Around the Bend

Around the Bend Description

The Around the Bend 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 only skirt the southern 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 The roads were chosen to minimize traffic and stop lights, and many are formerly key roads that have been superseded by Interstate and highways, leaving them for cyclists to enjoy.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, Estrella, Laveen, Phoenix, Estrella, Buckeye, Gila Bend, Maricopa, Stanfield, Casa Grande, Coolidge, Florence and Queen Creek.

Terrain: The route follows the Gila and Salt River Valleys as it winds between several mountain ranges. While this route is relatively flat by Arizona brevet standards, with 2990 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.

“I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla. I wonder how the road beyond it goes–what there is of green glory and soft, checkered light and shadows–what new landscapes–what new beauties–what curves and hills and valleys further on.”

From Anne Of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery