The Paradise Valley Loop
The Paradise Valley loop is the one I take when I want miles without noise. Close to the city, but quiet. Good climbs, big views, and a couple of fast stretches that make the whole thing feel easy. Just under 40 miles, about 1,200 feet up — the perfect two-hour loop.
Riding the Paradise Valley loop
You wind through Paradise Valley past the big, extravagant homes, the open desert, the cactus — a new mountain in front of you every few minutes. It's peaceful in a way that's hard to find this close to Phoenix.
Then you drop down by the golf course. It cools off a few degrees, the road opens up, and there's one stretch where you can really get some speed before the next climb.
The backside, and the view
The climb up the backside is the work of the day. It isn't long, but it earns you the view from Hummingbird — always worth it.
A quiet loop logs the same miles as a hard one. The line only counts that you rode.
Today
Today was especially good. A little hot, a little humid, but the clouds had scrubbed the sky clean and the sunrise came up clear over the mountains. Just under forty miles. Around twelve hundred feet of climbing. Two hours, door to door.
Every one of those miles gets counted toward queer communities in the valley. If it moved you to, you can pledge a mile and put your name on the next loop.