Sedona trip with Mike Oct 2019
Mike and I are headed off to Sedona this year for our sort-of-annual mountain bike trip. (Um, awhile ago... not super prompt on this recap.)
October 12, 2019 (Saturday)
Mike was coaching a soccer game in the morning, so we didn't get underway until after noon. Packed up Mike's Rav, and made the exciting drive through Paso, Bakersfield, Barstow... and ended up in Needles for the night. Yessir, a tour of all the hot vacation destinations in California...
From and to.
October 13, 2019
Drove to Kingman Arizona, because we'd seen some trails on the map, and we were looking for something in between home and Flagstaff. Figured we'd try Kingman on the way out because we couldn't check in to our place in Sedona until 4pm anyway, so we weren't in a great rush.
There were some nice sections of trail, and there were some not so nice sections. A lot of the latter, actually. Too much of the latter. Way too much.
There were some nice sections of trail, and there were some not so nice sections. A lot of the latter, actually. Too much of the latter. Way too much.
Our ride.
A nice section of trail.
A really not so nice section of trail.
There was so much of this, we decided we wouldn't be mountain bikers if this was mountain biking.
A very great accomplishment. Well done.
Collared Lizard!
Finished our ride, put the bikes on the car, and headed to Sedona. Where we immediately settled into our condo.
October 14, 2019
Getting out in it! We were staying in the Village of Oak Creek, and we rode up Slim Shady, and then over to Llamas, and up to Chicken Point to look at the insane trail called White Line. Which neither of us had any interest at all in doing. Crazy people do that. Mike and I are way too mature and reasonable for that. Then around the butte on Broken Arrow and Hogwash, and then back down Slim Shady to "home." Pretty darn good ride.
October 15, 2019
Getting out in it again. Yesterday was a pretty good ride, so we decided to take it easy today. Went out to west Sedona, and rode Outer Limits and Aerie, and some other stuff and back down Girdner. And it really turned out that it wasn't much of a day off. So much for taking it easy. Damn.
Not as short a ride as we'd planned, but a pretty good one. After riding, Mike skillfully navigated his car around the grey-haired driver clogged roundabouts in Sedona, and we headed back to the condo for drinks, dinner, sports, and, yes, a hot tub. Aww yeeah. (Yes, I'm well aware of how much grey hair I have, thank you very much.)
October 16, 2019 (Wednesday)
Okay, okay, today we actually took it a little easy on the ride. We went up Slim Shady again, and hit a bit of Llamas, and then looped around and came back down Slim Shady. And since it was a day of ease, we rode back into Village of Oak Creek, and looked for a place to sit and have a beer on a patio somewhere. Life... is... rough...
October 17, 2019
Another day riding straight out of the condo. One day of fighting the ridiculous traffic in Sedona made us not want to get in the car again until it was time to leave.
Had to lube my chain and wipe it down before riding.
Back up Slim Shady, and Llama and Little Horse, and HT.
Great day out, and another fine meal at the condo complete with whiskey, beer and a hot tub to finish the Sedona part of our vacation. Good times. Heading up to Flagstaff in the morning.
October 18, 2019
Got some info from some locals here, and then went to a shop in Flagstaff for more info, and then headed out to the trails. It's a couple thousand feet higher elevation here, so it's about 20 degrees colder than it was in Sedona. Had been a lovely 75-80 the whole time in Sedona, and we were down around 60 when we headed out for our ride near Flagstaff.
We went a little to the northwest of downtown and rode up Schultz Creek to Secret Trail and then down Upper and Lower Moto to Easter Island. Some nasty rock sections up on Upper Moto in particular, but fun ride overall. Would like to come back and explore some more.
Checked into our motel room in downtown Flagstaff before heading out to get dinner (pizza!) and some beer (brewery!). I really wouldn't recommend the Rodeway Inn in downtown Flagstaff. It was... well, I won't use the words I want to use to describe it... It wasn't nice. I'll leave it at that.
October 19, 2019
Got up to a 41 degree morning. Brrr. Last day in Flagstaff. Had breakfast and packed up and headed out to the trails.
We went just south of town and rode out Soldiers and Rogers Lake Connector. Mostly a flat cross country trail, but it was all right.
We finished our ride, and loaded up and started driving west. We made it to Needles after our ride, and stopped at a motel for the night. Watched some sports on TV and walked to dinner where we saw the Astros beat the Yankees. It was a good dinner...
October 20, 2019 (Sunday)
Got up and just started driving. Through exciting Barstow, Bakersfield, and other delightful vacation destinations like that.
Just look at the first map at the top of this page and change it to "to and from." Same route. Same In-n-Out. Same exciting towns.
Once again... a great trip. Can't wait for the next one.
Football and Kentucky Mules. (AKA "settling in")
From and to.
October 14, 2019
Getting out in it! We were staying in the Village of Oak Creek, and we rode up Slim Shady, and then over to Llamas, and up to Chicken Point to look at the insane trail called White Line. Which neither of us had any interest at all in doing. Crazy people do that. Mike and I are way too mature and reasonable for that. Then around the butte on Broken Arrow and Hogwash, and then back down Slim Shady to "home." Pretty darn good ride.
