Great Early Morning Ride

As many of you know, I started mountain biking about 3 years ago. I love the sport. Yesterday morning I went for my little 40 minute route through the mountains at McDowell Mountain Ranch. It was beautiful and peaceful. The trail is changing due to the summer rains. We haven't had much rain, but it affects the trail instantly. My ride took me up Taliesin Trail from 107th and Gelding. I rode up to the beginning of Lost Dog trail, which took me to the saddle separating McDowell mountain Ranch from the neighborhoods around Anasazi elementary school. A rocky jeep trail takes you to the saddle, it is an intense ride. My good friend and riding buddy, Troy Williams, named this section of the trail "the mother" for good reason. It is always an exciting ride, it took me over a year to conquer "the mother" and I always get my heart rate over 170 bpm. Riding down is quite exciting too. One wrong move and you are eating rocks and boulders.
On the way down I split over to Quartz trail. It is a great downhill ride. One of my other riding buddies, John Todaro, favors the challenge of riding up Quartz trail. I think of it as the REWARD for a good hard ride. It has very fast down hill runs and quick twists and turns. You finish the ride going through the wash separating Cimarron Hills and Chastle Chase. The Quartz trail then dumps me onto 105th Street by the McDowell Mountain Ranch community center. What a thrill this ride is and usually I am 35 minutes from departure at this time. I love it! It gives that awesome feeling of accomplishment, of outdoor exploration and of physical exertion. But the ride is not over yet. Now I have a 5 minute ride up and down 2 hills, just over a mile, to get home. A great early morning ride always makes for a great day!

Jeff