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Scottsdale, Arizona trip

Old 11-29-16, 09:16 PM
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GlennR
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Scottsdale, Arizona trip

I'll be in Scottdale this February and plan on renting a road bike for a day with my son. I found a place that rents Specialized Robaix SL in my my and my son's size. The shop is in north Scottsdale. Can anyone recommend a 40-50 mile route with maybe 1500-2000' of climbing?
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Old 11-29-16, 11:27 PM
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Originally Posted by oldnslow2
I'll be in Scottdale this February and plan on renting a road bike for a day with my son. I found a place that rents Specialized Robaix SL in my my and my son's size. The shop is in north Scottsdale. Can anyone recommend a 40-50 mile route with maybe 1500-2000' of climbing?
Here's three, although all bove what you're looking for. Hope they point you in the right direction.

1.
Seven Springs - Bartlett Lake
Description: With 6,000 feet of climbing, the ascents are plenty and of a variety. This route crosses Seven Springs, down to Bartlett Lake and back.
Distance: 76.68 miles
Location: Scottsdale
Elevation Gain: 4,967 feet
Top Elevation: 3,592 feet

2.
Tour de Mesa
Description: El Tour de Mesa uses this route for its annual road race. It takes cyclists through central Scottsdale, onto the Beeline Highway (State Route 87), along the Salt River and through Usery Mountain Regional Park and back to Mesa.
Distance: 69.3 miles
Location: Mesa
Elevation Gain: 2,059 feet
Top Elevation: 2,116 feet

3.
Tour de Scottsdale
Description: This route takes riders around the McDowell Sonoran Preserve though Fountain Hills and and up and down various rolling climbs.
Distance: 67.28 miles
Location: Scottsdale, Fountain Hills
Elevation Gain: 2,476 feet
Top Elevation: 2,718 feet
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Old 11-30-16, 08:08 AM
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Here's some possibilities from google maps. Don't think these have even 1000 ft of elevation change tho.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Scot...81!1m0!3e2!5i1

You can play with it and see what you like. My suggestion would be instead of coming back Thunderbird Rd, ride up the Skunk Trail to Union Hills and come back that way.

Have fun.
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Old 12-01-16, 01:33 PM
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Hey oldnslow, I am glad you started this thread. I grew up in Phoenix and live in Las Vegas now. But I get back pretty often and have a few new routes to try. Thanks crew!
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Old 12-01-16, 04:31 PM
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Check out the Strava heatmap for that area, tons of great riding.
https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#12/-...2748/gray/bike

Dynamite Blvd/E Rio Verde Dr has some nice climbing. North of that is Cave Creek with more hills, south of that will be more Scottsdale, probably a bit more traffic, the closer you get south to the 101.

E. Sonoran Desert Dr (west of Dynamite) is a great ride, fairly flat, but nice views, new pavement, and wide bike lanes.
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Old 12-08-16, 11:43 AM
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Originally Posted by oldnslow2
I'll be in Scottdale this February and plan on renting a road bike for a day with my son. I found a place that rents Specialized Robaix SL in my my and my son's size. The shop is in north Scottsdale. Can anyone recommend a 40-50 mile route with maybe 1500-2000' of climbing?
Are you renting with AOA? If so, those guys know all the local routes for whatever type of riding you're looking for. That's in addition to everything everyone else above mentioned. For the most part, riding north of the 101 gets you better climbing. The only other legit climbing would be South Mountain, south of downtown Phoenix. Ed's recommendation of checking up the Strava heatmap is solid. Enjoy!! February is still a great time for anytime riding.
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Old 12-08-16, 02:08 PM
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Originally Posted by OnyxTiger
Are you renting with AOA?
Yes, they have the best deal and lots of routes with turn by turn and i'm sure i can download it into my Garmin.
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Old 02-16-17, 09:18 PM
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Decided to upgrade to a Emonda SL6, since i ride a SLR eTap at home.

Here's the route we're doing: gmap-pedometer.com

Any suggestions?
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Old 02-17-17, 09:13 AM
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Nice route, there's a few busy roads in there, but they're ridden often, so you'll be fine. Great riding up there.
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Old 02-17-17, 11:00 AM
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Originally Posted by SpeshulEd
Nice route, there's a few busy roads in there, but they're ridden often, so you'll be fine. Great riding up there.
It's a AOA route from their website, so i'll assume the roads are relatively safe.They can't be worse then Long Island roads.

Is it scenic? I'll see enough strip malls the rest of the week driving around.
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Old 02-17-17, 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by oldnslow2
It's a AOA route from their website, so i'll assume the roads are relatively safe.They can't be worse then Long Island roads.

Is it scenic? I'll see enough strip malls the rest of the week driving around.
Yeah, it's a nice route. There will be a little climbing but nothing too out of the norm. There will also be some shops but things are a little more spread out up there, so there'll still be some nice views.
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Old 02-22-17, 10:10 PM
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Did the ride today and everything was going good until about mile 25. I started to get stomach cramps and my legs started to give out. I kept drinking water but it got worse. We took a long break in Fountain Hills, but
i started to get nauseous and dizzy... i was dehydrated, even though I drank (3) 24oz water bottles. I tried to continue, but Palisades Blvd. did me in... I was done. So my son rode on and came back with the car for me.

First time I "bonked".

It was still a awesome ride.

35 miles, 2450', 15.4 mph and 1450c




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Old 02-23-17, 07:06 AM
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Nice. Good shots. Want to ride that one of these days. Sorry about the bonk. At least you got a good ride in.
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Old 02-23-17, 07:13 AM
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Originally Posted by locolobo13
Nice. Good shots. Want to ride that one of these days. Sorry about the bonk. At least you got a good ride in.
"S" happens...still had a great time and another memory to share with my son.
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Old 02-24-17, 12:11 PM
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Nice photos and congrats on getting 2500' of elevation in 35 miles! That's actually harder to do in Phoenix than it should be.

Sorry to hear you bonked - dehydration can definitely kick your butt out here. I have plenty of friends that have lived out here for years and still have issues on longer rides. We've all been there.
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Old 04-27-17, 10:21 AM
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@SpeshulEd it seems damn near impossible. I struggle to find 500' some days riding where I am at.
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Old 11-21-17, 10:41 PM
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Thanks to this thread, I rented a Domane from AOA and did the 50 mile ride discussed above. AOA was great, they adjusted anything I wanted on the bike and provided a great route sheet. The ride was wonderful, mostly quiet roads with plenty of room. Very different topography from what I am used to in SoCal.
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Old 02-13-18, 12:18 PM
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I will be making a trip here soon. Thanks for the info!
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