Hurricane/St George final ride and trip end

Arrived to Hurricane, UT about an hour before sunset on Thursday night. It's a pretty drive through Northern Arizona. It's especially pretty where you cross the Colorado River near Glen Canyon. There is just a wall of red cliffs on the horizon standing 1000ft or so above the valley floor. The Colorado Plateau is a dramatic, colorful place. I'd like to get to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at some point. I’ve been informed you can mountain bike ride Rainbow Rim along the North Rim of the GC. It’s on my list! Had intentions to get a quick spin in upon arrival to Hurricane, before sunset, but the wind was howling. So, I decided to give my legs a rest as I had already ridden that morning. Saturday I took my time getting started and did coffee at Over the Edge while chatting with Qwentin about bikes and swap stories about Sedona. It's good to know others share the sentiment that Sedona is a humbling place. Though something tells me he goes a little bigger than I do. The coffee, by the way, at OTE is excellent! Beta: Guacamole Trail has some 3 new miles that I'm eager to get back and check out.

Ride report: Made it over to Santa Clara, just west of St. George, for my final ride of this low snow winter protest mountain bike trip. Rode Barrel Roll, Sidewinder, Precipice and then did a figure 8 by connecting The Rim Rock trails. This made for a 3 hour ride and I am guessing about 15-17 miles as I started below the main parking lot on a user built single track. This was a nice way to end the trip as my saddle area was worked from 6 straight days of riding and my legs needed some fast pedaling to spin out the stiffness. Weather that day was low 60s and clear skies. These trails are mostly dirt with some technical slick rock slab sections. Very rewarding riding with flowy turns and reasonable climbs. Totally what I wanted for my last ride of the week. Post ride I enjoyed a beer by the car and then made the 4 hour journey to Salt Lake City. Can't say enough good things about these winter riding destinations. Get out there and Shred the Red as they say.


Off of Rim Reaper Trail


Start of Rim Rock Trail ( I think)


Climb out of Rim Rock


Flowy user built single track to the lower parking area
Red Cliffs and Snow Capped peaks!

Sedona Wrap Up

Had a hard time leaving Sedona. There are these energy vortexes (they do not call them vortices) at different locations throughout Sedona. We rode near or through a number of them. I can't say I felt much energy or any vibrations, but I can say that Sedona had a way of keeping me there as well as the Pivot Finland crew. Day 2 brought faster flowy single track punctuated with moderate climbs and technical. ChuckWagon, Gunslinger, Mescal, and Aerie to name a few. Did a shorter version that day and bailed at 3.5hours. Day 3 brought chunky technical at the Hogs area a shuttle to the airport area with a descent down Sketch and Ridge trails. Each of those evenings we had bbq sessions "the Dude's" house with good beer and camaraderie. Day 5, today, I did a quick rip on Cockscomb, Western Civilization, Girdner and Rupp. Flowy fun with a little sandy/rock wash technical. I am so lucky to have timed my trip for when this Sedona local’s tour went down. THANK YOU TrailDoc, Sedona Crew and Pivot Finland!!!

So, in the past 12 months I've been number of the top of mtb destinations here in North America: Whistler, Sun Valley, Brevard, NC, Hurricane, UT, Park City, Downieville, and even the new Cuyuna IMBA Trail Center in Crosby, MN ( I needed a Midwest example). Not in the past 12 months, but in the last few years, I've been to Moab and Fruita. My opinion on Sedona as an MTB travel destination: Sedona without a doubt has some of the best access to riding right from town. You barely need to drive and if you were up for it you could ride. There is so much continuous, loop able, single track. I rode 2hrs on day 1 and 5, 3-5 hours on days 2, 3 and 4 with very little back tracking. If you are an advanced rider or want to step up your game, this place is burly and loaded with "epic technical". Though that's not to say there are no good beginner and intermediate rides. There are plenty of buff dirt ribbons that flow masters, novices and children can enjoy. I will not say Sedona is the best of all of the above places because that is highly subjective. However, I will say pound for pound with regard to access and trail quality Sedona is easily at the top of that list. Of course it helps to have a local take you around but the other destinations I have visited multiple times and gained familiarity and still could not make the trail connections that were made in Sedona. It seems the trail scene is just getting going down there. Easy day trips can be had to the Black Canyon Trail, Prescott and Phoenix as a part of a Sedona trip. Winter is the time to go. I'm in Hurricane, UT, right now, with probably one day left of riding in this vacation. Need to get up to SLC and catch a flight back to the Bay on Sunday. I'll finish off the report with some SW Utah riding content and leave you alone for a while.

Sketch Trail with my demo bike that day.

Western Civilization back country feel.

"The Dude" getting it done on hefty big travel bikes like they do in Sedona.

