Where to go?

[BrightYellow]

Okay... we're at it again... day dreaming about where to go next summer on our biking trip. We'll be driving.

Here are the last few that we've done :

Crested Butte
Crested Butte
Moab / Fruita
Durango / Salida

This year I think we're looking for something no further away than Crested Butte - which is 17 hours. Also, when we get there, we just want to ride, not drive hours from place to place.

The way I see it Crested Butte is perfect. It's not too far, there's tons of great riding and the town rocks.

Moab was fun, but it's too far to drive and Fruita was 4 hours from Moab. We flew in to Salt Lake and rented a car, which worked pretty good, but probably didn't give us any extra time for riding and cost twice as much.

The Durango trip was good too, and the riding that we got to do was great. The problem was that it was too far to drive and Salida was way farther from Durango than it looked on a map. Oh and the weather sucked - which is the first time that's happened to me in CO ever.

We try to get 4 days of riding in. We mostly like XC riding with a few stunts/obstacles thrown in. What we need like 80 miles of Lebanon!

So, do you have any suggestions on great places to ride?

[KleinCrazy]

Okay... we're at it again... day dreaming about where to go next summer on our biking trip. We'll be driving.

Here are the last few that we've done :

Crested Butte
Crested Butte
Moab / Fruita
Durango / Salida

This year I think we're looking for something no further away than Crested Butte - which is 17 hours. Also, when we get there, we just want to ride, not drive hours from place to place.

The way I see it Crested Butte is perfect. It's not too far, there's tons of great riding and the town rocks.

Moab was fun, but it's too far to drive and Fruita was 4 hours from Moab. We flew in to Salt Lake and rented a car, which worked pretty good, but probably didn't give us any extra time for riding and cost twice as much.

The Durango trip was good too, and the riding that we got to do was great. The problem was that it was too far to drive and Salida was way farther from Durango than it looked on a map. Oh and the weather sucked - which is the first time that's happened to me in CO ever.

We try to get 4 days of riding in. We mostly like XC riding with a few stunts/obstacles thrown in. What we need like 80 miles of Lebanon!

So, do you have any suggestions on great places to ride?
If you are going before Memorial or after Labor day I would go to Fruita.

The drive is a total of 16 hours driving time from here. 5 from here to Omaha, 11 or less from Omaha to Fruita. Avg Speed 73 mph.

150 miles of trails within 20 min drive of downtown fruita. 60 miles of trail within 5 min of fruita.

I left on friday night and stayed in Omaha, was in to fruita by 6 pm the next day.

I will never go to Moab again as I have not found a trail I like there as much as any of the trails in Fruita.

Do not Know about Durango, or Crested but Winter Park has some very nice riding.

[BrightYellow]

Oh yeah, Fruita was great! Some very cool trails there... I'd definitely go back! We only rode there for a day when we were there, so I know we missed out on a lot of the riding. Rode Chutes and Ladders. Either I'm really out of shape, or it is really steep there. Or both. Joe's Ridge was a blast!

We usually take our trip in July. Ouch. Hot! Hot in Fruita. :)

[stoneage]

Cheyenne, Wyoming is a way cool town. Hippies and cowboys.
Two different mountain ranges and the best race (Laramie Range Enduro) I have ever done. 100 K point to point. Early August I think.

Go to Moab, but don't ride the sandstone. No kidding. Hop over to the LaSalle (15-20 minutes) and have a blast. Pine forest and black dirt riding. Rates are cheap off season. A little secret.

[Crash]

Any one done any riding in Summit county?

[stoneage]

Summit County near Vail? There is some very good riding in the Vail area. A good contact is the 'Pope'. Jim Popek is the owner of Mountain Pedaler in Minturn and Eagle, both near Vail. Cougar Ridge and down Two Elk Trail is a great ride. Bring O2. A plus is, you can hit Fruita in about an hour and a half, if I remember right.

[LightWeight]

I'm planning a trip to Moab in April. I'm definitely looking forward to my first MTB experience outside of MN. :banana:

[xc_burner]

Consider Steamboat. It has some great cross country rides, a lot closer than Crested Butte and the town is awesome. The people in the 'boat are even cooler than the Butte. If you've already done Crested Butte, I would try Steamboat. I wouldn't say the riding is better, just different. You can't really get any better riding than Crested Butte anyway. Also, you could spend a couple of days at Captain Jack's up in Laramie or down in Fort Collins/Loveland. I live in Loveland and enjoy the riding in Steamboat as much as Crested Butte. Just my two cents...

