[TN]

Here is our route. Blue is the route on the way out. Red is on the way back (minus some backtracking). 18 days on the road around 5k miles or asphalt.

Our plan is to leave next Friday & drive as far as we can after I get off work at noon & then wake-up Saturday & finish the haul to Zion National Park. We will spend a couple days there camping & exploring ,then shoot on over the Santa Barbara.

Once we get to Cali, we are gonna take it easy & tool up & down the coast between Santa Barbara & Paso Robles. It is going to be totally chill...no set itinerary, just chasing the great Central Coast wines, in between the great mountain biking trails we will be riding. We will camp most nights in Cali except for our anniversary. We plan on staying in Avila Beach at the Inn at Avila Beach for a couple nights to live it up & celebrate 2 years of blissful married life.

After our livers start crying from all the wine (about a week, I am guessing) we will head back East...taking our time with maybe a stop in Vegas, baby.

We will stop again in Utah, stocked with cases of primo vino, since the great Mormon state of Utah has a major problem with people enjoying adult beverages within the confines of it's borders. Happy Hour is actually illegal in Utah (?!). Mother nature (Utah is one of the most beautiful places on Earth) & the cases of wine in tow will help us cope. We haven't decided where we will stop in UT. Maybe Bryce Canyon, Moab, or the Brian Head Ski Resort for some more mountain biking.

From there, we will head to the Mountains. The San Juan Mountains to be exact. We will spend the last few days of our epic journey, soaking in hot springs, breathing in the crisp, clean, cool mountain air, sleeping under the stars. We may get some more mountain biking in near Durango, right before the sad but inevitable day when we have to head home.

It will be a sad trip home to Memphis (it always is) but we will have a head full of new memories & hopefully some wine left. We will see.


If anyone has any recommendations on trails to ride, sights to see, restaurants to eat at, wineries to visit, beaches to be bums on, etc...
Also if anyone near our stops wants to ride, drink, whatever....HOLLA! (Zark I will send you a PM momentarily)

 

[stosh]

I guess no NY this year.... ad:

 

[Zark]

Good stuff! You guys are gonna have a great time!
Looking forward to meeting you guys and really jealous that your gonna ride Bryce Canyon

 

[TN]

There is always our Christmas time trip to NYC that we have been trying to take for the last year or so....

Road tripping up there would be fun too, with lots more to see & do on the way. But Cali is calling my name!

 

[stosh]

There is always our Christmas time trip to NYC that we have been trying to take for the last year or so....

Road tripping up there would be fun too, with lots more to see & do on the way. But Cali is calling my name!

Have you ever been to Cali?

 

[TN]

Good stuff! You guys are gonna have a great time!
Looking forward to meeting you guys and really jealous that your gonna ride Bryce Canyon

Can you ride in Bryce? I thought it was a NP....
We will be playing that leg of the trip by ear, so who know where we will end up.

 

[TN]

Have you ever been to Cali?

never. i am stoked.

 

[bluebug32]

I guess no NY this year.... ad:

I don't know you well, but will have to agree with Stosh.

The trips looks fantastic. Enjoy every minute and think of all of us who are stuck in a cubicle wondering when our next ride will be

 

[stosh]

never. i am stoked.

It's well worth it.

To bad you're not going to Yosemite.

 

[stosh]

I don't know you well, but will have to agree with Stosh.

The trips looks fantastic. Enjoy every minute and think of all of us who are stuck in a cubicle wondering when our next ride will be

Are you hitting on me?

 

[Zark]

Can you ride in Bryce? I thought it was a NP....
We will be playing that leg of the trip by ear, so who know where we will end up.

I guess not Zion you can

 

[stinkyboy]

I drove that redline alone once and will NEVER do it again!

Nice map. Glendale and Scottsdale, but no Phoenix?

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

What kind of riding to you do? You are driving through Amarillo, which is where I live. PM me if you are interested in a bit of riding.

 

[TN]

I guess not Zion you can

Oh yeah, the Red Bull Course is out there. But we will be traveling light with only the small travel bikes....although there may be room for La's Bullit on the roof too...

But the reality is my nads are too small for anything "Red Bull".

 

[TN]

I drove that redline alone once and will NEVER do it again!

Nice map. Glendale and Scottsdale, but no Phoenix?

We are only stopping in AZ to pee. (nothing personal it is just on the way)



Price-
I am sorry. Are there any hills in Amarillo? I bet the riding there is a lot like the riding in Memphis, except we dont have any cowboys or Cadillacs stuck in the ground.

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

Haha we have Palo Duro Canyon with some great trails. We have a alot of dirt jumps, skate parks. Whatever you ride, we have it.

We can go to Cadillac ranch and spray paint them if it will put a smile on your face.

 

[partsbara]

nice... have a good time... yeah the road home (CO - NE) when we used to live in omaha was always terrbile...

get some good riding in... sayndesyn and i have a brian head road trip in the works this year... stoked

 

[stinkyboy]

We are only stopping in AZ to pee.

We need all the moisture we can get!

