SSAZ

Where to begin....? I guess its always best to start at the beginning. I have been wanting a single speed MTB for quite some time now. I have been putting it off because I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy a complete vs. build one. The decision was recently easily made for me. There were two races I had on my radar to do. The first on the radar was the 24 hours in the Old Pueblo in mid Feb. My residency has been fielding a team for 4 years now and I was recruited for this years endeavor. The other was SSAZ put on by the one and only Deejay Birtch.




With SSAZ fast approaching and no time to build I pulled the trigger on a new GF Rig 4 days before SSAZ. This was just enough time to put in some hot laps at Fantasy Island and figure out that there was not enough chain to run a 34/21 for the 7,000 feet of climbing that was ahead of me.

Now for the race. This was quite possibly the most fun possible on two wheels. The festivities started the night before the race at the Bayhorse Bar. This is a high quality establishment in central Tucson that brought back memories of the Lumber Jack in Big Bay or Remmie's in Downtown Marquette. You had to show up the night before at the bar to find out the actual details of the race; where to start, finish, what time to show up etc. After killing a few longnecks I returned to the homestead for a few short hours of shut eye before heading out Saturday morning. We showed up to Agua Caliente park at 7 am for the roll out. It was a motly scene. All types of folk half hung over from the night before or shot gunning PBR in the parking lot. I knew it was going to be a good day. We roll out and head down the end of tanque verde road to my favorite road sign ever (I'll have to post a photo some time).

Before we end the neutral roll out the lead car pulls along side the crew and starts handing out the champagne of beers to the thristy racers. From there the road turns to dirt and starts to climb. I was feeling good on the 14 miles of climbing but as soon as we hit the trail thats where I suck.

The trails were super fun but the 34/19 on the 29er made the rest of the steep climbs super tough. The trails had every thing sweet single track, steep drops, and we actually road through a river for a while. After the first trail section we dump back out on the dirt road and climb again. From there its a sharp left and hit some sweet sections of the Arizona Trail before finishing up on the Milagrosa trail (Intense!). After the last killer section of the Milagrosa you could here all the finishers hoot and hollering down at the river. You roll down to the river and there it is.......a bunch of other single speed folks, a keg keeping cool in the river (hauled down by chase brother the younger), and a pile of pizza. A great way to spend your saturday; 48 single speed miles, 7000 feet of climbing, delicious brew and great weather.