DM Solo Training Ride: Another Morning on the Mountain

So, I used to put off South Mountain... Like REALLY put off South Mountain. And I still do a little, but bear with me.

When we start talking about the hills on AIDS LifeCycle, I tell all of our new cyclists that if you can handle South Mountain, you can easily conquer any of the big hills on the ride - Quadbuster, Evil Twins, ANY ALC hill. So as I've trained with Tyler and Scott for the past two AIDS LifeCycle rides, I've always said something along the lines of, "We really need to make sure that we get South Mountain in at least once a month."

But really, we usually only get South Mountain in a couple times.

The sun rising over South Mountain

South Mountain isn't so fierce that it just can't be climbed... Really, it's not that bad. But it's no picnic, either. Why go climb 1,500+ feet over 7.5 miles on South Mountain when you could take a leisurely ride on the Greenbelt, through Fountain Hills and down the beautiful Beeline Highway? South Mountain just doesn't exactly scream "RIDE ME!" most mornings.

Maybe my perspective on climbing this mountain has changed. I don't know. I have climbed South Mountain three times in the last week and a half... And I'm kind of beginning to love it. The mountain and I are developing a sort of kinship or familiarity. The mountain is a lot more interesting in the morning: coyotes, quail, HUNDREDS of millipedes (a little gross, but they cross the road at their own peril), roadrunners, cactus wrens, and rabbits. You don't see all these things later in the day when there are more hikers and cars around.

One of my FAVORITE views of Phoenix, nestled between two parts of South Mountain

And the views of metro Phoenix - a city that sometimes just can't help how ugly it is - from the ride up and back down South Mountain are breathtaking. The sharp ridge line drops into rolling foot hills and out into the flat land of the valley. You can see all of the surrounding mountain ranges, sometimes with great clarity and for a long distance.

Anyway, I could swoon over South Mountain for a long time right now and you'd all stop reading the blog. So I'll stop.

I had a GREAT ride this morning. I meant to get up the past two mornings to ride South Mountain and it just didn't happen. We were reunited this morning and it was glorious, although a little warmer than prior mornings. I made it from the front gate to the summit and back in an hour, so pretty good on time. There weren't very many people out on the road jogging and cycling today... The mountain and I had a lot of alone time, so I'm happy.

And when it did come time to drive in to work this morning, as I rounded a turn on AZ-51 and saw South Mountain rise on the horizon it made the whole thing worthwhile.