9.17.2009

The Hundred Trail



decided to rise & shine early today and tackle the infamous 100 trail. this beauty runs 10 miles (one way) thru the heart of Phoenix, but don't think of this as an "urban" trail in any sense of the word. this trail connects North Mountain Park to Squaw Peak Mountain and there are no paved sections in between. although it may be described as "moderate" by some hardcore bikers, there were 4 times i had to walk my bike uphill, and not cuz i can't ride a fuckin bike. for every grueling uphill, there was some wicked chunky downhill that made me rethink my decision to ride without a helmet...

i rode the trail West to East, and intended to take the streets back to the starting point, but i still ended up on the trail for at least 1/3 of the return trip (and my streets experience was characterized by a looooooooooong gradual uphill and 2 near-collisions with cars...). in the end it was 18.3 miles in 2.5 hours. i had a raging headache that was due to the brutal abuse the trail dispensed thru my handlebars (and maybe a bit from dehydration although i drank 100oz of electrolyte enhanced H20).

Next time i'll probably be less strict about staying on the trail and try some of the dozens of off-shoots i passed...there's probably 500 miles of trails like this running thru the area. literally.

props to www.MTBikeAZ.com for the cool image

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