2023 8-ish Days of Christmas

SDMB is pleased to host the 2023 8-ish days of Christmas ride series!  This will be a series of mountain bike rides around the Tucson area to celebrate the holidays.  Come one come all for the festivities and relax.

Please If it's raining check the ride site before going to the ride. Rides could be cancelled due to rain. Email:  Kent7varden@gmail.com, joni.dean3@gmail.com

This is what we have so far,

Dec 21: Transit to Dragoon Ride- Thursday Dec 21st meet at Transit Cycles in the MSA Annex at 530p. Ride out at 615p.This is a friendly, casual ride up the Santa Cruz from the bike shop to Dragoon Brewing. All bikes welcome! More info at: https://www.transitcycles.com/events-1

Dec 22: CANCELLED due to rain SHOOT. It's rained once with more on the way. SDMB Sweetwater Preserve (If it is raining Friday morning this ride will be cancelled) 9am @ Sweetwater Trailhead. Plan on 10 miles of intermediate rocky XC trails.   Ride description: Help us kick off the 8-ish days of Christmas ride series at Sweetwater!  Meet at the Sweetwater-preserve trail head at 9am riding by 915am.  We will go West and take every right turn making a large loop.  This is prime beginner and intermediate trail riding lasting approximately 10 miles.  

Dec 23: Guru ride to Winterhaven. Meet at Guru Bikes 5:30pm 

Dec 24: 2 ride options:
  - Dirt Divas 9am TMP/Ironwood Ride. Co-Ed. Flowy desert ride to get the heart pumping before Christmas festivities start. Option to include Golden Gate loops. Extra holiday spirit if you wear an ugly Christmas sweater.

  - Tucson Women Shredders @ NOON - TWO TUNNELS. Women/trans/femme ride. Meet at Tucson Hop Shop. Ride two tunnels trail, about 9.3mi. Hang out at the shop after! Riders are expected to: self assess their skills, bring repair gear, snacks, helmet, water, first aid, navigate ride, account for their safety, & support an inclusive + empowering environment.

Dec 25: The Casas Adobes Chain Gang, Tortolita Preserve. While your turkey roasts in the oven, enjoy a short loop ride around the Tortolita Preserve. About 9 miles. Good for beginners. Meet at the new trailhead off Moore Road at 11:00 am.

Dec 26: 2 ride options:
  - Our MTB Rides Night ride https://facebook.com/events/s/8ish-days-ourmtb-full-moon-rid/1005566150506010/ 

  - The Saguaro Clan, Robles Pass loop hosted by the Saguaro Clan. Meet at 11:00 am at the new Robles Pass Trailhead, 2680 W. Irvington Road. Intermediate ride with green/blue/black trails, about 13 miles total.

Dec 27: Hammel Dentistry BBBR - Fantasy Island (North entrance) - 4pm This month’s Business Builder Bike Ride is sponsored by Hammel Dentistry in support of SDMBs 8-ish days of Xmas This is a monthly bike ride open to all with casual networking & free beer after the ride. Please bring your business cards, MTB & helmet! Let Cirrus Visual Communications know if your business would like to sponsor a future BBBR. https://myemail.constantcontact.com/BBBR-12-27-Sponsored-by-Hammel-Dentistry.html?soid=1103462940258&aid=YZr5WYsnNVk 

Dec 28: The Cycling Anarchists will lead a ride around the little-known "Tubac Shakur" bike trails. Meet at 10:00 AM at the west side of Chavez Siding, MP 40 on I-19 south of Tucson (opposite side of the freeway from the Border Patrol checkpoint on the east side). Intermediate and rocky trails. We'll meet on the west side Frontage Road and drive to the trailhead from there. Approx. 2 hours+ of riding. Afterward the ride, we will convene at Tubac Jacks for beverages and the best onion rings and burgers in the area. Here's the location of the parking area and trailhead: (31.6551180, -111.0628523). It is about a 50 minute drive from Tucson.

