Sarah and I were very anxious on day 4 of the trip. We went down to the Bike and Bean in Oak Creek and rented some sweet mountain bikes. Mine was a Santa Cruz Super light and hers was a Titus Full-Suspension ride. The guys at the Bike and Bean were super helpful and eager to help us. We started off right at the shop and headed toward the Bell Rock Pathway. That trail had some decent single track and a bit of slick rock riding. I have read about slick rock in all my mountain bike magazines and it didn't disappoint. We rode Bell Rock to the junction of Templeton Trail. This trail was amazing. It had perfect flow from the get go, one downhill into a little climb and so on. There were tons of great features in the trail, huge boulders, great slick rock, and normal dirt/sand. This trail took us up Cathedral Rock and we rode the edge of it the entire way around. I had to keep reminding myself to look at the trail instead of the scenery! For about 3/4 mile it was all slick rock on the edge of Cathedral Rock. As we approached the downhill toward Oak Creek the switchbacks got dicey, very steep and rocky with 180 turns thrown in. Very technical but super fun. Once we got down to Oak Creek we hit the Baldwin Loop up for some more technical stuff. Tons of Rock Gardens with huge drop-offs was the norm on this trail. We rode this back to the switchbacks towards Cathedral Rock and made our way back the way we came. We ended up taking the HT trail back to Bell Rock Pathway then back to the Bike and Bean shop. 4 hours and 19 miles later we were spent. Got an amazing Latte from the guys at the shop and BSed with them for awhile. We are heading back tomorrow at 8am to do another set of trails. This was the best ride of my life!!!!! I can't wait till tomorrow. This loop is great if you are new to the area, really showcases the best Sedona has to offer.
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