Road Ride Report: Mount Lemmon

The Mount Lemmon Climb is listed as the 33rd toughest climb in the United States in "The Complete Guide to Climbing (by Bike)." From start in the desert of Tucson at the bottom to the alpine forest at the end of the pavement you climb 6200' over 28 miles at an average grade of 5% through some of the best scenery in the Southwest.

Just past Windy Point.

I've had this one on my bucket list for quite a few years so I was pretty excited when I saw that the weather was going to cooperate and let me give it a go in March when it usually still has too much snow at the top.

I drove to the start with a great view of what was coming as Mt. Lemmon looms over the east side of Tucson.

As this was my first trip up, the only real goal I had was to be in the top half of the STRAVA leaderboard and pass more riders than passed me.

I ended up 110 out of 389 riders on the complete climb and passed 15 riders. The only rider that passed me turned around at the 5-mile mark so I'm not going to count him. It appears that quite a few people turn around at the ski resort and skip the last couple of miles (sissys).

The climb itself is amazingly consistent staying between 4-7% grade for most of its length. The angle does kick up at the end after you turn on Ski Run Road where it ranges from 8-10% with a couple of small ramps that went as high as 13% which is always fun after 25 miles of climbing.

The views were fantastic for the entire ride starting at 3000' elevation in the Sonoran Desert and climbing all the way up into the evergreen forest that starts around 5000' and goes to the top at 9100'. You will feel the elevation difference and thin air at the top.

This is easily in my Top-10 road rides in the U.S.. It's right up there with Crater Lake, Lake Tahoe and Big Sur and should be added to everyone's to-do list. Did I mention the 25-miles screamer of a downhill? Great stuff.

Mount Lemmon map and profile.

Do what you are good at.

Over the last three years I lost track of how many times I was asked what I planned to do when I finished my college degrees. It seemed that almost everyone was surprised when I answered that I would go back to working as a photographer.

Desert Garden is one of my most popular images.

For me, there was never any doubt what I would do because I really do love it. Traveling around the country documenting the world I see is the perfect job for me.

My love of photography may surprise many who know me because I really hate talking about it. I am not a techie, I don't care what kind of camera, lenses, tripods, etc... that people use to produce images. I only care about the final product which for me is the print. How you got from the shoot to the print is almost completely irrelevant and uninteresting to me, all I care about is how that image looks in its end state.

So, on what is almost the 20-year anniversary of my first image sale, I thought I might open up a little about what I really hate talking about.

One of my first published credits - Rock & Ice Magazine

A good place to start this discussion is to explain why I dislike talking shop. For me, that is easy. I do not believe that there is a right or wrong way to create something artistic. Like I said before, what matters is the final product and for me that is a photographic print.

I use Canon cameras and lenses, Epson printers and Moab papers. They work for me and I am comfortable with them. That is all that matters to me. I don't need the latest and greatest, I need a tool that will do what I need it to do. If you ask me for advice on what camera to buy, I probably won't have a clue. I don't really keep up on what is going on with the technology and only do research when I need to replace something. I use a 10-yearold camera with 15-year old lenses and as long as I don't see something that is exponentially better at the type of shooting I do, I don't see any reason to get something new just to have something new.

Too often when you talk to photographers, pros and amateurs alike, they have a workflow that they follow that they think is the best and they are insistent that their way is the right way to do things. I have no such illusions of grandeur. I have a workflow that works for me and it is quite simple.

Oxbow Bend - One of my favorite places.

 
I travel light in the field. I carry my camera attached to a carbon fiber tripod that I throw over my shoulder. I have a small PJ bag that will have one spare lens, two split neutral density filters, a brush to clean the lens and a spare battery. That's it. I see a lot of photographers out there with backpacks stuffed with every piece of gear they own. While they are playing around looking important, I am moving from shot to shot. I don't care if I look professional. I care about how many set ups I can do while the light is good. And for me, the light is only good for an hour on each side of sunrise and sunset. If it is overcast, I may do some macro shooting if there is something interesting.

For landscapes, I shoot in RAW, do an initial edit and conversion using Canon Digital Professional, open the file in Photoshop at actual size, check for dust and sharpness, fit to screen, unsharp mask if needed, check levels, insert file info, save at highest setting, done. That's it. My entire workflow in one easy process. Anything that needs more than that is more trouble than its worth and gets deleted.
I miss the days of film when it was so easy to put your slides on a light table and just trash everything that wasn't up to standard. Now there is so much temptation to try and "fix" those so-so images in PS. I would rather just go out and reshoot.

I have been doing my own printing since Epson came out with the first archival quality inks. I started with a 2000P and then progressed up to a 4000 for larger prints. I use Moab Entrada Paper because it fits the look I want for my prints. Some people like Canon, some like HP, I like Epson. There is no right or wrong, only taste.

