2026 Rouleur Week West Valley 125k

Ride Report

February 12, 2026

Another great day to ride!

Welcome back! Mike gathered the group at the other end of the parking lot since we will be exiting north onto 32nd Street to start the ride. But more importantly, there is a section of the route about 6 miles in where the southbound lanes of the Cave Creek road will be re-routed to the northbound side. Mike met with the police officers controlling traffic and warned them of our approach and approved a plan to get us through safely. We would leave as a group and wait at the shoulder until all the riders arrived at the start of construction. Then we would take the one northbound lane and ride as a group with Mike taking up the rear in his truck to block traffic while we passed through. 

At the start

Another chance to lead out the group at an easy pace, yes please! Brian McGuire and I led the way out through the parking lot and covered the first six miles at a nice conversational pace.

All lanes diverted to northbound side

Waiting to form a single group

We arrived mostly as a group and waited only a minute or two for the recumbent and ElliptiGO riders to join the party.

Mike prepares to cover our six

With a break in the traffic, we rolled out as Mike hopped in his truck to escort the rear of the group through the roughly one mile section of construction. We passed through without incident and appreciated the escort! 

Brittlebrush in bloom

We had a tricky left turn onto Sonoran Desert Drive, but were soon rewarded with quiet riding through park reserves and blooming brittlebush everywhere.

Paul tries the inflator

We turn south and back into town after the Sonoran Desert Drive, but Paul's rear tire was going flat. He tried the inflator but the sealant wouldn't hold. He insisted I ride on while he got out his plug kit.

Unofficial stop at Carefree Highway and Lake Pleasant

I continued on mostly alone, but caught a few riders as I made my way toward Lake Pleasant and the Carefree Highway. There is a new convenience store there, and while not an official control, I have stopped there before and decided to stop in and get a hot dog lunch! Teresa rolled through on her ElliptiGO to top off her bottle while I enjoyed this lunch curbside. 

e

Great views on New River Road

From the store its about 10 miles on New River Road. The road has a gentle, almost imperceptible 1% grade heading north. The winds were neutral and traffic was light. I stopped here to get a shot of more wild flowers with Daisy Mountain in the background. The route continues north to New River, then south on the other side of Daisy Mountain to return to Phoenix.

Mike, Penny, and Teresa

When I arrived at the control Teresa was ready to head out, but we got this shot with Penny! Still quite stuffed from my earlier stop, I topped off my bottles and visited with Mike before pushing out. I didn't see them go by, but most of the field must have passed me while I stopped near Lake Pleasant.

Photo contest loser!

Next stop was to get a photo of the Shangri La Ranch sign. Notice the outline on the sign. Normally a rock formation would be called a 'butte' around these parts. But since that ranch is of the nudist variety; the proper spelling of that formation is probably just 'butt!' The contest was a drawing and gave one chance for a photo of the sign alone, and two for a selfie. No socks for me, and probably none for the guests at the Shangri La either.

Lush desert on the edge of town

The route continued south on familiar roads through the desert to the northern edge of Phoenix. The return route missed the construction zone on Cave Creek Road and soon I was back at the start.

The Seattle crew finishing their post-ride coffee

When I arrived a huge group of riders were just finishing their post-ride beverages. I decided not to linger and head out before the heavy evening rush hour got underway.

Pack it up and get ready for tomorrow

I finished this one in about 5 hours and 32 minutes. Another great day on the bike. Time to pack up and get ready for tomorrow's Dart team event! We'll be gathering at my house at 0830 for a 0900 start. 

See you there!

Steve Atkins

Click here for GPS data

 

2026 Rouleur Week EOP 100k

Ride Report

February 11, 2026

Mike gives preride brief to a HUGE crowd!

Welcome to the main event, Arizona's first Rouleur Week. Five official rides to qualify for the Randonneurs USA Rouleur Award, and even a couple of bonus rides on President's day! Mike Sturgill, Arizona RBA, put in countless hours designing the routes and getting the new azrandos.com website up and running. He even loaded it with goodies including daily contests and photo galleries. There were 35+ riders at each event, about 4x the normal turnout for winter brevets here in Phoenix.

Gentle readers of this blog know that yours truly prerode the 200k and 150k events last week. Here is my report on the first event of the week; the End of Pavement (EOP) 100k. Stay tuned for upcoming reports on the North Valley 125k and the 120k Dart Team Event!

Lets get going!

Leading out the group

Mike completed the preride brief noting we had riders from 10 states in attendance for the event. It was a Wednesday and the first turn out of the start was a left turn onto busy Union Hills Blvd. No one seemed ready to move, and some shouted, 'let one the Arizona guys lead us out!' With Mike blocking traffic, somewhat reminiscent of crossing a street in Saigon, I led us out as one big bunch.

