Night riding in Arizona.
by Clint Hosman on July 18th, 2008
With the average daily temperate around 110 the only way to escape the heat here in Phoenix is to get out on the bike at night. Thankfully this is also the only way to look really cool in the summer as well in the all black Evomo team kits. It’s the time of year where black only comes out when there is no sun to collect the heat and the temperature has mercifully dropped into the 90’s.
Last night Travis and I headed out for a night ride at our favorite trail, Hawes. Last week we got some severely heavy rain which came down incredibly fast resulting in some substantial washout and erosion on the trail. If you are riding in the day these gigantic holes are easily spotted but at night they creep up on you around each corner. One could, if they where a great big sissy slow the pace down to compensate for the unknown, but what fun would that be? The answer is no fun and you would have to check your manhood at the door.
The cool thing about night riding in the desert is that all the animals come out to play. Travis spotted this big fella as my back tire rolled right over him. Lucky enough for him I have some knobby tires and he fit snuggly between the tread and he was able to come out of the encounter unscathed. He may have felt a little violated with our lights shinning on him though. He is now telling his scorpion friends about how he almost got abducted by some strange creatures in the sky and I am sure they will be doing a an hour long docudrama on it within the next couple years.
We climbed to the top of the radio towers which provides a commanding view of the city bellow. There is nothing like a good night ride to give a fresh perspective on an old trail.
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night rides are the best in the summer. The only problem I have with them is the mt lions here in socal. I feel like I am sprinting the whole time cause I dont want to go to slow or stop and risk becoming food. Makes for good training… that and grenade sprints, something I learned in nam.
The fear of the big cat is always with me, especially sense Nam. Running from tigers in the jungle is something you never forget no matter how many Vietnamese brothels a guy goes to.
when i was in nam, i had a heluva time when hiking with my unit along the ho chi min trail. it wasnt enough that we had to fight charlie, but yea the tigers and worst - snakes! uggg i hate snakes. OH and the of course this one time I picked up a nasty v.d. from some veitcong hooker. i tell you i must have been drunk and stoned. all i know is my penis turned yellow and i thoght my seargeant was going to have to amputate it!!!!
ridin at night changes the whole perspective of the trails. i have riden SoMo DC at night definitly much different than during the day. Almost rode into a coyote.