 

[Ciaran]

Sounds like an awsome trip! Have fun and be safe. Can't wait to see the pix when you get home.

 

[N8 v2.0]

You can ride Otero Canyon which is not far off the I40 to the south just before you pop out of the Sandia Mts into Alb.

In Alb you can much some good grub at Garduño's (located one block north of I-40, exit Louisiana Ave)

http://www.gardunosrestaurants.com/locations_NM.html

 

[Zia Monkey]

You can ride Otero Canyon which is not far off the I40 to the south just before you pop out of the Sandia Mts into Alb.

In Alb you can much some good grub at Garduño's (located one block north of I-40, exit Louisiana Ave)

http://www.gardunosrestaurants.com/locations_NM.html

The forest is closed but Garduño's is still open.

 

[N8 v2.0]

The forest is closed but Garduño's is still open.

bugger me!


at least Garduño's has a killer happy hour with cheap margaritas and free buffet!

 

[Wumpus]

I am sorry. Are there any hills in Amarillo? I bet the riding there is a lot like the riding in Memphis, except we dont have any cowboys or Cadillacs stuck in the ground.

Not unless Memphis looks like this:

Palo Duro Canyon

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

mmm... the lighthouse. Thanks for backing my up Wumpus.

 

[TN]

Not unless Memphis looks like this:

Palo Duro Canyon

HOLLY $HIT!!

That is in Amarillo?!?!?!
F'n A!

From I40, it looks like a frikkin' dump!

 

[N8 v2.0]

HOLLY $HIT!!

That is in Amarillo?!?!?!
F'n A!

From I40, it looks like a frikkin' dump!

Well, that's not Amarillo per say... but it is close to it....

Amarillo is basically a giant truck stop.

 

[TN]

Amarillo is basically a giant truck stop.

This is the Amarillo I know.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Awesome looking trip! Definitely hit Bryce Canyon. It's spectacular.

Zion & Bryce are both NPs - no off road bike riding in either.

Have fun!

 

[narlus]

if you do one ride in Durango (and you don't mind making it an epic), i have two suggestions:

coal bank/molas pass (around engineer mountain)

or

hall -> pinkerton/flagstaff -> dutch creek -> tail end of hermosa creek.

two of the best rides of my life.

have fun!

btw, happy hour is banned in MA too. before Romney was governor, even.

 

[Konabumm]

that look f*ing great-hope you guys have a good time. Take a bunch of picture - then post and make me feel bad for not taking a real vacation in 3 years.

 

[laura]

that look f*ing great-hope you guys have a good time. Take a bunch of picture - then post and make me feel bad for not taking a real vacation in 3 years.

You feel bad about that anyway, with or without pics.

 

[SkaredShtles]

that look f*ing great-hope you guys have a good time. Take a bunch of picture - then post and make me feel bad for not taking a real vacation in 3 years.

Dammit! I wish I could give you negative rep for not taking vacation for 3 years. Are you INSANE?!?

 

[McGRP01]

<-- Jealous!!!! Have a GREAT trip!!!

 

[Zark]

We'll warm you up on the easiest trail in S.B., but it might get hairier after that

 

[stinkyboy]

Dammit! I wish I could give you negative rep for not taking vacation for 3 years. Are you INSANE?!?

I didn't take longer than 3 days in 7 years when I was a spry young workaholic... I only took that time out to ruin relationships.

 

[SkaredShtles]

We'll warm you up on the easiest trail in S.B., but it might get hairier after that

Are those rocks solid? If so, I'd ride that on my XC bike.

Very slowly.

Maybe not.

 

[SkaredShtles]

I didn't take longer than 3 days in 7 years when I was a spry young workaholic... I only took that time out to ruin relationships.

Pretty funny. I spent my first ~7 years in the workforce basically f***ing around. It was fun.

 

[Zark]

Are those rocks solid? If so, I'd ride that on my XC bike.

Very slowly.

Maybe not.

In that section most of the rocks are quite firmly planted in the trail. Its possible to ride on an XC bike, but really scary and really slow. What you can't see in that photo is the cliff to the right.

This is the staircase section of Tunnel trail, most of the trail is rock with occasional patches of dirt

EDIT: I'm not seriously taking them down Tunnel, we've got some more XC stuff in mind

 

[Spunger]

San Ysidro/Jesusita would be fun for anyone (out of town or local), Tunnel/Cold springs you better bring some knee/shin pads and a full face atleast. It's not as hard as it looks though

Make sure to get a good Burrito someplace here in Socal. Plenty of places, plus depending on what time you come out it could be Fiesta! Then you'd be in for it

 

[SkaredShtles]

In that section most of the rocks are quite firmly planted in the trail. Its possible to ride on an XC bike, but really scary and really slow. What you can't see in that photo is the cliff to the right.

This is the staircase section of Tunnel trail, most of the trail is rock with occasional patches of dirt

EDIT: I'm not seriously taking them down Tunnel, we've got some more XC stuff in mind

Sounds nice. Looks like there's a pretty reasonable line off on the skier's right side of the trail.