Dec 28: OPMTB The “ Sweet Ass Seahorse “ ride (Badlands) from the new parking dirt on Edwin about 2.7 miles in on the left hand side. 11:00 Am start. We will do upper Honeybee then the Badlands, down the back side to the new “Nessie” features then back up the normal way to Edwin

Dec 29: Shredsters de Tucson club will host a ride at the Willow Springs Arches: 24HOP. This is not a race pace ride, but a social event. Meet at 10am at the Arches Parking Lot. We will try and find the new Duck Tree June posted about. 2 ride options: Full Lap (forward) or Half Backwards shredding down High Point (of course yielding to any one struggling up the hill).

Dec 30: The Damion Alexander Team  Mural tour: Come explore back alleys, central dirt, art, murals and Tucson oddities. So much new art to explore. Perhaps a local Artist or two may join us, or not. We will start at Borderland Brewery at 9:30 am and finish at Borderland Brewery. First round compliments of The Damion Alexander Team at Long Realty AND everyone will receive a photo gift from Damion. Tis the season. Recommended iron horse: MTB is more fun and there will be some dirt, but nothing a TT bike, with a skilled rider, can’t slay. 

Dec 31: Tucson Bicycle Service ride La Milagrosa meet @ 11am at Suzenu. Expert level ride.

Jan 1: Tucson MTB Addicts Sweetwater-preserve trail head 12pm

Jan 2: Borderlands Adventure Club: Peckerwood Flats. Ride there before it's gone! This easy beginner terrain is great for everyone. We'll start at 10:30 am. We have lots of options, but one loop with be about 8 miles and that then can be extended to 10-12. This is state land, so e-bikes are allowed. Everyone should have a state lands recreation permit. Bring a helmet, water and a great attitude. We will start off down Art Alley, then swoop around to the Christmas tree. Directions: Take 1-10 to the Kolb Exit #270, go south on Kolb 0.8 miles to Voyager Road (8900 South). Turn left (east) at the Sycamore Park sign and drive another 0.8 miles to the parking area at the end of the road and just past the golf course.

The Graham Cracker: Years-long project yields world-class mountain bike course on Mount Graham Read more about it here

The Graham Cracker: Years-long project yields world-class mountain bike course on Mount Graham

Sweetwater Brushtober was a great success we did a lot of great work on Red Tail Ridge, Red Canyon, and Homestead. SDMB could not maintain the trail system without Volunteers like you. Remember to join us for other events coming up this fall. https://sonorandesertmountainbicyclists.wildapricot.org/events

The next SDMB board meeting will take place on October 11th at the Tucson Parks & Recreation Building near Reid Park, 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Board meetings are open to the public and you are encouraged to attend to learn what SDMB is focused on, particularly during October when Brushtober Fest is in full swing to brush back and repair trail tread after the monsoon season. Email "president@sdmb" for details.

The next SDMB board meeting will be held September 7th from 6:30 to 8:00 PM via Zoom. We'll be discussing plans for Brushtober Fest among other topics. Board meetings are open to the public so if you wish to attend and see what we're up to, please email: rcanamar@gmail.com  to get the link to sit in. We welcome your involvement.

Our own Nat Gordon on the SDMB Board was a recent featured guest on locally produced the Mountain Cog Podcast. He talks about our trail restoration work on Mt Graham, the vision for the Graham Cracker Ride and about what's up from his perspective as the Development Chair at SDMB. Listen Here.

Below quoted from the Mountain Cog podcast site

"Ever wondered what it takes to reconstitute and epic big mountain trail system with sick vertical drop? Today, we're fortunate to have Nat Gordon, a board member of the volunteer-run Sonoran Desert Mountain Bikers (SDMB) organization on the show, to shed some light on their organization and their efforts to revive the trails on Mount Graham in South Eastern Arizona.  Nat shares incredible insights into the hard work, engineering, and environmental considerations that go into trail restorations, and how the unique conditions of the Sonoran Desert add an extra layer of complexity.

