Beeline/Saguaro Lake/Usery Pass Training Ride

The plan was to ride the Beeline/Usery Pass loop with Scott Pfotenhauer. Scott has many miles on his mountain bike and recently acquired a new road bike. He had heard that this loop is an awesome ride. I love the route and was looking for some base miles to prepare for the Tombstone 600 next week. So last night we carbo loaded and prepared our strategy at Dos Gringos over burros and margaritas. At 5:30am I rolled into Scott's driveway and soon we were heading off into the dawn.

We headed out on the new multi-use path along the canal between Guadalupe and Elliott. It is new and at that time of the morning we had the whole path to ourselves. We headed north at Country Club and soon were on the Beeline Highway.

Scott cresting the hill near Shea

We stopped at the Chevron at Ft. McDowell to reload and pick up some groceries and were soon on our way up the Beeline. The desert is in bloom and the headwinds were light. A perfect morning. I dropped off for a break and then caught Scott:



We made the Bush Highway/Saguaro Lake Cutoff in no time. Right after the turn there is a cattle grate then a great descent towards the lake. I made sure Scott hit the turn and I pointed my bike downhill started the descent. After a few minutes I turned back to check on Scott. He was not there. I slowed and checked again, but still not there. So I turned around and headed back up the hill. As I got closer to the Beeline, I thought "oh no, that cattle guard."

The Death Crack that consumed Scott's tires and rims!

Sure enough, Scott was on the side of the road with two flats and two bent rims! Two other riders had stopped and loaned Scott one of their extra tubes (he had only one spare). They were rolling out as I got back to Scott. We booted his rear tire with duct tape, it had two cuts from the cattle guard, and replaced the tubes. The rims were bent, with two 'flat' spots, but were round and true enough get home.

After the repairs, ready for the 35 mile ride home!

We started again; another flat! One of my spare tubes we installed had a leak! We used the tube that the other riders gave Scott and soon we were back on our way to Tempe.

Thanks to the two guys that stopped and gave Scott a spare tube. It is normal cycling courtesy to slow and ask if a fellow rider "needs anything" when they are on the side of the road. These two guys that stopped were happy to give up a spare tube. While we were making the repairs several other groups slowed and asked if we were "OK" or "need anything." I don't think anyone went by us without checking. This camaraderie on the road is one of the reasons I love the sport so much!

Since the road is smoother on the Beeline and Scott's rims were questionable, we decided to save Usery Pass for another day and head back on the Beeline. We were exactly at the half-way point when we hit the grate! Normally, you can really move on the return trip on the Beeline since it is downhill and we had a tailwind. But with out of true rims, and a nice blister on the rear tire we just rode a nice tempo back to town.

With the ladies still out of town tonight, we head to Joe's Bar and Grill for dinner to replace the calories we burned today!

All in all, an awesome day on the bike.