Gold Canyon

Being in Arizona, a person must take care not to fall into one. You never know just what might come of it. Goes somewhat with a favorite quote of mine:

"Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to"

After a few months of riding the same trails, I start to desire that "no knowing where you might be swept off to" part of the quote. This time, it is the south east part of Phoenix, the Gold Canyon area. Darch had invited us to tour the area, which has recently seen a bit of trail construction.  He says we should come since it getting a bit hot. I laugh a bit, saying you Canadians always say that, as he reminds me it's negative temps in his hometown and 70 is hot compared to that.

Some folks [gila monster outback] have put together maps and spend quite a bit of time out there, building trails and features.

Even a bit of humor. A trail gnome, pointing the way:

It's fun section of trail, loops that allow a variety of lengths of ride. Bail points or connectors allowing you to suite the ride to the length of time you have. There are tech features which we all enjoyed:

And some with a bit of exposure. Darch leads the way, showing the line.

Mark follows, rolling in and rolling on down the trail. Right past the big velcro pole, placed there to grab in case you have the feeling of heading over too far left. This day, nobody used that grab bar.

We spent about 3 hours out there, looping, laughing and just plain having a good time. And not really worrying about where we would be swept off to. At the top of the Vortex climb, we spent a bit of time re-fueling the body and getting ready for the return to the vehicles. As on any good trail, there was a little "character".

And so the time comes, for the end of this ride. But, that means lunch as well. And quoting a friend, "bike riding is like pizza, it's always good"