Desert Loop 200

Desert Loop 200 Description

The Desert Loop 200k 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 The roads were chosen to minimize traffic and stop lights, and many are formerly key roads that have been superseded by Interstate and highways, leaving them for cyclists to enjoy.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, Scottsdale Greenbelt, Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Tempe and Tempe Town Lake.

Terrain: The route follows the Salt and Scottsdale Greenbelt as it winds between several mountain ranges. While this route is relatively flat by Arizona brevet standards, with 3900 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.