March « 2010 « J2Davis' Nomadic Journey

Mar 31 2010

IMB Free Online Mountain Bike Magazine

Posted by JacQ

I just discovered another great free online magazine today. International Mountain Bike Magazine (IMB) is a beautifully done online magazine that just released their 4th issue of free online magazine.

It offers the usual articles, interviews, tips, photos to multimedia ads and video clips that would further enrich your magazine reading experience. I really enjoy online magazines when they are done right. Living in a RV does not allow us to store much of the printed publications, ever since we bought the Amazon Kindle, we have really went digital.

This magazine is an easy read and enjoyable for mountain bike enthusiasts and those who would like to get into the sport. I love the simple format of the magazine.

There are articles about trails they rode and at the end, they will provide you the GPX file and a trail map to download if available. You can’t get that on a printed magazine.

They also offer a collection of articles for you to “shortcut” to an archive of “Techniques” section, allowing you to quickly access their previous articles that are related to how to ride better and tips about certain tricks.

Hope you enjoy the magazine as much as I do. I am looking forward to see more from them, and more other publications coming online.

No Comments » // topics: general, mountain biking, online magazines //

Mar 27 2010

Blevins Trail – Usery Mountains Regional Park

Posted by JacQ

Blevins Trail - trailhead in Usery Mountains Regional Park

This section is actually the Moonrock Trail

Engleman Hedgehog Cactus (Strawberry Hedgehog) bloom~

No Comments » // topics: city parks, mountain biking, photo gallery //

Mar 21 2010

Summit Trail hike (Echo Canyon) at Camelback Mountain

Posted by JacQ

Thanks to Tessa’s suggestion. We went to hike and summit the Camelback Mountain Trail (Echo Canyon). It was a 1.2 miles one way + 1,264 feet elevation gain hike. That was a 2,528 feet elevation change in 2.4 miles, a pretty rough hike if you are not used to it. By the time we got to the top, we were all exhausted.

The parking situation in the weekend is crazy. We got there around 9AM and there was already a line of cars waiting at Echo Canyon Parkway for parking lot spots to free up. So we ended up driving to another street and hiked back to the trail head.

I love this trail because it is mostly a full body workout due to its steep rocky trail. I scrambled up lots of large rock steps and came down the same way – 65% of the time I was on all fours. We also found out that there are climbing routes here with strong bolts, so we might be back here to climb sometime.

The sandstone rock formations along the trail was awesome, really reminded me of Moab. Thanks to the rain we have gotten, there were lots of wild flowers and plants along the trail, almost make you forget that you are in the desert.

Definitely a blast, and we love the hike during weekends with friends. Phoenix area has so much to offer and lots of places to hike, we just can’t get enough of it…