# Arizona Spring Fling 2007. Phat photo thread....



## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

*DAY 1: Hawes in Phoenix:*

It began with Hawes at the Walgreens parking lot:










The pace was relatively fast, the trail pretty smooth and cruisy (for the most part):










It was a challenge keeping up our fearless leader on his 29er rigid Sycip (that is, until the rough stuff started ):










People came from near and far on all manner of two-wheeled conveyance. It was a very good time










*DAY 2: Milagrosa in Tucson:*

The shuttle bus was half the experience.  Here we are already looking for shade at the start of the ride:










Some easy cruising through grassy hills up higher on the trail above Molino:





































The climb out of Molino was pretty greusome, but not overly long.










Playing on the waterfall.










More cruisng before the bruising:










The trail is most certainly not continuous downhill. The ridge rises and falls as it makes its way towards east Tucson:










Happily, the general trend is downward:










CalEpic knows where the good stuff is:










Barny continues to ride well:




























*DAY 3: South Moutain in Phoenix:*

A large group showed up for the various rides. Our "A" group must have had well over 20 folks in it. It made the going quite slow, and in the end waiting for re-groups in the heat was as draining as the otherwise excellent riding...

Dirtbag (finger aloft) herds the cats:










Dirtbag was an excellent and patient guide who knows all the lines (and a fine rider to boot).










Topping out on National, getting ready Hobert:










Midway down Hobert:



















Dirtbag on the only "log" ride on SoMo:










We did a newer trail off Geronimo that had some very steep stuff on it. Fun and tough:










Huge props to all the organizers and leaders so far. Great stuff, guys! Sorry we missed the SoMo pizza shindig, but we buzzed up to Sedona to be ready for tomorrow's activities.

*DAY 4: Loops in Sedona:*

We set out with the "B2" group for a more liesurely rest day prior to Goat Camp tomorrow. It still turned into a nearly 6-hour outing. 

We stopped to play in a few spots:














































Later, on Submarine Rock, we took a break....










...and played some more...










There are plenty of smooth, flowy sections of trail...










...with enough rocky sections tossed in to keep you on your toes:



















Good stuff!


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

*DAY 5: Goat Camp in Phoenix:*

Goat Camp rulz, plain and simple. That has to be one of the best stretches of singletrack in the area. Very cool.

Leaving the Black Canyon parking lot and heading towards the trails:










The Divas of Dirt conspire on how to kick some boy butt:










The ride starts out innocuously enough, but shortly after the section below it gets progressively more ugly until it turns into a brief hike-a-bike.










Afterwards it gets rideable again, and there are even some long and pretty fast flat sections to enjoy. You can see the trail stretch all the way out the left side of the frame behind Barny:










...but don't be misled, the climb is pretty long. After about half way, you break out of the lower canyons and can see the radio towers in the distance that you will eventually traverse below:










...The climb keeps going...










...and going...










...and going...










Finally we reached the high point and the group split in half: one bunch descended the way we had climbed (which was simply superb and fast singletrack the whole way!), and the other bunch armored-up for the gnar gnar.










The casualties came early.  Cracked helmet, busted derailleur hanger, flat tire, etc...










The locals are a pretty kick-ass bunch of riders and are more than happy to show the out-of-towners how it's done.



















I hope the following pics will give a hint of the gnar on the Goat Camp DH portion, as cleaned by none other than the illustrious dirtbag. Please be patient as the pics load. They're pretty big, but worth the wait...




























More big props to all the ride leaders and participants! We hope to see you all again some day. Thanks for showing the Alaskan snowbirds a good time...


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## lidarman (Jan 12, 2004)

Thanks for sharing. I'm digging the pseudo-animations.

I have been to Fling three times and have seen many posts of all the gatherings....It's interesting to see the apparent "bike of the gathering" change over those years....but of course, this is a Turner thread....isn't it?...oh wait, it's in the passion forum! ;-)


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## bry3 (Mar 8, 2007)

Looks like fun!!!


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## ll 3nZo ll (Feb 15, 2007)

YESSSS An Azonic Saber!! iI haven't seen many other people with them.


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## ebxtreme (Jan 6, 2004)

Nice pics, Tscheezy. Looks like you had a great time down there.

