The closest plac
e to find the fall around here is Sedona, and that is exactly where Jack, Hannah, Angel and I headed over the weekend for some mountain biking adventures. We woke up far too early on Saturday morning after a fun night of carving pumpkins with some fellow grad students and headed north on I-17. We arrived at the Bike and Bean shortly before 9, got some advice on a good day's worth of trails, and then headed over to the Bell Rock Trailhead. Out of the 2.5 years that I've lived in Arizona, I've only ever been to Sedona twice, and have never even begun to explore it. The amount of people that flock there has deterred me in the past, but in the lull between seasons, we were hoping that it wouldn't be as crowded. It turned out to be absolutely perfect: mostly sunny with a few clouds scattered about and the crisp cool air being moved about by a light breeze. We started off on a long uphill stretch on a wide multi-use trail to Bell Rock and then took off to the singletrack Templeton Trail headed to Cathedral Rock. The scenery was to die for, and I couldn't get enoug
h of it. At one point, as we were going down a small gravely hill, I couldn't help put take my eyes from the trail to marvel at the red rock and blue sky around us. I was talking to Hannah about just how awes... Crash! I skidded out mid-sentence and rode the rest of the day with a scraped and bloody right leg and elbow, but I just laughed it off and kept going. As we made our way to Cathedral Rock, I got my first taste of riding on slickrock, and I have to say that I am well and truly addicted. The stuff grips like crazy, and is just a blast to ride on. We wound our way around the rock formations and down into a small wooded valley where we found fall nestled in Oak Creek. The leaves were changing brilliant colors and we even found a rope swing and played like kids the big kids that we are in the beautiful area. As we made our way along the creek, Hannah had an amazing catch to what could have been a really dangerous crash over several big boulder steps. Her bouncing over her handlebars and catching herself upright and dodging the next drop was spectacular. We rode several more incredible miles around in a loop until it brought us back to the creek and around Cathedral once again. I can't begin to describe how fun, beautiful, and relaxing it was to be riding up there. Maybe those people who talk about vortexes are on to something... or maybe just that it's an incredible place, but either way, I was in heaven.
e to find the fall around here is Sedona, and that is exactly where Jack, Hannah, Angel and I headed over the weekend for some mountain biking adventures. We woke up far too early on Saturday morning after a fun night of carving pumpkins with some fellow grad students and headed north on I-17. We arrived at the Bike and Bean shortly before 9, got some advice on a good day's worth of trails, and then headed over to the Bell Rock Trailhead. Out of the 2.5 years that I've lived in Arizona, I've only ever been to Sedona twice, and have never even begun to explore it. The amount of people that flock there has deterred me in the past, but in the lull between seasons, we were hoping that it wouldn't be as crowded. It turned out to be absolutely perfect: mostly sunny with a few clouds scattered about and the crisp cool air being moved about by a light breeze. We started off on a long uphill stretch on a wide multi-use trail to Bell Rock and then took off to the singletrack Templeton Trail headed to Cathedral Rock. The scenery was to die for, and I couldn't get enoug
h of it. At one point, as we were going down a small gravely hill, I couldn't help put take my eyes from the trail to marvel at the red rock and blue sky around us. I was talking to Hannah about just how awes... Crash! I skidded out mid-sentence and rode the rest of the day with a scraped and bloody right leg and elbow, but I just laughed it off and kept going. As we made our way to Cathedral Rock, I got my first taste of riding on slickrock, and I have to say that I am well and truly addicted. The stuff grips like crazy, and is just a blast to ride on. We wound our way around the rock formations and down into a small wooded valley where we found fall nestled in Oak Creek. The leaves were changing brilliant colors and we even found a rope swing and played like kids the big kids that we are in the beautiful area. As we made our way along the creek, Hannah had an amazing catch to what could have been a really dangerous crash over several big boulder steps. Her bouncing over her handlebars and catching herself upright and dodging the next drop was spectacular. We rode several more incredible miles around in a loop until it brought us back to the creek and around Cathedral once again. I can't begin to describe how fun, beautiful, and relaxing it was to be riding up there. Maybe those people who talk about vortexes are on to something... or maybe just that it's an incredible place, but either way, I was in heaven. We continued back towards the highway for a bit until we found the H.D. Trail that would put us back on the northerly part of the Bell Rock Trail. From there, we took off on Little Horse Trail that offered some more slickrock, wonderfully technical bits, and lots more fun as we explored the northeast part of the trails aro