The ride.
Mike riding in the red rocks.
Same thing again.
My turn.
Also me.
There's a white line in the cliff just below the shadow line up there.
Yeah, people ride out and back that.
No thanks.
Cool rocks.
A little cliff-y section.
Desert trail.
October 15, 2019
Getting out in it again. Yesterday was a pretty good ride, so we decided to take it easy today. Went out to west Sedona, and rode Outer Limits and Aerie, and some other stuff and back down Girdner. And it really turned out that it wasn't much of a day off. So much for taking it easy. Damn.
The ride
Mike
Rocks
Mike with the last rider that passed through there in the foreground.
Ripping around ...
... a sandstone ...
... bench.
Nice work Mike.
Purty good views...
Not as short a ride as we'd planned, but a pretty good one. After riding, Mike skillfully navigated his car around the grey-haired driver clogged roundabouts in Sedona, and we headed back to the condo for drinks, dinner, sports, and, yes, a hot tub. Aww yeeah. (Yes, I'm well aware of how much grey hair I have, thank you very much.)
October 16, 2019 (Wednesday)
Okay, okay, today we actually took it a little easy on the ride. We went up Slim Shady again, and hit a bit of Llamas, and then looped around and came back down Slim Shady. And since it was a day of ease, we rode back into Village of Oak Creek, and looked for a place to sit and have a beer on a patio somewhere. Life... is... rough...
The ride.
Mike riding away in the great scenery.
Doing whatever is required to get the best pictures.
Hey, not bad.
C'est moi.
Panoramic view.
So we were messing around... just sort of playing on the rocks...
and I tried this one line down that had a funky lead in.
And it all came out okay, but the last rock step on the way down had moved.
You can see how much my fork compressed as I dropped off the last rock.
Like almost completely... phew.
One of the - ahem - [three] patios that we sat on with beer after the ride.
We are nothing if not committed to the task at hand...
October 17, 2019
Another day riding straight out of the condo. One day of fighting the ridiculous traffic in Sedona made us not want to get in the car again until it was time to leave.
Had to lube my chain and wipe it down before riding.
Luckily Grady was able to help me out...
Back up Slim Shady, and Llama and Little Horse, and HT.
The ride.
Trail goes from dirt to slickrock.
Slickrock with views...
And back to dirt again.
Stairstepping down some gnar.
Still upright even.
More fun downhill.
Again still...
A little more technical stuff. No problem for riders like us, though.
I mean, mostly no problem...
Hahahaha....
Scenery. Damn, so beautiful.
Really.
Again, this stuff is child's play for guys like us.
See?
(I bet you thought this one was going to show a crash.)
Nope, all good, and riding on...
Great day out, and another fine meal at the condo complete with whiskey, beer and a hot tub to finish the Sedona part of our vacation. Good times. Heading up to Flagstaff in the morning.
October 18, 2019
Got some info from some locals here, and then went to a shop in Flagstaff for more info, and then headed out to the trails. It's a couple thousand feet higher elevation here, so it's about 20 degrees colder than it was in Sedona. Had been a lovely 75-80 the whole time in Sedona, and we were down around 60 when we headed out for our ride near Flagstaff.
We went a little to the northwest of downtown and rode up Schultz Creek to Secret Trail and then down Upper and Lower Moto to Easter Island. Some nasty rock sections up on Upper Moto in particular, but fun ride overall. Would like to come back and explore some more.
The ride.
A little different than Sedona.
Great fall colors.
Just riding.
Saw this cute little feller.
It was about three feet across. I slashed Mike's tires, and rode away...
Mike with more color.
Just more color.
Coming down near the end.
But it had a color TV at least. And a shelf for chips and salsa.
(Though it looks like we're watching billiards. Really? Billiards??? Musta been a commercial or a movie or something.)
From and to.
October 19, 2019
Got up to a 41 degree morning. Brrr. Last day in Flagstaff. Had breakfast and packed up and headed out to the trails.
More fall colors.
Walking into the Toasted Owl for breakfast.
We went just south of town and rode out Soldiers and Rogers Lake Connector. Mostly a flat cross country trail, but it was all right.
The ride.
Pretty flat.
Some good fall color though.
Definitely not Sedona red rock
More color. Mike's under that tree.
Twisty singletrack.
Heading back to the car.
We finished our ride, and loaded up and started driving west. We made it to Needles after our ride, and stopped at a motel for the night. Watched some sports on TV and walked to dinner where we saw the Astros beat the Yankees. It was a good dinner...
From and to.
October 20, 2019 (Sunday)
Got up and just started driving. Through exciting Barstow, Bakersfield, and other delightful vacation destinations like that.
Just look at the first map at the top of this page and change it to "to and from." Same route. Same In-n-Out. Same exciting towns.
Once again... a great trip. Can't wait for the next one.
posted by pablo @ 6:53 PM
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