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sdyeti

[SIZE=3]There was another group of riders out for the long Thanksgiving weekend…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Dan & myself went out to Phoenix to get in some ‘must-rides’ with our friends Kim, Lisa and Aaron. You might know Lisa & Aaron from the SoCal downhill scene…they are now living in AZ and seem to be having a great time.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]We did 4 rides in 4 days:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Thursday: Cave Creek Regional Park (North Phx)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Friday: Sedona classic loop[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Saturday: Black Canyon trails (just north of Phx)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Sunday: Goat Camp, White Tanks Regional Park (west of Phx)[/SIZE]


[SIZE=3]On Turkey Day, we put the bird in the oven...[/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3]and headed out to the local riding area down the street from where Kim, Lisa & Aaron live…truly their local riding spot. The trails were mostly singletrack with mostly smooth climbing and one really technical climb. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Lisa, Steph (sdyeti) & Kim about to hit Go John[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]View from the top overlooking N. Phoenix/Desert Hills[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]I don’t have all the trail names but some of them were Slate, Overton and Go John. We met lots of friendly hikers who were out with the same idea in mind…burn off some calories before the big dinner. A woman and her mom saw Kim & me ride a rock section and say that we were “so brave”. Made me smile. We rode for about 2 hours and enjoyed the warm sun. Though the morning temps were chilly, by 10 am there was no need for long sleeves.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Man blong Gaua (Dan) doing his famous track stand[/SIZE]
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Keep reading for Day #2...Sedona

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sdyeti

Is the riding in Sedona awesome, you ask? Oh yeah it is! Dan (Man blong Gaua), Kim, Lisa and I arrived in the early morning. The air was cold (temps started in the low 40s) but it warmed up quickly and the weather ended up being beautiful.

The loop was Baldwin - Templeton - Buddah Beach - Cathedral Rock - Broken Arrow - Submarine Rock - Chicken Point - Llama Trail - Bell.

The trails provided a sampling of the best of Sedona...technical climbs and descents, smooth singletrack and fun slickrock. We all rode strong and the group was impressive, cleaning lots of tough sections and powering up the climbs. We met up with our friends Will and his sister Tiffany (from San Diego) and rode with them from Chicken Point on down.
On the way down from Chicken Point I saw a green and gray jersey in the distance...yes, it was ! Lee and his girlfriend were also there and we stopped to chat for a few minutes. We were heading down and they were going up, so we parted ways.

The scenery was awesome and the day was a blast. I don't have a ride mileage, but were were out for about 5 hours. Ride time was approx. 3:45. Enjoy the pictures

sdyeti on Baldwin, Cathedral rock in the background


Lisa & Kim, Buddha Beach


Dan making it look easy


Lisa and Kim, Templeton


"Yep, I see a freeride line up there"--Dan


artistic shot...Lisa over Dan's shoulder


the girls on Mystic...sdyeti


Lisa...OC girl now ripping it up in AZ


Kim


Submarine Rock...way cool!



Dan, Steph, Kim & Lisa...Chicken Point


Days 3 (Black Canyon) & 4 (Goat Camp) up next...

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2wheel_lee

Man, I really got to learn to pay attention. At first glance, I thought someone was changing baby diapers in the first photo, and I was wondering what the relevance of that was. Upon reviewing the photos the second time I realized it was a turkey.

By the way, it was really cool seeing you, Lisa, and Kim in Sedona.

