kh6idf

Thanks for posting about the Stenholm ride. We will have our bikes by then, I will check it out!

03FinestAL

I asked about parking-

We have always told people to park legally around the park (parallel) on all sides, if the parking lot is full. Also, Horizon HS is just across the street to the East and is a good spot to park. We also encourage car pooling if you can!

Thanks for the support! I look forward to seeing you out there! Remember.... there'll be a nice lunch served afterward!

LarryMelman

I emailed the Gmail address on the ride flyer, and whoever replied said that the HS lots were NOT available. (And it's 1/2 mile south, not "just across the street to the East.") They had 400 riders last year, and the lot at the park only holds about 100. So you could end up parking many blocks away if you don't arrive early.

I realize this is only the 2nd or 3rd year for this ride, and it's being put on by a police support group, apparently without help from any of the cycling clubs... it sure seems to me like their organization, publicity and communication needs improvement. Maybe this has already gotten bigger than they ever expected. And maybe once the wheels start turning, it will be a great ride. But I'm still not sure of that.

Vicelord

There are lots of us in Phoenix.

Just don't be a ***** and stop riding in the summer like lots of people do here.

03FinestAL

I can't think of a time where anyone has ever been towed from an open school lot over a weekend........

Just come out and ride/have a good time.

03FinestAL

Ahmen to that!

Riding in the summer will make you stronger!

trussdude

I prefer riding in the summer.

Yesterday was cold!

kf9yr

I live just south of Anthem (northern turnaround for ride before heading back south) and did the Stenholm ride the inaugural year. I'm going again this year as it benefits a great cause and is a fun ride.

I'm not going to worry about parking, there'll be someplace nearby I can squeeze in and it's a decent area where I'd be very surprised if anyone gets towed.

KH6IDF are you from Hawaii?

Vicelord

My past few rides have seemed like absolute cake. I've been setting personal records on Strava segments that I've ridden over all summer, I've been holding higher averages on rides, and riding longer without feeling exhausted.

portland376

Check out Bicycle Haus in Scottsdale for a good LBS. Just be prepared to drop some scratch, their toys aren't cheap.

As far as riding in AZ...wasn't a huge fan of the scene in Phoenix. In my opinion much better riding to be found south in Tucson. That being said, it's hard to complain about the ability to ride year round. And yes, you can continue riding in the summer....bust out the lights and get out early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid the heat.

Vicelord

+500 oh Bicycle Haus. Nice people, great inventory, and my favorite LBS by far.

kh6idf

KH6IDF are you from Hawaii?[/QUOTE]

Yes, that's where I got my ham license back in the 1970's. Went to 2 years of high school and college there.

kf9yr, sent you a PM.

03FinestAL

OK, I am going to resurrect this and ask who made it out to the ride today?

kf9yr

I did... I live near Bicycle Vibe (1st rest stop).

A few of us met there at 6, rode down to the ride, then rode back afterwards.

The weather was beautiful, police escort was appreciated and the lunch afterwards hit the spot.

Did you ride as well?

LarryMelman

I rode with some folks from my club. A nice ride in a part of town that we'd never ride in otherwise. The only problem we had was that the police escort disappeared on us for the last 20-ish miles of the ride. The back of the pack got pretty spread out, so I can understand that they didn't have enough ******* to keep all the intersections clear. But we could have used some help getting through the left turn at Cave Creek/Carefree Hwy.

Greggle

I live in Houston, kh6idf, and I can't possibly begin to imagine why you would ever leave. Phoenix? Seriously?

Gah! Ok, you got me. I'm just jealous.

Farewell, Godspeed...

kf9yr

When you were heading east on Carefree Hwy, just before it gets to Cave Creek Rd, the route turned South (right) on Black Mtn Pkwy, then it turned east on Rancho Paloma and South on Cave Creek Rd. This should have saved you the traffic problems on Carefree Hwy/Cave Creek Intersection.

Unless you meant the left turn on to Deer Valley Rd off of Cave Creek Rd (which is a busy intersection and without a police escort I would have looped through the neighborhood just to the west and taken Deer Valley across Cave Creek Rd). Unless someone in your group was local to this part of town you wouldn't have known that...