EB


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## BKnight (Mar 27, 2005)

That whole trip looks sweet, especially the down hill part, thats some tricky riding.
Wish i found that stuff to ride when i was down :-/


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## Melt (May 24, 2004)

AWESOME THREAD AND PICS!!!!

im so mad i couldnt go this year ... went for 05 and 06.


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## aword4you (Jul 25, 2005)

Cool photos! Thanks for sharing. Hopefully we'll get to that one of these years.


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## jrm (Jan 12, 2004)

*looks like fast eddy made the "no fly" list*

wanker..

great animation and narrative. Sure looks dry.


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## AndyN (Jan 12, 2004)

lidarman said:


> I have been to Fling three times and have seen many posts of all the gatherings....It's interesting to see the apparent "bike of the gathering" change over those years....but of course, this is a Turner thread....isn't it?...oh wait, it's in the passion forum! ;-)


Just accept that times are changing and move on bro.

Being an Ellsner you should know this as well as anyone.


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## chainsmoker (Apr 20, 2004)

*Sweet!*

those pics are intense

sid


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## DRTRIDR (Jun 26, 2006)

Great thread. Sweet looking trail. Big group. Cool animation. Submarine Rock!!!

GOAT CAMP DH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Bob the Wheelbuilder (Sep 21, 2003)

*Cool pics and writeup*

The Turner board misses ya' tscheezy and barny!


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## Pinch (Nov 1, 2004)

Great pics! I gotta make it out there one of these years for the Fling.


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

lidarman said:


> ....It's interesting to see the apparent "bike of the gathering" change over those years....


You don't know the half of it, bro. You can't swing a cholla without it sticking to a 6-Pack rider down here.


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## Clyde S Dale (Jan 27, 2005)

Great picture thread, tscheezy. Those animated sequences are very cool.


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## fred3 (Jan 12, 2004)

Can't say much more than...WOW! Really nice photos. It's much appreciated up here in the upper northeast.


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## lidarman (Jan 12, 2004)

AndyN said:


> Just accept that times are changing and move on bro.
> 
> Being an Ellsner you should know this as well as anyone.


What what is buried in the message if you have any extrapolation skills is that you dumped your cash on a bike that will soon be boring and out of favor too!


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## cowdog (Apr 14, 2004)

Thanks for the great TR and fun and diverse collection of pictures!

We lived very briefly in Tempe way, way back. Our well used hiking shoes took us all over South Mountain and thereabouts. There weren't many hitting the trails on mnt bikes back then, including us. My cheapo rigid mtn bike had more of a commuter role and would get so hot in the sun that I couldn't touch any bare metal. It is amazing to see how that community has grown to support mtb.


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## AndyN (Jan 12, 2004)

lidarman said:


> What what is buried in the message if you have any extrapolation skills is that you dumped your cash on a bike that will soon be boring and out of favor too!


Damnit:madman:


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## CalEpic (Aug 19, 2004)

Thanks for the pic's Tscheezy. It was great meeting you and Barney - the girl has some skills!

C


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## lidarman (Jan 12, 2004)

AndyN said:


> Damnit:madman:


But you were smart and removed the decals ahead of time so nobody will ever know! :thumbsup:


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## bear (Feb 3, 2004)

Now I really want to quit my job and become a bike bum.

*sigh*


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## AndyN (Jan 12, 2004)

lidarman said:


> But you were smart and removed the decals ahead of time so nobody will ever know! :thumbsup:


But I'll know.:cryin:


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## JimC. (Dec 30, 2003)

*Nice shots, damn you all...*

I _nearly_ got there this year... next year's a must.:smallviolin: And thanks for the shots Tscheesy, I was hoping a few would show up. Vicarious riding and all that...hope all had fun and no serious bleeding occurred.

Jim


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## Fairchild (Mar 9, 2007)

Very nice!


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## lidarman (Jan 12, 2004)

So did anyone else take pix to share?

Or is Tscheezy just fast on the draw?


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## wg (Dec 20, 2003)

Damn! Great shots and animation! Diggin the Goat Camp DH. That'd hurt me. Bad.
Thanks.


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## Melt (May 24, 2004)

i just noticed all the animated gifs .... mad props on lacin those together


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

lidarman said:


> So did anyone else take pix to share?


Mark M put shots up on his Picasa account.


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## SprocketHead (Dec 23, 2004)

Thanks for sharing your pics and stitching the photos together TS. They came out great. Looks like fun times in AZ, I'm going to try to make it out there next year.


