Being the first day of our spring break training and with no tour guide, Ben and I were on our own to explore the northwest suburban area of Phoenix. With little more in mind than to at least make it to the base of The White Tank Mountains which were 15 miles away from the Grandparents’ resort, we set out on our two-wheelers. The temps were in the mid 70’s and the winds high with gusts up to 40 miles per hour out of the northwest. We were fighting that wind for most of the way out to the mountains on a ride that ended up being 36 miles.
The “out” of our out-and-back route was driven by the excitement of riding in short sleeves and not having to navigate around patches of ice. We travelled 4 miles south, which was very fast, and the other 14 west, which was not. For most of the westward miles, we averaged less than 15 miles per hour due to the wind.
After only a few miles on the road, we decided to take a look at our map and find the best route to get us to our destination. As we were slowing, I was stampeded by a pack of tumbleweeds. I had to stop to pick the thorns out of my legs, and the branches out of my spokes. After that short disruption, we continued on to the mountains in the distance.
By the time we had finally made it to White Tank Mountain National Park, we had been riding for about an hour. We went in to the park and rode for another 2 miles or so. Not seeing a road that went to the summit, we decided to turn back and save our legs for the days to come.
The ride back was much faster due to the assistance from the wind. In opposition to the less than 15 miles per hour we were doing heading west, we were averaging nearly 25 miles per hour while going east. We made back in just over an hour after a long cool down, 10 minutes faster than the way out. It ended up being a great first day and both of us are very excited to continue exploring the Phoenix area in the days to come. (written by gforce)
Oh ya and we got some good tennis in too, ben beat me 7-5.
pics of the first day:
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