Ever thought about getting out of the snow to do some riding in winter, but didn't think it was affordable? Think again, Phoenix, Arizona may be the answer.I recently had the opportunity to take a trip south from my home in north Idaho down to Phoenix, Arizona to do some filming on a new project I am working on. While I was there I was blown away at how good the riding is and how nice and welcoming the riders were. The mountain bike scene in Phoenix definitely has it going on and I want to share my experience with everyone out there that hasn’t discovered how sweet it is. And besides, who doesn’t want to know more about a sick affordable winter riding spot!
Luckily, I got a hold of Bob Ehlert (“
Latedropbob” here on PB) who runs a small shuttle and tour service with his partner Andy. They are based on the south side of Phoenix, near the base of South Mountain (SoMo). SoMo is the country’s largest municipal park and is maintained by the city of Phoenix. Let me tell ya, this is not your average city park! SoMo is shuttle accessible with about 2000 ft. of vertical rise. Plenty of elevation for some serious downhill rides or for those cross country riders who also love a great climb. Bob let me know January was an excellent time to visit as the weather is a constant 70 degrees and sunny, which was just what I was looking for.
After a short flight out of Spokane I was landing in the beautiful Sonoran desert and ready to taste some of that sweet SoMo singletrack. I was picked up at the airport by my hotel driver and quickly whisked away to my new home for the week. I chose to stay at the Clarion in the Phoenix Tech Center which just happens to be within riding distance of one of SoMo trailheads and Cactus Bikes. Cactus Bikes is the best bike shop in the area. Oh and I can’t forget the awesome burrito shop Los Taquitos next to Cactus. It’s even been visited by Guy Fieri from the Food Network. With everything good so close by, it couldn’t have worked out any better.
Waking up the next morning to blue skies and sun, I was super stoked to go riding and hook up with the crew for the day. Gnar Gnar picks up visitors right from the Clarion, so I was out front ready to ride when the van showed up. Joining us for this trip was Josh Bender (Freeride Pioneer), Dante and Jackie Harmony (DH racers from Sedona, AZ.), Jason Pasch, (Cactus Bikes employee), and local ripper Lear Miller. (Throughout the week we were joined by numerous locals, also super stoked to ride with our group.) Brandon West who just started riding 6 months ago, but was about the most stoked rider that I have ever rode with as well as Colin Beach, Brendt Peterson, Moses Eason and Jason Pasch from Cactus Bikes too name a few. With the van packed up it was time to head to Scorpion Gulch to begin our day of riding.
Once our shuttle arrived at the top I could finally see some of the trails we would be sampling and I was amped to say the least. The first trail we hit up was Geronimo and is just about everyone’s favorite DH trail on SoMo. After only a few minutes I could see why. The fast and flowy ridgeline led into some seriously fun, tech sections and sweet berms, followed by more flowing tech sections. Riding next to all the cactus was a bit unnerving at first, but I quickly adapted and forgot how close they actually were. After my first run to the bottom my jaw was dropped to the floor. This was Bender’s first time on Geronimo, too - and he too was drooling by the bottom, and ready for another trip to the top. We let the locals keep in front since they knew the lines the best - and that’s a good thing since there are a few parts where you definitely don’t want to come into them too hot. After a sweet morning session we hit up Lear’s favorite burrito shop, Chipotle’.
When the killer meal in our stomachs had settled we were ready to head to the top again and check out the Hobert trail. The upper Hobert trail was off the hook! It had a sweet flowing ridgeline that weaves in and out of rock outcropping and giant cactus. You have the option to ride down to where you can get picked up again if you don’t want to do the whole trail, and do it over again too. Lower Hobert is like a mini Bootleg Canyon in NV. – full of super tech lines and small drops into more tech lines. Talk about great training grounds for a DH racer!
Riding and hanging out with Josh Bender was great fun! He is such a good guy and has a ton of heart for this sport. He had not been on any of the trails we rode before, but he was charging it hard on his new Ellsworth. It was inspiring to see the man behind the freeride movement still out promoting the sport with much love and see the respect he still gets. Dante and Jackie Harmony, who live just north of Phoenix in Sedona, make the trip to ride with Gnar Gnar Tours to train during the off season when their trails get covered in snow. Jackie is on the Vixen Racing Team and Dante Rides for the All Mountain Cyclery race team. They are both super cool people and great riders, so I was really stoked that they were able to make it out and ride with us. They both help coach with Gene Hamilton of Betterride.net who also loves to ride with Gnar Gnar at SoMo and was able to join us for a few turns on the hill too. Lear Miller is also living the dream - training here during the winter months for his upcoming season. Lear was also an integral part of the crew for the week as he is super funny and just plain rips everything. Lear also just got hooked up with Team Geronimo Racing for 2011. After riding with them here in AZ, I now know why these guys have a distinct advantage when coming into the race season.
SoMo is not only for Downhillers, it also has amazing all mountain riding like on the National trail, as well as epic XC on The Desert Classic. Gnar Gnar Tours can help set you up no matter what you like to ride, and they also take trips to the mountains outside the Phoenix area in the summer months to avoid the heat. We rode SoMo for a few days and loved every bit of it. Bob mentioned a few other riding spots we should check out that were close by, so we made plans the next morning to head over to the NRA pits. NRA is an old shooting range that offers some sweet singletrack (like on the Hawes trail), but also has a small freeride park too. We opted to check out the jumps and berms since we hadn’t ridden anything like it since we had been there. We had a killer time riding all the sweet stuff the locals had spent weeks building, so mad props to the builders!
It was Thursday night pumptrack at the Fishbowl, so we headed back to town to grab our hardtails. The Fishbowl is owned by Cactus Bikes employee Fish and is in his backyard. Every Thursday a good sized crew of riders head over for some light festivities and some sweet night riding. We all sat back and enjoyed a good brewski while we watched or rode the sweet track that Fish and his wife had built. Even Bob and Fish’s sons (who are only 2 and 3 years old) love to rip the pumptrack! We all had a blast hanging and meeting the cool locals, but were ready to hit the dirt again. Talking over the bonfire, we made plans to visit the dirtjumps at Price’s place in Apache Junction the next morning.
Price’s pumptrack is a sweet private spot located outside Phoenix in Apache Junction. Just a short trip from the Clarion in the morning and we were standing in the middle of a bike playground. With everything from a pumptrack to DJ’s and wall rides this place has something for everyone. It was nice to see the amount of work that has gone into this place and see how much the locals enjoy riding it. There was some mad steeze being thrown around by Lear Miller and Two-Tone Tony Osusky. Tony also let us in on some super sweet urban spots nearby that made great use of the canal system here.
All in all, I can say it was way too much fun to be on my bike in January hitting all this stuff - and I really can’t wait to make a return visit. It was such a blast to meet and ride with Bob and Andy at Gnar Gnar, the AZ locals and to enjoy their world class hospitality. I recommend a trip with Gnar Gnar Tours to everyone. Gnar Gnar Tours can provide everything from a hotel room to a rental bike for your trip, so hit them up for your next affordable desert get away! Visit
gnargnartours.com for more info! Or to find up to date daily info, visit them at facebook.com/gnargnartours.com
Also, big shout out to Kali Protectives, Smith Optics, Fiveten, Atomlab, The Hayes Group and Zipper for helping out with the trip!