Going to be in Phoenix over President’s day weekend with some friends who cycle. Looking for:
Come to tucson instead, obviously. But if you insist on the valley, what part will you be in? Phoenix proper?
REI Co-Op Adventure center in North Scottsdale rents some very nice Trek and Cannondale bikes. They have ride maps and cue sheets that start right from the store. I recommend the Bartlett Lake route!
Sign up and race with me!
Scottsdale
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This is a decent route out of Scottsdale…I have ridden it a couple of times while there on business.
There’s a 3 day stage race in the PHX area that weekend for all categories. Friday ITT (10ish miles). Saturday Road Race (distance depends on category). Sunday is a crit downtown. I think you have to enter the full 3 stages if you are P/1/2/3/4. Cat 5/Novice can do each event individually.
I’m flying down from Ohio to do this race and hanging out to do the Tucson Bicycle Classic the following weekend. TBC is a similar format but a shorter TT and a circuit race Sunday instead of the crit.
I have to miss VOS this year, but it’s a great race.
BikeHaus will be able to hook you up with good routes, though I doubt they rent bikes.
Options from a friend who lives there (private account, not sure how to link them in strava directly… but will if someone tells me how):
REI for rentals. There’s a lot of great road and gravel riding from Scottsdale. Bartlett lake (maybe a bit busy with traffic on a holiday weekend unless you go early) and Cave Creek are the best longish rides with some climbing. There’s plenty of gravel riding in Browns ranch and Mcdowell Regional parks. Also a really nice gravel road out the end of seven springs rd to Humboldt mountain from north scottsdale/cave creek. There’s a Saturday group ride that leaves from Scottsdale (gainey ranch area) and a Sunday group ride through Paradise Valley if you are into that sort of thing.
