HikeArizona.COM

The forest closures the past couple of years limited hiking and camping so I started bicycling again. I also have a mtn. bike that is set up that I can camp from among my growing collection of bikes. I enjoy road riding and my usual riding area is NE Mesa.

Did a road ride today in the far North West Valley, The Desert Classic. Due to time constranits (had to return to work this afternoon) I did the short course, 35 miles on my 1984 Trek 660 that I had rebuilt with newer components.

This is a very old thread, but it fits my topic. I have been on such a strict budget lately that I have been doing a lot of road biking, since I can just start from the house and not use any gas. I can start a mtn. bike ride from the house, too, but it's at least a couple of miles to an actual single track trail. (I'm still doing some hiking, too, of course!)

So, to make it more interesting I'm setting some goals. I've never done a century ride, for example, so that's one goal. So I've been riding up Picnic Hill every morning before work. That's that first big hill as you are going south from Springerville-Eagar toward Nutrioso and Alpine. That daily ride gives me 10 miles r/t. Today (my day off) I rode to Nutrioso and back which gave me 30 miles. (The week before my big ride was 20.) So next week maybe I'll do 40. I have ridden these distances before, but not for awhile, so I'm working back into it. I think the longest ride I've ever done is about 50 miles, though.

Today I saw a big herd of elk by Nelson Reservoir, so my road riding is not without interesting things to see.

I have several bikes to choose from, been road cycling during the day and mtn. biking at night. I have a week long camping trip coming up and I will be taking a road bike and a mtn. bike .