AZ Trail: Three Bridges to Colossal Cave

I've heard a lot of praise for the Pistol Hill segment of the Arizona Trail, and it looks like a good ride to combine with errands in Tucson. Amy could drop me at the trailhead and go shopping, then we'd rendezvous later somewhere on Houghton or Old Spanish Trail.

I combined today's recon of the trail with a test run of my new Vivitar wireless shutter release. This gizmo can fire my Olympus SP-550UZ camera from as far as 100 meters away, making it an excellent alternative to the self-timer for putting myself in pictures. Example from today's ride:

Remote-controlled autophotography turns out to be a little more difficult than I imagined. For one thing, a full-sized tripod is a necessity. Using the tiny tabletop 'pod, I had trouble getting the compositions I wanted. Another wrinkle is that it's very difficult to do the kind of dramatic mountain biking that makes a good picture and press the release button at just the right moment. The camera has a rapid multishot mode for this purpose, but it applies an awful lot of unlovely compression in order to buffer all those shots.

I'll get the hang, eventually. And I'll continue to take the occasional picture without me in it.

Ride stats: 14 miles roundtrip with a total of about 2000' climbing. Trail is fun, as advertised, with plenty of swoopy, flowy sections; some rocky climbs; a few wash crossings; and a working water faucet at the La Sevilla picnic area.

Sunday Morning Ride: Brown Ice

Anticipating pavement to Fairbank and a smooth-trail ride along the San Pedro River, I removed the big Panaracer knobbies and installed WTB Vulpines on the mountain bike last week. I scrapped the river ride when the weather turned cold, but left the tires on. The Vulpines came with the D440 and I had replaced them with Michelin City tires for commuter duty. They'd been in storage since.

When I set out this morning, I had my doubts as to whether the semi-slick tread would have enough traction for Brown Canyon, but didn't have time to swap them out. As it turned out, the Vulpines were fine on the initial steep climb (7:45 today; a 5-second improvement), and even gripped well on the scabby patches of snow and ice.

I was leery of the ice and kept my speed down and my hands soft on the grips as I crossed it, but the only spot that posed a problem was the steep downhill about midway between the top-of-climb gate and the water trough. The bike slithered badly, so I dismounted and walked it gingerly over the last few feet.

Didn't feel the cold until the descent, and then only in my (gloved) hands. When I got to the ranch, I stopped to rub the chill out of my fingers before the ride home.

White Christmas Hike

Heard that Carr Road was closed due to snow and ice, so I had to take a look. Parked at the bottom and hiked up.

Less than a mile from parking, the gate was closed at the one-lane bridge. I skated across.

Sunny, southerly exposed sections of the road were completely clear, while some of the shaded parts were covered in several inches of snow and ice.

I had considered biking up the road, but figured I wouldn't make it very far. Somebody else figured otherwise.

The higher I got, the fewer were the tracks in the snow. I stopped at the pullout above Carr Falls to thaw my toes and consider my chances of making The Reef.

Turned out that the next switchback was covered in ankle-deep, powdery snow. No way to keep my feet warm, so I turned back.

If we get more snow, I may return with the bike and try my luck.

Sunday Morning Ride: Nicksville

Rode the D440 south on Highway 92 intending to go as far south as I could in a hour, but the road construction at Nicksville has narrowed the pavement to less-than-a-lane. I know when I'm beat, so I U-turned and headed back to the barn. Got 16.9 miles in 1:03.

Tuney Glamour Shot

Really loving the little Fuji F200EXR and its unusual sensor modes that let you trade pixels for dynamic range or reduced high-ISO noise. Here's one of the latter (ISO 1600 by window light):