I don't think you can ever get used to heat, you just learn to cope with it. As far as riding in it goes ... you don't. I mean, I commute throughout the summer which isn't too bad but it's wicked to mtb when it's 110 out. Places to ride? Kinda depends on where you live. SoMo is good, Hawes is good, T100 is good. Once get out here go find an LBS and pickup a little pub by Cosmic Ray who has little topos on a lot of the trails out here.
We've actually got a pretty good scene out here, not that you could tell it from the activity level in this forum.
I live a little farther west but where she works is pretty much where you wanna be, trail 100 will be a short distance same with south mountain, and you ll be in the middle between the west (estrella mountain and white tank mountains both have fun competative mtb tracks, and to the east of you will be the mcdowell mountains
There isn't much near the airport, it's all industrial. A lot depends on the price house you can afford.
If you like road riding look in the east valley(tempe chandler gilbert mesa), there are a lot more bike lanes. There is more MTB riding on the north side of the valley than the south side (Hawes, T100, pima&dynamite, McDowell are all north.), but the south side has SoMo.
There are a lot of new houses on the south west side (50'th'ish ave and dobbins-baseline) and the commute from there to the airport isn't too bad. Most of Chandler and Gilbert are pretty nice, but houses can be pretty pricey in some sections. Mesa has everything from slums to higher priced houses (esp on the north end near Hawes trail power&202). Tempe is full of college students and most of the houses are older and over priced.
You'll need to hookup with a good agent and start scoping out the listings.
As for heat, drink plenty of water, make sure to drink some electrolytes. If you are road riding take an extra bottle and wet your jersey from time to time. Try to start your rides as early as possible in the summer or road trip to flagstaff.
I've been doing more street riding than anything, but there are plenty of monkeys down here to show you around. I suggest the Geronimo Trail on South Mountain is a good place to start. "bigrin:
I came down for a few days and just drove around before I found my first place in The Valley.
Also, I read over the weekend that there are tons of foreclosures going on on the outskirts of Phoenix, so a bit of a commute many save ya thousands.
Thanks for all the advice guys, in the end we're gonna rent for now.
Realtor said she expects the market to keep dropping over the next year - so it's best that we just wait.
Right now it's pretty funny - area's we looked at had 2 or 3 homes per street "ready to sell", but no one wants to drop their price. Some listings have been on the market for a while now (one was 322 days). Realtor said they have 47,000 listings...
So no need to rush into it. Wife really liked the Ahwatukee area, so we got a place there for now.
Thanks again for the pointers - and hopefully I'll have my bikes sorted out soon to go enjoy the 'warm' weather...
I'm interested to see how you like it Slugman. How long have you been there now? Where did you come from, and how are the trails?
Basically, I just got back from a day of inteviews/touring/training for a company that has been recruiting me. Unfortunately, they are in Scottsdale, and I'm in lovely California.
I told them very clearly in the first two interviews that I had no desire to move to AZ. It's a job that would require a lot of traveling and I could probably work from home. But to do it properly I would really need to be at their office.
So, I'm curious to hear how your liking the transition?
Couldn't tell ya a thing aboutu AZ yet. Moved her 3 weeks ago and have spent most of that time somewhere else.
Bikes are still not unpacked... actually only half the place is. Company is doing so well they are hiring 4 more people to cover what 3 of us currently do, so hopefully I will be getting out there as things start to cool down.
However right now I'm out of shape and have no clue what this area has to offfer...
Hopefully I will get the bikes put together this weekend... but my schedule is FULL for the rest of the month.
St. Louis today, west Virgina tomorrow then back home this weekend. Sunday night I head to Daytona beach, From ther I go to San Diego Monday eveing and stay there until thursday. I'll be home for less than 24 hours before heading to Houston on Saturday, back home for Sunday and then Sacramento at the begining of the next week. I take off Tuesday evenng on a redeye to head to Louisiana for the rest of the week... ugh.
St. Louis today, west Virgina tomorrow then back home this weekend. Sunday night I head to Daytona beach, From ther I go to San Diego Monday eveing and stay there until thursday. I'll be home for less than 24 hours before heading to Houston on Saturday, back home for Sunday and then Sacramento at the begining of the next week. I take off Tuesday evenng on a redeye to head to Louisiana for the rest of the week... ugh.
Sounds like the job I'm trying for. Except I would be traveling to the worlds premier "destinations" for the ultra-rich. So.. my "vacations" could happen by just extending my trip by a day.
If you need to get your lungs back and legs up to speed a great place to go which is real close to central phoenix is Papago Park. It's a real small loop. It's a place to go if you want to get a ride in before dinner. It's not something you plan, it's something you randomly do. Then go to trail 100. It's fun. Then somo mormon trail.
Couldn't tell ya a thing aboutu AZ yet. Moved her 3 weeks ago and have spent most of that time somewhere else.
Bikes are still not unpacked... actually only half the place is. Company is doing so well they are hiring 4 more people to cover what 3 of us currently do, so hopefully I will be getting out there as things start to cool down.
However right now I'm out of shape and have no clue what this area has to offfer...
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