Sedona, Arizona

In early April my travels took me to Scottsdale, Arizona to attend the wedding of a good buddy (who is also a former co-worker) and spend a long weekend in the Valley of the Sun.  I've had several people suggest that I need to hit up the Sedona area as it's a paradise for mountain biking.  I've seen pictures of the area and it looks awesome but I was slightly (ok, a lot) concerned about the technical aspects of the trails.  With the welcome party for all the guests on Friday night and the wedding on Saturday it afforded me the opportunity to catch an early flight to Phoenix on Thursday, rent a car and be in Sedona by 10:00 a.m. Pacific time as it's only an hour and forty-five minutes from the airport.  Prior to the trip I rented a bike from Absolute Bikes in Sedona and researched some routes on the MTB Project website.  I picked a route that was "intermediate" thinking (given the fact I ride a lot of singletrack around here) I wouldn't have much of a problem riding it.  I put together a couple loop routes totaling around 20 miles, loaded it into my Garmin eTrex 30x and was ready to go.

The bike I rented was great but very different than what I'm used to.  I ride a Surly Krampus mountain bike which has wide tires but no suspension so there's a certain way to ride over obstacles.  The bike I had was a full suspension bike with a dropper post.  It only cost $65 to rent and as I signed the rental agreement felt like I should have read it a little more closely since it was a $3,500 bike!

I rode a combination of the West Sedona Loop and the Chuckwagon - Mescal - Long Canyon Loop.  These incorporate about twelve trails in the Sedona area.  I would have gotten completely lost had it not been for the eTrex since all I had to do was follow a line on the GPS.  The trails criss-cross each other a lot but are still marked well.  For a one day excursion I was ok with relying on the GPS versus studying the maps and area a little more.

The trails were incredibly rocky, technical, beautiful, etc., etc.  I walked a decent amount since there was no way I was dropping straight down over jagged rocks.  Or in some of the slick rock sections if I had fallen I would have tumbled several hundred feet and the last time I checked that would hurt.

Red dirt everywhere!

The picture doesn't do it justice but that was straight down and rocks everywhere throwing the bike around.  I walked down that section.

Deadman Pass...not a sign I was excited to see.

I only got stuck a few times by all the cactus plants!

Chimney Rock...kinda.

When my only two options were "difficult" and "extreme" I figured I would do a lot of walking, which I did.

Some people were out hiking and taking pictures and they took a picture for me.  This was the main slick rock section of the ride and at times the trail as right on the ledge.  I didn't risk it since the margin of error was pretty small.  But incredibly beautiful.

After a while this picture pretty much described how I felt.  Thinking the "intermediate" route would be in my ability level was pretty foolish.  It was one of the hardest rides I ever did and I had to cut the route early and did 15 miles but it took nearly five hours!  As I learned, that's not too uncommon.  It's not easy riding but the views and challenge was extremely worth it.

 My handy eTrex and cycling computer!

I wore my GoPro again this time and while it doesn't include all the time I walked and pushed my bike it shows a lot of the easier parts!  Until next time...