Mountain Biking Question

[mikeman]

My favourite riding is on the slickrock of Utah and surrounding area.

Does anyone know of any other locations in the world with similar riding surfaces?

I have never heard of one - but I keep seeing glimpses of possible locations on TV documentaries filmed in Africa and Australia.

Surely there must be another patch of slickrock terrain somewhere on the planet?

[SheSkis]

Hey Mike,

I'll ask a friend of mine...he takes bike trips all over the place so he might know!

[SheSkis]

Mike,

Dude says that Monument Nat'l Park in Fruita, Colorado (near Grand Junction, far West), is the best place to go for this. I found a write up on the location (in relation to biking) and thought I slap the link here for you to look at.

I'll let ya know if I hear of any more.

Lisa

http://classic.mountainzone.com/mtbiking/2000/features/fruita/index2.html

[paul]

Nice work, Lisa...

There's more also at http://www.gofruita.com/mountainbiking.html and some additional links available from there.

Paul
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[mikeman]

Thanks Lisa. I appreciate your efforts.

Fruita is actually very close to Moab, on the Colorado side. I often include a day or two there on my trips to Moab. I haven't seen any slickrock riding available there.

Fruita has excellent singletrack riding - some of the best high speed, banked singletrack anywhere. Serviced, free camping right beside the trail system north of the Interstate.

As for Monument National Park. Yep - endless miles of perfect slckrock riding. Nope - It is inside a National Park and strictly off limits for biking! Pretty spot though...

If there is some slickrock riding around Fruita, I'd appreciate directions...

[jfslenes]

First, I am not a biking expert. We have many Guests who visit Taos to both road ride and mountain bike. Have a page of bike info at the Inn site in the sig. area below. Links from those sites to other local bike sites. A little chilli now but spring is just around the corner.

Most of you bikers re skier too. Taos Ski Valley sports a fresh 50" last week. Light, dry fluffy, champagne powder. Better take those few days off and visit the steep trails of Taos. Angel Fire and Sipapu are also nearby for intermediates and boarders.

Many of you are also health focused folk. Take a peek at .
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[aaron]

jfslenes... please stop throwing totally irrelevant advertising into your posts.

Aaron
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[chooooocolat_moose]

I was not acquainted yet with the term 'slickrock' so I googled my way through different pages and have to say : that looks spooky !

I've never seen a place like that in the world...Sorry for that...Here in Europe we 'prefer' the more muddy trips. (I participated in the Transalp last year)

Cheers,
Peter
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[mikeman]

chooooocolat_moose

Thanks for your interest in my quest to find slickrock riding somewhere other than the Moab Utah area. There must be some more somewhere in the world.

Yes, the photos of people riding slickrock do make it look rather extreme. The photos don't show the amazing traction. It feels like you are stuck to the slope like a fly on a vertical wall. You find that you can ride slopes much steeper than you can at home.

For those who don't know what we are talking about, there is a dramatic National Geographic photo of slickrock riding here:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0210/photo_8.html

And some more pics and information here:
http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/slickrck.htm

The Transalp sounds pretty serious. What a pretty setting for a ride. What was the route? We have a race in Canada called the TransRockies Challenge. Some of our local hardcore racers participate - A brutal week of pain apparently.

[chooooocolat_moose]

The Transalp is one of the toughest there is in Europe. Around 650km with an average of 3.3% climbing percentage.

There are not many pictures and the website is mediocre, but here you can have an idea what it is all about
http://www.transalpchallenge.com

It has been the hardest but also the nicest mountainbike experience I've ever had.
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[mikeman]

Thanks,

That was interesting.
Stage 7 looked like a killer day. How was it for you?

You might be interested in reading more about the transrockies race. The home page is here:
http://www.transrockies.com/

And there is a more interesting site, with a riders diary approach here:
http://www.pedalmag.com/index.php?

I don't know how you guys do it. I can ride a 70+km day of mountain singletrack, but the next day I am useless. A whole week? Yikes!
How do you keep stuffing in enough food? You must get tired of eating...

[chooooocolat_moose]

Hey Mikeman,

I have no idea how I did it It is really tough to get back on your bike when your whole body is screaming to stop, get a beer and go home....

And you need a good portion of luck too ; weather conditions have to be good, your bike has to keep up. I was lucky !
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[outspire]

Don't forget Sedona too. Also, you're not limited to Moab in Utah. There' s some great slickrock in the Bryce Canyon area that's just primitive trails right off the side of the road. Once you got there, locals would point you in the right direction.
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