Traffic stop

We stayed together through several traffic lights and started the event at a nice easy pace. You're welcome!  A couple of the riders accused me of trying to rig the first contest (guess the average time that all riders reach the EOP) since my guess assumed a slower pace. Hey there were RUSA socks on offer for the contest!

Starting to spread out

Once we cleared the morning traffic, the fast movers took off as I continued at my own pace up the gentle climb toward the EOP. There are some steep rollers the last few miles, but soon the EOP sign appeared in the distance, and with it the first of many well stocked control stops we would have during the week!

EOP, Mike and Penny

Mike and Cindy foster future service dogs, and Penny was present at all the controls and was quite interested in greeting the incoming riders. Only one rule says Mike; ' no people food, she is in training to be a service dog!'

When I arrived about a third of the field was already there. With no real time pressure, and a chance to catch up with rando friends from around the country, I ended up staying until the nearly the last of the riders appeared, and most had left.

Not many photos on the way back. I caught Paul from Colorado in the rollers and got on his wheel. He picked up the pace until we nearly caught Vern, also from Colorado. We closed the gap together and the three of us traded fast pulls on the return. We passed a bunch of riders and somewhere along the way we picked up Doug from Illinois and the four of us rolled in to the finish 4 hours and 20 minutes after we started!

What a great way to start the week. The only downside for me; Chris won the socks for the closest guess to the average time to the control!

Go home and get some rest, tomorrow we ride the West Valley 125k.

Steve Atkins

Click here for GPS data

2026 McDowell Meandering 150km Preride

Preride Report

February 2026

Sunrise over the McDowell Mountains

This is my second preride this week, and today we tackle the McDowell Meandering 150km Rouleur. The actual event will be a week from Sunday (February 15, 2026) and I will be helping Brian McGuire at the control location in Fountain Hills. There are over 30 riders registered, and registration is open through Sunday so there is still time to sign up!

The ride heads north and east through the Desert Ridge area of North Phoenix. There was some Friday morning rush hour traffic on busy roads, then into quiet neighborhoods, high end retail, and the Five Star JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort. Probably too early for a spa treatment, so I pressed on.

Only a few balloons today

Approaching the Princess Resort

Phoenix Open Traffic Control

A number of the roads were closed around the Princess Resort and the TPC Golf course for the Phoenix Open PGA event this weekend. Luckily the officers allowed me to pass through, and it was actually nice riding on closed roads. Later in the day the route would return through here and again there was no problem. All this will be long gone next week, so no worries.

Central Arizona Project Canal

The route crossed the canal, and no, the route is not on this gravel path, I just stopped here for a picture and to check out the canal path.

Bike path climb to Fountain Hills 

Instead of fighting traffic on Shea Boulevard to reach Fountain Hills, there is a bike route that heads up residential streets and through a gated community to reach a bike path for the final climb into Fountain Hills. It’s a bit steep in the gated community (8%) but eases off as you reach the bike path. The gates look closed, but there is an offset opening that allows bikes through!

Fountain Hills Park

Brian will have a sag stop set up at the park, if you are lucky the fountain may be on!  

Park restroom information

The restrooms I stopped at were clean and had a filtered water dispenser. I was about to leave when I noticed this information panel that describes where Fountain Hills gets its drinking water (CAP Canal), and how every drop is recycled and used for irrigation and the lake and fountain.

Roadwork is done!

When I rode through here (about a mile outside Rio Verde) earlier this week, debris was piled up on the shoulder. It has been cleared off and the shoulder was clear and free of debris!

Road Closed on Rio Verde Road

Near the top of Nine Mile Hill, traffic started to pile up. Ahead the road was closed but the officer allowed me to ride through.

About another mile another officer directed me onto this jeep trail that paralleled the main road. He said an accident was blocking the whole road.  

Overturned concrete truck

About 1/2 mile of gravel riding brought me to the scene. They were rigging the truck when I rolled through.

Lucky the gravel track was there, there was no way to get around this mess otherwise!

Hikers headed to Tom’s Thumb

The route continues up, but just before the summit the route heads toward Tom’s Thumb trailhead. Mike Sturgill will have a staffed control here with refreshments.

There were great restrooms (no water though) and trails that head in the McDowell Mountains preserve. The rock faces in the distance are the Sven Slab rock climbing area. Debby and I spent many days rock climbing there many years ago!

