Worth going to or clusterfuck?
Sedona mountain bike festival
- Thread starter johnbryanpeters
- Start date
Sedona and the surrounding area are worth going to, festival or not. If you find it to be too much of a zoo there is great nearby riding and camping to be had.
You could make it a tour of the Southwest... http://bikefest.desertsportstx.com/
I know what the dadburned trails are like, I have ridden some of them.
I was asking whether the festival itself had any redeeming merit. The trails we rode, north out of Oak Creek, were lots of fun, but even with no festival going on there were too damn many people...
I was asking whether the festival itself had any redeeming merit. The trails we rode, north out of Oak Creek, were lots of fun, but even with no festival going on there were too damn many people...
If it's a festival then there must be cake, right ?
There's no decent festivus in Sedona, never has been. Go to Flagstaff. In fact, stay in Flagstaff. It's an amazing mountain-town, decent bars/brews/restaurants, etc. Sedona's "brewery" has penauts and a few beers on tap. For me, peanuts aren't exactly filling right after a ride. There's a couple decent places to get a bite to eat, in Oak Creek and Sedona, but IMO just not worth it compared to the selections and vibes in Flagstaff. If I had to choose Sedona proper vs Oak Creek, I'd eat in Oak Creek. Tara Thai is outstanding, but not open all the time. Oak Creek is also a good place to start a Triple-H ride and hit some of the stuff that is best served from Oak Creek. Bike and Bean encourages parking near them these days, which is nice for logistics as well.
Last month I was sampling scotches in Flag while it was snowing out side, riding the day before and after down in Sedona with a short drive down the amazing Oak Creek canyon. Even though it snowed and screwed up my plan of riding Flag, Sedona is super close and I didn't regret staying in Flag one bit. I never considered staying in Sedona. There's nowhere to walk to/from and not much of a central place to unwind.
Riding in Sedona has gotten dramatically better over the last 15 years with the establishment of the "epic" trails like Hangover, High on the Hog, Highline, and the dozens of offshoots and connectors used with them, in addition to a few trails adopted in North Sedona. IMO, it's still not on the scale of Moab, it's hard to be when you are limited in elevation to what's below the wilderness area, but now at least you can truly peg some of these routes and rides as "epic" IMO. Stuff in Flagstaff has always been good though and it's worth the trip too, plus in the summer, Flag is cool and Sedona can be crazy hot, only a few degrees cooler than Phoenix. So again, stay in Flag, decide what to do from there, enjoy Flag nightlife. Repeat.
I lived in these parts for 11 years.
Last month I was sampling scotches in Flag while it was snowing out side, riding the day before and after down in Sedona with a short drive down the amazing Oak Creek canyon. Even though it snowed and screwed up my plan of riding Flag, Sedona is super close and I didn't regret staying in Flag one bit. I never considered staying in Sedona. There's nowhere to walk to/from and not much of a central place to unwind.
Riding in Sedona has gotten dramatically better over the last 15 years with the establishment of the "epic" trails like Hangover, High on the Hog, Highline, and the dozens of offshoots and connectors used with them, in addition to a few trails adopted in North Sedona. IMO, it's still not on the scale of Moab, it's hard to be when you are limited in elevation to what's below the wilderness area, but now at least you can truly peg some of these routes and rides as "epic" IMO. Stuff in Flagstaff has always been good though and it's worth the trip too, plus in the summer, Flag is cool and Sedona can be crazy hot, only a few degrees cooler than Phoenix. So again, stay in Flag, decide what to do from there, enjoy Flag nightlife. Repeat.
I lived in these parts for 11 years.
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I would think the problem with Flag is that the Sedona MTB festival is in early March. Isn't Flag still under snow at that point? As nice of a town as it is, driving 1.5 hours each way every day would wind up being a bit much. (for me anyways, I guess everyone has their own pov on how much driving is too much).
But I agree with you, the atmosphere is better in Flagstaff. The riding was stellar too. I was very disappointed that I didn't make it up there on my recent trip to Sedona this past November. They had just received their first snow of the year the week before I got there, and another foot the week we were there. Two feet of snow would have been just too much to deal with...
But I agree with you, the atmosphere is better in Flagstaff. The riding was stellar too. I was very disappointed that I didn't make it up there on my recent trip to Sedona this past November. They had just received their first snow of the year the week before I got there, and another foot the week we were there. Two feet of snow would have been just too much to deal with...
Flag is about 30 min from Sedona (although inevitably there are slow cars on 89a).
I was there during the first snowstorm this year, but Flag snow is nothing like here in Alaska, in Flag it quickly sublimates and goes away from most unshaded places, and then even in the shade it takes a lot of accumulation to make any real snowpack. At least we are finally getting snow in Alaska now, felt crazy getting pounded in Flag before we had a good snowstorm here...crazy weather.
I was there during the first snowstorm this year, but Flag snow is nothing like here in Alaska, in Flag it quickly sublimates and goes away from most unshaded places, and then even in the shade it takes a lot of accumulation to make any real snowpack. At least we are finally getting snow in Alaska now, felt crazy getting pounded in Flag before we had a good snowstorm here...crazy weather.