2024 Desert 300 Brevet

Ride Report

March 3, 2024

Brian McGuire provides the pre-ride brief

Here we go again; about 18 riders lined up behind the Denny's at Chandler Boulevard and I-10 for the Desert 300 and 400 km brevets. Brian McGuire pre-rode both routes and provided great support throughout the day. Both routes follow the same course until mile 142. There the 400 riders head south to Casa Grande, then return to the Chandler via Coolidge, Florence, and Queen Creek. The 300 riders continue east to Sacaton before heading back to Chandler, yours truly decided to ride the 300 version.

Local Arizonans were outnumbered by riders from Wisconsin, Washington, New Jersey and 8 riders from Colorado! Stephen Kenny from Calgary, Alberta Canada gave the ride international status. Five of the Coloradans arrived at our house Friday night for the weekend. Saturday morning, we enjoyed a 5 mile warm up ride to the start. Lots of wind in the forecast, we’d better get going!

Heading out with lights and reflective gear

Brian completed the pre-ride brief at precisely 0600 and we rolled out of the Denny’s parking lot as a large group and made our way to Riggs road before the group split into several groups. I found myself with the most of the Colorado contingent and Stephen Kenny from Calgary.

Rolling through farms/subdivisions of Litchfield

The group approaches Jimmy Johnson Blvd and Phoenix Raceway

Our group slowly thinned out to one Canadian, six Coloradans, and one Arizonan! We rolled through Litchfield and passed Phoenix Raceway. Next weekend NACAR fans will overrun the area for The Shriners Children’s 500! Like Randonnuers, NASCAR measures racing distances in kilometers.

Buckeye control stop

Brian had a small feast and drinks available for a quick control stop in Buckeye. This year the course avoided downtown Buckeye and its traffic, and stopped here at just before crossing US 85.

Stephen Kenny

Stephen Kenny, resplendent in Arizona Randonneuring kit was amazed by the alfalfa fields in Litchfield! Just don’t ask him about American politics, he’s Canadian!

Paul Foley

Paul Foley (also Colorado) and Stephen Kennedy took huge pulls all day long as we battled head and cross-winds all the way to Gila Bend.

Gillespie Bridge

We crossed the mighty Gila River at Gillespie Bridge. There were a number of aid stations set up along the way to Gila Bend supporting another cycling event. The volunteers were very exuberant and provided support for some of our riders. It was nice to have a distraction, as the wind was providing an additional challenge to get through this section.

Gila Bend!

Mike Sturgill changed the control location in Gila Bend this year to a convenience store that was closer to Old US 80, and had less riding on the rough back roads of Gila Bend. You just had to navigate around fighting dinosaurs to get there!

Control stop next to Rivian EV chargers

John and I tried to plug our bikes into these Rivian EV chargers, but apparently they are only available to Rivian owners! Brian set up the control in the shade of a Palo Verde tree and served sandwiches, drinks, and snacks to very hungry riders. 

Heading to Mobile

It was a very flat 100 miles to Gila Bend, the next 40 miles had a 15 mile ‘climb’ up a 1-2% grade to a summit in the Sonoran National Monument. The strong wind, about 18 mph, was directly on our tail and we headed up at a strong pace aided by the gentle push from behind. We stopped for a flat tire in the group about half-way up. Stephen offered to try his new pocket mini-electric pump and it worked like a champ and we were back on our way. 

Reaching the summit, Paul and Stephen again took the lead and we headed for Mobile (fire station and school only, no services) and then the desert oasis of Maricopa. There were no services in this section, so I normally buy a spare bottle of water in Gila Bend in case of heat or unfavorable winds. On this time through, we covered the 40 miles in just over 2 hours, and I didn’t need the spare.

Waste Management landfill

Nearing Maricopa the Waste Management land fill can be seen in the distance. Each time I pass through the mound is a bit higher. Will it reach the elevation of the peaks behind, only time will tell.

The section of road between Mobile and Maricopa was the hands-down least favorite section of this ride. The shoulder disappears and it’s a two-lane road with sometimes heavy traffic. It used to be a much quieter road. On a road trip recent trip to San Diego, Google maps suggests this route instead of taking the I-10 south to the I-8. This shortcut does save 15-30 minutes of driving time, thus the heavier traffic load. Thanks Google!

Mike Turek at Maricopa 

The riders head out in two directions

We took a break on the sidewalk of the circle K. The northern side was shady and cool, with a nice breeze from the west and we plopped down there. The group took a 30 minute break here to reload and recover. I was the only rider on the 300 in our group, so I bid the group farewell and headed out.

Construction in Maricopa

After the pre-rides, Mike made a detour that avoided most of a construction project on Maricopa Road. There was still about a half mile of gravel shoulder to deal with. It was hard packed, protected from traffic, and easy to ride through. Actually was smoother that some of the broken pavement on other parts of the route.

The route turns east on Casa Blanca road and back into the Gila River Indian Community. It’s a quiet pancake flat agricultural area. There were tufts of cotton rolling about from a recent harvest. It was a very enjoyable ride until I had the last of nearly a dozen loose dog encounters of the day. This particularly large pit bull was walking with its owner and about 6 other dogs near the Casa Blanca school. It charged and chased. I was already moving along with the tailwind and thought I had outrun him. Nope, I heard panting and growling and he was inches from my right calve! I yelled again and jumped into a sprint and he was still there at nearly 30 mph, so I made an hard left into the other lane. There was oncoming traffic several hundred meters away and closing, when I switched back, I think he caught a glimpse of the car and didn’t follow me back across!

Ira H. Hayes Memorial in Sacaton

It was about a 20 mile run from Maricopa to Sacaton, and I was still enjoying a brisk tail wind and some left-over adrenaline from my pit bull sprint, and covered that ground in a little more than an hour. There is a veterans memorial park named for a local hero that fought in WWII. Ira H. Hayes grew up in Sacaton, joined the Marines and is one of the Marines in the iconic Iwo Jima flag raising photo. Click here for more of his story.

I reloaded my bottles, bought a PayDay bar at the control convenience store, and headed back for the last 20 miles to the finish in Chandler. As you can see in the Sacaton photo, the wind was still strong, but it would be cross or headwind all the way back. I really missed having company to share the work on this segment!

I rolled into the finish at 6 pm, making it 12 hour day in the saddle. Most of the day was spent with a great group of riders, and other than one particularly close dog encounter, it was a perfect day.

Debby made a big pot of homemade ham/navy bean soup and cornbread for a post-ride meal. I was able to clean up, eat, and prepare for the Coloradans return. They were all in by midnight and enjoyed hot soup to close out a successful brevet.

Next up is Kitt Peak, routes of 300, 400, and 600 km are available, wanna go for a bike ride? Click here!

Steve

Click here for GPS data

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