January rides

 Happy New Year. Here are the trails that are in prime season for the month of January.

Trail	Area	State	Effort	skill	Primo
Thumper Trail Loop (dead horse park)	Cottonwood	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Soldiers Trail Loop	Flagstaff	Arizona	Easy	Beginner
Greene Haven Slickrock	Greene Haven	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
Arizona Trail	Jacob Lake to Patagonia	Arizona	Long ride	Expert
Badger Trail	Kingman	Arizona	difficult	Advanced
Camp Beale Loop	Kingman	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
Moss Wash Mines	Kingman	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Slaughterhouse Canyon	Kingman	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
Valley Drive	Monument Valley	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Page rimview trail	Page	Arizona	Easy	Beginner
Patagonia Ghost towns loop	Patagonia	Arizona	long ride	Novice
Cypress Thicket	Payson	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
Doll Baby Ranch	Payson	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
El Oso rd	Payson	Arizona	tough	Intermediate
Houston Mesa	Payson	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Little Pine Flat	Payson	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
mt peely road	Payson	Arizona	tough	Intermediate
Slate Creek Divide	Payson	Arizona	tough	Intermediate
Alta trail - Soutn Mountain	Phoenix	Arizona	Tough	Expert
Black Canyon Trail System	Phoenix	Arizona	Long ride	Advanced
Bulldog Canyon - Goldfield mtns	Phoenix	Arizona	moderate	intermediate
Coast to Coast - South Mountain	Phoenix	Arizona	Very Tough	xxx expert
DESERT CLASSIC - South Mountain	Phoenix	Arizona	Moderate	Advanced
Double Bypass - McDowell mtn preserve	Phoenix	Arizona	tough	Advanced
FINS (Fantasy Island North Singletrack)	Phoenix	Arizona	Moderate	Advanced
Helipad tt	Phoenix	Arizona	tough	climb
National Trail - south mountain	Phoenix	Arizona	severe	Expert
Papago Park	Phoenix	Arizona	Easy	Beginner
Phoenix Canals	Phoenix	Arizona	easy	Beginner
Phoenix Mtns Secret Trails	Phoenix	Arizona	All	All
Phoenix mtns trail 100	Phoenix	Arizona	very hard work	expert
Phoenix Mtns Trail 1A	Phoenix	Arizona	Tough	Expert
Phoenix mtns trail 8	Phoenix	Arizona	moderate	Advanced
Ridgeline Loops - South Mountain	Phoenix	Arizona	tough	Expert
Apache Trail	Phoenix - Apache Jct	Arizona	tough	Intermediate
Lost Duchman trail loops	Phoenix - Apache Jct	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Lost Goldmine Trail	Phoenix - Apache Jct	Arizona	Moderate	Advanced
Queen Creek	Phoenix - Apache Jct	Arizona	easy	Beginner
Silly Mtn	Phoenix - Apache Jct	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
White Canyon	Phoenix - Apache Jct	Arizona	Tough	Intermediate
Woodbury Rd	Phoenix - Apache Jct	Arizona	Tough	Intermediate
Devils Hole	Phoenix - Carefree	Arizona	tough	Intermediate
hombolt mtn	Phoenix - Carefree	Arizona	difficult	Intermediate
new River Headwaters	Phoenix - Carefree	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
New River Mesa	Phoenix - Carefree	Arizona	easy	Beginner
New River West	Phoenix - Carefree	Arizona	moderate	advanced
Sheep Bridge	Phoenix - Carefree	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
Trail 4 - cave creek trail - Seven Springs	Phoenix - Carefree	Arizona	Difficult	Expert
Casa Grande Mtn	Phoenix - Casa Grande	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Area 52	Phoenix - Florence	Arizona	tough	Advanced
Thunderbird park h1 - h5	Phoenix - Glendale	Arizona	easy	intermediate
Estrella Mtn Park (race loops)	Phoenix - Goodyear	Arizona	Good Workout	Advanced
Margies Cove	Phoenix - Goodyear	Arizona	Easy	Beginner