Selling prints is an interesting business. It is a part of being a photographer that I both love and hate equally.

I love when someone buys one of my prints for the simple reason that they have seen something that somehow touched them and they have decided that they want to make it a part of their life by hanging it in their home. I cannot think of a greater honor as an artist and I really get upset with artists who somehow feel insulted if people don't buy their work. Just because you create something doesn't mean everyone will like it as much as you do. I have thousands of images in my files. Some of my personal favorites never sell. Some that I don't really like do. People have different tastes.

Rickett's Glen Cascade - Another favorite.

What I hate about selling prints is that sometimes it seems that people want you to sell them on why they should buy a print from you. I don't sell myself. I truly believe that that you should only buy art that you actually like. I would never hang anything on my wall just for that little name down in the corner.

All of my images are also available for stock licensing. I have an exclusive contract with Getty Images. I give them my images and they do all the marketing, licensing, collecting, etc... for me. They get their cut, I get mine. These are the images that are used for advertising, books, magazines, calendars, posters, etc... Most of my images are used in travel guides and magazines but I do find some interesting uses including the recent use of one of my bison images in Glamour Magazine. Over the years, my images have been used by National Geographic, Scientific American, Fodors, National Parks Conservation Association, U.S. Dept. of State and many others.

And this is what I love about my small niche in the photographic world. I am not the best photographer in the world but I shoot what I want and I am good enough to actually make some money doing something I enjoy. And that is something that I think everyone should try to do. Find something you like to do and figure out a way to make that your career.

Twilight at Jumbo Rocks - One of my newest images.

Ride Review: Moreno Valley

I spent the last week in the former foreclosure capital of Southern California. I didn't find any good deals on housing but the riding was pretty great.

I always go to new areas with the idea that I'll ride whatever is better between the road and the dirt. This week I found two pretty good road rides but spent the majority of my time exploring the trails of the Lake Perris State Recreation Area.

The better of the two road rides was the Oak Glen Loop, a 57-mile ride with 5300' of climbing with the cat 2 Oak Glen (east) climb. I've done this climb from the other side twice during the Breathless Agony Century so I wanted to give it a go from the other side. I managed to get into the Top-10 for the 15-mile climb starting at Live Oak so that went pretty well.

The other road ride I did was a loop that I spotted some local riders doing. Not bad but it seemed to be your typical shop ride loop that tended to avoid any good hills.

MRAP Downhill.

The real surprise for me was the mountain biking. I've been to Lake Perris on numerous occasions but have never ridden here. I always looked at the trail maps and saw that it was just a bunch of sandy horse trails. I had actually planned on making a couple of trips over to Sycamore Canyon while I was in the area but ended up riding at Lake Perris instead. I even managed to put together an 83.3-mile ride for the February Gran Fondo Challenge on STRAVA (Dirty Fondo).

The riding did have some sand as I expected but I also found a bunch of singletrack trails that were similar to those found at Sycamore Canyon and Southridge. The climbs are mostly moderate with the exception of the climb up to Terri Peak. There were two sections on this that weighed in with a grade of over 30 percent. Yes, it is that steep. I managed to get the KOM riding up the MRAP DH to the top of the peak. This was probably one of the steepest grades I've climbed but the surface was solid so it is ridable (shut-up legs).

The view from Terri Peak.

The trails are mostly decomposed granite over hard pack with some rock obstacles thrown in for fun. The soil type means that this place would be a good choice after a rain. It rained twice while I was here and it pretty much just made the conditions better as it packed down the sand.

There are plenty of other things to do at Lake Perris so this would be a great place for a family weekend. There is fishing, boating, hunting, hiking, etc...

The campground is huge with 100+ RV sites and 100+ tent sites. Everything is well maintained and the staff is pretty friendly.

Sunset at Lake Perris.

 


 

10 Days in the Desert

Morning in the desert.

I've spent quite a bit of time in Anza-Borrego over the years camping, bouldering and mountain biking. It's interesting that in all that time and with the proximity to where I live, I've never really come out here specifically to shoot. I've collected a few shots along the way but weekend trips were usually for some other purpose.

I spent a couple of days shooting the badlands then moved up towards Borrego Palm Canyon where I spent the rest of my time. I was able to get what I consider adequate shots but nothing spectacular. Unfortunately, I've been blessed with clear skies, which for a photographer means boring skies. So I've spent most of my time looking for interesting foreground elements to put in front of the mountains to the west.

I was hoping for a few wildflowers but the drought that is keeping California dry has definitely dried out the desert areas as much if not more than everywhere else in the state.

Over the last few years my visits have been restricted to the Rodriguez/Oriflamme Canyon area during the Julian Death March so it has been nice to do a little exploring while I'm out here.

Ten days of riding at Borrego Valley.

