On the Trail with IMBA

For Trail Care Crews, the mid-winter season is all about ‘training up’ for the year ahead. When we finally pack the cars and head somewhere warm (and hopefully dry) we are eating, sleeping, and talking trails. Beyond that, we ride.

During week two we managed to string together five days of awesome riding in five unique places.

Day 1 - BCT

Day 1 – Black Canyon Trail. North of Phoenix, AZ. On par with Maah Daah Hey, the BCT will become the next big epic singletrack experience.

Day 2 - National Trail

Day 2 – National Trail – South Mountain Preserve. Phoenix, AZ. If you’ve ever read Cosmic Ray’s Arizona Mountain Bike Guide, you know that the National Trail is dubbed ‘The Teacher of Terror.’ The nickname didn’t stop us from riding a trail that everyone should check off their list.

Day 3 – Coronado Middle School Trails. Tucson, AZ. See Steve and Morgan’s recap of our visit to a local middle school in Tucson. It was a definite highlight in our tune-up for the road.

Day 3 - Coronado Middle School

Day 4 - AZT

Day 4 – Arizona Trail – Pistol Hill. Tucson, AZ. Spent the day riding with local trailbuilder, Mark Flint. He guided us on a fabulous section of the AZT. The future of trails in southern AZ is looking bright!

Day 5 - Robles Pass

Day 5 – Robles Pass. Tucson, AZ. The maiden voyage for our new Trek mountain bikes. We joined up with the ‘Last Saturday Ride’, a monthly (inclusive) ride gala for the Sonoran Desert Mountain Bikers.

Both of us Trail Care Crews, who are traveling together through February for training purposes, recently visited the Coronado Middle School in Tucson, Arizona. The kids are led by Hank Rowe, a social sciences teacher at the school, and also, of course, a mountain biker. Hank is a member of the Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists. On a side note, we spent the majority of our time in Tucson with the SDMB, helping them improve their already fun and productive club, meeting their members, and riding their awesome trails.

Classroom Shot

Post-Ride Shot

Hank, or Mr. Rowe to the young riders, leads the Coronodo K-8 Mountain Bike Club. The Club meets every week and rides either the local 1-2 mile system out behind their sports fields, or close-by trails. Chris and Leslie made a quick presentation to them on what sustainable trails mean and basic trail maintenance guidelines (remember, Pulaski and McLeod!), but they could hardly sit still - all they wanted to do was ride! We could all relate to that, so we hit their swoopy and flowy system of beginner, intermediate and advanced trails for 45 minutes or so before the bell rang. I don’t know who was more psyched to be riding together - the club or the crews. The kids’ enthusiasm drew huge grins on our faces. They were of all abilities, but none lacked excitement for mountain biking. I hope that they continue to improve their skills and abilities on the trails within their school and beyond, and become strong advocates for riding - maybe on the SDMB board someday?!

I can’t sign off without mentioning the kids’ humor - some of them knew more about bike mechanics and parts than I would if I holed up with 20 years’ worth of bike mags. One student gave my bike one look and said “I think we need to get you on a lighter bike.” And then proceeded to really school me on why! I was amazed and loved every minute of it.

Club & Crew Group Shot

Rippin' It So Young!

Check out photos from week 2.  The weather finally dried out and we made our way south to Phoenix and Tucson.  Highlights include The Black Canyon Trail, National Trail, and the AZT.

Click here to see the slideshow.

Stay tuned for more on our visit to Coronado Middle School in Tucson.

Click the collection above to see what both Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crews did in week 1 of the 2010 season.  Enjoy!

It’s just about time to get on the road again.  It will be another year of working, living, and riding in fresh places. 

We’re in the final stages of gathering our belongings, a process that involves mind-numbing analysis.  After several hours of packing and re-packing we finally collect everything into a half dozen rubberized containers.  Throughout the process we ask ourselves questions like “should I bring more than two pairs of underwear?” and “will we really have time to fly-fish and climb on our days off?”  The answers are unknown.

What is known is that we will travel to interesting locations and meet fascinating people.  We will teach and we will learn.  We will explore and we will discover. 

We will prove to ourselves everyday why we have the best job in the world.

See you on the road or on the trail…