Big Mama Headed South for the Winter

Now that the weather is getting miserably cold here in Prescott, it's time to head south.  Most of the time I go to the Black Canyon Trail, partly because it is less than an hour drive.  Occasionally I will go to South Mtn.  It has good trails with some technical terrain.  This most recent ride, I was told about the Phoenix Sonoran Preserve.  For those of you who don't know where it is, it's located to the south of Carefree Hwy, North of Deer Valley Rd and east of the I-17 freeway.  It's a small strip of small mountains near the Nortera Development.  Rick Brazil told me to try them out over the Thanksgiving weekend.  

Looking South over Deer Valley

   Since they were close to my inlaws, I thought I would give them a whirl.  I parked near 14th St and Carefree Hwy.

This was definitely the wrong place to start.  Take a look at the MAP, which I rarely do, and you can see they have a multiple places to start, which doesn't include this one.

The only reason I chose this was because, again, it was close.  Starting here forced me hop the fence and ride 4 miles through flat desert and open construction areas that had been abandoned due to the recession.  That whole time, I could see the mountains and trails, but had no good idea on how to get there.  The roads where like spaghetti on a map, they kept crisscrossing but never seemed to get me where  I wanted to be.  One minute I'd be on a  nice 2 track making good time, the next it would stop and turn into bare desert.
Finally I found the trail that I wanted to be on.

Nice and groomed, relatively gentle slope, nothing that couldn't be handle by the amateur mountain biker.  The Bobcat trail meandered up for a short while until I hit the intersection of the Western Vista Trail.  Now the picture here doesn't do it justice.  The trail went from fun and easy to straight up.  I didn't have to take the trail, it did go anywhere but to the top of a hill.  And as all men know, if there is a hill to climb, you can't let the challenge go.  Fortunately it was only a 3rd of a mile long.

Big Mama on top!!

The trail was steep enough that I had a hard time keeping my front tire on the ground. My new rear tire, the Maxxis Ardent, was great, never slipped and kept me moving forward.  This trail was the only hill that was a challenge in the area that I rode.  Everything in the Preserve was well groom and non technical.  Trails were wide enough so that passing, or in my case, being passed by the Swiss American Bike Team,  was easily done without making anybody angry or forcing them of the side.
The trails continue around small peaks, through washes, around lots of cactus, and before long, I had been riding for 2 hours.  I don't know if it was because of the Thanksgiving weekend or what, but this area had very little use being that it was surrounded by houses.  If you are in the area and have a little time to kill, this is a fun ride, I would recommend it to all levels of riders.  Downhillers are the only ones I can see not enjoying the trail I rode.  I ended up ride about 10 miles of trails inside the preserve and another 10 out side in my desert wanderings.  If you want to add more distance, try starting in the Cave Butte Recreation Area, I think that is where I will start next time.  I when I do, I'll fill you in on the continuing adventures of Big Mama.