SAUER: Sonoran Ultra Endurance Ride - Day 4 - The Sierrita Mountains and Avra Valley
Date: March 10, 2025
51.6 Miles
1,612 Feet of Gain
Somewhere near Bolas Blancas Wash to Camp Saguaro in the Avra Foothills
Josh and I rose early to greet the Sun. We had miles of slow-going rocky doubletrack ahead before getting to Three Points and the next resupply. Plus, Josh had to quit the route today because he had to return to work tomorrow and couldn't reasonably finish the remaining miles before then. His goal was to get to Three Points, load up on lunch with me, and then ride back to Tucson via the highway while I headed on alone to complete the ride. Thus, we agreed to enjoy the morning because there were still plenty of miles of riding together along the San Sierritas ahead. The packing of camp that followed was met with hints of the heat of the day to come. We appreciated this spot way out in the middle of nowhere and the fact that the morning's riding was immediately on wide graded dirt road. No sooner had we started riding than a herd of wild horses neighed and brayed their way in a gallop along us before turning to cross the road.
The low Sonoran made a gradual appearance in the form of large columnar saguaro growing up through the branches of their nurse trees. I could feel the shift in ecosystem as the hills got rockier and we adjacently made our way north towards Tucson. My shoulders felt tight and my neck stiff. I could feel the rocky path from yesterday that worked its way into my bones through my rigid front fork. A slight headache settled in that ended up lasting a good part of the day. I managed it with frequent shoulder and back stretches along with some Tylenol, but it was naggingly present despite my efforts. Ahead, the Black Hills rose as domed saguaro-studded mounds in the desert. The heat bubbled up hot and cooking. God, the landscape was stucco dried as in foresummer. But I took reassuring gratitude to bear in mind how amazing it was to be riding with a friend along doubletrack in the Sonoran Desert.
Josh and I stopped to snack and then dip downhill on doubletrack sagging through washes and amid drooping yucca spines. I was exhausted and take multiple brakes for snacks, water, and sunscreen. The two of us pushed forward into some of the rockiest doubletrack of the entire route. It climbed and descended wash after wash feeling like a powerline road with its tread quality. Josh was laughing and loving it. I'm was making an effort to absorb the scenery in this new-to-me place. We got off-route for a moment before retracing our steps back. Then, it was more meandering on rocky doubletrack that pummeled and pushed me along the footsteps of abandoned mines sunk into the mountain range to my right. Just as I was really feeling the heat and gurgling headache in my skull, the tread smoothed out on dirt road that widely led us to pavement with the promise of a rushing downhill.
To us both, it was the promise of a straight-away downhill all the way to Three Points. My mood surged as the temperatures kept climbing. I just soaked in the easy riding. And then the route immediately left the pavement to saunter up a sandy wash again.
I had to laugh at my presumed victory. We slogged along sandy dirt roads that wandered among thickets of cholla and mesquite. Suddenly, a rural allotment of trailers and doublewides reared up on our left. The SAUER took a left joining dirt through the small community. There was an abandoned recliner right next to the road that said "Free." Josh was ahead of me and stopped to take a look at it. He was commenting out loud to me how nice the chair was as I watched a massive, off-leash pitbull gun for him from the porch of a trailer behind him. I choked on my words in a shocked panic to "RIDE!" He swung his head left, eyes bulging at the sight of the off-leash dog madly barking in a rush towards him. Josh pumped it downhill. Except, this dog was so locked onto to him that it was giving chase not realizing it had filled a gap between Josh and I. The pitbull didn't even realize I was riding directly behind it. I kept thinking, "Shit! What is this dog going to do when it turns around and sees me?" The dog slowed to a walk barking at Josh who was receding into the desert distance. I took my chance and punched pass it - which only served to enrage it and send it after me. I pushed and pushed my legs to pedal as fast as possible so I didn't lose my calf to a sizeable bite. Somehow, I outrode it and caught Josh. We immediately tumbled into a fit of laughter about how close that dog attack was and at the cost of looking at an abandoned recliner in the desert.
