Mountain Biking In Sedona: Round 2

10 days of vacation came and went too fast! I wanted to end our trip on a great note so we decided to mountain bike one more time before I left. I woke up at 7:30am and headed down to the Bike and Bean to get our rides. I rented a different bike this time, The biggest difference was navigating over big boulders, my balance was out of whack. I decided on doing a new loop that started out on Bell Rock Pathway once again. I rode this section till it hooked up with Llama Trail. This trail was great single-track riding with smooth climbs and ascents. Llama T-boned into Little Horse Trail, which was more technical then anything I had ridden so far. I had to get out and walk on some of this trail because the climbs were very rocky and steep. This trail took me to a beautiful outlook on top a few mesas called chicken point. From there I hooked up with the Broken Arrow trail, by far the most challenging trail I had ridden. Very steep climbs with rocks everywhere but the downhills were fun. The lookout from this trail was phenomenal all the way to the road. I decided to take 179 North back to Oak Creek because I was running short on time. I am not disappointed that I did this, it was fun to take in the views one last time. In all I rode another 16 miles and my butt definitely felt it. I would come back and ride here in a heartbeat, maybe try some trails closer to Sedona next time but definitely hit up the Templeton Loop again. Great Mountain bike area, go there if you can!

Slick Rock Heaven!

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.