Singletracks may earn commissions from affiliate links and/or receive products from manufacturers for review. Read our editorial guidelines here.
If there’s anything worse than a cholla spine in your nostril, it’s not knowing what it is.
Eric Lopez, aka Eric 2, has one gently wedged in his nose, and is about to do that big rub we all do to remove minor nasal irritants, before Eric Arce, aka Eric 1, rushes over, grabs his hand, and gently prises the stout little javelin out before it’s inadvertently driven deep into his face, hand, or brain.
It’s beautiful here in the Sonoran Desert, but it kinda wants you hurt. So it’s not just the drops, the slabs, or the exposed mountainsides you need to watch out for – it’s every single inch of the trail. Welcome to Tucson.
Slabs ahold of my heart
I’ve ridden here four times since 2022, and it always gets me. Not just because the city is a classic slice of Americana whose diners, thrift stores, and dive bars touch my dreamy road movie heart, but because you can be eating bougie breakfast sandwiches at 8am, then be hurtling down a rock chute before nine. The city is surrounded by epic mountains and trails on all sides, most famously Mt. Lemmon…