[FSSS]

Mark and Lora, the couple that ran the trail school last weekend, raved about the trails around Sun Valley, Idaho. A little longer drive though.

[BrightYellow]

Consider Steamboat. It has some great cross country rides
That's what I like to hear! I'll have to check around on the web and see if I can get some more info on the trails there. Do you know of any good local resources, like bike shops with web pages giving trail info and maps? Otherwise I can check mtbr and the like.

Mark and Lora, the couple that ran the trail school last weekend, raved about the trails around Sun Valley, Idaho. A little longer drive though.
Yeah, I just map quested it and it looks like its about 20 hours, CB is about 17 and Steamboat is around 15. We've found that the jump from 17 hours to 20 hours makes quite a bit of difference. Especially when you only have a few days for the whole vacation.

If we leave by 5:00 pm and drive all night to get to CB, we roll in about 10:00am - enough time to make a good day of riding. Adding on 3+ hours to that would mean we'd roll in about 1:00pm, which takes a good chunk out of riding for the day.

[Tim Wegner]

There are some truly epic trails outside of Fruita. In my opinion it is better than Moab. The only problem, it gets HOT in the middle of the summer. You will want to plan this one early (April - early June) and avoid July and August.

[shourtt]

Hey Don, did you find any good information on Steamboat? I am heading out there at the end of May for 1 week.

That's what I like to hear! I'll have to check around on the web and see if I can get some more info on the trails there. Do you know of any good local resources, like bike shops with web pages giving trail info and maps? Otherwise I can check mtbr and the like.


Yeah, I just map quested it and it looks like its about 20 hours, CB is about 17 and Steamboat is around 15. We've found that the jump from 17 hours to 20 hours makes quite a bit of difference. Especially when you only have a few days for the whole vacation.

If we leave by 5:00 pm and drive all night to get to CB, we roll in about 10:00am - enough time to make a good day of riding. Adding on 3+ hours to that would mean we'd roll in about 1:00pm, which takes a good chunk out of riding for the day.

[BrightYellow]

Nope... I didn't find anything else out. We decided to go to Winter Park instead... sorry.

[Tex]

I just got back from a Moab/Fruita trip last Friday. All I'll say is Moab is dead to me, I'll leave that town to the jeepers and motorcycles. Fruita is where it's at for mountain bikes, miles upon miles of sweet singletrack. Not too mention a great little brewery in town that serves "real" beer, not that 3.2 crap across the border.
I've driven to Moab about six or seven times now, and I'll never do it again. This time we bought airfare to Denver for $150, and rented a minivan. Fruita is only a 3.5 to 4 hour drive from Denver, and it's all pretty cool driving (compared to the 16 hours of Iowa, Nebraska, and Eastern Colorado). So I think that flying is the only way to go. Plus, if for some messed up reason you want to go to Moab, (Arches Nat. park is cool) it's just under a 2 hour drive from Fruita. You could even break up that long four hour drive from Denver to Fruita by stopping in at vail and ridding there on the way.
At any rate that's my two cents, and have fun in Winter Park, I've heard some great things about that area as well. Let us know how it is.

[shourtt]

Nope... I didn't find anything else out. We decided to go to Winter Park instead... sorry.

How was Winter Park? That was the second choice on our list of places to visit.

[martini]

All I have to ask is, why limit yourself to CO? I know, I know, its a great place, and the trails are awesome. I know, I've ridden plenty of them in my days. But it seems that you've been going there for a long time. Shake it up a bit.

Go Idaho. Jan's up there now in sandpoint. Great riding there from what I've heard. Fly into Spokane and rent from there. Drive time is 1 or 2 hours.

Go Wyo. Laramie is an awesome place. Vedawoo is close. Its only a 13 hr drive.

Black Hills. Great trails, very few riders. Even closer at 9 hours.

Montana. Bozeman and Missoula have outstanding trails leading FROM town.

Arkansas. Quajita trail system. From what I've read and seen, the trails there are damned near perfect.

Penisylvania. State College area has great trails. I'm looking forward to riding them at the SS worlds this year. Pittsburg is supposed to have great stuff around it too.

West Virginia/Virginia. fabuouls trails all over the place there. Real mountain riding, and funny 'cultural' attractions.

I guess my point is, this is a great and large nation. There are a great many destination trails to visit. Fock all this 'mecca' trail crap. In my mind, they're all good. As long as I have my tires on a narrow slice of dirt and I'm heading out for more of the same, I'm happy. I don't give a rats ass where I am, or how high I am. I'm on my bike and that's all that matters.

