Here’s part 2 of my “catch-up” post!

Last weekend, my SAT and I rode part of the Black Canyon Trail (BCT). The BCT is about 80 miles long and roughly parallels the I-17 in Arizona. It’s surprising that so many people who drive the I-17 to and from Phoenix have no idea that there’s an amazing trail just beside and below them. Most mountain bikers who ride the BCT select a specific section or two, rather than ride the entire trail. We chose to ride the Copper Mountain loop, which is a 15 mile loop that is SE of Prescott. The loop starts at the Big Bug trailhead (note: I think the reason the trailhead is called “Big Bug” is because of all the HUGE grasshoppers (or whatever they are) in the area). I was pretty impressed by the beauty of the area: lots of green due to all the rain we’ve received this monsoon season, red dirt, lots of prickly pear cacti and purple rocks. The loop itself is probably an intermediate-level trail; it isn’t extremely technical overall, but there are definitely sections that feature rock gardens (i.e., bunches of rocks clustered together) and some exposure.

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One thing I started doing this fall is lead a weekly ladies’ beginner ride at South Mountain. I’m part of a Phoenix-area ladies’ mountain biking group and was riding so much that the group leaders noticed and asked if I would like to be a ride leader. Of course I said yes! I’ve had a lot of fun meeting new ladies and showing them some things I’ve learned since I started working on my riding skills last year. In addition to my weekly rides, I plan on organizing longer weekend rides every so often. Today, I led a Hallowe’en-themed ride at Browns Ranch and my little group had a great time enjoying the scenery and taking lots of fun photos.

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