# Phoenix - Where/What to ride?



## noahknoll (Dec 5, 2008)

I'm headed down to Phoenix for about a week and a half starting Thursday. Staying right next to St. Joseph's hospital and had a couple questions. I ride both road and mountain, and was wondering 

First, which bike would be better to bring?

Second, Can I could get alot of good rides in leaving and returning to St. Joseph's, or if it would be better to plan on driving. I am going to have a pretty tight schedule with only about 2 hours of total time available to ride a day, so was hoping more on leaving and returning straight from the hotel. 

Third, Where are the closest, most challenging routes for either mountain or road to where I will be.

Any info helps, Thanks!!


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## AZPOWERHOUSE (Dec 16, 2008)

21 lurkers and no one can help out? 

To and from st joes rides would be road bike only, however I think the best rides are on the outskirts of town. There are few mountains close, maybe a 15min drive. It is also starting to get hot. What time would you ride? 

As far as challenging rides, maybe a little further of a drive but South Mountain is good for both road and mountain.


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## zmudshark (Jan 28, 2007)

For road, I like the Camelback/Mummy Mtn area in Paradise Valley.


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## noahknoll (Dec 5, 2008)

Sounds like planning on packing the bike in a rental car is gonna be my best bet. I'm planning on riding from around 530-830am, so although still hot at the time(relative to where I live.) It will be bearable! I don't know how you guys do it down there all summer!

Would anyone be able to share a map or directions of there favorite route?
Sounds like so far I will be checking out Paradise valley, and South Mountain. Thanks for the replys, And anymore details would be great...routes, traffic, lengths...Thanks!!


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## Eric_H (Feb 5, 2004)

Not a local, but I have spent a week there each of the last two springs. Zmud took me around Paradise Valley in 2010, some superb riding there and I was fortunate to remember most the routes he showed me when I returned this year. Also worthwhile to check out Fountain Hills and from there head north past McDowell Mtn Park and onto 9-mile Hill (west from Rio Verde back to N. Scottsdale).

This year I did a semi-epic solo from Cameback Mtn area to Bartlett Lake and back. 165 km and awesome. If you ride Bartlett Lake I understand the weekdays are much less busy for traffic compared to a weekend day, I rode it on a Thursday and it was not very busy at all.

Next time I'm there I need to check out South Mountain, Usery Pass and Cave Creek/Carefree areas.


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## AC911 (Apr 30, 2011)

Based on where you are staying, South Mtn looks like will be your best bet both for mtn or road. 

Tough it's pretty far (30 min. drive) for you, if you are staying over a Saturday, you are more than welcome to join our group ride at Bicycle Ranch in Scottsdale (located at 101 and Frank Llyod Right). Divided into A, B and C groups. We usually end up going to Cave Creek/Care Free area. 45-55 miles or so. About 3 hrs. Here is more info: http://bicycleranch.com/articles/calendar-pg37.htm


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## Tschai (Jun 19, 2003)

Here is a simple route. No hills and perhaps not the best scenery, but it will do. In Phoenix, if you don't know where to go you can end up some very unfriendly for bike streets. 

From St. Joseph's hospital take 3rd Ave. north. 3rd Ave is an established bike route. Keep heading north. At Minnezona there will be a bike only connector that keeps you on 3rd Ave. Keep heading north on 3rd Ave. All the way to Missouri. Take a left on Missouri (west). I simply cross Missouri and get on the sidewalk here. You will then turn right (north) at the first street, which is 4th Ave. North on 4th Ave. to Marshall. Make a right on Marshall (east) to 3rd Ave. again. Go left (north) on 3rd Ave. Stay on 3rd Ave. north. There will be another bike only connector at Rose Lane. Keep going north on 3rd Ave. until you reach Maryland. Go right on Maryland (east) until it ernds at 18th Street. Go left on 18th Street. It may be a bit hard to find but on your right you will see a bike path/access that should take you under a freeway and back to Maryland. Head a bit more east on Maryland. Before you get to a park on the left there will be a bike path and canal. Go left onto the bike path. Take the one that is on the west side of the canal. You can take this path to Glendale. reverse to get home.


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## smarkgraf (May 17, 2009)

Pull up Phoenix,az on Google Maps. Turn on Bicycling(paths). You will see several different ways to go from St Joes. You can go west to 15th Ave then north to the ACDC canal or turn left at Maryland and head east towards Granada Park. From the ACDC, you could go up through Dreamy Draw along the Piestawa Pkwy. If you brought a Mountain Bike, you could ride along the Grand Canal.


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## GearDaddy (Apr 1, 2004)

I was in Phoenix close to South Mountain in the beginning of April. Weather was unseasonably hot (95F+ a couple days), which was a shock to my system coming from Minnesota where it was 60 degrees cooler!

I ended up doing all of my riding in and around South Mountain and was well entertained. It would have been nice to get out further for some road riding, which seemed to be predominantly located on the northeast end of town, but logistically it was more of a hassle to make that happen.

I rented a road bike and did the South Mountain climb and San Juan Point thing one day, which was great. The climb took 30-40 minutes and the descent was great fun, and it amounted to about 30-40 miles of riding, but well worth it.

I rented a mountain bike for a few days and hit the excellent trails at South Mountain. There is a ton of stuff there, which can range from moderate, flowy stuff to epic, technical stuff. IMO, if you want to do something unique and challenging, then the mountain biking is a better bet.

You can get to the Pima Canyon trailhead on the eastern end of South Mountain Park in 15 or 20 minutes from your location. If you go to maps.google.com and zoom in on the area, then all of the trails are actually visible, and some (like the desert classic trail) will actually be labeled on the map.

There are some rides that you could easily do in just a few hours. For instance, the Desert Classic Trail is an easy to moderate rolling jaunt on the south side of the mountain. Out and back would be a fast 15 to 20 miles of riding. If you look closely at the map, you'll notice the "Secret Trail" offshoot, which involves a little bit more climbing and adds a bit more fun.

Another popular route is to go up Pima Canyon road (slight uphill) to where the National Trail and Mormon Trails climb more steeply up the ridge. The National Trail is more technical, and unless you're very good, then you will be hike-a-biking some spots. The Mormon trail is easier technically, but still has some steep climbing sections. These trails come back together up the ridge where it flattens out some. A popular thing is to follow a few more miles up the National Trail to a high point, and then turn around and come back downhill.

If you want to bite off more for a longer mountain bike ride at South Mountain, there's plenty of ways to connect these trails together. Hell, if you rode the National Trail from end-to-end and back from Pima Canyon, then it would probably be a 6+ hour ride. Some of the trails there are wicked technical with much endo potential and would be advised to have shin guards and full face helmet et al.

This dude has an excellent website that documents good stuff there with pics: http://www.mountainbikebill.com/AZ08SoMo-Day2.htm Take some of what this guy says with a grain of salt though - for instance Telegraph Pass was about 20% rideable for me going up, and taking it down had a high "pucker factor" indeed.

In the end I'd say skip the road riding through the maze of urban congestion in the valley and head for the kick-butt mountain biking right at the edge of town.


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## BigBadConrad (Aug 30, 2010)

Here's the mostly flat recovery ride I did yesterday that included north on 3rd Ave.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/93580855

If you cut out the 4 miles each way from my house to 64th St. & Thunderbird, it would be about 41 miles. Dunlap is a little sketchy but just about everywhere else there is a bike lane and average-to-good pavement.

-BBC


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## Alkan (Jun 30, 2011)

Biking up Cave Creek Road then turning onto Carefree Highway works well if you're in North Phoenix and want a pretty long ride.


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