Riding the Edge

Today I went for my first "Big" ride in a long time. I noticed that the Central Arizona Canal runs along the north edge of Phoenix and would provide a great route from my house to north Scottsdale. I know there are a bunch of fences blocking access to the very nice roads right next to the canal, but there is usually a road or path outside the fence too. I looked on the internet for specific routes and found that there is a really nice section called REACH 11 that has some trails running along near the canal, but I could not find any information on the parts of the canal closest to my house. What to do? - Go and see for myself.


The closest place to my house to the canal is at Jomax and 19th Avenue. Sure enough, there was a trail next to the fence on the south side of the canal - so I was on my way. It didn't last very long - I ran into another fence blocking the trail. Hey there is supposed to be a right of way for the trail, I guess the land owner didn't get the memo. It was at this point a friendly golden retriever came up the greet me. He showed me another way along a gravel road that eventually led to 17th avenue going towards Happy Valley Road. He ran along side me for a long ways, I hope he finds his way home.

Next it was East on Happy Valley road to where the canal crosses and again, I picked up the trail on the south side of the canal. The trail was not too bad, but again it was cut short by a fence. I worked my way around on some dirt roads and even pavement on the west and evenually worked by way back east to 7th Avenue. At this point I know I could have gone south and gotten a major street going east, or I could see what I found going North. One thing is for sure, I don't like this part of Happy Valley Rd and 7th Street. There is no room on the road for a bike and the cars that go screaming past.

I went North and found Cave Buttes Dam Rd leading northeast. It was a very pleasant and smooth road with no traffic. It goes past a BMX facility that has a track with jumps and ramps for bikes. I wonder if anyone you know has been there, it looks intense. Following the usual pattern in this part of town, the road dead ended into a fence. The Maricopa flood district sign warned of fines, confiscation of your first born and a litany of dire consequences should you choose to intrude. The dirt road on the other side of the fence was clearly well travelled, so I travelled it as well, going west.

It got pretty rough in a few places and after a mile or so I went in a southwest direction along a dirt road (Cave Creek Dam Rd.) This road ended up connecting to a neighborhood with (sniff) PAVED ROADS! The wheels on my bike must have still been round because I flew through the neigborhood and ended up on Deer Valley Road - it even has bike paths - yea!

East on Deer Valley road, past Cave Creek Road where I discovered the entrance to the REACH 11 Recreation Area. I had read a lot about this facility and was really looking forward to the trails there. They have a sports complex, horses and lots of trails. Down the ramp and onto the trails. Very nice, fairly smooth, lots of vegetation around and the wind at my back - what could be better? The trails lead east, travelling along the CAP canal, pass under the 101 freeway and SR51. I passed one mountain biker going the other way. Finally, the trail ended in a parking lot and I exited the recreation area onto Tatum road.

Heading south Tatum I was able to pick up the dirt path running east along the south side of the canal. Unlike the previous sections along the canal in the north end, these paths were fairly well maintained and surprisingly smooth and fast. Crossing over 56th St, I continued east on the canal path and eventually it began to parallel Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. I crossed FLW and continued east. For some reason, there are no bike paths along this road, so I rode mainly on the sidewalks. Traffic was not too bad, but I don't like riding on high speed streets unless there is a bike path.

North on Scottsdale road (is it always under construction?) to Princess Blvd. This passes through the Princess resort and as you would expect, very lush green landscaping, nice bike paths and lots of walkers, runners and a few cyclists. I meandered across Hayden Rd, continuing east (no bike path) and crossed under Loop 101. Here I had expected to see a business park entrance (my destination) but I was one street north. So I again worked my way through the desert on a trail until I got to Bell Rd. I toured the business park for a few minutes, then headed back west on Bell road under the Loop 101. Bell road has a nice bike path for about a mile, but it disappears all to quickly when it turns into Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.

Back across Scottsdale road, along the same canal path, across 56th and on to Tatum. Back through the Reach 11 Rec area where I met up with a horse and rider. They stayed motionless as I passed. I figured that I should give them a wide berth, so as not to spook the horse. As I was about to exit the park, I got tripped up on the cement ramp and flipped over my bike. Fortunately I was going pretty slow, but this was my first spill since I started riding again so I was not to happy!

I rode west on Deer Valley road and picked up the canal path on the north side of the canal. This would be a great path for a mountain bike with a suspension and bigger tires, but it was pretty slow going on my skinny tires. I hadn't realized it but Deer Valley road goes all the way through to the airport. Next time I will go this way. I made my way to 7th Street and went west on Pinnacle Peak road past the airport. The road is still dirt for about half the way, but there is major construction underway, so in a year or so there will be a fully paved road all the way to 19th Ave.

Once I made it to 19th Ave, I turned north (bike path) past Happy Valley to Jomax (no bike path), West on Jomax, over I17, back North on the West frontage road. Yes I know it is the wrong way, but I had had enough riding and didn't want to go all the way around to Happy Valley Rd to 35th and back.

A most excellent ride just over 43 miles in about 4 hours. I hope someone finds this interesting/useful.