The conversation doesn't stop at trail building. We also stir up discussions about the important initiatives at SDMB to foster diversity and inclusion within their ranks. Here’s a little teaser: They are on a mission to recruit more female board members! And yes, they speak about the irresistible lure of Mount Graham, the heart of their remarkable project. It's not just about mountain biking; we also hear about the exhilarating road riding opportunities that this mountain has to offer. 

Towards the end, we steer the conversation to the responsible side of mountain biking. Nat enlightens us about SDMB's "be cool" trail safety initiatives, bike skills, and bike Academy program aimed at promoting inclusion and trail etiquette. We explore the vital role of volunteers in keeping the organization running smoothly, especially in the post-pandemic world. Lastly, we also touch upon the fascinating world of trail maintenance, the cowboy gate etiquette, and the somewhat cryptic art of securing funding for these activities. So, if you're a mountain biking enthusiast or simply love hearing about behind-the-scenes operations, you can't afford to miss this episode!"

Spring has sprung, so we are looking to grow our SDMB committees. We hope some of you are willing to help our committees accomplish more great things in the months and years ahead. In the past, we had some very active people on our committees, but COVID impacted committee participation.

We are looking to get back to having well-staffed committees again, and hope that many of you would be interested in helping out. The SDMB Board has done a great job of filling gaps and keeping things moving, but we are at the point where we need your help. IT TAKES A VILLAGE! We are looking for self-starters, folks that can look at a committee description and say: “This is how I want to support SDMB!” and act on that ambition.

Here are the opportunities for you to get involved that won’t require a lot of time.

Advocacy Committee

            This committee advocates for mountain biking and discusses strategies and implements ways to promote the development of new mountain biking trails with Pima County, Tucson and Marana. Major initiatives include the “Be Cool” trail safety and etiquette initiative; the SDMB Bike Ambassador program; and offering bike skills clinics through our MTB Bike Academy. Some members also participate in the Network for Arizona Trails which advocates for trails statewide and supports an effort to establish an Office of Outdoor Recreation at the state level (like 22 other states have). We submitted comments for the Coronado National Forest Trails Plans related to MTB trails on Mt. Lemmon. There are opportunities as well to participate in the Network for Arizona Trails annual summit. To ask questions or volunteer, contact the Advocacy Chair: Kent Loganbill at: Kent7varden@gmail.com

Trails Love Corp

            This committee spearheads our efforts to build and maintain MTB trails in the greater Tucson area. Some examples are the new trails SDMB helped build at Enchanted Hills, the Explorer and Portal Trails at Kennedy Park and the reopening of trails at Mt. Graham. Committee members can be trained to be crew leaders and help with trails initiatives like “Brushtober Fest,” new trail construction under the guidance of Pima County Parks & Recreation, and other local land managers. To get involved in this committee or ask questions, contact Michael Mucker at: eyebikepa@gmail.com

Outreach, Diversity & Inclusion

            This committee is working to diversify our membership as well as ways to make mountain biking more attractive to a broad range of groups—young people, handicapped and physically-challenged, minorities, and special needs, among others. We want to diversify our board, but we also want to find ways to engage with urban youth (through the 100-Acre Wood Bike Park, for example), hand cycle users, underserved audiences, and other groups. We also want to be sensitive to designing and building trails that are attractive to beginners, intermediate and advanced riders, and those riding adaptive hand cycles. To find out more or volunteer, contact chair Ruth Cañamar at: rcanamar@gmail.com

Development & Fundraising

Our committee is forward looking and seeks to help define SDMB’s sustainable future. We do this through partnership development, process improvement and the creation of new initiatives such as trail projects. If you’re interested in development, you may spend time helping to engage our sponsors and land manager partners. You may help us revamp our sponsorship program which is in the works. We take on special projects like merchandise procurement to make sure SDMB is getting the best value and we are working on supporting our membership team in revamping that program. Fundraising is a natural extension of Development as we need funding to support our general operating costs, for our projects (like skills clinics and bike ambassadors), for trail work day incentives (lunches/refreshments/prizes) and for new trail projects like consultation, design, and construction costs. This will involve grant writing, private donor solicitation, fundraising campaigns. To find out more about Development and Fundraising at SDMB, contact the committee chair, Nathaniel Gordon at: gordee151@gmail.com

Time Commitment:

For all committees, the commitment would average around 2 to 3 hours a month and probably 2 to 3 weekends a year. If you want to do more, that is up to you. The more people on the committee, the less work it will be for everyone. No experience needed.