[Crash]

All I have to ask is, why limit yourself to CO?

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d911b3127cce9bb189a4582000000016108AauW7hy3ctD (javascript:openSlideWin(1, '67b0de21b30c3b546530', 39);)

Sorry Marty - couldn't resist :banana: :banana: :banana:

shourtt - we haven't gone to WP yet - not until July. Here is what others are saying: http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13217

[martini]

Nice pic. Monarch Crest? You didn't read my post did you? I said that CO IS a great place. But there are SOOOO many other great places too. See other things, go other places. Personally, I'm kinda tired of CO this and CO that.

[Crash]

Nice pic. Monarch Crest? You didn't read my post did you? I said that CO IS a great place. But there are SOOOO many other great places too. See other things, go other places. Personally, I'm kinda tired of CO this and CO that.

Yes- Monarch Crest.
Yes - I did read your post, but just felt like giving you a hard time :)

It is Co this Co that because it is such a great place to ride. Yea, there are many other destination places but you just can't go wrong with Co.

Later.
Craig

[martini]

All right, I'll give you one Crest/Rainbow trail waiver. It does top my list of all time favorite trail rides after all... ;) BUt I still think Mr. Don needs to go else where. WP is only OK in my mind. I've been there lots in the past as I used to live in Denver and made the trek there several times a season for races/riding.

[Crash]

All right, I'll give you one Crest/Rainbow trail waiver. It does top my list of all time favorite trail rides after all... ;) BUt I still think Mr. Don needs to go else where. WP is only OK in my mind. I've been there lots in the past as I used to live in Denver and made the trek there several times a season for races/riding.

Marty - thanks for all the advice. I think one of these years it would be good to hit up another destination state. This year Mr. Don and I are pretty locked on Winter Park. Since you have been there a lot - what are your top recomendations for trails? It has been close to 10 years since I was at WP.
Later,
Craig

[GearDaddy]

One bummer with CO is having to deal with the altitude change.

Some other places that I've been that were really cool:

Black Hills, Wyoming - The northern section near Devils Tower. It's not as dramatic as the SD Black Hills, but I had a lot of trail all to myself.

Bend, Oregon - Tons of trail. Seemingly endless singletrack through ponderosa pine forests. Cool town too, and other activities right there such as rafting and rock climbing.

Seattle area - Wicked technical trails, but really a lot of variety too. Even better stuff if you go North to Bellingham or up Vancouver way. Also, only a few hours away is some awesome riding in the Cascades (elevations only going to 4000 to 5000 ft on most trails). Also, epic riding near Mt. Ranier.

Canadian Rockies - I'd go back here in a second. The exchange rate is kind of nice too. Lots of good stuff in the foothills near Canmore (less than an hour from Calgary). If you go way up the Icefields parkway to Jasper, there is some really cool stuff. Again, elevations are mercifully only about 5000 to 6000 ft.

[BrightYellow]

Oh yeah, I agree, it would be cool to mix it up - but, we usually have a restrictions on the trip, that don't make it as easy to do the other states. And given the restrictions below, CO has been a guarenteed winner - pretty much a no brainer.

- It's once a year.

- It's gotta be fairly cheap - usually this is the case. Airfare AND renting a
vehicle usually aren't in the budget.

- It has to fit into a 5 day weekend - we usually don't have more time to spend.

- There is just something about riding in the mountains that I love... I just don't know if a place like SD would be that inspiring. Moab was alright and Fruita was great, but I'll take high mountains to desert any day...

I've heard that Idaho is a great place to ride too and we'll have to check out WY. Both sound like a lot of fun - and within reach. If you know any more details or have pictures of either, let us know! It'll get us pumped for next year's trip.

And thanks for all the options!

-D

[martini]

Since you have been there a lot - what are your top recomendations for trails? It has been close to 10 years since I was at WP.
Later,
Craig

Oddly enough, its been about 10 years since I've been there too. IRRC, the best stuff is off the mountain. The mountain trails tend to get pretty blown out and rutted from all the concetrated use. I remember getting lost on trails just to north of the mountain that were just killer. I think we even accessed them from trails on the mountain too. I'd try to get hooked up with a local or a guide to show you the real goods. I'm sure that there's some pretty nicely established stuff there now. All the off mountain/east valley stuff seemed pretty new last I was there.