[BikeMag]

Momentum is building for Sedona, Arizona. There's a rising tide of partially spandex-clad bikers washing up on the sandy desert floor around Sedona. More and more cars, laden with riders and their marvelous looking mechanical contraptions, flow into the red rock ravine.

Chemtrails and mountain bike trails

 

[ShiverMeTimbers]

Calling a California transplant's new shop a "community cornerstone" is a giant insult to the locals who have called Sedona home for decades. Glad you bros take care of one another, but let's have some honest journalism, shall we? There are other bike shops that serve as "cornerstones" that have been around longer.

That said, the riding in Sedona has been great for a long time, but in the last 5 years it has taken off. Hopefully there is room enough for everyone on the trails, the new shops, and with the public officials for a long time.

 

[Jm_]

Wow, that article is way WAY off.

First of all, people started coming to Sedona because of the oustanding illegal trails that were being built, like Highline, High on the Hogs, Hangover, Damifino, Tomahawk, etc. These took the somewhat boring repetitive trails and got stuff way up high on the mesas and in thin vegetation lines, hacked out in places you would never think a trail could exist. Those are the reason people started coming, but it's because the forest service has tried to ignore the mountain bike community until critical mass.

A few guys now have been arrested for building said trails and what's more, the forest service has instituted a forest-wide (in Sedona) closure of all non-system trails to MOUNTAIN BIKERS only. So if you're a hiker, equestrian, jackass, whatever, you can be on non-system trails, but mountain bikers have been unfairly targeted. The only good the forest service has done is they've adopted about 3 of those trails (I don't think they adopted Hangover, due to the Cow Pies trail, but I think Mescal and Chuck Wagon might be in there). It's kind of like the old Llama trail though, someone built it and due to overwhelming popularity, the FS is "forced" to adopt it. The forest service has "worked with" mountain bikes in Sedona about as much the hippies can cure people with their power crystals. I know this guy is trying to drum up some business, but the last 10 years in Sedona have seen an explosion in trails and a crackdown on trailbuilding and mountain biking. A few guys were arrested for trailbuilding and even just repair. One that built Highline and some of the craziest illegal ones didn't, but that's because he was the local ranger's (Jennifer's) BF...

 

[Jm_]

That said, the riding in Sedona has been great for a long time, but in the last 5 years it has taken off. Hopefully there is room enough for everyone on the trails, the new shops, and with the public officials for a long time.

Agreed that it's exploded in the last few years, so much better and much more of a mountain biking "experience" now. Also agreed that it's not the "cornerstone", that honor goes to Bike n Bean, and it probably will for a long time to come.

 

[supremob3]

im not so sure anyone really thinks that there is a plot to actually stop mountain biking in the area. I think you are sensationalizing the sensationalism there. Locals are rightfully bothered when a trail they have loved for years is now "illegal" for bikes only.

 

[johnf0246]

First of all no one has been arrested for constructing a user created hiking or mountain bike in Sedona. Four of us have been cited for either building a user created trail or maintaining a system trail without asking for permission to do the necessary maintenance.

Secondly to not be misleading there are approximately 195 miles of popular mountain bike trails in Sedona (including Lime Kiln which is 15 miles long and is not very popular) and there use to be 205 miles. We permanently lost 7 miles with the closure of Damifino, Killer Bee, Damifido, Lavitra and the world famous Tomahawk trail which was originally scouted by a person who can't be mentioned.

We also lost 13 miles of trail due to the FS imposed cross country closure to mountain bikers only as stated previously. One of the reasons why the closure was put into effect was due to potential trail routing through archeological sites. To date surveys have been done on 5.5 miles of those 13 miles and no significant sites have been found. Those trails studied were Pyramid, Catwalk, Special Ed and Witch Doctor all of which have been proven to be fun challenging trails to ride.

As far as the future closure of other user created mountain bike trails there are some people who live in Sedona that believe mountain bike trails are major contributors to Sedona erosion and the siltation of Oak Creek. There are no studies proving such erosion or siltation, but it makes for a lively discussion at times.