Blevins Loop - Usery park	Phoenix - Mesa	Arizona	easy	Beginner
Cottonwood Camp	Phoenix - Mesa	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
four peaks	Phoenix - Mesa	Arizona	tough	Intermediate
Hawes rd - red mountain	Phoenix - Mesa	Arizona	tough	advanced
Moon Rock Loop - Usery park	Phoenix - Mesa	Arizona	easy	Beginner
Usery Pass	Phoenix - Mesa	Arizona	No Sweat	Advanced
White Tank Mountains Goat Camp Loop	Phoenix - Peoria	Arizona	Tough	Expert
White Tank Mountains Sonoran Loop	Phoenix - Peoria	Arizona	Easy	Beginner
San Tan Loops	Phoenix - Queen Creek	Arizona	moderate	Beginner
Cave Creek	Phoenix - Scottsdale	Arizona	Heap O work	Advanced
Dynamite and Pima	Phoenix - Scottsdale	Arizona	Not too tough	Intermediate
McDowell mts Pemberton Trail	Phoenix - Scottsdale	Arizona	moderate	Beginner
McDowell mts Race Loops	Phoenix - Scottsdale	Arizona	race pace	Advanced
Sonoran Mtn Preserve	Phoenix - Scottsdale	Arizona	Tough	Intermediate
Toms Thumb	Phoenix - Scottsdale	Arizona	Tough	Advanced
Union Hills Loop	Phoenix - Scottsdale	Arizona	Long Ride	Beginner
Granite Basin Loops	Prescott	Arizona	easy to difficult	Advanced
Thumb Butte Loops	Prescott	Arizona	nothing too tough	All levels
White Rock loop trails	Prescott	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Airport Mesa Loop	Sedona	Arizona	Pretty tough	XXX Expert
Bell Rock Loops	Sedona	Arizona	fairly easy	Beginner
Boyton Pass	Sedona	Arizona	Long easy roll	Beginner
Cathederal Rock Loop	Sedona	Arizona	Moderate	Advanced
CocksCOMB LOOP	Sedona	Arizona	medium work	Beginner
Deadmans Pass Loop	Sedona	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Dry Creek	Sedona	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Huckaby Loop	Sedona	Arizona	Hard	Expert
Llama Trail Loop	Sedona	Arizona	Hard	Expert
Robbers Roost	Sedona	Arizona	easy as pie	Beginner
schnebly hill trails	Sedona	Arizona	a good sweat	Intermediate
Secret Trails	Sedona	Arizona	tough	Advanced
Submarine Rock Loop	Sedona	Arizona	hard work	Expert
Brown Canyon Loop	Sierra Vista	Arizona	moderate	Beginner
Carr Canyon Loop	Sierra Vista	Arizona	Fairly tough	Advanced
50 Year trail (the chutes)	Tucson	Arizona	A good sweat	Advanced
Chiva Falls	Tucson	Arizona	tough	Expert
Cobre Ridge	Tucson	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
Elephant Head	Tucson	Arizona	tough	Intermediate
Fantasy Island	Tucson	Arizona	easy	all levels
La Milagrosa	Tucson	Arizona	tough	xxx expert
Molino Basin	Tucson	Arizona	tough	Advanced
Peppersauce Loop	Tucson	Arizona	severe	Expert
Saguaro National Monument East	Tucson	Arizona	Fairly Easy	Beginner
Starr Pass - Yetman wash	Tucson	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
Sweetwater Preserve	Tucson	Arizona	Fairly Easy	Beginner
the Tortolitas	Tucson	Arizona	easy	Beginner
Tucson Mnts	Tucson	Arizona	Moderate	Intermediate
Gila Mountain	Yuma	Arizona	moderate	Intermediate
Martys Ridge to Liberty Bell	Yuma	Arizona	easy	Beginner
Gabrielino Trail	Los Angeles	California	moderate	Advanced
Borrego dessert state park	San Diego	California	moderate	intermediate
Florida Canyon	San Diego	California	Easy	Beginner
Miners Ridge Trail	San Diego	California	Good Workout	Intermediate
Sun Devil way	San Diego	California	good workout	all levels
Anderson truck trail	San Diego - Alpine	California	Tough	Expert
Marys Loop	Fruita	Colorado	Moderate	Intermediate
Munro trail	Lanai	Hawaii	tough	intermediate
Secret Trails	Maui	Hawaii	moderate	Intermediate
Mt Haleakala	Maui - Kula Forrest preserve	Hawaii	Tough	Expert
Kaaawa Valley	Oahu	Hawaii	Moderate	Beginner
Baby steps	Moab	Utah	moderate	Advanced
Gooseberry Mesa	Zion	Utah	Moderat	Intermediate
Greenline #6	Olympia	Washington	Tough	Expert

