Ruta Del Jefe 2022

Sarah has been spending her winters exploring the unmapped dirt roads of the southern Arizona borderlands since 2017.

In 2018, Sarah published the Sky Islands Odyssey Route Project which includes three bikepacking routes; an east loop, west loop, and a full loop. In 2019, Sarah decided to host a single-day challenge along the Sky Islands East Loop to create an educational environment by creating Ruta del Jefe. In addition, for the last two winters, Sarah has been living on-site as a volunteer for the AWRR to help them with their bicycle outreach and infrastructure and to be a camp host for bikepackers traveling along with one of the Sky Islands Odyssey Routes. Visit Sarah’s website.

2022 will be the third year RDJ will be held. Each year Sarah strives to make the event more equitable, inclusive, accessible, and impactful. In addition, Sarah commits to doing the best that she can with the resources she has to apply lessons she learns from hosting RDJ to future variations of the event.

RDJ would not be possible without the cooperation of Cristina Francois (the director of the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch), guidance from Mathew Nelson (the director of the Arizona Trail Association), and volunteer help from her close friends and family.