketpost Punisher

[evdog]

I headed over to Phoenix last weekend to do a bit of riding.

The main event would be the Arizona Endurance Series Picketpost Punisher ride, but I would get in a couple other rides as well.

I made the drive out Thursday night. For a Friday ride I wanted to check out an area near Estrella Mountain Park. There are trails between that park and Fantasy Island North (FINS) that look cool but which ran out of time to find last time here.

It was no problem finding one of the entrances, but I ended up climbing a trail that was obviously intended more for descending. I got up to a saddle and beyond it got into the better quality contouring singletrack



I followed the trails around to the south and then picked up a connector that would take me over to Estrella Mtn Park proper and tie into what we rode before.

This distinctive rock formation tells me I'm nearing the main park trails



I did a loop in the park and then rode back to the adjacent area



Nice trails mostly. Anything steep could be rutted and gnarly though



I followed the trails over to a neighborhood bisected by a route that would take me to more singletrack. The route was part wide urban trail, part sand wash and part paved urban trail. It went past a nice lake, I guess drought does not exist in Phx!



There were hundreds of these birds hanging out below the palms. The shadows and birds coloring made for really interesting contrast



The trails here were pretty good. There is a bunch more to check out at some point and I have now been around most all of the perimeter. The main area outside the park is all private land, but is signed as open for recreational use (hike/bike) on designated trails. Between this, Estrella Park and FINS there is probably 50 mi+ of good trails.

[evdog]

The Picketpost Punisher was the main event for the weekend and set to go for Saturday morning. Lots of camping near the trailhead had me set up there for an easy start. A few others did the same, with people seeming to mostly be from Phx and Flagstaff. There are three routes for this one to give you a choice of punishment - 36mi/4500ft, 55mi/7200ft or 76mi/13k feet. The B route was a good length and would be 3/4 new, so that was an obvious choice. I would like to try the A ride next time but did not feel like a 15+ hour day on the bike.

The B and C rides started together with a neutral rollout for the first couple miles of Arizona Trail. "A" group had rolled out at 5am



After a re-group the B group headed west and the C group east.



Each group would climb forest roads up to the AZ Trail. For B group this was 21 miles, C group had 9 miles.



The road climb was really scenic. Lots of rock formations and saguaros at first



Then great views as we got higher. The only bummer was a crazy head wind. For a good hour I could not ride, the wind would blow me all over the place. A few times it almost blew the bike out of my hands. That section was steep anyways so I was happy enough to walk and check out the scenery



I eventually got up to the AZ Trail on Montana Mountain. We would traverse to the south side and then drop all the way down Reavis Canyon



Reavis was scenic too, minus the rock formations.



The trail was very raw, and had a variety of terrain - contouring, rocky rutted steeps, switchbacks, meandering flats, sand wash riding, hard to find trail. A couple spots like this would be awesome camping sites.



Reavis Canyon proper was slow going, but when we reached the trailhead where the C group got on the trail it changed dramatically and was good (typical AZT) trail the rest of the way in.

The only rider I would see outside of the first and last few miles. Caught him due to a mechanical, otherwise I was in no danger of giving up last place



The lower trail contoured for a while before dropping into a cool wash area



Then more contouring and climbing up to another ridgeline



This brought us back to US Hwy 60 across from our earlier regroup point. Tempting as the beers in my cooler were the ride was far from done. We had some dirt road to take us over to Superior and then south up the infamous Telegraph Canyon Rd. It was described as a poor excuse for a jeep trail. It was nowhere near as bad as I expected and was actually quite scenic.

Saw a cool vein of glassy red rock on the road at one point



I got to the top of Telegraph Cyn where it intersects the AZ Trail about 20min before sunset and got some cool alpenglow on Picketpost Mountain



I had packed lights under the guise "if you bring them you won't need them." The last couple times I rode this trail it was in the dark so I was happy to see it in the light again. Did not need the lights! The ride back to PP trailhead was a blast. I had never ridden it that direction before.



I passed a couple C group riders right at the end but secured my traditional DFL spot for the B group. One of the A group finished 40min before me. Two more within an hour after, and we stuck around to wait for my friend John who finished around 930.



A great day on the bike for all of us!