---

Desert classic passes trail 100 - cog swapping - change the chain

---

Cog swapping


The Outcast29 came with a bonus cog (a 33t chain ring). I swapped it out and hit the trails. Just geared lower. Still miss my gears, but I made record time on this ridged bike. Desert classic is totally doable without shocks. Just get off your saddle.

Heres a video I took today on the Outcast after I swapped the sprocket. (for the 33t chainring). Maybe someday I will show you what I ride like on a fixie as the Outcast has an option to setup fixy style too.

---

Change the chain

I broke out the old chain tool and was surprised to learn that the Moab was in need of a new chain. Replaced it and sure enough, the front gears sure change a lot faster. I wasn't having any trouble, but this made a difference. Good I caught it before I damaged my cogs.

Here is a photo of what a new chain looks like. The tool won't drop down on either end.  Once it stretches, it will fully slide trough the link. If it just slides through the .75 side, but not the other side it will get you by for a while.

---

Desert Classic passes Trail 100

Desert classic just passed trail 100 as the most ridden trail on my fat tire website  while my Outcast cracked the top 20 bikes. For some reason, my times are a lot faster on that single speed fully ridged bike than my geared bikes. Think the 29er really suites me though.

op Rated Trails

(Hide List...)

Rank	Top Trails	Area	Average Score	Rides logged
1	DESERT CLASSIC - South Mountain	Phoenix, Arizona	4.75	40
2	Phoenix mtns trail 100	Phoenix, Arizona	4.90	39
3	National Trail - south mountain	Phoenix, Arizona	3.53	15
4	Hawes rd - red mountain	Phoenix - Mesa, Arizona	4.92	12
5	Phoenix mtns trail 8	Phoenix, Arizona	3.83	12
6	Phoenix Canals	Phoenix, Arizona	3.09	11
7	McDowell mts Pemberton Trail	Phoenix - Scottsdale, Arizona	4.50	8
8	Ridgeline Loops - South Mountain	Phoenix, Arizona	3.63	8
9	White Tank Mountains Goat Camp Loop	Phoenix - Peoria, Arizona	3.57	7
10	Papago Park	Phoenix, Arizona	3.14	7
rows  1  5  7  10  20  30  31  120  240  365  750
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Top Rated Teams and Riders

(Show Lists...)

Top Rated Bicycles and Models

(Hide Lists...)

Rank	Top Bike Brands	Rides	hours Logged	miles Logged	average Speed	fastest Ride
1	Schwinn	121	166.91	657.00	3.94	17.65
2	TREK	36	73.21	321.90	4.40	50.00
3	Cannondale	29	57.82	283.60	4.90	9.00
4	Kona	18	62.72	200.00	3.19	8.33
5	Motobecane	12	22.08	105.00	4.75	10.29
1 2 3 4

Rank	Top Models	Rides logged	miles Logged	hours Logged	fastest Ride	average Speed	slowest Ride
16	Lenzsport - Lunchbox 29er	3	38.80	6.07	7.92	6.40	4.80
17	Specialized - Epic Marathon 29er	3	35.00	8.77	6.50	3.99	2.94
18	Motiv - Backcountry	3	27.70	8.82	4.62	3.14	2.40
19	Trek - Y22	2	17.00	2.00	9.00	8.50	8.00
20	Motobecane - Outcast 29	2	10.00	1.25	10.29	8.00	6.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

When you go to the site, you can click the bars to hide and show the different categories.

Before anyone gives me any grief about the order of the list, hey it's not opinion. It's just based on the calculations of those who use the site. The biggest factor is the number of entries.

peace and as one speed would say - go ride.

---

Darren's Rides: Castle Hot Springs Road

Darren's Rides: Castle Hot Springs Road

Darren,
Nice post! Yet another Ghost Hot spring resort. I didn't know about the one in your post.

I have had another Ghost Hot spring resort on my list to ride to for awhile. frasiecs list: fat-tire.net Camp Verde hot springs i put a link to your post.

What are those strange red mountains? They look neat.

Frank

aka frasiec

hmm, one of my weather web services is not working here. Only a five day forcast.

Place	CAMP VERDE	AZ	86322
Coordinates	Longitude: 111.8551	Latitude: 34.56973	Web service two unavailable
Today's Forcast	High 49 fahranheit	9 Celcius
	Low 21 f	-6 c
Current conditions	Currently 21 fahranheit	M/SUNNY	80 % humidity
December 27, 2009 10:13	Wind N	at 2 MPH	Pressure 30.17

5 Day Forcast

Day	Sunday, December 27, 2009	Monday, December 28, 2009	Tuesday, December 29, 2009	Wednesday, December 30, 2009	Thursday, December 31, 2009
Forcast High Fahrenheit	46	47	46	47	49
Forcast Low Fahrenheit	22	27	27	24	22
Conditions	Mostly Cloudy	Haze	Partly Cloudy	Mostly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy

Biggest Looser third weigh in - plus other stuff

Third weigh in. 216.2 pounds. Down three more pounds. Total of 6 lbs lost since I started the contest two weeks ago. Biggest lifestyle change = riding the Outcast29 to work.

Maybe I can win this thing?

---

Anyone heard of Electra Bikes out of San Diego?

My wife and I were furniture shopping and the owner was selling them. The bicycle looked really well made. Lot of wood on this model. Really pretty nice. It's actually a three speed.

I can just imagine myself cruising mission beach on one.

As my ride in Balboa park? Rather have a mountain bike. Commuter to work? This would work, but it's too nice. This bike is selling for $850 but looks much nicer. Wouldn't want to expose the wood to the elements for any length of time.

---

Rode Desert Classic today. Almost bit it once on a turn as I drifted into some sand. Other areas was riding high on the banks. Could really feel some g's. This trail is like a roller coaster, especially during the rainy season. Get that same shhh sound you get skiing. Often described as velcro conditions.

Here's a photo of Amit's bike. Kind of like his bike as it is a bit unusual. No conventional front fork. The shock is above. No weld joints. I guess it was molded. Got to admire Cannondale for trying different ideas.

Also took a short Video of the return to warpaint.

---

Coconino Cycles

Came across some nice work at Coconino cycles from denise's blog  and darrens blogs. Good old 'Cosmic Ray' recommended them to me when I was shopping for a bike, but a custom job was out of my price range.

I recently took the tour of the Titus bike company, now I may need to make a trip of Coconino Cycles for my own blog. Think I will plan for next summer. Maybe on my way to Point Sublime, carrying my new baby.

I'll take some of my own photos.