und several red rock formations. Eventually, we came out to a Jeep tour area where the trail/Jeep road was made up almost entirely of slickrock. It was a blast to gain experience on the stuff, and makes me really want to go up to places like Moab and Fruita. We had been biking for about four hours when we all became ravenously hungry and found our way to Broken Arrow Road that led us to town. After a short stint on the dangerously busy, shoulderless Hwy 179, we turned into a little shopping center to find a Mexican restaurant, where we downed multiple Cokes and big juicy burgers. Hannah and Angel had to rush back to Phoenix, but Jack and I took it easy back to the truck (by necessity, as Jack's tubeless tire had a not-so-slow leak). We wanted to stay off of the busy roads as much as possible, so we tried to find an aptly named Mystic Trail that was supposed to start just outside of town. We finally found it at the end of a maze of new construction and multiple Lutheran churches and took it back to where it met up again with Bell Rock Trail. The last mile or so was incredible, with a very impressive view of the red rock and ALL downhill. Poor Jack had to limp down the beautiful doubletrack, but I fairly flew down, smiling from ear to ear as I jumped small waterbars and ate up the wonderful speed.
und several red rock formations. Eventually, we came out to a Jeep tour area where the trail/Jeep road was made up almost entirely of slickrock. It was a blast to gain experience on the stuff, and makes me really want to go up to places like Moab and Fruita. We had been biking for about four hours when we all became ravenously hungry and found our way to Broken Arrow Road that led us to town. After a short stint on the dangerously busy, shoulderless Hwy 179, we turned into a little shopping center to find a Mexican restaurant, where we downed multiple Cokes and big juicy burgers. Hannah and Angel had to rush back to Phoenix, but Jack and I took it easy back to the truck (by necessity, as Jack's tubeless tire had a not-so-slow leak). We wanted to stay off of the busy roads as much as possible, so we tried to find an aptly named Mystic Trail that was supposed to start just outside of town. We finally found it at the end of a maze of new construction and multiple Lutheran churches and took it back to where it met up again with Bell Rock Trail. The last mile or so was incredible, with a very impressive view of the red rock and ALL downhill. Poor Jack had to limp down the beautiful doubletrack, but I fairly flew down, smiling from ear to ear as I jumped small waterbars and ate up the wonderful speed. After an incredible day biking and soaking up the fall weather, we headed
up Hwy 89 to Flagstaff. Jack's nephew, TJ, is a freshman at NAU and it was going to be his first game dressing for the Ice Jacks hockey team. After chilling with him pregame at one of the bars near campus, we headed to the rink. It's been awhile since I watched Chris play hockey in Chicago, and I found that I really do miss it. There's just something hardcore about the game that I really enjoy. TJ got several minutes of playing time each period, and the Ice Jacks whooped up on Santa Clara 13-0. TJ didn't score, but he had a lot of good looks, and Jack and I had a great time watching.
up Hwy 89 to Flagstaff. Jack's nephew, TJ, is a freshman at NAU and it was going to be his first game dressing for the Ice Jacks hockey team. After chilling with him pregame at one of the bars near campus, we headed to the rink. It's been awhile since I watched Chris play hockey in Chicago, and I found that I really do miss it. There's just something hardcore about the game that I really enjoy. TJ got several minutes of playing time each period, and the Ice Jacks whooped up on Santa Clara 13-0. TJ didn't score, but he had a lot of good looks, and Jack and I had a great time watching.It was a late night up in Flag, so I slept in on Sunday and then spent the afternoon working on the Fire most of the day and just hanging out. All in all, a fun, relaxing weekend, and gave me plenty of energy to tackle the busy week ahead.
1 comment:
You need to ride in more places! Been to Moab twice, Fruita for six days last June. Oh, don't forget Gooseberry Mesa, and, of course, Bootleg Canyon near Vegas. All super sweet places to ride. Been there, done that, as they say. Variety is the spice of life.
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