Prescott Circle Trail

Well it happened! My mother in law was in town and the boy was well looked after so I left the house 5am on Monday. It was about a 2.5 hour ride to Prescott which I enjoyed and this would be my first time visiting the area. I found the trailhead and was pleased to be in the upper elevations in the pines for my start. As I prepped I realized it was chilly and I was under dressed for the moment but I would live. I was armed with 3L of water and some beef jerky for the 6-7 hour ride. As I swung a leg over the bike and got pedaling I was filled with excitement, it began on a nice uphill single track. I started at the Goldwater Trails which is one of the best sections of the trail. It was pleasant as it twisted dropped and rose on beautiful trail. I got glimpse of the lakes but never got down to the waterline which was fine I was on a mission. I was now consistently climbing and honestly my legs were not feeling great. I have been on a low carb diet for a week now and weight has come off rapidly but I have noticed some weakness in my legs last week riding. I continued on as I crossed the road and the climbing continued but now on loose rocky grown in trails. I climbed forever in wonderful Oaks, I was so happy to be back in the woods! Then I got the Boy Scout Trail, this would have been fun on a suspension bike, for me on the rigid it was terrible. I can ride a lot of rough terrain on that bike but this stuff was very very rocky along a stream bed. It went on for quite awhile and was a bit bummed that was my first big Dh of the morning. Badger Mountain was next, this began as broad newly cut trail uphill, it was a kinda tough grade for me and this is where my legs just crapped out, I began to question if my body would allow me to do this, I knew for a fact it was related to my new diet and I was feeling robbed. After the steep bit I really enjoyed this trail, it wrapped around the mountain and dropped on a nice fast and flowy trail. Into little stream and light was aglow on a cottonwoods leaves and that was the first sun of the day. Now out of the cool pines and into the high desert, exposed among the grasses it was back uphill on a nice path. As it crested I saw Watson Lake and it's awesome, I made my way down a nice downhill until I hit bored trail leading me into a riparian preserve filled with towering cottonwoods glowing leaves, it was absolutely beautiful. Next step was onto Watson Lake, what a cool place, I am interested to find out how the formations were made and look forward to getting back. This was mellow trail by the lakes, I was loving it since it was a nice break from the climbing. I threw in an extra 4 miles by the water since it was just so awesome and I needed it to get to the 60 miles. Once I reluctantly left the water, it was onto the northern section, the trail was very very nice for awhile. I began to climb at a comfy pace, I was now warm. Legs still on the edge but moving. I hit road and had to spend about a mile as I navigated a neighborhood and in the Forest Service Land. By now I was still not hungry from my breakfast but took a bite of beef jerky anyway but found it to not taste well and speed up my thirst which I only had on my back. The trail ahead sucked, it started off on unridable climbing so I hiked a bit in the warm sun, I rode a little and hiked a little more until I could pedal. By now the legs were really sucking, I was cursing my body for giving up on me. I was on mile 40 or so and just had to keep going. I entered the pines and the sights began to grow merry again, the trail got nice too. I began to climb again and this time it went on for a very very long time, I was weak, my legs were completely toast which they should not have been. Very annoyed at the loss but I rode as much as I could and enjoyed the way up up and up! After reaching the top of Cold Springs I was now on my final descent down Wolverine Mountain. It was chunky but very good, it went down for a long time until I comfortably arrived at the car after 7.5 Hours. It was a good day, absolutely amazing how they could link that much dirt around the city in Mountain Bike bliss!