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## Alpenglow (Feb 5, 2004)

*Phillip, what did you think of Milagrosa?*



tscheezy said:


> Mark M put shots up on his Picasa account.


I used to live on that end of Tucson and we would ride from my house to Prison Camp--Molino Basin-Milagrosa for our Monthly Death March. It was my favorite trail in Tucson. I love the chutes near the end of the ride (the ones after the gate).
Thanks for sharing the great pics. Did you guys ride with any of the Tucson Locals (SunDog, Nate, or Hank)?


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## tiSS'er (Jan 6, 2004)

tscheezy said:


> You don't know the half of it, bro. You can't swing a cholla without it sticking to a 6-Pack rider down here.


No kidding! Turner's everywhere, and for good reason:thumbsup: Jeez, I can't believe I missed the GC ride because I forgot my helmet :madman: :madman: :madman: :madman:

Oh well, it is in my backyard  
Cheez and Barney, I'm glad you kids had a good time. Come back soon.


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

I would love to do the whole Green Mountain/Bug Springs/Molino/AZ Trail/La Milagrosa some day. That must be super epic. The portion we did from Prison Camp down was a kick. The only problem was that I got two flats, and fear of a third had me holding back a bit. It was also pretty damn warm out. The area is fascinating though as you descend through one ecological zone after another. I would do it again in a heartbeat, and as I said, I'd love to start higher up too...


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## Kanga (Sep 14, 2004)

*More Photos*

Hey, I had a great time out there and wouldn't have missed it for the world. I took lots of pictures (over 500) on the "A" rides in Tucson, South Mountain, Sedona and Prescott, and also gathered and posted pics from some of our fellow so Cal OTB riders. If you were on any of these rides, chances are good that you're in there. These are mine (Steve), Hans' (So Cal OTB), and Shawn's (Prescott OTB) photos combined.

There are links and some pics posted on the forums at the Over the Bars club site http://otbmbc.com web site. The links below are to Imagestation.

Tucson - March 15, 2007, Milagrosa Trail

Phoenix - March 16, 2007, South Mountain

Sedona - March 17, 2007

Prescott - March 18, 2007, Granite Loop, then 305 and Moto Trails. The OTB'ers went and did an extra credit ride on the Granite Loop in Prescott, before meeting the Spring Flingers.

It was cool to see a fellow Bionicon rider out there tearing up the trails (Chris in Prescott)..... Very nice to ride with some new folks and share the heat....

Steve


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## CalEpic (Aug 19, 2004)

Kanga said:


> Hey, I had a great time out there and wouldn't have missed it for the world. I took lots of pictures (over 500) on the "A" rides in Tucson, South Mountain, Sedona and Prescott, and also gathered and posted pics from some of our fellow so Cal OTB riders. If you were on any of these rides, chances are good that you're in there. These are mine (Steve), Hans' (So Cal OTB), and Shawn's (Prescott OTB) photos combined.
> 
> There are links and some pics posted on the forums at the Over the Bars club site http://otbmbc.com web site. The links below are to Imagestation.
> 
> ...


Hey Steve - Nice pics. It was nice meeting you and the OTB guys.

Craig


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## Raven6* (Jan 31, 2007)

Very nice photos! I particulary enjoyed the sequenced ones of some of those rough downhill sections. Props to Dirtbag, he must be a biking monster as it looked like he cleaned those sections like it was icing on the cake


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## dirtbag (Dec 30, 2003)

DC6* said:


> Very nice photos! I particulary enjoyed the sequenced ones of some of those rough downhill sections. Props to Dirtbag, he must be a biking monster as it looked like he cleaned those sections like it was icing on the cake


my secret is luck :ihih:


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## Cyclopod (Mar 14, 2006)

Wow, I now have a new goal! Awesome shots!


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## PAmtbiker (Feb 2, 2005)

*Tastey*

mmmmmmmmmmmmm..... I love desert singletrack...hell, I love all singletrack. Looks like some horrible trails you rode though...


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

ebxtreme said:


> Nice pics, Tscheezy. Looks like you had a great time down there.
> 
> EB


true dat,....that girl can ride too


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## hanshananigan (May 15, 2006)

:thumbsup:


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## CrashTheDOG (Jan 4, 2004)

I guess hell finally froze over... tscheezy posted in Passion. Not only did he post but he started a thread. Excellent pictures bro, and I couldn't agree more Dirtbag and his cronies are excellent riders and trail guides. Did TiSSer show up?

