We arose early on our first morning in Sedona Arizona. George, Keith and I were there on "business" to check out the point of sale system that our sister store, OTE Sedona, has been using. A great excuse to do a little work and a lot of riding. As I walked outside I noticed the full moon wasn't looking normal. It had a shadow over part of it. I was accidentally catching the last of a lunar eclipse that I hadn't known anything about. It was a pretty cool way to start the day.
Another goal of the trip was to capture some great images for use in advertising and generally stoking people on the riding in Sedona.
Getting great photo's means getting out early. However it was darn cold with the sun not up yet so we warmed up at the local bike park before heading out onto the trails.
On the way to the trails we ran into a little pack of javelina's. These little oinkers weren't too afraid. Scattering into the brush when I got within 10 feet. All except one.
Once off-road we quickly pointed our bikes uphill to create a little heat. Once on top the sun did the rest and the feeling of cold would not be one we'd feel again until we were back in Colorado.
It's easy to think that Sedona riding would be similar to Moab, but really the only thing they have in common is that the rock is red and the trails are fun. Sedona couldn't be more different. Hundreds and hundreds of miles of singletrack spider web their way through the pinyon/juniper forests in town and out. They are rocky, technical and at times very flowy.
The trails are also a bit more "prickly" then what we are used to. The consequences for losing concentration are two fold...a fall down a ledge or cliff, and the added insult of landing in a cactus at the bottom.
Keith's kneepads proved to be a good idea, but the case could be made for some shin protection too, if only for protection from the spiny trail side vegetation.
Black and White or Blue and Red...
It's a big landscape, Keith and George cruise far below me on singletrack dwarfed by the surrounding monuments.
And the day glow yellow lichen is a strange contrast to the dark red rock. At times it seems a can of saftey yellow paint has exploded all over the place.
A big thanks goes out to Jason and Mike, the new owners of OTE Sedona. Jason let us dirtbag it on his living room floor, and Mike gave us plenty of beer! It was cool to meet all the folks that are part of the Sedona community of mountain bikers and trail builders. From the USFS trail crew to the old school rouge trail builder that we met at the bar. Hopefully thanks to their hard work this little grom will be rippn' Sedona trails many years from now, and hopefully we will be too! Enjoy this quick little video of radness that is Sedona!
