Arizona

If such things as past lives do take place, then I think I lived in Arizona on a past life. I traveled to Phoenix this week as part of my job. It was about a year ago that I went there for the first time (at least on this life). This is one of those things that really can't be explained very well, but I feel something special when I'm there. I try to rationalize, but I don't know if I do a good job of it.

You see, Phoenix is not really a beautiful place. It's a very densely populated valley in the desert. There's no general tree coverage or shade, even the green plants have an ash tone. It's all concrete, rock, sand, bushes and cactus. Most houses have no lawns and are very close to each other. So, what is it that makes me like it? Perhaps it is the fact that from anywhere in the metro area, you can look to the horizon and see the mountains. You can see "far away". Or the fact that, since there are not large trees covering and shading the streets, everything looks more "open" and more weather beaten. Or it could be that, this is the desert. As in, just the fact of being and living there has a certain level of danger and respect for the environment built into it. Survival. Not sanitized and taken down to the lowest common denominator. You have to still have a certain level of common sense and actually take care of yourself and yours to survive. There is still a feeling of The Old West and frontiersmanship in the air. There's also something to be said about cities arranged on a grid system.



People in Phoenix live by a somewhat different set of rules than at least us in the south east. We have the muggy hot summer, but they have the "you can die if you don't plan" heat in the summer, so they carry their water, plan enough time into their trips to allow for the air in the car to start cooling before leaving, etc. They don't move their clocks up in spring, which means sunrise before 6 am and sunset by 7pm. The advantage of this is that you get up early and go outside before things get too hot. They use a lot of artificial shade for playgrounds and parking. Adapt and survive.




Then, there's Sedona. Both times that I've gone to Phoenix, I've arranged my travel plans so that I get the chance to drive to Sedona and rent a mountain bike there.



Sedona is probably my favorite place in the world, as far as where I've been. It's about 125 miles north of Phoenix and about 40 miles south of Flagstaff. It is so different than both. The red rocks, canyons and just simply incredibly beautiful desert landscape makes me feel like I'm in some other planet and one that has an atmosphere of peace, adventure and a oneness with nature and the universe in general.

My two favorite businesses to visit in the area are Sedona Bike & Bean and The Desert Flour.

So, I arrived at the Bike & Bean and rented a Titus Motolite (ML1).




Got a map with a suggested route and headed out on my own. For those that care, I did the following loop: From Bike&Bean, to the Bell Rock Pathway, to Courthouse Loop, to Llama, to Little Horse going to Chicken Point. At Chicken Point I took the Broken Arrow trail, by Submarine Rock, then all the way to the Morgan Rd parking lot. Then, back Broken Arrow to Chicken Point (where I had my only fall of the trip, when I clipped a tree branch with the handlebars on a steep-ish drop), then taking Little Horse all the way to the HT trail, under the highway to Templeton Trail. At this point, I noticed I was running out of water, so decided to take Templeton back to the Bell Rock Pathway and back to Bike & Bean for some awesome iced latte.





Last time I was there, I rode from the Bell Rock Pathway to Templeton to the Baldwin Loop parking lot and back. I wanted to take Templeton this time again all the way and back, but not without water, so that was that. Again, for those interested, my suggestion for the best actual singletrack of that general area would be to start at the Morgan Rd parking lot and ride to the Baldwin Loop parking lot and back. That way you avoid the highest traffic area on the Bell Rock Pathway. Broken Arrow, Little Horse and Templeton are the most fun. Tons of slickrock, rocky short steep pitches up and down, jumps, switchbacks and plenty of opportunities for challenging riders of all skill levels. It definitely improves my own riding being able to try such different and technical trails than those near me.







Next time, I will try something different and let you know as well.

The only downside to my day in Sedona was being by myself. I wish I would have had my family with me to share everything my eyes captured. I wish I could have had my friends riding on the trail with me and share how fun the trails there are. I wish I could have gone hiking with K and together feel like such a tiny spec on this Universe, but at the same time, feel so connected and so belonging to nature as part of Mother Earth's master plan.




After an awesome sandwich at the Desert Flour and a little gift shopping and hanging around, I drove back to Phoenix. I even love the drive between the 2 places. You see the landscape and plants change as you climb the mountains, hit the high desert, drop back into Prescott Valley, more mountains, next valley.

I still don't understand why I feel the attachment and belonging that I feel there. I can't wait for the opportunity to go back with K and the kids to see if they feel it too. I know K shares my passion for Sedona, but until we can share it together, there, in the middle of nowhere and everything, I'll have to live with the small anxiety of an incomplete life. If you are to know anything about me, you should know that I am all about making lists and checking items out as I go along. I am all about setting up goals and reaching them. So you can be sure that at some point, I will be back in Sedona with my family and perhaps be there to stay.





Here's a link to more pictures from my trip...

Arizona_May_2009
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