Hot Potato

I took a job in Maricopa county, the escape from Illinois is set for June, then Wham! My wife gets told about Valley Fever and is freaking out! Suddenly my hiking and cycling are guarantees to get me killed or disabled with coccidiodes. Sh believes any activity outside in Maricopa County when the wind is blowing is a death sentence for a Midwest immigrant.

What say you, Arizona cyclists?

locolobo13 

I was told a long time ago that if you lived here 5 or so years you probably had valley fever at some time. For almost everybody valley fever is barely noticeable. For a very few it is serious. In all my life I only met one person who was suffering from valley fever.

Google it to learn more. Reading the articles makes it sound scarier than it is. At least to me. I don't take any of the precautions like wearing a mask, staying inside, etc. There are literally thousands of people riding bicycles and hiking in Phoenix.

GuitarBob

What's scary is moving to Maricopa County in June! ;-)

The risk of valley fever for humans is quite low, in general. Dogs get it much more frequently because they are always fussing in the dirt.

johnlp37

I never think about it. A few people get it but not many.

Hot Potato

the problem with Google is that it will also take you to sites claiming it is worse than the plague!

Hot Potato

Yeah, but that's when the kids get out of school. Sending the horses next week to beat the heat. I hope the dog will have more interest in swimming than digging.

elzy0000

I've been here my whole life and have never dealt with it first or secondhand. On a related note... I'm a realtor. I'd be happy to help you find a place or at minimum get you oriented to the area from a cyclist's point of view.

Hot Potato

Why thank you. We already have a house off Shea Blvd. I was thinking of buying a mountain bike for on the hill trails, via Linda for the road, and the canal for the cyclocross bike. But that's just the stuff at my doorstep!

elzy0000

You are all set then! Check out Clipped In ? Your #1 Cycling Events, Bike Races, Rides & News Resource. It's a good resource for cycling here.

locolobo13 

For searching new paths I use google maps bike mode a lot. But here is an interactive bike map from Maricopa County.

MAG|Bikeways

You can request a hard copy of the map from this page. About half way down you will see MAG regional bike map and a phone number to call.

https://www.azmag.gov/Communications/publications.asp

You can find some trail maps in PDF format here.

Maricopa Trail Maps | Maricopa County Parks & Recreation

Hot Potato

Thats good stuff! Can you follow the canal from near the Mcdowell mountains sotheast through the reservation? My new home is not far from the north side of the reservation, I was hoping I could follow the canal south and east.

locolobo13 

I'm not sure. But if you're talking about the CAP canal, the map shows the path ending right on the border. The map does show the Arizona Canal going all the way to the Salt River. Looking at this map,

https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#12/-...7158/blue/bike

it looks like nobody on Strava has ridden that way. If the link don't work google strava heat map and drill in on the area you're interested in.

AZBoneCrusher

Critical cases of Valley Fever trends toward folks of African or Asian descent. Less likely for folks of other descents including European. The scary part if left untreated, the fungus loves to consume bone marrow, which will wreck having a active lifestyle ever again. The good news some of the best medical specialists in world are here in Arizona and timely treatment (over a 1 year period of very expensive meds) can place the condition in remission; which will allow anyone to return to an active lifestyle.