Arizona here we come!
11-16-17, 08:33 PM
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Arizona here we come!
We will be moving to the Phoenix AZ metro area within the next year and I'm looking for kind of a “lay of the land “ perspective. It appears from my cursory inspection that most of the cycling is on the east side, Scottsdale/Mesa or closer into Phoenix proper. We are retired and will be looking at Queen Creek/Florence (Merrill Ranch), Buckeye or Peoria, all south or on the west side. We currently live in the Sandhills area (Pinehurst) of North Carolina although we moved here a couple of years ago from Reno Nevada and are from Northern California, both the Bay Area and then north of Sacramento.
I generally ride alone unless I make a riding buddy, but I'm not much of a shop or group rider. I do like the occasional organized/supported rides, although not as many centuries any more but certainly metrics. In spite of being 70, I still manage 5K+ miles a year.
I'm looking for a sense of road cycling in the areas I mentioned, I like to ride out of my garage and put in 30 to 50 miles in a circuit. I don't mine throwing my bike in my car and driving to a start place but it would be great to avoid it as it cuts into riding time.
Is there an area that has greater access to road riding...area that is safer that others?....I don't mind hills or climbing so elevations are unimportant. Anything I should know?, animals?, flats?..
Any observations would be greatly appreciated.
I generally ride alone unless I make a riding buddy, but I'm not much of a shop or group rider. I do like the occasional organized/supported rides, although not as many centuries any more but certainly metrics. In spite of being 70, I still manage 5K+ miles a year.
I'm looking for a sense of road cycling in the areas I mentioned, I like to ride out of my garage and put in 30 to 50 miles in a circuit. I don't mine throwing my bike in my car and driving to a start place but it would be great to avoid it as it cuts into riding time.
Is there an area that has greater access to road riding...area that is safer that others?....I don't mind hills or climbing so elevations are unimportant. Anything I should know?, animals?, flats?..
Any observations would be greatly appreciated.
11-17-17, 07:30 AM
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First some links. The first one is to the Maricopa County Interactive Bike Map
https://geo.azmag.gov/maps/bikemap/
The next is to a pdf of the bike map.
https://azmag.gov/Portals/0/Documents...-06-110809-137
Or if like me you like paper maps you can call the number below and request a free map.
MAG 602-254-6300
I've been doing a photo blog of my rides in the metro area if interested.
https://www.bikeforums.net/blogger-s...etro-area.html
I live in central Phoenix so can't answer all your questions. There are bike lanes/routes/trails all over the valley. Anymore I check google maps bikes first. Still carry the hard copy with me but it is outdated almost as soon as they publish it. Over the last 10 yrs or so a lot of new bike lanes have been put in.
Not sure about the sandhills, but the Metro Phoenix area is flat. There are hills, South Mountain, Deem Hills, several in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Every 4th Sunday South Mountain closes most of the roads to motor vehicles and the whole park becomes a huge bike/hike park. Watch for pedestrians. If you go to South Mountain Dobbins or the Gila Valley Lookouts have nice views.
If you're looking for long contiguous paths look into the canal paths, the Arizona Canal, Western Canal, Tempe Canal, Grand Canal, etc. Some are better than others.
https://geo.azmag.gov/maps/bikemap/
The next is to a pdf of the bike map.
https://azmag.gov/Portals/0/Documents...-06-110809-137
Or if like me you like paper maps you can call the number below and request a free map.
MAG 602-254-6300
I've been doing a photo blog of my rides in the metro area if interested.
https://www.bikeforums.net/blogger-s...etro-area.html
I live in central Phoenix so can't answer all your questions. There are bike lanes/routes/trails all over the valley. Anymore I check google maps bikes first. Still carry the hard copy with me but it is outdated almost as soon as they publish it. Over the last 10 yrs or so a lot of new bike lanes have been put in.
Not sure about the sandhills, but the Metro Phoenix area is flat. There are hills, South Mountain, Deem Hills, several in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Every 4th Sunday South Mountain closes most of the roads to motor vehicles and the whole park becomes a huge bike/hike park. Watch for pedestrians. If you go to South Mountain Dobbins or the Gila Valley Lookouts have nice views.
If you're looking for long contiguous paths look into the canal paths, the Arizona Canal, Western Canal, Tempe Canal, Grand Canal, etc. Some are better than others.