Some minor construction at the Mayo Clinic

The route heads back from the trail head and returns through Scottsdale to North Phoenix. If the roads look familiar, they are, some of them were on the outbound route.

Bike path along the freeway

The final few miles include an older bike path along the AZ 51 freeway. A bit rough in spots but much better than being in traffic. It has climbs about a mile apart for bridge crossings of major streets.

The bike path dumps you out right on Union Hills Road, and it’s only 1/2 a mile to the finish at the coffee shop.

Another great route. I’m looking forward to riding with the 30+ folks that have signed up for the AZ Rouleur Week!

Join us; azrandos.com has all the information !

Steve Atkins

Click here for GPS data

2026 Lower Salt 200km Rouleur Week Preride

Preride report

February 2026

New route! Jog along Jomax

Next week (February 11-16, 2026) Arizona Randonneurs will be hosting a series of Rouleur rides (100km, 125km, 150km, 200km), and a 120km Dart Team event. Yours truly will be helping at controls for the 150km and 200km events. As a volunteer, the RUSA rules allow you to preride the course up to two weeks before the event. Here is my report.

I loaded the route in my Garmin GPS and set out from the start at 32nd and Union Hills a few minutes before 0700. More morning traffic that I expected, but soon I was on Pima Road and headed toward Pinnacle Peak. Mike Sturgill, Regional Brevet Administrator for Arizona, designed all the routes. While many use familiar roads used on other brevets, he found some cool new sections. The first was turning right on Jomax from Pima and heading up a ‘dead end’ street. Alas it goes through and was a delightfully quiet and scenic route on a barely paved, but smooth road. A nice detour before rejoining the regular route on Dynamite road.

Shoulder clearing on Nine Mile Hill

It was cool and my bottles were still full so I didn’t stop at the Shell station at the summit before Nine Mile Hill. Heading down the long (yes, nine miles) descent some fire crews were clearing underbrush along the roadway. The shoulder is paved for the entire stretch, but here I had to briefly cut into the traffic lane to avoid the crew and wood chippers. I doubt they will be working on Saturday the 14th!

More Shoulder work leaving Rio Verde

The route continues through Rio Verde and on the opposite side of of the road, a road scraper was clearing the underbrush along the roadway, but depositing it on the shoulder. Hopefully it will be cleared before we use that side of the road for McDowell Meandering 150km on Sunday the 15th. Spoiler alert, on that one you get to ride UP nine mile hill!

Breakfast at Circle K

You will be treated to a sag stop at a fantastic park in Fountain Hills on the event day to refill your bottles and get a snack. I went a few miles further to the Circle K on Shea near the Beeline Highway. It has tables and shade out front. Luckily one of the tables was open so I took a breakfast break here. 

Photo bombers have been here awhile 

At first I didn’t realize the couple at the next table had suffered a fate common to this area; sudden dehydration.

Verde River outside Fountain Hills

Back on the road, a nice view of the Verde River looking south from the Beeline Highway.

Weevers Needle from Beeline Highway

The highest point of the ride is the junction of the Bush and Beeline Highways. On a clear day you can see the Superstition Mountains!

Calfee at rest

The route follows the Bush Highway ( a few miles without a shoulder ) to Saguaro Lake and the Lower Salt River Recreation Area. The shoulders here are wide and paved and the views are fantastic. You'll turn left and head up Usery Pass. Soon after the summit, the route will take you to the Usery Park Visitor Center about .1 of a mile from Usery Pass Road. On the event day, volunteers (yours truly) will be there with water, snacks, and lunch. The center also has convenient restrooms. 

Power Road construction 

The route continues south before turning right on McDowell road to form a loop back to Bush Highway and head back to the Beeline. There was some construction on Power Road, but I was able to ride in the barriers. Yes that is our event day, Mike has already checked with the Mesa Marathon organizers and and by the time we reach this part of the ride, the runners should be long gone!

Salt River just above Granite Reef Dam

Four Peaks from Bush Highway

Salt River below Saguaro Lake

Saguaro Lake from Bush Highway 

Just a sampling of the views along the Salt River!

Fountain Hills!

When I rode through Fountain Hills in the morning, the fountain was at rest!

Now you see it …

… now you don’t

Lots of food options in Fountain Hills at the corner of Palisades and Fountain Hills Boulevard. I decided to try Filibertos Mexican. In the Safeway center, it was fast and delicious. 

Preride done!

One more climb out of Fountain Hills then its a great selection of mostly low traffic streets through Scottsdale and Phoenix to the finish.

There is still time to sign up for this great week of rides, check out AZrandos.com and come join us!

Steve Atkins

Click here for GPS track