It’s been a long fun season, but the end is here, finishing at home!

Last weekend kicked off my final race of the season, Tour of the White Mountains right here in Pinetop. Having the Epic Rides crew and a lot of our friends in town for the weekend made for a lot of excitement. The weather and trails were downright awesome! 50’s at the 7:00 am start of the 50-mile race and mid 70’s all day!

The pace started out hot and stayed that way for the nearly 4-hrs of racing. A little bad luck by a few racers, but on the whole it sounded like everyone had a clean race with no one getting lost this year. I managed to pull off a 3rd place finish battling some tough competition.

Afterwards, Charlie Parr rocked the stage with some fantastic blue grass tunes and Sierra Nevada kept the beer flowing, including a keg of Narwhal!

Brian Leddy took some great photos throughout the day.

A big shout out to Brent and Harry at McDowell Mountain Cycles for letting me rock in the MMC kit this season and helping me out with racing. The same goes to Mike and Melissa at Mike’s Mix. Many-a-good things have been concocted in the kitchen thanks to their great products, along with fueling us on the bike.

Hello Off-Season

Now that racing is done, it gives me more time to explore the White Mountains of Arizona via hiking. Evie, Lucy and I submitted Escudilla yesterday, a nice little 6-mile hike up to 10,900′. Next on the list is Mt. Baldy, along with a lot of other neat hidden gems here in AZ.

I’d like to get up to Aztec Peak, checkout more of the Coronado trail, Pacheta Falls, AZT, and cross the Sheep Bridge out by Bartlett Lake, that’s just scratching the surface! I’m looking forward to a fun winter, hopefully I’ll do a little more XC skiing if we get snow and maybe some fat biking too!

I’ll leave you with a few pictures from our hike up Escudilla.

This weekend is the 20th annual Tour of the White Mountains right here in Pinetop-Lakeside. A hint of fall is in the air with the leaves starting to change color and morning temps dipping into the low 50’s with day temps in the 70’s.

The trails are in great shape with a big help from the local mtbers and the TRACKS organization. Bluegrass musician Charlie Parr from Duluth, MN is booked for the after party festivities. it should be an all around great weekend!

If you’re coming up for the Tour here are a few places I recommend checking out.

Where to Eat

• La Vie – Trendy, Hip & Modern Cafe (across from Charlie Clark’s Steakhouse)
• Thai Promise – Healthy Asian food with no MSG
• Pinetop Coffee Roasters – Best coffee on the mountain, a Saturday morning must! (Hwy 260 & Woodland Lake Rd.)
• Moose Henri’s – Great food & 30 AZ craft beers on tap
• Baked in Pinetop – Fantastic breads, sweet treats, and MUST TRY cinnamon rolls (closed Sun. & Mon.)
• Eddies Country Store – Groceries, meat counter, and quality beer selection
• Jalapenos – Counter service burritos, I dig the sweet pork! In Show Low near Hwy 260/77 intersection. Stop on your way into town (and again on the way out!)

Sunday Rides

All the local trail maps can printed off and just like the Tour course, are tagged with blue and white diamonds. You should have an area map in your swag bag showing how the trails link together, 200+ miles!

• Panorama Trail (9-mile loop) – Swoopy fast singletrack, a few rocky descents, one steep climb up Twin Knoll, and ripping back down to the parking lot. Take 260 west to Penrod Rd. stoplight, make a right, go about a mile then right on Porter Mtn. Rd. The trail is up the road on your left about 4-miles (trail map). I prefer to ride clockwise and think it’s the most fun ridden this direction.

• Blue Ridge/Springs Trail (9-mile loop) – Blue Ridge is really tough. Think of climbing Prospector at McDowell Mountain, very rocky and physically demanding, but fun (trail map)! If you’re staying in the Country Club and feel up for more of a challenge this would be a good one (two way, but I like riding clockwise). You can start at Springs trail head and connect into Blue Ridge. Springs has a lot of big rocks, roots, and drops.

• Los Burros/Lake Mountain – If you want more of Los Burros, you can park at the Los Burros campground (trail map) and take the short cut and make a left to re-ride the north end aka. “the fun part” of Burros. Looking for some enduro? Head up Lake Mtn. Rd. to the fire tower and then drop in Four Springs for some steep fast fun that spits your right back onto the Tour course so you can finish back at the campground.

Where to Explore

• Rim Trail – On the west side of town just past the go carts off hwy 260, look for a sign for The Rim Trail. This is a short mile or so loop that takes you out to the Mogollon rim with some great views.

• White Mountain Nature Center – The nature center is off Woodland Rd. and has a lot of interesting artifacts and history from the White Mountains.

• Woodland Lake Park – Right in the heart of town, take the dog or kids for a walk around the lake (about 1-mile). There are also Ramada’s with picnic tables and grills for a nice picnic.

I’m looking forward to a fun packed weekend!

For the past 3 years I’ve been spending Labor Day weekend in the Black Hills of South Dakota — thanks to Evie 🙂

The black hills are most famous for the faces of Mount Rushmore, but there are amazing mountain bike trails, tons of hiking, water falls, streams, and sunny skies.

This year we picked up Evie’s niece and nephew in Colorado Springs, and brought them with, meeting up with grandma and grandpa when we got to Spearfish. It’s nice to make a long weekend out of the event. Always good to see so many friends.

Sadly, this was the only picture I took on the trip, too much fun and excitement  had me forgetting to pull out the camera.

Tony, Ryan and Cole drove out in the sprinter, and Corey, Justin, Karen and Butch also drove out from Wisco. We spent a few days ripping around on the “can’t wipe this smile off my face” singletrack, most of which were one way shuttles 🙂

Dakota Five-O: Home of the Pro’s, Joe’s, and Who Knows

Each year, more and more talented riders seem to show up to the Dakota Five-O. This year I was stoked when Corey get the win after making a wrong turn last year.

I had a great race following a mediocre start. I entered the singletrack about 15th, not ideal, but quickly started working my way up, making a few late race passes to finish 7th.

I could ride Five-O single track all day long! The trails were in the best shape ever and my Scott Spark crushed the descents like mad. Overall satisfied with my effort, hydration, and fueling. I’m always amazed at how after nearly 4-hrs in the saddle, the race comes down to just a few minutes.

Afterwards, free beer from Crow Peak Brewery and burritos from Barbacoa’s, plus live music and prizes, it’s quite the after party. Can’t wait to do it again next year!

Hometown Race

Next up, Tour of the White Mountains, right here in Pinetop! Stay tuned for a special post next week where I’ll be highlighting some of the best places to eat, drink, and hangout when coming to town. Along with some great post race riding spots.

Cheers!