Arizona is a dry desert paradise. And for mountain bikers looking for a raw stretch of rocky expanse to torch tires and tread tracks along, it is a daunting dry desert paradise where challenges transcend mere physical obstacles and take shape through grueling mental and emotional tolls. But therein lies the appeal — relentless days surrounded by chilly night and frosty mornings where strength is a multifaceted face these mountain bikers must put on… which is exactly what this Canadian crew did.
In escaping winter at their respective homes in the Pacific Northwest, a Canadian crew consisting of “Olympian Andreas Hestler, freeriders Wade Simmons and Geoff Gulevich, renowned filmmaker Brian Vernor, and Rocky Mountain product guy Alex Cogger” took to the Black Canyon Trial running along the Bradshaw Mountains in the Sonoran Desert. With new Sherpa bikes in tow, they rode the 80 miles north to south, “beginning on a high plateau” and following it down as “it winds through rolling grasslands before descending into a landscape of Saguaros, Chollas, and other Sonoran Desert flora.”
Needless to say, it was a fulfilling trip for all involved.
Though exhausted when arriving at each checkpoint of sorts, the well of frontier weird was never dry and the crew happened across one-bar towns like Cleater (and a plethora of other signature sanctuaries in the American west) where the beers were cold and decor appeared all but forgotten.
A magical place, indeed.
