Ride Description:

The Desert Loop 400k brevet route can be described as City meets Desert meets Farm meets Reservation in a repeating cycle. The route starts and finishes in Chandler and travels in a counter-clockwise direction.

The route travels along most of the length of the Valley of the Sun. This is on roads that generally skirt the outer reaches of the cities of the Valley, which together comprise the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States. The roads were chosen to minimize traffic and stop lights, and many are formerly key roads that have been superseded by Interstate and highways, leaving them for cyclists to enjoy.

Services are located at regular intervals along the route. Towns and cities visited: Chandler, Queen Creek, Mesa, Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, Carefree, Cave Creek, Peoria, Sun Cities, Buckeye, Estrella, Avondale, Laveen and possibly Phoenix somewhere in there!

Terrain: The route follows the Gila, Salt and Agua Fria River Valleys as it winds between several mountain ranges. While this route is relatively flat by Arizona brevet standards, with 6600 feet of total climbing, it differs from flat routes in other parts of the country in that it offers continually changing views of mountains in all directions along the entire course.

The wild horses in the photo below are an iconic centerpiece of the Lower Salt River. They can be spotted in numerous locations along a roughly 15 mile stretch of the Forest Service land in that area. More info on the horses may be found HERE.

Desert Loop 400k Details HERE

Last Minute Notes may be found HERE. This link will be valid once available, generally the day after registration closes. Please read them. There will be a lot of information posted there. I will also send them out to registered riders. If you don’t receive them, please check your spam folder.

Wild horses roam the Lower Salt River Valley