Hey Dirtbag luck my arse! When is your crew coming up to St. George to ride with Sanchez?


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## dirtbag (Dec 30, 2003)

CrashTheDOG said:


> When is your crew coming up to St. George to ride with Sanchez?


get the boo crew up to St. George!!!? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: that's funny Crash; i can't even get 'em off somo. i would love to come up though. promise not to hurt me like the last time i rode with Sanchez :yikes:

are you guys still coming here?


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## tiSS'er (Jan 6, 2004)

dirtbag said:


> get the boo crew up to St. George!!!? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: that's funny Crash; i can't even get 'em off somo. i would love to come up though. promise not to hurt me like the last time i rode with Sanchez :yikes:
> 
> are you guys still coming here?


I call BS. You know I'd hit it!


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## CrashTheDOG (Jan 4, 2004)

dirtbag said:


> are you guys still coming here?


Your cliff diving stunt will always remain a legend within Team Sanchez. We loved to host any of the Boo Crew willing to make the journey. So gather up tiSS'er and get the hell up here. Sanchez meets Boo that'd be epic.

We're heading to Moab the weekend of April 19th rather than Phoenix. Maybe in the fall or next year.


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## tiSS'er (Jan 6, 2004)

CrashTheDOG said:


> Your cliff diving stunt will always remain a legend within Team Sanchez. We loved to host any of the Boo Crew willing to make the journey. So gather up tiSS'er and get the hell up here. Sanchez meets Boo that'd be epic.
> 
> We're heading to Moab the weekend of April 19th rather than Phoenix. Maybe in the fall or next year.


What days? The 19th is a Thursday. I am hosting Dirty D and JOD on the 16th. If Dirtbag is interested, I MIGHT be able to swing up that way.


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

OK, a LOT of people are PMing me and asking how to make animated gifs. Here is what I did:

1) Open all the pics you want to include in the series with Photoshop.

2) Drag all the individual images into one window so each one becomes a new layer in a common file. Make sure they line up correctly, and it is very helpful to put the layers in chronological order.

3) Save the file with all the layers as a Photoshop document (.psd). 

4) Open the .psd file in Adobe ImageReady.

5) Turn the individual layer visibilties on or off until you get the first frame you want to use in the sequence showing.

6) Make sure the Animation window is showing. You will see a thumbnail of the first frame. Click on the carrot under the frame's thumbnail and give it a delay time value (I use 0.3 seconds, because my camera takes about 2.5 or 3 frames a second). This is how long the image will be shown before it moves on to the next image in the sequence.

7) Duplicate the frame (click the duplicate frame button in the Animation window). This makes an exact copy of your first image in the sequence. But you want the duplicate frame to show the next image in the sequence, so just click the eyeball icon in the layers palette to turn on the next image. The duplicated frame will automatically use the same delay time as the first frame.

8) Continue to click the duplicate frame button (in the Animation palette) and turn on the next image (in the Layers palette) in the sequence to generate the whole series.

9) You can preview the animation by clicking the play button in the Animation palette.

10) Once you are happy with the results, choose Save Optimized As... from the File menu, give the .gif a name, and upload that sucker somewhere to post on the web.


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

Here are some pics I stole from Steve's account. Yep, they're all of Turner riding freaks on the Milagrosa Trail...


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## CrashTheDOG (Jan 4, 2004)

tiSS'er said:


> What days? The 19th is a Thursday. I am hosting Dirty D and JOD on the 16th. If Dirtbag is interested, I MIGHT be able to swing up that way.


We'll be in Moab Thursday, April 19th thru the following Sunday. Love to meet up with you guys. PM me if you can make it.


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## Kanga (Sep 14, 2004)

*Tscheezy, you're welcome!*

These are all from the Milagrosa trail on the Thursday. It was a sweet ride, and a good warmup for SoMo and the heat....

Steve


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## dirtbag (Dec 30, 2003)

you gotta start somewhere, right? :blush:

why don't it move damit?

i said MOVE!!

attaboy! :thumbsup:


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## KRob (Jan 13, 2004)

dirtbag said:


> you gotta start somewhere, right? :blush:
> 
> why don't it move damit?
> 
> ...


