Mountain Biking the White Mountains

So after last weekend I figured out a way to either get things done... or shirk off responsibilities so D and I could head back up to the White Mountains.
This time we were headed to get some mountain biking and a blues fest in!

So I've been wanting to try... or "subject" myself to a single speed bike for a while now. So many people seem to love it. Is it just because of the attention they get for being insane and riding with no gears and often no suspension? Or, is it just that fun?
I picked up this bike for next to nothing so I figured it was worth trying out the SS world along with the 29er world all in one!


We headed up to our new favorite campsite for the night.


These are the makings of a great meal!


Carne Asada!


Camping tacos are awesome!


Time for dessert.


Mmm good!


Great views out here. We saw some elk last weekend and Javelina this weekend. Here is a killer tree.


Anytime you can find a campsite on the other side of a water crossing it will cut down on the amount of people that will be around!


We got up early so we could head up to the Mogollon Rim and meet up with a group of folks who were doing a Mountain Bike Ride. Before we left D got some great shots of flowers near camp.






Checking out the new bike and making sure everything was tight. This would be the third ride on it. The first two had gone poorly. I then took the time to check every nut and bolt on the bike before this ride.


We were actually riding along part of the Arizona Trail.


A BIG thanks to Mick at Hike Bike and Run for setting these rides up. I know it's a lot of work to organize something like this.
http://www.hikebikeandrun.com/index.html




The riders from Saturday! I met so many cool people. Amazing how one good ride can make fast friends! We road something like 28 miles. They were pretty tough miles on a single speed. At least tough for a n00b in the SS world.



The Pinchot Cabin






While we road D took a nap and took some more amazing pics!





At the end of the ride I was beyond beat! I could barely pedal back to the car! We actually got hailed on just a bit as we were loading up the car. Brrr!!!

I checked my phone and heard that some friends were headed to the Blues Festival in Pine so we made our way over there. Good way to end a day for sure!




We headed back to the campsite for a few beers and some dinner!


For Sunday mornings ride we headed over to the other side of the Rim. Just before Heber we met up with everyone at forest road 300. I was pretty beat from the Saturday ride so we consulted maps and Mick's expertise to find a ride that would be fun, but somewhat easy.





Skilled experts?? Ha!


We did a loop around Woods Lake. On the backside of the lake is an observation point to keep an eye on the Bald Eagle nest!


You can see the baby birds hanging out in the nest!


The panorama feature kinda sorta works! Disappearing tire! haha!


After the loop around the lake we did a trail that takes you right off the edge of the rim. Really cool and almost untouched trail. No foot prints or tire tracks along it. It would have been more fun if I didn't get a flat about 200 yards into the trail. I tried to use my spare tube and it had a hole in it... I patched that and put it back in and then I heard a second hole that I likely put in it by using the tire irons... So I patched that one and re-installed the tube just using my hands... yep you guessed it. There was another friggen leak!!!
I gave up. I went ahead and walked/road on the rim down the rest of the trail. Oh well. Just gotta go tubeless on this cheap SS and never look back!!!!!