All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

*Eye roll*

 

Winter storm stopped a 3 day flagstaff sedona prescott camping/riding weekend. Decided to go to the mountain to get some turns in.
That was Friday, and Saturday mid day rode about 18 miles of the chunkiest stuff available in the local system. To say my legs are tired is an understatement. I was able to snowboard for a solid 5 hours or so in powder before my knee got sketchy this time which is an improvement but I’ve been icing past 2 nights since the knee is noticeably swollen even to someone standing across the room.

Rocky Mountain altitude was an absolute blast going downhill, but it is too much bike for me. As aggressive as I want to think I ride, I know I don’t need that much travel. Sentinel territory is going to be perfect for next bike though. I did notice c50 felt way heavier than my aluminum trance 2 with larger wheels and beefier suspension. Struggled to get my wheelies and side hits on the big bike.

lastly, decided to use some knee pads while snowboarding, and my g form knee pads which kinda suck to pedal in on the bike, worked amazing on the slopes. Also helped to act as a bottom layer as well. The mountain norther Arizona only gets to 20 ish at the base on a cold day, so I was good with shorts, knee pads, and crew socks under my snow pants.

Here’s to better weather soon so I can go camp and ride northern Arizona soon!

 

Is that serious? I'm sure Ford thought 99.99% of owners would be using a bike rack to carry bikes. Far cry from calling it pathetic b/c it doesnt have enough clearance to carry a dh/trail bike, standing up, inside the SUV.

 

I'll add one to the New Bike Day category. Got this on Thursday. Logged about 130 miles on it so far. Heading out now after coffee for another 33mi before the heavy winds show up this afternoon.
So far the tire selection sucks. Been happy w/ previous WTB tires (Riddler and Venture), but these Raddlers are terrible. I lose 70% of the air within 12 hours. I've reseated them, added more (and different) sealant and even applied new rim tape in case there was something leaking from there. After reading more reviews, it appears this is fairly common for these tires. I dunno. Tan/Gumwall tires still look good imo, but I think it's about time I go back to all black and switch to either conti or maxxis for the gravel and road bikes.
I'll try and snap a better pic today of the bike. Haven't taken any good ones yet. But here's one for now.

 

Oh and does anyone else think Pivot took ques from Toyota w/ last years colors on the Vault? The Sandstorm and steel Blue look identical to Cavalry Blue and Quicksand.

 

Saw that steel blue one at my lbs the other day and it was sweeeeeet.

 

Alright gents,
Hitting the road for a little vacation with the family in San Diego this Thursday/Friday. I'm leaving a little earlier than they are and I am trying to hit a couple of trails along the way. My plan is to camp at some of these locations as well. I am leaving from Colorado Springs and traveling two different routes each way but the weather picks on the way out or if anyone wants to join me for a couple hours I would be down.

Route 1:
South to Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Sedona, Phoenix, Yuma into San Diego
Route 2:
West to Fruita, St George, Vegas, LA into San Diego

I have pulled some popular trails based off of stuff in this forum and from the interwebs but please let me know if I am missing anything.

Sedona, Broken Arrow
Up broken arrow -> high on the hog -> hog heaven -> hogwash

Phoenix, South Mountain
No idea yet

Fruita, 18 Road
Joe’s ridge & MoJoe, Zippity do dah & PBR

St George, Green Valley
Barrel Roll - clockwise loop
Zen - counterclockwise
Bearclaw Poppy - clockwise

Vegas, Bootleg Canyon
No idea yet

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Tom

 

Sedona: the hog themed ones are awesome. Hangover and hiline are also awesome if you have time for those. Hangover is pretty obviosu where you park. take the dirt road up though. MUCH easier. Hiline, you have multiple options to park but you can generally try to go up templeton or slim shady.

for st george, Did you want barrel roll or barrel? technically two different trails. I haven't ever done barrel roll but it is still a very popular trail. I really like barrel because it's got pretty fun features. If you've got more time down there, try out the gooseberry mesa trails.

When are you going to be in St G?

 

For Fruita:
18 Road is fun. You can ride every trail there in about 2 hours or so. There is a nice BLM campground at the top of the trails. Last time I was there it was $12 per night (1/2 price with a Natl Park pass = $6). No water. Only pit toilets.

The Kokopeli Trail system is really fun and has some epic views of the Colorado River. I like it more than 18 Road, but they are very different trail systems.
My go-to is: Mary's - Horsethief loop (CW) - Mary's - Steve's Connect - Steve's (CW) - Mary's - Wrangler - Mary's
If you want to add on some challenging terrain, take "Moore Fun" back to the start instead of Wrangler & Mary's.

For St. George/Hurricane:
The trails you listed are great, but you really can't beat the mesas down there...Gooseberry, Wire, Little Creek. Gooseberry is my favorite...the views are unreal and the trails are just constant fun. There is also free, dispersed camping on Gooseberry. BUT: Don't ever drive up there in the rain or before/after a big rain. You'll get stuck on the road or trapped on top of the mesa.

The JEM trail network is also a favorite for fast, fun & flowy. It's right below Gooseberry.

 

I will be coming through on the 19th or 20th. Or if I wait till my return road trip it would be the 28th.

Barrel roll was the plan but I'm not picky at all and they look pretty close together right?

 

Keep us posted. I might be down in that area on one of those weekends.
close-ish. not the same trailhead.a ccessible from each other's parking lot though. Like I said, I haven't done barrel roll yet so I can't provid any info on it. haha.

 

Ok I don’t want to say it was the oval,

But it was the oval.

Granted, I’ve ridden 3 times this week which is sadly a lot, but I’m trying to ride as much as I can to get in shape and be a better rider.

Today is our hottest day we’ve had, 80deg right now, and I was sweating my nuts off.

but...I wanted to test out the oval chainring.

I will say, it doesn’t feel different to me on the trails. Hardly at all. That being said, I noticed I was staying about 1 gear higher than I normally would, so I was going faster.

this is not to show how fast I am or how good I am, but to show that the oval chainring feels like it made a HUGE difference in my performance. I PRd one trail climb BY 4 MINUTES.

 

I'm a sucker for a good view so I may need to hit Gooseberry instead of Green Valley. Thanks for the tip on the rain.

 

This bike rips. I have nothing more to add.

 

except for the 6 pack that you had on the trail? ;P

 

And by rips, you mean "nearly rips your dingus off"?

 

Good eye. Local brew after some local laps.

 

That’s a pretty sick bike! My gravel bike is the only thing getting touched recently haha

 

But does it taste like adventure?

 

Thanks! Same here. At this point, my mountain bike really only gets ridden on race days.