Glad to see you made it though.

03FinestAL

I made the ride, I arrived just before 6 and just sat in my car listening to music until about 30 min before the start. I spent most of my time up near the front with one of the organizers (Michele, the slender dark haired woman that spoke before we started- friends since we were in Kindergarten).

Last year I was in the middle of the pack when I doubled back to ride with a small group that I had been separated from. We were outside the rolling "bubble", but didn't have too much difficulty navigating the traffic at the Cave Creek/Deer Valley intersection.

This year was a little warmer than last, but not too bad. I thought the sandwiches were a good idea, and not as heavy as the BBQ we had last year.

Luckily the one motor officer that went down early in the ride, was OK and able to continue with us.

LarryMelman

Yes, that's what I meant. Sorry. We had a pack of maybe 20 people weaving through traffic to get to the left turn lane. I don't know if they only had the escort cops until a certain time or what. But the last cop we saw was sitting at Black Mtn Pkwy and Rancho Paloma, telling everyone to turn right at Cave Creek. Nothing after that. Did most of the ******* ride all the way back to the park? The pace of the main bubble starting out was just insane for a community ride. And the number of people that couldn't be bothered to heed the one simple instruction to stay in the right lane of the street was baffling too.

We all arrived around 6:30 so we got good parking at the park.

03FinestAL

I believe the city gives the ride a window of time for completion. There are so many intersections to cover as we move plus they are covering the left side of the main group so they get stretched a little bit thin and are forced to stick with the bulk of the riders. As far as I can tell, the motors did ride back in to the park.

The issue with people staying to the right.....

I did mention that "they" should consider "banning" team kits. Most of what I saw from up front was a lot of groups/teams that felt the need to get up and around everyone and push their way into the front of the group. There was a lot of unnecessary risk taking by a few of the "experienced" racers. I had a couple that couldn't hold their line in front of me in a turn, and one almost put me into a left curb on one turn because he swung out instead of tracking straight in behind the rider in front of him.

But that is just the dynamics of such a large and diverse group. It can never be perfect, and it can only be what we choose to make of it.

All in all I think the ride went well. I didn't see anyone wash out and go down like last year, and one guy almost bit it in front of me as we were heading back down 56th St South of 202 due to those wonderful nasty parallel cracks in the road (but he recovered nicely).

I will be back next year.

fstshrk

I was in Phoenix for a temporary assignment for about a year. The weather from late September to early May is awesome. Rest of the year, you need to ride either really early in the morning or late in the evening. The temperatures get into the unhealthy range really quick. If you can swing it, try to find a place that has a pool. If it is heated, you can pretty much use it year round.

Ferrarif2002

This was my first group ride and had a great time. I was worried at first and stayed towards the back for the first few miles but noticed the group spreading out so I started moving to the mid-front and stayed there most of the ride. Overall it was a fun experience and I'll do it again next year.

03FinestAL

Then we will see you again next year, right?

Ferrarif2002

For sure and I'll try to convince my dad to come along as well

AzTallRider

It was a great ride, though some people were calling it the "brake pads 100" because of the accordion effect. Getting to the front eliminated that (and increased safety), and enough people wanted to do that to keep a fairly constant cycling <npi> of people to the front, resulting in some folks pushing the envelope by going outside the single lane alloted to the ride. One of the escort motorcycles going down was the only big issue. He tried to get around to the front in an area with construction (very early in the ride), hit the median, and went down. The sound behind me was 'interesting' to say the least: plastic and metal bouncing and scraping on pavement. It almost caused crashes ahead of where he went down as people slowed and rubbernecked. I was yelling "Don't look!" at the ones in front of me, as I was envisioning them taking people down. The LEO only got road rash. I thought the pace was perfect for that kind of ride, right around 20 for most of it, increasing a bit for the slight decline down cave creek and 56th. My average was 19.7, and more than half the time I was in z1 (recovery pace).

I rode to the ride, so it was a great 80 mile day of 'base' and provided support for a great cause.