Visiting Phoenix next week; bike rental & routes?

[clyde the point]

Have a chance to rent a bike for a day (Fri 2.31) and wonder what the area Paceliners would recommend for a ride and rental? Looking forward to some warmer temps and hopefully a route that takes me away from traffic *good luck on that one*. Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort is the lodging for this event. Doesn't matter to me if it's dirt or street. Just looking for a few hours of something different. Thanks in advance.

[verticaldoug]

If you have a car, I'd drive up to tortilla flats and ride outnback on the Apache Trail.

If I didn't have a car, I'd head to the canal, and just go cruising along the canal.

Otherwise, I'd probably lace up tennies and go running around the Mountain Reserve which is accessible from a trailhead right near the resort.

Drivers in Phoenix really scare me and I prefer to inline along the canals. Otherwise, I head up to Superstitions for hiking in the winter. The siphon draw trail to Flatiron is fun. Wear leather gloves for the cactus

[Likes2ridefar]

Global bikes in chandler has high end specialized mtb and road rentals. My father rented a roubaix with di2 for a week for a fair price last year.

This year since we moved to old town, he rented from arizona outback adventures. It was a salsa backpack/gravel bike. It had a high end carbon frame set but the components were pretty cheap and it cost the same to rent as from global. Nothing wrong with it though the brakes were a bit squishy (mechanical discs..) They have many other options as well so don’t let that scare you.

AOA also has many routes on their site. I’ve done a few of their gravel routes and they were amazing but VERY hard - they actually took one offline after i sent feedback and it coincided with their move to affiliate with REI (probably don’t want to kill their patrons) and none are close to PHX. I found the paradise valley road route from their site and it has turned into my regular 1.5 to 2 hour ride. Stunning views and real estate for most the route. This is the ride I would do if on the road in the area. You can easily make it significantly longer by adding canals to connect elsewhere.

Bartlett lake is a great out and back on the road. This is similar to Apache sans nasty bumpy dirt road. Very similar views and ends at a giant lake surrounded by mountains.

I personally disagree with the Apache recommendation. It is very scenic, but it is super choppy so unless you have a full suspension mtb, you’ll get pretty beat up. FWIW, I rode it on a 30mm roubaix ...definitely not the best bike for that. It will most likely have jeeps and trucks on it.

Canals are a great recommendation for navigating the city areas, and i highly recommend Paradise valley area if you want to road ride, but if you really dig there are many opportunities to turn it into a gravel/trail/road route. I often hit the 56th st climb for a great view of PHX from the paradise valley route (AOA) and then drop back down to the canal and head to PHX mtn preserve, do some trail riding, back to the canal and 40th st connects back to the paradise valley route. For the next 30-45 minutes of the route you are On peaceful roads with stunning real estate with great views. Having lived in Manhattan and next door to Greenwich and Darien in CT, paradise valley offers steep competition for the most ridiculous real estate I’ve seen.

[Dromen]

2 Wheel Jones in Mesa. AOA(now REI Travel) in Scottsdale.....good bikes and get get you any route in Phx area.

[Likes2ridefar]

Forgot to mention the obvious and generally most popular south mountain road climb or mountain biking on the numerous trails.

[Pierre]

Not sure what kind of ride would suite you best but I’ve dragged my bike down to Scottsdale a few times and you can get some beautiful desert riding in just north of there. Many of the major roads in that area have nice wide shoulders designated for bikes. There is a rental place in the area that has some great route suggestions online. See below.


https://ridewithgps.com/events/30051-aoa-shop-routes


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[Ozz]

I did loop around Granite Mountain in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve (Scottsdale) last year (trail riding)...it was pretty fun.

Lots of other trails to choose from depending on how technical you want it

[zmudshark]

For an 'out the door' road ride I would suggest Paradise Valley. It can be as hard or as easy as you desire. For 'out the door' mountain, the Phx Mtn Preserve is even closer.

If you want to drive out to a place and ride, I would suggest Carefree to park, and do Bartlett Lake/Seven Springs and Carefree Foothills (Cow Track Estates).

Give me an idea of how far/hard you want to ride, and I'll send you a couple of routes.

Carry extra water, whatever you do.

[bigbill]

If you rent a MTB, go over to McDowell Mountain Park near Fountain Hills. It's $7 to enter and the trails are fun and clearly marked. Pemberton offers just about every terrain. They have nice facilities with showers.

[GregL]

http://www.trailheadbikecafe.com/rental-fleet/

About 15 minutes from your hotel. Right on the Arizona Canal Trail and a good rental fleet.

Greg

[lzuk]

Rent a mountain bike at Fountain Hills Bikes. Warm up by riding from their shop to McDowell. Hit the trails to access the gooseneck ride toward rock knob. Ride the pemberton to bluff trail. Sail down bluff with a smile on your face

[clyde the point]

Great suggestions thanks!