ARIZONA WINTER RIDE CAMP

Physical Exertion: Intermediate+   /   Technical Ability: Advanced

 

What to expect in Tucson: A warmup day on the AZ Trail followed by two big shuttle days with chunk and long descents!

 

New for 2023, our Arizona Winter Ride Camp is designed to be a respite for those long, cold days and never-ending hours on your downstairs spin bike… we’re going to get you out in the sun and on some legit trails!  Based in Tucson, these camps are four days and three nights, with three solid days of riding made to loosen your legs, burn the lungs, and put some enjoyment back into the doldrums of winter.  Tucson flies under the radar when it comes to warm-weather mountain bike destinations, but ever since we discovered it in February of 2021, we can’t wait to go back and bring you with us!

 

Combining a “chill” (relatively speaking, of course) warmup ride on Day 2 on the Arizona Trail followed by two shuttles on Mt. Lemmon for Days 3 & 4, this trip will get you ready to take on the spring riding season!  Towering above Tucson, Mt. Lemmon offers 5-6k’ of chunky backcountry riding that will keep even the most advanced technical riders on their toes.  We can’t think of many better ways to spend a long winter weekend.  We partner with the awesome guides at Home Grown MTB for all of our Tucson trips, you’ll love Tara and crew!

 

Airport Options:  Tucson, AZ (20 minutes)  –  Phoenix (2 hours)

Interactive Tucson Trail Map

WHAT TO EXPECT

Day One:  Plan on arriving in Tucson by 5:30pm, where we will get settled into our accommodations and have a little while to set up bikes before a welcome dinner and drinks at the house.  Rest up, we’ve got a few big days of riding ahead!

Day Two:  Today we’re going to ease you off the couch and onto the trails with a warmup ride on the Arizona Trail… but don’t relax too much over the holidays, as we’ll still ride around 20 miles today.  No big climbs or super technical riding today, just a long day on the bikes on some of the most beautiful desert singletrack you’ll see.  We will do our best to get your legs and lungs burning a bit in anticipation of two big days to follow.

 

After 20+ miles and around 2,000′ of climbing today, we’ll regroup at our lodging for a dip in the pool, a post ride beer, and a fully-catered dinner that will fill you up and get you ready for days 3 and 4!

 

Day Three: OK, you’ve had your warmup… time to get into the gnar!  This morning we’ll hop in the van for a 45 minute shuttle up Mt. Lemmon to Red Ridge, which drops off the back side (north side) of the mountain for almost 4,000′ of rocky, chunky backcountry riding.  After traversing around to the northwest side on a deserted fire road, we’ll drop into the 50 Year trail system.  Depending on how the group’s feeling, we can extend the ride and knock out close to 25 miles today.  The shuttle will allow us to max out the “climb to descend ratio”, but expect about 2000′ of climbing with almost 7000′ of descent!

Day Four:  Ready for more chunk?  Good thing, since it’s on the menu this morning.  Once again, we’ll shuttle up to Mt. Lemmon (a different spot this time) for a proper “Lemmon Drop”, which includes the trails of Bug Springs, Prison Camp, the AZ Trail, and Milagrosa.  Expect lots of rocky tech and chunk on today’s ride, but damn it’s so much fun!  All told you can expect around 18-20 miles with 1500′ of climbing and over 5000′ of descent!

Unfortunately the trip comes to an end after our ride today: expect to be done by about 1pm so you can time your flight (or drive) home.

Interested in the terrain you can expect on this trip?  Here’s a video from the Milagrosa section of the Lemmon Drop!