Hey, not bad. I think what adds to the movement effect is if the background stays pretty stable (Not sure how tscheezy does that). In yours it looks like you are jumping around in the frame and the backround is changing.

I've got a question on the sequence tscheezy posted of you on the "Jackhammer" at GC.

It looks like you actually run your front wheel up on the side rock as you come off that first little drop in the third frame which sets you up nicely for that last little drop which is where I kept getting hung up. Looks like a much straighter shot than what I was taking. Is that the line or is the animated sequence just playing tricks with my eyes? Thanks.

Nice work.


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

Let's view it again in slo-mo instant replay:










I cleaned the whole GC descent, except for one dab, my first time down it. I'd love to offer some advice, but all I did was hang on and pray... 

When setting up for gifs, I try to hold the camera pretty still and get most of the sequence in with minimal panning. If you do pan, only do it at the end, and even then do it very little and very slowly. A fixed background makes a good reference point that minimizes confusion in the final product.


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## tfraser (Feb 17, 2007)

*Now I remember*

Have Missed SF for last 2 years.
Can't with to move back to the AZ.
Pics made my day.
Thanks!!:madman:


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## titopol (Jan 4, 2006)

Oh my god, nice photos. Greetings from Spain!!


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

Glad you guys liked it. 

I found a video of the Goat Camp trail (right click, save as...) on Pete's website. Somehow they missed shooting the most difficult sections in the vid, but at the rate they are dabbing on the rest of the trail, it probably wouldn't have made for interesting scenes anyway.


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## cowdog (Apr 14, 2004)

Well, I can see tscheezy is just a fountain of humility... 

Fun video. I've watched that one previously. I think there was even a discussion on it in the AZ forum last year. Rough trail. You can tell that the long XC ride to get to the challenging descent has helped to preseve some interesting aspects. If that was hit regularly with loads of monster bike shuttle riders, I expect it wouldn't be as interesting (but who knows). 

Lots of great stoke in this thread! :thumbsup:


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## dirtbag (Dec 30, 2003)

KRob said:


> Hey, not bad. I think what adds to the movement effect is if the background stays pretty stable (Not sure how tscheezy does that). In yours it looks like you are jumping around in the frame and the backround is changing.
> 
> I've got a question on the sequence tscheezy posted of you on the "Jackhammer" at GC.
> 
> ...


my animation wasn't moving initially because i didn't set it to run continuously, just one time. yeah, those shots were not taken with an animation in mind, it was just a little sequence i dug up to figure it out. my partner at work shot a sequence of 27 images crossing the bay bridge that i stitched together. pretty cool. now i can't figure out how tscheezy can load such big gifs. mine were limited to the 390k limit, but his appear to be much larger. do tell ts.

i don't know about whether my tire actually rode up on the side rock. i try to line up to hit the right corner as tight as possible and keep moving right as i drop. you have to bring it back left really soon though, otherwise you'll catch the corner of that rock on the right just after the second little drop that i think was giving you problems. i think the real trick is lining it up and hitting it with the right amount of speed. too slow and you'll stuff on anything, too fast and you'll blow up. next time you're up there, check the broken down bush on the left


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

You can post pretty much any file size to Flickr (my gif's are about 4.6mb) and then link them here. If you attach a pic to a post via mtbr, you will probably be limited in file size.



cowDawg said:


> Well, I can see tscheezy is just a fountain of humility...


I just call 'em like I see 'em.


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## cowdog (Apr 14, 2004)

LOL!  For some of the stuff on Goat Camp, I sure wouldn't want to ride in front of the guy with the helmet cam. :blush: 

Add trail GOAT CAMP to lifetime must ride list - check. Great stuff.


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## Guest (Apr 3, 2007)

tscheezy said:


> I found a video of the Goat Camp trail (right click, save as...) on Pete's website. Somehow they missed shooting the most difficult sections in the vid, but at the rate they are dabbing on the rest of the trail, it probably wouldn't have made for interesting scenes anyway.


Philip, I guess I need to invite you along the next time we make it down there and shoot video...it looks like you had a great trip.


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## garypalmer (Aug 2, 2004)

nice (very very nice) pics.....

regards from spain.... ;-)


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## crazydog (Nov 28, 2005)

spanish powahhh

Very cool pics


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## extensive (Jun 27, 2004)

Wow!


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## CsHoSi (Sep 28, 2005)

Really enjoyed the pics! Thanks for the post.


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