Ellie has recently joined our team as our part-time bike mechanic, to help us with our extra repairs and bike builds, especially during the busy season. Ellie grew up in Tucson where she began working with community bike projects in the early 2000’s. After spending many formative years in the Pacific Northwest working as a mechanic and in bicycle youth programming, she returned full time to Tucson in 2017. Since returning, Ellie has been an instrumental part of teaching and co-managing the amazing organization that is BICAS. Ellie remains involved at BICAS as well as working with after school youth bike clubs.
Ellie loves to get out on bikepacking and climbing trips with her buds all over the Southwest and beyond. We’re so excited to have Ellie sharing her depth of bicycle mechanic prowess and Tucson bike community knowledge here at Campfire Cycling.
No Bike Stand Needed! – April. 28, 2025
I’ve been holding onto this one since our bikepacking trip to Colossal Cave. We all made it out to the campground with very few mechanical issues, and even those that arose were taken care of swiftly by very prepared riders. It wasn’t until we got to camp that we found a few more slow leaks and had a fun group session swapping repair tips, sharing tools, and congratulating ourselves for finding nature’s bike stand, as pictured.
Moving Week! – April. 21, 2025
It’s moving week! Thank you Campfire for providing me with this snail shell and plenty more cardboard boxes to facilitate the move. And don’t worry. I’m only moving three blocks further away from the shop.
Riding the Prescott Circle Trail– April. 14, 2025
I finally got to achieve a goal of mine, riding the Prescott Circle Trail. This incredible single track loop takes you around the entire Prescott basin with beautiful views, lots of fast smooth riding, a ton of elevation change, but very rideable. And a great escape from the heat.
Parker Canyon Overnighter with friends – April. 07, 2025
Last week I had the opportunity to take a couple visiting friends on their first overnight bikepacking trip. We were lucky to have so many incredible routes to pick from nearby.
We did an overnighter from Patagonia to Parker Canyon, caught one of the last cool weekends, saw a ton of birds, and a new route variant I wanted to try took us down a beautiful canyon full of Sycamore trees. It’s heating up now but I’ll be dreaming about more trips for next winter.
Jake always gives his all – March. 31, 2025
Jake once again is hard at work. Just a little glimpse into some of the “behind the scenes” action at Campfire. I’m grateful to have coworkers that give 100% no matter the job and make even our weekly trash/recycling run an enjoyable activity.
In awe of AZT racers – March. 24, 2025
I didn’t get to bring a bike but did enjoy an overnight visit to the Grand Canyon with my visiting cousins. Can you believe the AZT racers hike across this canyon with their bikes on their backs?!
Colossal Cave Overnighter – March. 17, 2025
We lucked into some great weather on last weekend’s campfire bikepacking trip to Colossal Cave. Narrowly missing a cold rainy night, we instead got to roll out east with gorgeous puffy clouds and an incredible view of the freshly snow capped peaks. By the following morning much of the snow had already melted. It’s been a very dry winter and this is some much needed moisture.
Beating Flats in the Tucson Desert – March. 10, 2025
With all the sharp, pokey things found in the Tucson desert environment as well as some pretty rough roads, flat tires are a chronic issue. What do you do to prevent flats? I’ve transitioned to tubeless as much as possible, but ran Stan’s sealant inside my tubes for years prior with very few flats.
A sturdy tire in good condition is also key. Last week we installed five Tannus Armour tire liners on three different E-bikes. Pictured is the slime sealant that came out of one punctured tube. I’m hopeful the owners of those bikes are all riding flat free for quite a while now.
Discovering routes the hard way – March. 03, 2025
I’ve been wondering for a while just how bike-able Rug Road is, an extreme jeep road that crosses the Galiuro mountains with an interesting history going back to the ranching family that first developed this crossing. I found out the hard way by loading up my bike for a multi day loop from my house. And the answer is…. not very bike-able at all! But I enjoyed the views in this beautiful range while pushing my bike over the majority of a 7-mile crossing.
Rodeo Week with the Bike Club kids – February. 24, 2025
It was rodeo week in Tucson. Growing up I never knew that the rest of the world didn’t celebrate the week with a break from school. We don’t all go to the rodeo games but I do love a barn dance. The Bike Club kids I ride with weekly showed off their finest hats and boots, participated in some mock rodeo games, and joined us for an extra fun ride before starting their long weekend.