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foofighter

what a great trip thanks for the RR and sharing

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sdyeti

[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3]Saturday saw us lounging around the house in the morning, waiting for our friend James to come and join us for another local ride…Black Canyon. The trails are fairly new (within the past two years or so). [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3]The lollipop loop is almost entirely singletrack with plenty of fast, flowy downhill and challenging climbs. The wind had picked up quite a bit, making some of the exposed ridge trails tricky to navigate. At one point, I came around a corner and was literally blown into the cut slope. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3](Sorry no pics of Day 3...Dan has the camera in San Jose)! But see below for pics of Day 4 [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3]On Sunday, the group decided to ride Goat Camp in the White Tanks Regional Park just off the 303 on the west side of Phoenix. I have been hearing about the epic-ness of this trail for the past three years (ever since I lived in AZ). It is the stuff legends are made of…grueling climbs, hike-a-bike, and one of the gnarliest downhill rides around. Truly, it was all just what everyone had said. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3]We started out by 9 am and not too long into the ride, it was obvious that things were going up a notch…quickly. The baby heads were crazy and the whole trail was littered with fist-sized rocks and gravely stuff. We were soon resigned to hike-a-bike for a fairly long section of trail. See Exhibit "A"...[/SIZE][/FONT]

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[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3]Hike-a-bike (can you see us?)[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3]Nice valley view in the distance[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3]Dan muscling a climb...doesn't look steep but it is[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[SIZE=3]Then, we climbed and climbed and climbed. The climb is approximately 12 miles, with little breaks in between. Some of it was very technical. Some of it was just a constant grade. [/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3]Lisa...[/SIZE]
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[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3]Potter...[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=3]I miss the Saguaros[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[SIZE=3]We all made it and finally got to the top. Here, it was time to put on the pads. [/SIZE]

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[SIZE=3]Holy cow! The trail going downhill was truly gnarly…huge rocks in the trail and not much opportunity to flow. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Yes, this is the trail (a tame section, comparatively)[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]I got pretty nervous, thinking I might end up doing an Evil Chocula. It was a wild ride. The bike wanted to go fast and roll, but I was reluctant. Whew! With a little walking, a little tripoding, and a good chunk of riding, we made it to the bottom of the descent (~2 miles) in no time. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Kim at the end of Goat Camp[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]I was happy to be done but felt good about pushing myself on the climbs and the downhill. Goat Camp, though not for the faint of heart, did not disappoint.[/SIZE]

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PacMan

Nice RR. I've always wanted to take a road trip to Sedona.

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sdyeti

Dan has a blackmail photo of me stuffing the turkey...my eyes happened to close as he took the picture...I'm sure you can imagine! Haha

Sorry we didn't get to chat more on the trail...I was afraid the guys would be back at the car already!

You must! That is an order...

No, seriously, it is so cool. Definitely one of the best places I've ridden!

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bajamtnbkr

Nice RR, I have to add Sedona to list of places to ride. Thanks.

sdyeti

Definitely put it on the list...you won't be disappointed. The terrain was so varied, which made it really fun. When we were down at Buddha Beach, the trees were turning colors...reminded me of home (New England). Next thing ya know, we're on slickrock, just like Moab. Amazing!

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bajamtnbkr

Early this year we went to Southwest Utah, rode Gooseberry, Thunder Mountain, I wonder how Sedona compares to that?

sdyeti

I've never done Gooseberry but we did ride Moab in October. Moab's trails (the ones we rode) were much longer. But Sedona isn't as far of a drive

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dirtmistress

Great shots and report. thanks.

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allison

d00d. If we have time/money for a Spring trip we'll all have to go! You can do a search for our Memorial Day Cram session trip. It was awesome. Not quite on par with Whistler and our Labor Day trip, but still good

Gooseberry is bitchin!

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sdyeti

Spring's gonna be tough...we are saving up for our every-other-year whitewater rafting trip in Idaho (over Memorial Day wkend).

Maybe next fall??

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PacMan

I'm going to Moab in late April/early May but I'd down for a 3-4 day weekend trip to Sedona. Count me in.

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dft

good stuff. goat camp is one of my favorite trails anywhere, bar none. awesome chunk/techno on that trail. remote desert riding at its best!

sdyeti

It's in a league of it's own!!

Not so remote now, considering Del Webb or one of the developers has a huge development right at the bottom on the edge of the park boundary.

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