Compensation:

The pay? Knowing that you are making Tucson a better place to ride! Priceless.

Tucson has a huge opportunity to make this area one of the top cycling destinations in the country, and you can be the reason.

We hope that many of you will join one of our committees and help us maximize our impact in the greater Tucson area.

Check out the latest video from Brice Shirbach about SDMB and TORCA as two exemplary trail organizations working on behalf of mountain bikers and all trail users in the greater Tucson area. Kudos to Dave Slagle for representing us so well.

Click here to see the video

SDMB is pleased to host the 2022 8-ish days of Christmas ride series!  This will be a series of mountain bike rides around the Tucson area to celebrate the holidays.  Come one come all for the festivities and relax.

We are currently in the planning phase for this series of events and welcome community input! 

Here is what we have so far,

Dec 23 - Sweetwater Preserve

9am @ Sweetwater Trailhead 

Facebook event info/RSVP here

Plan on 10 miles of intermediate rocky XC trails.   

Ride description: Help us kick off the 8-ish days of Christmas ride series at Sweetwater!  Meet at the Sweetwater-preserve trail head at 9am riding by 915am.  We will go West and take every right turn making a large loop.  This is prime beginner and intermediate trail riding lasting approximately 10 miles.  

Dec 24th - Our MTB Rides Family Loop Ride

9am at The Loop entrance located at Craycroft and River Rd

Facebook event info/RSVP here

Plan on an easy 15 miles on pavement

Description: Meet at 9 am, plan on wheels rolling by 915am.  We'll head West on The Loop to the Children's Memorial Park just past River Rd and Oracle Rd.  This is a chill family ride open to all riders, families encouraged!  

Dec 26 - Old Pueblo Eastside, Vail Vortex ride from Garrigan's Gulch

10am @ E Garrigan's Gulch and S Camino Loma Alta 

Facebook event info/RSVP here

Plan on 15 miles on easy XC trails

Ride description: 

Dec 27 - Fantasy Island North Loops with Our MTB Rides

7pm @ Fantasy Island North trailhead

Facebook event info/RSVP here

Plan on 10-15 miles of fun undulating XC single track

Description: Meet at the picnic table at 7pm and plan to start riding at 7:15. We will ride the North loops, Cactus, Burro Pit and Bo's loops. There will be a refreshment stop at the park off of the Xmas tree loop.(bring a beverage of choice to enjoy with us).

After the ride we all (or most of us) meet at Mulligans just down the street for some post ride refreshments and bike stories.

 

Dec 28 - 50 Year Trail ride with Old Pueblo MTB

2pm @ Golder Ranch Trailhead

Facebook event info/RVSP here

Plan on 10+ miles of intermediate single track with many fun lines suitable for all experience levels.  Estimated ride time is ~2 hours.

Ride description: A "Midday Mayhem" ride ::: A Basic Intermediate level trail with lots to explore. Midday Mayhem rides can be shortened, or portions of the trails can be skipped often times to create a more Beginner friendly experience. MM rides often times have locations that are chosen for their flexibility & variety to provide riders of various technical skill levels & fitness level to make their own ideal route. Rides are generally big enough to allow for groups to split on routes and meet back up to finish together.

