Author: Tim Racette

The first big race of the season is in the books (Whiskey 50), new travels are on the horizon, and summer will be here before we know it!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update. March was a whirlwind of local weekend races, including a trip to SoCal getting that first bit of early season race prep in the legs. Things around Pinetop have started to bloom and the trees and grass are becoming greener.

The seasons blend together quite a bit here, winter was colder with highs in the 40s and 50s, but plenty of sunshine. We had a pretty dry spring (along with a dry winter) and now we’re seeing consistent temps in the 70’s, but other than the blooming flowers it’s hard to tell a lot has changed.

Upcoming travels are a short trip back to Wisco for my best man Niko’s wedding, Durango for the Iron Horse Classic and then Grand Junction for the GJ Off-Road, really looking forward to this one. I hear it’s a lot of challenging technical rock riding, a real mountain bikers course. After that we’ve got a weekend planned at the Angelfire bike park, Colorado Springs for some family time and another round of the U.S. Cup and then Mtb Nationals in Mammoth, CA.

Our ski area Sunrise, has a DH park that will open memorial day weekend. We’ve walked some of the runs, they’re pretty cool, lots of roots, big rocks and steep drops! This weekend we’re headed to Sedona for a skills clinic with pro DH/enduro riders Lindsey & Kirt and Voreis. So lots fun stuff happening.

I’m in the process of finishing the new Racette devStudios website, but in the meantime I’ve added some new items to my portfolio section of the blog, check it out and let me know what you think!

Until next time…

Last week I took the opportunity to explore two really cool roads, the Coronado Trail and the Salt River Canyon.

Coronado Trail

The Coronodo Trail (scenic highway 191) starts in Alpine at 8,000′ and heads south to Clifton at 3,500′ swooping through forests, amazing vistas and large trees that slowly turn to shrubs, then cactus.

I did this as an out an back, but you could do it as a one way from Clifton to Alpine, for a 90-mile 12,000′ climbing day (it’s been added to my list!). All in all it was an awesome ride. 4.5-hrs 8,000′ of climbing and I only saw 4 cars all day.

Salt River Canyon

On Sunday I capped off the week with a ride into the Salt River Canyon, a road that drops off the Mogollon (pronounced Mug-E-own) rim towards Phoenix. I got stated at sunrise and again there wasn’t much traffic. Rollers take you up and down from 6500′ down to 4,500′ and then the road drops you into the canyon bottom at 3,500′.

The climb out was pretty cool, steady climbing for about 1.5-hrs, then a few rollers, and the final climb back up to Show Low where I began. All in all another great ride capping off the 22-hr week on the bike with a total of 29,000′ of climbing!

24-Hrs Old Pueblo

The weekend prior Evie and I participated in the 24-hrs of Old Pueblo with some friends from Fountain Hills and McDowell Mountain Cycles. We did the 5 person coed and ended up 2nd on the weekend. All in all it was a good time, we got some miles in on our new race bikes and most importantly we stayed healthy. The real racing begins in 4 weeks with the Fontana ProXCT.

New Team for 2015

And finally, I’m proud to announce that I’ll be representing McDowell Mountain Cycles for 2015 with support from Scwhwalbe tires and Mike’s Mix Recovery drink. Looking forward to an awesome season!

Finally getting around to a blog update, first one of the new year!

Winter in Pinetop has been downright balmy as compared to Wisconsin. We’ve only had 2 snow storms pass through that dumped 6-8″ each, but with the sun shining, the roads were clear the next day. The ski resort has had its fair share of snows, but we haven’t been over there yet.

Evie and I spent Christmas with my parents back in Antioch, it was nice to visit, but I’m pretty sold on Arizona at this point!

3 reasons you should move to Arizona

1. It’s always sunny!
2. There’s lots to do!
3. Everyday feels like a vacation!

I’ve explored a handful of the roads in the area and when you add in the 200+ miles of singletrack plus endless fire roads there’s a ton of riding options right from the house. Driving 45-mins gives you tons of more options from 2000′ climbs to bombing DH style singletrack.

Adjusting to Arizona life has been pretty easy. Along with exploring the White Mountains we’ve spent a few weekends in Sedona and Phoenix, both within a 3-hr drive (for those familiar with Sedona’s “White Line” trail (stunt) I marked the turn with the blue arrow!

The MBAA (Mountain Bike Association of Arizona) equivalent of WORS started up last weekend. They have a 7 race series that includes a wide variety of courses from desert to dirt. I’m by no means ready to start XC racing, but with Whiskey 50 and Grand Junction on tap for this year, I’ve definitely shifted my training up to be on form in late April.So far it’s been pretty easy to train here with 40 & 50′ degree temps during the day.

We also got a fat bike! We don’t have any snow right now, but riding on the frozen trails is a blast. Looking forward to taking it out on some snow pack soon.

In other bike related news, we’re riding Scott’s this year. Evie and I both got Scott Spark 700 SL’s along with a Genius 740 their 150mm trail bike. Both bikes rock! 650b wheels and 120mm of travel on the Spark makes it a super fun bike to ride. A great climber and awesome on the descents.

More in the coming weeks…

Thanks for reading!