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Slummin’ it in Vail, Colorado. As if you could use the terms slum and Vail in the same sentence.

So there I was in sunny California, only it wasn’t so sunny this day. In fact, it was kind of misty as I watch the tri-Athlon people riding up and down the highway as I attempted to find some kind of truck trail. After driving forever at ten miles an hour, I was intent on not letting the series of unfortunate events effect my birthday. A little quick search of the iPad and I found another trail nearby. There all crapshoots, so why not pick one.

I landed at Whiting Ranch, smack dab in the middle of OC stip mall central. What could possible go wrong? I paid my three dollar parking extortion, though most seem to avoid it by parking in front of Starbucks.

A quick check of the back and the slod began. Lots of soft beach sand rapidly getting me nowhere until I got to the top. There I was greeted by many friendly mountain bikes who all seemed to be huffing and puffing about the long climb up. Maybe if was some kind of weight loss class, but they all seemed pretty tired. I inquired about a loop and the all had a look of death in their eyes. “Uh, you’ll have to climb all the way up that trail”. You mean the one that goes for about a mile at a 5% grade? “Yeah, that one.” UYh, OK, I’ll see you guys at the bottom.

So for each part of double track blech, there was a nice piece of singletrack. Bottom line is I enjoyed the ride, nice people, nice scenery, and plenty of cheap eats after.

Enjoy the video.

I could drone on for hours about how great it is to ride new trails and how Moab’s ever expanding terrain is such a positive for mountain bikers and the town. At some point, they’ll run out of places to put trail. For now, we can just revel in it. Yeah, I know it was once illegal trail, but it sure is nice when a plan comes together.

I’ll leave you with some pics and video from the Mag 7.

What’s in a name? Ok, I’ll skip the Shakespear and begin my love affair. Love affair with a name? If I could figure out the actual name of this place, I’d probably inscribe it on the back of leg. When we researched the ride, Goodwater seemed to be the common name, then we saw the BLM sign which said The Wedge, then the Little Grand Canyon, and so on. I’m sticking with The Wedge for reasons you’ll soon read about.

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