Going forward there are a number of people who are in the Who Get's To Decide position. At the top of the list is Jennifer in second place is Phil K, and in third is Lars. So going forward it will be those three people who decide which new FS mountain bike trail gets either built or adopted.

Those of us who love the Sedona trail system and would like to see more of the popular user created trails adopted we are hoping the FS will allow future biking on those well built trails since they will cost very little to bring into a system status.

Jennifer has implied user created trails are costly to adopt and maintain and they actually cost more to build than a brand new FS trail. I have asked her which trails she is talking about and to date she hasn't felt like answering my question. I believe I know which trails she is talking about and if I am correct I know why she doesn't want to answer my question.

My hope is that she, Phil and Lars will kill the adoption of Canyon of Fools and will consider the adoption of a more sustainable trail, but since I Don't Get To Decide I can only offer my two cents in this post.

My hope is that someday there will be a strong volunteer group of Sedona trail users that will maintain the popular mountain bike trails also used by the hiking community. I don't think we are there yet, but maybe someday there will be a dedicated volunteer group like they have in Moab and Downieville.

 

[Jm_]

im not so sure anyone really thinks that there is a plot to actually stop mountain biking in the area. I think you are sensationalizing the sensationalism there. Locals are rightfully bothered when a trail they have loved for years is now "illegal" for bikes only.

Nowhere did I mention or indicate a "plot" to "stop" mountain biking. I indicated that they have not built new mountain biking trails, that the existing trail network was insufficient (I can provide many examples if you want to hear), I mentioned that they issued an order singling out mountain bikers on non-system trails (that's not a "plot to stop mountain biking") and that the outstanding new trails were built illegally and mountain biking reached critical mass, thereby forcing the FS to adopt some of the trails. Basically, they are reactive and not proactive at all and it's bad for everyone. That's not a "plot to stop mountain biking". In any case, it's not the shining happy people picture painted in the article. It's nice that they adopted a few of these trails, they had little choice though, the FS has a long long ways to go in Sedona...

Sedona was pretty boring 10+ years ago for riding. I came over in 2001 and 2002 and started hitting up trails there. There was 20' rocky chute up followed by a 20' rocky chute down and after a little bit with no real elevation gain or loss, just the same straight up straight down stuff, it got boring. Views were outstanding, but the scope of the riding was not comparable to places like Moab, Tahoe, etc. It still has a long ways to go to compare to some of those places, but in the last 5 years the riding has been comparatively outstanding with long interesting rides possible, varied terrain, interesting and unique technical challenges, decent connectors, etc. None of this is thanks to the forest service. That's the reality.

 

[johnf0246]

There are a couple trails the Sedona FS has approved and allowed to be built from scratch. Those trails are Aerie (2.7 miles), Hermit (1/4 mile), Kaibab (1/8 mile), Yavapai Vista (1/8 mile), Basalt (1/10 mile), To Coconino/To Parking (1/12 mile) and Javalina (1.2 miles). I contend Phil K had a lot to do with all those trails and since he is a mountain biker I give him lots of credit for his contribution in bringing those trails into existence.

There are many re-routes of user created mountain bike trails the FS has been involved with to bring those trails into a system status. Some re-routes were due to archeological issues and some due to sustainability issues.

The only user created trails that I know of that had no re-routing were Anaconda, Touron, Plunge and Crusty. Hangover has a slight optional reroute before reaching the lower saddle which works well, but we can still ride the old slickrock line if we want.

 

[Jm_]

I contend Phil K had a lot to do with all those trails

I think so...

 

[johnf0246]

I agree Phil K had a lot to do with a bunch of trails. The number one person who gets to decide knows it and the number three person who gets to decide also knows. I am sure the LEO knows and I know the FS people in the trails division know, but at this point it doesn't matter because we mountain bikers appreciate what has been created by all those previous builders.

Since PK is in the number two spot hopefully he will be in a position to create some totally new masterpieces. There may be a few obstacles to over come, but with the support of number one and the help of number three he is in good position to create another H type trail.