The road was still wide and dirt - all seemingly downhill to Avra Valley below. The SAUER jumped off the main road to meander along back dirt track that looked like someone had turned it into their own abandoned junk heap. Josh laughed telling me how he did a tour through here one time with Sarah, his partner, and the refuse then was the same as it was now. And suddenly, we were at the bottom with the busy streak of the Ajo Highway in front of us. Three Points was just in view so we took the shoulder, crossed, and then made our way over to Nico's Taco Shop. I was cooked both from exertion and the heat that was well into the upper 90s.
We parked and locked up our bikes outside and then walked into a cool interior saturated with the generous use of air conditioning. It was exactly what I needed. The two of us took time to order burritos, chips, and I opted for a large Powerade from the soda machine. We sat and just ate and ate until my headache dissipated, my body cooled, and my muscles felt normal. The time felt utterly too fast as Josh packed up from eating and got ready to go. We snapped a few photos together, and he was out the door on a fast ride down the highway back to Tucson and work tomorrow. The day was still in the upper 90s, and with my intended stopping point so near, I sat back down to charge my phone, call Janna, and really let the A/C do it's work on my body. I even ordered a second burrito. After another hour passed, I heaed outside to walk over to the nearby Dollar General to purchase some food for dinner and snacks for tomorrow.
The heat settled strong and deep into my bones once more. But the headache was gone and my muscles felt stronger. I got on the bike and pedaled north on dirt roads that headed through rural neighborhoods before depositing me on an absolutely deeply silty powerline doubletrack. I then swung east through sandy washes chocked to the sides with acacia and mesquite. I ended up off the bike pushing and hauling it along the drainage until I climbed a small hill and hit doubletrack that quickly decayed to a crazy rocky track across small hills. I got off to take a picture and laugh the riverbed it felt I was riding. The road eventually smoothed as I coasted across an expansive floodplain all baked in the heat with silt so deep that it sunk up to my ankles while standing. My bike floundered and wove through the soft substrate until I climbed another hill and took in a view of the landscape. Then it was downhill and across more flat silt to where the SAUER intersected with Sandario Rd.
I headed north in the afternoon sun along the shoulder of pavement coursing parallel to Saguaro National Park - West. My destination popped up shortly thereafter: Camp Saguaro. It was a small private campground located just outside the National Park. I pulled in and was taken aback by how perfect it was for bikepackers: hot outdoor showers, chairs in a common picnic area, and a huge set of outdoor charging ports perfect for my lights and other electronics. I got to work grabbing a site and setting up under early evening. I didn't skimp on the shower which washed off days worth of salt and grime and relaxed my muscles. I then headed out to some chairs to watch the sunset with all intentions of starting to cook a dinner shortly thereafter.
But as I was walking back to my campsite, the neighbor one spot over called out to me. Mike, it turned out, watched me roll in on my bikepacking rig and sat in curiosity while I went about my afternoon chores. We got to talking, him peppering me with questions about the SAUER, what bikepacking was, and my ride tomorrow. The conclusion to all this was an invitation by him to cook my dinner. I declined not wanting to intrude, but he insisted he wanted to hear more about bikepacking and the area as he hailed from California but loved the Sonoran Desert. I agreed, and he set to task making dinner while he encouraged me to do whatever I needed to prepare for tomorrow. I headed back to my site and got to work tuning the bike, lubing the chain, checking the tires, and generally cleaning/organizing my gear. Shortly thereafter, he called me over and served up a meal of sausage, jambalaya, spinach, and oat-cakes. It was everything I wanted for a filling, real dinner. We laughed and shared stories of outdoor adventures. His centered on being a rock climber back when the sport was young in the 1970s. Mike leaned in with fascination about the comparatively young sport of bikepacking, asking questions about the where routes went and the culture surrounding the sport. We talked for hours while he refilled my plate until I refused any more food. Night was well on before I thanked him profusely, cleaned up, and made my way to my tent to snuggle deep, fed, showered, and relaxed.