[evdog]

Unfortunately most of the riders took off after the ride instead of hanging around for some beverages. A few did camp, and one other B group rider Jason was interested in riding the Boulders and Ripsey segments of AZT the next day.

We headed down south for a leisurely 1030am start. Cool trailhead sign



Most of Boulders is pretty flat and fast. Not much variety in terrain or vegetation til you get to the namesake boulders



There is a bit of jeep road mixed in to the singletrack and eventually we start dropping down toward Ripsey Wash



A bit of ridgeline first, further down. The switchbacks up Ripsey peak are visible in the distance



The climb to the peak was our only sustained climb of the day but was still tough



The payoff is worth it though, Ripsey is often referred to as the best ridge top ride in AZ





I had ridden Ripsey before on the AES Gila 100 event, but rode it in the "uphill" direction. The "downhill" direction flowed better but still had a bunch of tough short climbs



Then we get to a bunch of switchbacks. Pretty fun descent!



Nice new shade structure where the trail crosses Florence-Kelvin Hwy.



We had a quick couple more miles down to the truck. This was a really fun and scenic segment that does not see a lot of traffic and I was happy to have gotten to ride it again! Thanks Jason for joining me, great ride!

[geomorph]

Nice, I've never ridden AZ but it looks nice.

[jamal]

Cool, I should sign up for that one of these years. Right now I lose a lot of motivation to ride as cx season comes to and end and winter starts. A race in AZ would be a good reason to keep things up.

What part of phx are these places? Have any gpx tracks? I have been there a few weeks out of the year lately but have not gotten a chance to bring a bike and ride. Hopefully will be able to just drive down there with a few bikes and all my stuff early next year. I've been looking at trails north of town outside of scottsdale.

[buttahflake]

wow, so much different from the riding here
thanks

[evdog]

Here is the list of their events, they are all over the state. Really only the last 2 are near Phx but all are within a couple hours. Info and registration on their site:

https://rockyroad5050.wordpress.com/

2016 SCHEDULE
AZ Trail Jamboree Charity Ride January 9
Antelope Peak Challenge January 23
Gila 100 January 22-23
Tor de 50 February 6
Sedona Big Friggin Loop March 19
Prescott Monstercross April 2
Aspen Asphyxiation June 4
Kaibab 125 and 200
Coconino Stage Bikepack Oct 8
Kentucky Camp Nov 5
Picketpost Punisher November 19
McDowell Mountain Dec 3

There is also the Arizona Trail 300 in April

[406]

Nice work!

[XtrPickels]

Race course looks really interesting.
Thanks for the photos.

[xyz]

Nice one. I did that same race last year. The middle distance option, I think. May have been the sawed off version. Absolutely amazing scenery down that way. Very impressive. I gotta get back to AZ ASAP!

[schillingsworth]

Evan, thanks again for that finish shot in the dark!! At least I didn't wake anyone up this year.

I've been thinking about changing up the B Course for next year. Maybe do an alternating year schedule with it. How do you feel about going south from Picketpost on the AZT until FR4 (Telegraph Canyon), turn south and take the rugged 4x4 jeep roads down past Ajax Mine to Martinez Canyon road. Ride/HAB up & over the brass knuckles of the Gila (5 stout climbs) to the AZT. Ride the 21 miles of AZT north from the Gila River back to Picketpost. I think that route is 44 miles off the top of my head.

[evdog]

Hey John, no prob! We were not going to drive off and have no one be there when you finished. Well, that, and we had already had too many beers to drive anywhere

As for future routes you know better than I what might work. I haven't ridden the jeep roads below Telegraph or the brass knuckles. Personally I'd rather ride singletrack in the optimal direction so if you like that loop I'd take AZT all the way to the Gila, then do brass knuckles and then HAB up the jeep road. I'd HAB lots of AZT too so might as well HAB the shittier route. Then return on AZT to Picketpost.

I liked another route where you did or thought of AZT from Kelvin to Gila river crossing, then dirt roads south to Ripsey segment back to Kelvin. Or a loop Kelvin to brass knuckles to jeep road to AZT back down to Gila, dirt roads to Ripsey segment and back. Tons of options! Though I wouldn't complain about the route we did this year. I would like to do it again once Legends of Superior trail is open again.