To expect a new Tomahawk trail would be a little over optimistic, but maybe with the influence of number three a new T type trail could be developed. Whether all the stars could once again align to make such a new trail be routed and built in Sedona that would certainly be a miracle we could all hope for.

One thing is for sure the talent is still out there to come up with some exceptional new advanced trails. Time will tell if the FS is willing to let such trails be built.

At the RRR trails planning meetings that lasted for a year the mountain bike community expressed the desire to have new trails added to the current system. There were two surveys (one during a meeting and one online) completed that establish that desire. We are still waiting for the actual online trail survey results to get an accurate picture of what those people want to see happen in the future. Jennifer said she would post them, but due to the two week shutdown those results haven't been posted yet.

 

[supremob3]

"Nowhere did I mention or indicate a "plot" to "stop" mountain biking. " @JM

correct, this is what they are saying in the article in lars' section that people in town think. which is also not true. I dont know what they gain from trying to single out and demonize the riders who instead of sitting around waiting for a bunch of bureaucrats to tell them when and where to ride went out and made some of the best trails in the area.

If they want to get on board and be proactive about servicing the needs of the fast growing MTB community great! But if they just want to impose arbitrary closures, and punish those who would try to make a trail they ride safer by moving a rock. That is not progressive for anyone.

Some of my favorite trails are still illegal, and I have been riding them for years. Now it seems im waiting for some government official to give me a ticket and tell me its illegal now, and even more so if i wanted to move some dirt so i dont crash. Lets face it, mostly the illegal trails have been some of the most challenging and fun. especially some of the ONLY jumps in the verde valley... The trail system has no legitimate jumps anywhere. That is a huge segment of the MTB population that we dont bother to cater to, and yet we wonder why people must illegally build trail.

 

[johnf0246]

There are very few jump trails in the Sedona area. One trail I forgot to mention previously is the Pigtail trail. It was the FIRST joint project between the FS and the mountain bike community. Fat Tire Dave came up with the idea and Jennifer B bought into Dave's trail concept. Bike Doc was very involved with the completion of the project and also deserves an honorable mention for his volunteer efforts.

There are a number of jumps on Pigtail and it is a favorite trail for some of the gravity types that can talk their girl friends into shuttling them from Pine Knoll to Chapel Rd. Due to a pretty steep climb to the high point of Pigtail trail it isn't normally ridden more than one or two rides by the heavy bike crowd. The trail makes for an exciting ending of a Hog Heaven ride if you are an airborne type.

What is interesting about this project it is where the number one and number two people "Who Get to Decide" made a date to hike Highline to see if it could be a worthy additions to the Sedona trail system.

From a historical perspective that hike to the top of Highline was one of the keys to what has taken place in the Red Rock Ranger District. The adoption of that trail and the the subsequent re-route on the backside with several over the limit steep sections demonstrates what a joint effort by all three deciders can accomplish when they want to bring a trail into a system status.

The adoption of that trail certainly lead the way to the adoption of the other two H trails. Hopefully it will also lead to the adoption of other less extreme, but equally fun user created trails that require a lot less maintenance to keep them sustainable and safer to ride for the lesser skilled riding group.

 

[supremob3]

The so called "jumps" on pig tail, do not count. The ones removed at 7 mile road or beaver head flats barely counted as a jump line. The work on pigtail is great for it's location and purpose, but it is nowhere close to satisfying the need for more challenge for advanced riders.

 

[johnf0246]

Correct me if I am wrong, but one of the problems with building jump trails in Sedona is having the man power and water to build the jump. Seems like you need heavy equipment and a water wagon to get something built in a fairly short period of time. Then you need a dedicated group of volunteers to maintain it.

What do you think of the new Bike Skills park the City of Sedona just approved? Do you think the local community will keep it in good shape once it is built? Will it incorporate any of the type of jumps you personally will enjoy riding or will it be to wimpy for someone with your riding skills?