Ride Report
January 2026
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| Lush hillside near Bartlett Lake |
Eight hardy souls lined up for the Bartlett Lake 200 and Sears-Kay 100 rides on Saturday morning. Weather was forecast to be cloudy and mild and with a 0800 start time the sun was well above the horizon and starting to warm up.
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| Mike Sturgill gives last minute instructions |
Mike Sturgill completed the ride brief at exactly 0800 and we were off. Like usual, the group headed out at a quick pace and I drifted off the back. Rose, a new RUSA member visiting from San Francisco, dropped off too and we rode the first 3 miles together. She wondered if the Arizona brevets always started so fast; they do. She also asked if we regrouped along the way; we don’t. I mentioned that our rides are lightly attended and everyone pretty much goes at their own pace.
After 15 minutes or so and finally starting to feel warmed up, I dialed up my pace and Rose dropped off. The main group ahead of me was caught at a traffic light and I closed part of the gap just riding my pace. When they were caught at a second light I nearly caught up before the light turned green and decided to hammer to catch them.
It took a few minutes of hard work and I caught Chris’ wheel at the back of the group. Unfortunately that part of the ride is slightly uphill, greatly reducing the aerodynamic advantage of group riding, and they were clipping along at a pace that was uncomfortable for me so I dropped off a second time.
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| High desert golf courses |
I wouldn’t see the group again until reaching the sharp rollers near the end of pavement on Seven Springs Road. The route continues past the
Sears-Kay Ruins for a mile and a half.
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| The desert flowers were just starting to appear |
About a half a mile past the ruins, I started to wonder if I was so far behind that all the riders had made the turn around and were in the control, two tenths of a mile off the route. Then I spotted the first rider from the fast group. Chris had already been to the turn-around and was headed back to the control at the ruins. Soon there after most of the rest of the group flashed by as I made my way to the End of Pavement.
What is the End of Pavement you ask? Well it’s where the pavement ends and this route makes a U-Turn and heads back! The rollers are short, steep, and much more fun on the return!
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| Mike and Jason |
Mike Sturgill’s son Jason volunteered to staff the control and had plenty of supplies and water to refill bottles and food to refill stomachs! The riders were still there when I arrived so I made it a quick stop after topping off my bottle, slamming a Mini-Coke, and stuffing my pockets with food!
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| Brian on Cave Creek Road |
I left the control a few minutes after the group but caught Brian on the steep rollers on Seven Springs Road. He was waiting to see if I would catch up. We rode together to Bartlett Dam Road taking turns on the descent.
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| Lee, Mike, and Brian at the start of the first climb on the lake descent |
By the time we reached the bottom of the first descent, we had caught Lee and Mike. The descent to the lake has a couple of long climbs along the way. Again the group was too fast for me and I let them go.
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| The last few miles to the lake |
The last few miles are steep, and with little wind, and even less traffic, soon I was rocketing along at 41 mph to the next turn around and control point on the ride.
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| Bartlett Lake Store and Grill |
I saw Chris heading up the steep section first, then Lee, Mike and Brian as I turned into South Lake road to the control point at the store and grill. It took an hour to get here and with the cool weather, my bottles were nearly full. So just a quick stop to remove a layer and I was back on the road.
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| This north facing formation was especially green |
We have had historic rains this winter and the desert was very green and the wild flowers were just starting to appear. I stopped here for a quick photo of this rock face and really green desert grass, that could pass for an irrigated golf course!
It took 90 minutes to climb back to Cave Creek Road. The climb is thankfully interrupted by a few descents, or climbing intermissions, before reaching the top. There is a water fountain at the information board for the Tonto National Forest at the top and today it was working so I stopped and topped off my the bottles and reloaded my pocket food from my saddle bag.
From here the route is mostly downhill, and clipping along at 25+ mph to the town of Carefree, I could watch my overall average mph start to climb up.
Entering Cave Creek the normally four-lane road was reduced to one lane each way. The blocked lanes were not for Contruction but was for overflow parking for Harley Davidson motos. There was a huge motorcycle festival going on. Traffic was so congested and tricky that I didn’t think to get a picture!
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| Nudist Ranch in New River |
The route continues downhill through Cave Creek and heads west on Carefree Highway. Normally the wind would be out of the west and on the nose by now. Also normally at this point in one of my blogs there would have been at least a half-dozen complaints about the wind. Today’s ride was nearly all calm, and only a short bit of wind climbing out of the lake. But today the flags were hanging straight down and I made great time to 7th street for the climb up to New River. Luckily the Shangri La nudist ranch is NOT the control stop.
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| New River Minute Mart Control |
The New River Control is a Minute Mart/Shell Station on the I-17 Frontage road. Just a quick stop for some different fuel. The Starbucks Frappuccino is a favorite, and some ‘crunchy sugar’ Oreo cookies should be enough to get me through the last 37 miles to the finish. The nice tables out front make this a great stop!
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| New River Road |
The route goes under the I-17 then it’s a slight downhill on the 10 miles of New River Road to Lake Pleasant just outside the edge of Metro Phoenix and the town of Peoria. This time of day the wind would normally be pretty strong out of the west and negate the slight descent. Not today! No wind and I covered the ten miles solo in under 30 minutes!
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| The City riding starts here |
New River road ends at the Carefree Highway and we make a quick left then right onto Lake Pleasant Parkway. The road was recently widened and after a few miles we reach the city of Peoria on the northern edge of Metro Phoenix. Mike has selected a great route through Peoria’s planned communities before reaching Phoenix proper and the Deer Valley Airport.
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| Brian on Deer Valley Road |
Speaking of the Deer Valley airport, it was here that I again saw Brian. He had been working hard with the front group (notice the salt stains on his kit), but had mechanical problems and had to drop off. We were able to ride in the last 7.5 miles together. Sharing the work, and having some company we actually picked up the pace for that last segment.
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| Brian and yours truly at the finish |
We rolled into the finish just before 5 pm, for a total ride time of 8 hours and 56 minutes. We were both hoping to get it done in under 9 hours, and working together for the last segment we were able to do it.
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| Yeah it fits nicely! |
Another great brevet to start off 2026. Thanks to Mike for putting together a great route, Jason for staffing the control, and Brian for the company along the way.
The AZ Brevet season is just getting started, check out
azrandos.com for the full calendar of events and come out for a ride. It’s
Rouleur Week in February, lots of shorter rides and even a team event. Come join us!
Thanks for following along, here is my
GPS data.
Steve Atkins
