Kate's Blog 2014: Day 13 - Black Canyon...

Bikes packed... tuk and winter jacket did go....

...a little bit of everything. This was a true epic. It was a few sections of smooth trail but mostly be prepared for a long day with wicked epic trail of all sorts of rock, various kinds of cactus (any bush you see, assume it can hurt you!!) and wildlife......(wild donkeys, single track hare, hawk were some).

Got up a early and snuck in a breakfast at yesterday's lunch spot before hitting the road. The trail head is about midway between Sedona and Black Canyon City (don't confuse the city with a city). Felt cool but advised no arm or knees today and Steve got that right.

The trail is an in and out, with some options for a couple loops here and there. It's starts with a great climb that not until I descended at the end if the day realized how exposed and wicked views it offered. We rode through any color and shape of rock you can imagine (and I know a few folks who would have probably had a proper name for it all but we probably would have spent days rather than hours finishing the ride).

On the first loop section we saw a group of wild donkeys, super health good looking. We had a couple of wet crossings, but on the bike this time. By the time we hit the end point about 40km in my shoulders/back were pretty bad but since there was no coffee shop we really had no option but to turn and ride back and look forward to the chocolate croissants in the car....

The ride bike felt shorter and quicker but it was about the same. In total this ride is about 80km. There are some great feature along the way and it never gets boring. If it wasn't for the bad shoulder at the very last decent; wow what a way to end the 80k ride!!!

The bikes even deserved a rinse after today's outing. Tomorrow is picket post (or something like that) and then let the legs decide....

Happy Riding!