schnauzers.ws

Forgive me if I do not remember all the trail names. We rode for almost five hours and we awere on many different trails. I think we were on Chicken Point trail, Broken Arrow, a secret trail, Submarine Rock Trail, Bell Rock Pathway.

We head out onto the trails across the street from the bike shop. We stop so that Gonzo can show me where we are heading.

http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/sedona/DSCF0081. jpg

We ride for a bit and then make a couple of short secret turns to get to the secret trail. This trail has remained relatively pristine single track and I am sworn to secrecy.

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It’s a very fast ride at this point. Lots of short climbs and fun downhills thrown in.

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Every now and then we stop to play in one of the many slickrock playgrounds and Gozo demonstrates some three and four foot drop-offs. I watch and think about broken limbs.

There are quite a few technical climbs and decents that he neglects to inform me about. I think it is better that way because by the time I notice them, I am clearing them.

At this point I lose track of what trail we are on although I think it is Checken Point trail. There are quite a lot of hickers and pink jeeps out today so we are being a little cautious. We stop to look at a sink hole.

http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/sedona/DSCF0087. jpg

We get to the end of a trail and hve to roadie it through a development. At the end of the trail just before the road are two boulders similar to the ones in this picture

http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/sedona/DSCF0088. jpg

They almost blenf into the ground because of the color. By the time I notice this, I am heading right at it with a significant amount of speed. I jam on the brakes about three feet before it but it’s not enough. The front wheel hits and I do my superman impersonation into a full tuck and roll. The helmet cam was on for this (video next week) but took a pretty bad hit. I couldn’t stop laughing. No broken bones so on we go.

We reach submarine rock and climb up to play a bit.

http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/sedona/DSCF0090. jpg

There were lots of stairs like this on the trail. Many lines to choose with varying heights. It was fun to experiment and test my ability with different heights. I cleared it up and down which was a rather significant accomplishment for me.

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More slickrock fun. It’s way more steeper than it looks.

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We are now on the backside of Chicken Point.

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We do a little more climbing and get to the top of this lookout point (I forgot the name), and so do the jeeps.

http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/sedona/DSCF0099.jpg

We keep getting asked by the folks in the jeeps if we rode the bikes up. They seem amazed that you can actually do that. I offer to trade sopts, but there are no takers. I do get quite a few nice vantage points from here.

http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/sedona/DSCF0100.jpg
http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/sedona/DSCF0101.jpg
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I was too scared to do the usual wheely drop poseur pic that looks like your dropping off the mountain.

http://www.pchospital.net/photoalbum/paphotos/sedona/DSCF0102.jpg

Broken Arrow had to be the most fun I had all day! Fantastic technical downhill crap like this that was just right for me to get through. I would have walked this a few months ago.

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We finished up with a little bit of some trail near cathdral rock and then back to the shop. A great tour and at $65 for the guide, rental bike, and five hours of riding it’s a bargain. He would have kept going, but I was pooped!