For mountain biking, I started out with a cruise around the Grapevine Canyon Loop followed by a cruise through the desert badlands of Ocotillo Wells and then an out and back ride up Coyote Canyon about half way. All three rides were your typical desert riding with lots of rocks and sand. Call me crazy but I really don't mind it that much and just love the isolation of the desert.

Ocotillo Riding

I also had some plans for the road bike. I've been wanting to ride Montezuma Grade (cat 1) for some time now so staying right at the base gave me a chance to give it a go more than once.

The rest of the riding around the valley is mostly flat or false flats on pavement that ranges from rough to really horrible and by horrible I mean that suspension might be required depending on which road you're on.

One thing I learned pretty quick is that you have two choices when it comes to road riding from Borrego Springs. You can ride around the valley in which case you're going to ride some rough roads that will wear you down, or you can ride up Montezuma Grade to better pavement.

Since riding up Montezuma every day would be pretty rough, I did a number of rides around the valley. The east side of Yaqui Pass (cat 4) is another good climb I found in my exploring and actually had good pavement. The rest of the time I did out and backs to the 78 and down S22 towards Salton Sea.

About half way up Montezuma Grade.

The best two rides I did were the loops up Montezuma Grade. These were both excellent rides that are as good as anything I've ridden in San Diego.

On the first, I rode S22 up to San Felipe Road and turned left and followed San Felipe all the way to the 78 where I made another left then came back into Borrego Valley via the west side of Yaqui Pass. This was right at 50 miles and was a good 3-hour ride if you keep your pace up.

The second loop turned right at San Felipe Road and went through Santa Isabelle and Julian for a 75-mile loop with 6000+ feet of climbing.

Overall, I would rate Borrego Springs as a pretty good destination for riding. Montezuma Grade is pretty much the highlight for the road. The scenery is great wherever you ride though and the weather can't be beat.

Camping is also easy. You can stay at the State Park CG or camp for free on the BLM land east of town or at Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area. There is gas and food available in Borrego Springs along with a couple of small motels.

There is also a new bike shop at the mall. He mainly deals in rentals for the tourists but has some emergency parts if you find yourself needing a tire or tubes.

Sunrise in the desert.

 

Week one is in the books...

The first week of the 2014 Photo/Ride Adventure Tour is in the books and has carried me from South Orange County to North San Diego County. Not a lot of mileage but since I'm not on a strict timetable as in times past, this should give me the opportunity to get better coverage of the areas I do visit.

A good example would be the time I've spent at South Carlsbad State Park. In the past I would have stayed for a sunset and sunrise and taken whatever I happened to capture. In this case, the first two sunsets were rather bland and didn't really get me anything good. The third however got some interesting cloud formations that yielded this image.

Copyright Eric Foltz

With limited features other than a lot of wide open stretches of sand, finding some rocks to put in the foreground made all the difference. It's not the best beach image I have but I'm pretty happy with being able to get something good from this location.

I was able to put up pretty good mileage on the bikes (plural). I did some mountain biking while I was up in San Clemente and have been mixing it up with road biking when the trails weren't convenient.

I've managed to ride the Southern California coast from Seal Beach to La Jolla with a couple of inland loops to keep it interesting.

Riding in San Diego County really makes you appreciate how good the roads in South OC really are. PCH through SD is one cracked, potholed, lumpy mess in a lot of places. The views are spectacular but taking your eyes off the pavement in front of you is risking death.

The STRAVA Heatmap so far:

I'll probably have a hard time turning anything red this year, but I predict there will be blue lines all over the place by year's end.

I was hoping to hit around 5000 new segments by the end of the year, but I'm thinking that number might be a little conservative since I've already added around 300 in just the first week. It's is really amazing to see what happens when you ride something in the opposite direction from what you do normally. Yesterday and today, I rode north along the coast where I had only ridden south previously and added 200+ segments. All those STRAVA users have been busy.


The real challenge will be adding to this map which shows everywhere I've ridden in the U.S.:

 

Mountain bike rides are green, road are red and my tour route is in gold. I'm looking forward to adding a lot of new color to this map.

Tioga Pass

Another great day in the Eastern Sierras. The area between Lone Pine and Bridgeport is quite possibly one of the most beautiful areas in the U.S.

To the west of Highway 395 lies the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. There are a number of passes crossing the Sierras including Tioga Pass which is the Eastern gateway to Yosemite National Park.
The road to Tioga Pass starts in the small town of Lee Vining which lies just above the world famous Mono Lake.

Cyclists from all over the world come to the Sierras to test themselves on some of the toughest hill climbs on earth.

The Tioga Pass climb is moderate by Sierra standards but is still a great ride. The ride goes for 11.8 miles and climbs 3129' to Tioga Pass at 9945' above sea level. Along the way are some absolutely beautiful scenes.

The pass itself lies at the eastern entrance to Yosemite.

Like I said, another great day in the Eastern Sierras.