Apres ride with Finland Pivot and the Sedona Ambassador Family

Ok so we do have this beer in NorCal but it was way cheaper in AZ.

Massive Sedona Local Hook up.

My timing was amazing, on Sunday night, when I decided out to a fellow member of the Online Mountain Biking forum MTBR.com know as Trail Doc. He's been deemed the self appointed Sedona Ambassador. I had seen his posts in the Nor Cal forum a few times. Sunday night I googled some stuff on Sedona and his posts came up. I sent him an email and lucked out! Trail Doc just happened to be gearing up for a tour for Pivot Bikes and invited me along. After some discussion if I was a cable rider he was kind enough to invite me along. Trail Doc and a Finnish Pivot bike shop crew on a loop including Highline which skirts the ridge below the peaks of Cathedral Rock. Very exposed and narrow with incredible views. We had a solid 5 hour riding day and only covered about 12 miles. That's insanely slow going. What's cool about riding with this guy is that he and his friend built many of the trails that we rode. I've been lucky enough to have ridden with a trail builder before and it's about the coolest way to get to know a new trail town. The Finnish group was very strong with amazing technical skills. They claim it's because of their awesome Pivot DW linkage, but these guys are damn good. Trail Doc and I near Cathedral Rock Witch Doctor or Special Ed trail. Classic Sedona chunky single track.

Sedona Day 1 and Black Canyon Trail

Arrived in Sedona Saturday late afternoon after a quick layover in Vegas. Bootleg Canyon had a Super D going on and I was staying in Boulder City. Decided to hit the road and get to AZ as I have yet to ride here. Rode a couple of hours before sunset on the West Sedona Trails including Mescal, Chuck Wagon and Girdner. It was a bit rainy and cold in Sedona today so I headed down to Black Canyon Trail and did a 16 mile out and back starting at the Black Rock City trailhead. Can't wait to get back on the bike in Sedona tomorrow. Dirt should be prime! I can't believe how much riding is packed into this amazingly spectacular place. So far the flow has been great which can be an issue with the red rock areas. Plenty of tech for you grinders as well. It's definitely strange being upscale compared to the other desert mtb towns like Moab, Fruita and Hurricane. I could see camping here or renting a house being a good way to go. Mescal Trail West Sedona Black Canyon Trail (Horseshoe Bend segment?) Widely available. O'Dell of Fort Collins, CO Myrcenary Double IPA. 9.3% but goes down smooth.

2011 Santa Cruz Tallboy Aluminum DXC Kit Test Ride at Waterdog Park in Belmont, CA

02-11-2012
Today provided me with the good fortune of test riding an Aluminum Santa Cruz Tall boy in the entry level D XC kit with the RP23 upgrade. If you've read the review that Dirt Rag did this month on the same bike, then I can say my impressions are quite similar. I had a size medium and am 5'8" and weigh 170lbs. The bike with my flat pedals weighs approx 32 lbs. I thought Waterdog given the recent rains and it's moderately technical trails would be a suitable place to verify the Tallboy's well marketed prowess. Most of the trails at Waterdog today were grippy with some puddles and a little mud. The only concern was that some of the ruts that had gone a bit clayish. I walked around on the firmer dirt to cut the trail some slack. I imagine tomorrow will make for a great day at WD.

This was not my first Tallboy ride. I put about 20 miles on a Carbon Tallboy this past October at Cuyuna in Minnesota. Cuyuna is an amazing IMBA designed trail system, but a little too flowy and packed to show the strengths of the Tallboy. My impression, up until now, of the Tallboy was that it is stiff, fast and handles better than some of the other big wheel bikes. It was today, at Waterdog, with a mix of slick and hero dirt conditions that I saw how awesome the TB geometry is for climbing and clearing steep shots and snappy feeling for a 29er. Lest we not forget the low center of gravity and immersed in wheels feeling you get with a 29er that makes you feel more stable on the down. I'm sure I sound like a broken record as we've all read a million praises about the Tallboy. What I am saying is that Tallboy in the 32lb configuration with a basic spec pedals, handles and shifts amazingly well. Definitely did not feel like grinding my 32lb Nomad up the Finch trail switchbacks. I was impressed dropping down Berry's, above the lake, with the stiffness of the QR/Rock Shox Recon and how the fork tracked riding some of the roots on the fringes of the corners. One thing that was odd is it took a ton of air pressure to get the fork from being too squish i.e. an extra 40psi. This could be an issue with the shock. Lock on grips would have been nice and the Maxxis Crossmark is okay, but that tire is more about fast rolling than hooking up in the corners. Nice to see the entry level Tallboy is a fun ride and SC has not compromised quality to make the bike price point more accessible. Waterdog was great riding today and so was the aluminum Tallboy. Happy Trails, friends.

couple of shots of the dirt and the bike.