Elliot & Stylish Susan visit the shop – February. 17, 2025
It’s a good day when we get a visit from these two! Thank you Elliot for your collaboration with and support of local bike shops and cycling groups and especially for bringing Susan in to say hi, the most stylish dog around.
Heartfelt Moments at Fuga’s Community Ride – February. 10, 2025
It was a treat to make it out to FUGA’s (Familias Unidad Ganando Accesibilidad) monthly Westside community ride. What a great way to start the day. I was particularly moved by a pair of siblings, older brother looking out for and encouraging the younger, one of the smallest in the group who was giving it his all to stay the pace. Surrounding riders joined in shouts of encouragement and even offering a tow when he needed a rest. I love what FUGA does in the Tucson community, building up riding skills and confidence for all ages and bringing people together to share in joyful space.
Investigating Patagonia’s Water crossings – February. 03, 2025
A few weeks back I went out for a ride around Patagonia, AZ with a friend. This area has become a destination for many interested in gravel riding. We’re lucky in Tucson to be able to enjoy day rides in this beautiful neighboring region. It’s been a particularly dry winter out here so you can imagine my naive surprise when we hit our first of a handful of water crossings. I couldn’t imagine where the source was, no snowmelt for miles and yet more water than I had seen in years out here.
Upon return to town I spotted a poster warning cyclists to use safety precautions when entering these crossings, flooded from the discharge from South32’s mine of about ONE MILLION GALLONS per day, and set to increase! The notification cited a couple of cyclist accidents caused by the unexpected water levels, but more horrific to me was learning of the quantity of water used in production in an area where water scarcity is a reality with the water table already dropping. You can visit the the Patagonia Alliance (PARA) for more information.
Bighorns and Stunning Views in Kofa – January. 27, 2025
The Kofa bikepacking route has been on my radar over the past couple years as a handful of friends have traveled the 3-4 hours from Tucson to ride through the wildlife refuge. This past week I got to check it out for myself. Having grown up so close I can’t believe it was my first time to visit this incredibly beautiful part of the desert. We were so lucky to see a herd of big horn sheep, took shelter from a little rain in a couple of the old cabins, and were totally wowed by the views.
New shop cat? – January. 20, 2025
Late last week this furry little friend casually strolled into the shop. I was confused enough to ask the customer I was attending to if the cat “was with him”. After taking a thorough tour of the shop through every nook and cranny, the cat wandered to the basement and wasn’t seen again for a couple days until it emerged on Saturday mid shift with a loud meow when it reached the top of the stairs.
Worried that it hadn’t eaten in days, David fished it out a tasty treat from the trash, and henceforth created a monster. Not sure if this is our new shop cat, but it will definitely make itself known, loudly meowing incessantly, blocking my reach for every tool in an attempt to get some pets, and offering to assist at the register with every transaction. Will it come back? We better start taking name suggestions.
My Fargo gets a new outfit! – January. 13, 2025
My partner has something of an addiction to raffles. They’re a great opportunity to donate to something you care about and gamble a little with the chance of a prize. Last year’s big winning was a custom frame bag, which was generous regifted to me to help outfit my new Salsa Fargo. The bag just arrived, in colors to match my other bags, and I can’t wait to overload it and go riding! It’s a lot of work to make a custom bag, who’s making them near you?
My end of the year Redington ride home! – January. 6, 2025
To close out 2024 I went on an overnight bikepacking trip with a small handful of friends to a very special canyon. The 9 mile road to the trailhead is steep, rocky, loose, and absolutely beautiful. We drove out, biked in, hiked down, and spent a quiet night under the Sycamores. I’d been feeling the itch for a longer ride and decided in the morning to give it a go, letting my friends know I’d see them back in Tucson. It’s been two years since I had biked over Redington pass, which splits two of our mountain ranges, and seemed about time to revisit.
It was a slow slog on a loaded mountain bike to get me over in the past but I felt great when I dropped to the edge of the city in the afternoon and hit asphalt. I can’t say the 16 additional miles that followed to cross the city all the way to the west side where I live were any amount of fun, but I’m glad I made the choice to push myself and got a solo day in the saddle to really check in with my body. Being able to ride from (or to) my doorstep is one of my favorite things about where I live.