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

For question 1: I rode this loop my first time in Tahoe and it was a blast...Take a shuttle from the Tunnel Creek bike shop up to Tahoe Meadows. Book in advance...they fill up! Ride Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) south "Tahoe Meadows to Tunnel Creek Rd" (8 mi). This first section is mostly flat and downhill-ish. Go down Tunnel Creek Rd about 300 ft to Flume Trail. This trail is easy but one of the most scenic in Tahoe. Ride south to Marlette Lake (4 mi). Loop around the lake on Flume Rd (1 mi) & North Canyon Rd (1.6 mi and kind-of a brutal climb). Get back on the TRT by the campground and head north/NW. This section is "Tunnel Creek to Marlette Rd" (5 mi). This dumps you back on Tunnel Creek Rd right where you finished the first section. Now coast down Tunnel Creek Rd to the bike shop and you're done (3.5 mi). About 23 miles total. Best views I had while there!

You will see the majority of people riding the TRT south from Tunnel Creek Rd (the Tunnel Cr to Marlette section) and coming back around north on the Flume Trail. Don't do it! By going the way I described, you will do the majority of climbing on the gravel roads and get to descend down the TRT on your way back. Enjoy!

 

Yeah I did. M/L was fine for me although I'm comfortable with tight helmets. It breathes hella good!

 

Haha yea I noticed that as well. Pretty inaccurate comparison, but clearly they’re passionate about the area.

Not even close.

 

Got the little one out for a decent ride yesterday. At a bit over an hour biking time it was her longest trip yet. Some logging road climbs, old school forest tech, and some modern flow included. Just have to check speeds on anything that can send a little one airborne. Stoke was high at snack time.

 

That's excellent info, thank you!

 

The Flume trail is the best trail I have ever ridden. Ever.

 

That's one hell of an endorsement, so I'll consider it mandatory!

 

Meanwhile, in Idaho, it finally warmed up to almost 70 degrees today.

Adams Gulch area.

 

ok, that trail looks awesome! Is there any particular loop there that you'd recommend?

 

I only have a little over an hour to ride today so I just did a loop in the Adams Gulch area (from the parking lot, go Sunnyside>Citizins>Griffin>Adam's Rib. It's a beautiful ride but just like most riding in Idaho, you'll do all climbing at the start. For this ride, it was about 1600 feet in the first 5 miles.

However, if you're in the area, my personal favorite is Greenhorn Gulch>Mahoney Butte. All rides in the area requires decent climbing legs.

 

In Alabama it didn’t even drop to 70 overnight.

 

Colorado ride suggestions? I know it’s a big ask but I’ll be taking a solo camping/mountain biking trip to Colorado the first two weeks of august and I was looking for advice. Any area suggestions where I can camp and ride out from the campground? Thanks in advance. I appreciate all the knowledge on this forum!

 

Have you picked out where you are staying yet or have any destination type trails?

You have a lot to choose from.

 

Yeah man, lots and lots of options and crazy diversity. Anything from alpine to desert, roaming backcountry to manicured machine-made, chunk and tech to flow and jumps. It's a huge state, you need to narrow down some.
What's your skill level, preferred terrain?

 

@honda50r not sure if you decided on a hip pack but it looks like these guys are based on out of NC. They had an article up on pinkbike this morning. https://www.tsuga.us/

 

Some shenanigans set every segment on the bike path by me on strava to “hazardous” for some reason, even the segments that don’t have road crossings, so now I don’t get my little trophies for PR’s/segment sections at all, because they’re ALL hazardous.



I WANT MY LITTLE TROPHIES!

 

The Crested Butte area seemed to have a lot of mountain bikers, but it also seems to be overrun (I passed through, but didn't bring my bike). It apparently got so bad that they recently started limiting dispersed camping to marked sites only, and even the ones further away from town fill up. There might be some private pay options worth looking in to rather than counting on finding dispersed.

 

I am happy to report that Monarch Crest is running like a dream! Green's creek was ripping, and the trail fairies cleared all the trees last week.

For a fun Colorado Classic, camp at Foose's Creek outside Salida, ride out to Hwy 50 and thumb a ride to the top. Ride CO trail from 11,300 up to 11,900 and bomb back to camp. The drop in is especially memorable. The trail drops you onto the forest road that you previously found a nice spot alongside the creek to set up at and rode out to the highway from. If you count the ride out at the start, 14 miles all told. Then go for lap 2.

Hope your Tetanus is up to date. As a dog owner, ppl need to know how to manage their animals, as other folks also commented.

 

I knew it was a big ask and should have narrowed it down a bit. I plan on moving around a bit. A few days in one spot then move on to the next. Mostly an intermediate-advanced rider on Michigan xc trails 2 to 3 x a week. I like a good flow trail and will probably try some lift service riding. Last time I rode in Colorado was 15 years ago in fruita. I think it’ll probably be too hot in august for riding there but riding from the campsite was sweet there. I might work my way from Laramie down to crested Butte.

 

@Pagan220

fruita has lots of riding, so does grand junction in the same area. 3 of the 5 are in GJ and Fruita. 1 is in steamboat https://www.pinkbike.com/news/colorados-top-5-trail-networks-according-to-trailforks-data.html

the palisade plunge is kind of a weird state with that guy passing recently, but supposed to be a fun ride.

monarch crest down near salida is massive.

lots of stuff in crested butte from lift access park riding do all day epics. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/local-flavours-the-complete-guide-to-riding-in-crested-butte-co.html

gunnison south of CB has hartman rocks, but i wouldnt really call this a destination trail system unless you go for the growler. but they do host an enduro race here to some good trails. (pink bike says this is a destination area so oops i was wrong https://www.pinkbike.com/news/back-to-the-trails-gunnison-colorado.html )

a new longer flow trail opened in blackhawk last year. bonus if you like gambling.

steamboat has a bike park (top half was closed last summer for renovations or something) thats pretty much all flow. a bit north of steamboat is good enduro riding, revolution enduro hosts races there.

keystone/breck/frisco/silverthorne area has tons of great riding. bonus for keystone and breck having lift parks. keystone is much more chunkier than trestles.

vail has a bike park, never been so idk.

aspen and carbondale have really good riding too. theres a pinkbike destination on here and ive been drooling over it since. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/destiation-showcase-carbondale-colorado.html

winterpark has trestles bike park, may be the best bike park in the state idk. lots of other xc trails in the area too.

granby is just north of trestles, another bike park thats smaller with a more local feel.

the whole durango area has tons of riding. then you could head south to farmington NM for more riding too.

additions:

Buffalo creek/little scraggy near pine (south west of denver). cant believe i forgot this. this was my favorite riding area the first few years i learned to mtb on my hard tail. segment 3 of the co trail goes through here and is incredible. probably 40ish desginated back country camp spots along the roads in this system, but filled up quick last summer with covid going on.