Arizona in Summer 2006

“Arizona in summer? Now that is just crazy talk!” 

    That was my first thought when Cris from AZ Nomad Adventures invited me to come along for a cruise through some of the summertime offerings of Arizona.   Cris has a MTB tour business that takes a different spin on the tour scene than I have seen before. His operation caters to small groups of six or less and uses a really nice 5th wheel RV as a roaming basecamp as he takes clients from locale to locale.  Cris wanted me to come out and take some pictures and shot some video to be used on his website.   After a few emails and phone conversations, I had heard enough and made plans to spend a week on the road in Arizona with Cris and friends on a MTB sample platter tour while Cris fine tuned the logistics of his tours.  So after pushing some work schedules around, I was on my way to Phoenix to meet up with gang.

What followed was an incredible week of riding in some exceptional beautiful places.   Most importantly what my time in the Grand Canyon State in early August revealed is that I was a victim of my own ignorance and stereotyping about Arizona in the summertime.    There are some mighty awesome rides to be had here and I will definitely be back.  Below are my notes and pictures from my wonderful weeklong trip.