FIP (Feet In Pedals) @ 2:00 PM, so Meet about 1:45 PM. (approx ride time 2 hours)

Dec 29 - Tortilita Preserve hosted by Brian/Catalina Brewing Company 

10am at the Tortilita Preserve Trailhead

Facebook event info/RSVP found here

Plan on a 9.5 mile loop of easy cross country single track suitable for all experience levels.  

Ride description: a fun easy loop of classic desert singletrack fun for all skill levels.  Post ride refreshments to be had at the one and only Catalina Brewing Company!

Dec 30 - Honeybee & Badlands trails with Old Pueblo MTB

10am @ Honeybee Trail Head

Facebook event info/RSVP here

Planned for 14+ miles, but there's LOTS of possibilities to improvise and adjust the distance and difficulty realtime on the trail based on how one is feeling.  (approx ride time 2-3 hours).

Ride description: A "Midday Mayhem" ride ::: A Basic Intermediate level trail with lots to explore. Midday Mayhem rides can be shortened, or portions of the trails can be skipped often times to create a more Beginner friendly experience. Midday Mayhem rides often times have locations that are chosen for their flexibility & variety to provide riders of various technical skill levels & fitness level to make their own ideal route. Rides are generally big enough to allow for groups to split on routes and meet back up to finish together.

SPECIAL INFO: Route selection is the now in-famous Travis special "Sweet-Ass Seahorse" that includes a stop at the summit of 420 Hill and a counter-clockwise loop around "The Badlands".

FIP (Feet In Pedals) @ as close to 10:00 AM, so Meet at 9:45 am at Edwin Rd. & Honeybee Intersection on the dirt road.  

Dec 31 - AZT shuttle with SAMBA

9am @ Gabe Zimmerman Trailhead

Meetup event info/RSVP here

Plan on 26 miles of beautiful XC trail along the Arizona Trail. 

Description:

From Oak Tree Canyon the ride will be about 26 miles with several hills and valleys. Roughly 2000’ of climbing through hilly terrain. The trail is a blue/intermediate level ride for endurance. Probably a few hike-a-bike sections for most riders.

From the Lakes Rd to the Gabe Zimmerman trailhead is about 13.5 miles, mostly downhill. This section could be rated green/blue for some rocky downhill areas and hills.

We will plan to load shuttle vehicles at the Gabe Zimmerman trailhead at 9am. Please RSVP on the Meetup site so we make sure to have enough shuttle vehicles.

Jan 1 - MTB Addicts & Our MTB Rides Hangover Ride

1130am at the McKenzie Ranch Race Course parking lot

Facebook event info/RSVP here

Plan on 10-20miles of buttery smooth XC trails 

Description: Ride off that New Years Eve hangover with MTB Addicts and Our MTB Rides at the McKenzie Ranch race course!  More details to come...

Jan 2 - Millagrosa Trail with Brian

10am at Avenida de Suzenu 

Facebook event info/RSVP to be announced

La Millagrosa the champagne of trails, need I say more? 

Ride description: double black diamond chunky goodness, one hike a bike and three climbs cooked coupled with the gnarliest downhill Tucson has to offer courtesy Tucson MTBs Godfather himself.  Meet at Avenida de Suzenu at 10am for shuttles or meet at Molino Basin at 1045am to start the hike a bike with the group.  Come prepared with downhill level protection, lots of water, and a snack.  Adult beverages are recommended for the mid point.  

More bike rides!

Jan 8 - SDMB Poker Ride

9am at 

Facebook event info here

Description: the SDMB Poker Ride is coming back January 2023!  Test your luck at poker and bike riding simultaneously with a chance to win some cool stuff!  

Registration starts 9am at the SDMB table, look for the SDMB easy up and banners.  Want to host a poker spot?  Contact our guy Kent Loganbill  at kent7varden@gmail.com.

Arizona State Parks & Trails recently released its new 5-Year plan that outlines the agency's priorities for both motorized and non-motorized recreation on state park lands. Included is information about applying for grants as well as a host of information from surveys of trail users. It is a lengthy document but might be worthwhile for you to scan for your own areas of interest. View the plane here.