I woke up early this morning and drove the 2.5 hours to Flagstaff to meet up with some friends for
some cooler weather riding. I had no idea where we planned to ride in Flagstaff, I only wanted to
escape the 115 degree heat.
We were greeted at the trailhead with some ominous-looking clouds and some large sprinkles of rain.
This was going to be the perfect ride. I hadn't anticipated wet weather, but I welcomed it since
Phoenix hasn't seen rain in over two months. This being a new trail to me, I had no idea of the
punishment I was in for. We took the dirt road that leads to the top of Mt. Elden. Flagstaff is at
about 7000 feet elevation, and by the time we were done with the climb we were at over 9000 feet.
This climb did NOT let up even once... it was mind numbing. The temperature dropped quickly with the
elevation change, though, and the steady rain had dampened my clothes and the soil, providing a
heavenly riding climate.
After concluding our summit celebration, it was time for the payoff. I hungrily devoured the smooth,
damp singletrack running through the beautiful pines. I was still a bit weak and fidgety from the
torturous climb, but I recovered as soon as the adrenaline set in. The views from the ridgeline were
fantastic, but we were so eager to fly downhill that we didn't stop long to soak it in.
The first section of the ride ("Heart Trail"😉 was a bit technical, but I cleared it without any
problems, since it wasn't anything worse than what I ride at South Mountain. After that it was
smooth sailing through a twisty, purely downward singletrack with banked turns. I've never had the
pleasure of riding such a long, fast, intense singletrack as this before!
Near the bottom, I mangled my rear rim on a rock. I was surprised when I noticed my rear tire was
losing air, since I didn't remember hitting anything hard, and I definitely didn't hear that
distinctive clang of my rim hitting a rock. The evidence, however, was indisputible. One sidewall on
my X517 rim had been completely flattened. If you're thinking of a typical flat spot, don't. The rim
was severely damaged such that the braking surface on one side was folded inward toward the rim
strip. I was able to replace the tube and make it down the last mile or so, but I think I'm looking
at a total replacement.
It's an amazing trail. There were several turnoffs, all leading to different places I'm sure, but I
didn't really have time to examine the signs. =) I highly recommend this to anyone looking for some
fast forest riding. There were some people riding up the way we were going down, but this would be
even more difficult than riding up on the dirt road. The dirt road took almost 2 hours and it was
smooth. Coming down took about 45 minutes (including the tire change and scenic stops).
-John Morgan