It is well known how ridiculously awesome mountain biking is. But, as you ride that same trail for the 50th time by the 4th of July, the awesomeness can wear a bit thin. The key to keeping the stoke high on the mountain bike is undoubtedly variety.
While living in Sedona we were shocked to learn that many residents of Arizona had never ridden there. Sometimes there are great adventures really close by. Even with all of our awesome trail options in Sedona, we too grew bored and needed to venture out and recharge. Variety is the spice of mountain bike life. Planning new adventures is especially important this time of year. Many of us have less than ideal weather, fewer daylight hours and are still trying to knock off that holiday weight. Having a planned escape to look forward to is a great way to stoke your mountain biking fire.
Here are some of our favorite ways to keep the good times rolling.
Mountain Bike Festivals
We’ve enjoyed attending many different festivals the past few years in great locations. All you need to pack are some clothes, helmet and shoes to most of these events, making travel easy. A host of companies bring their latest pimped out demo bikes for your riding pleasure. If you are in the market for a new ride, this is THE best way to compare the competition head to head, and make a trip of it.
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A good festival includes awesome demo bikes, entertainment, music, BEER, suggested routes and guided rides which are nice to get a great ride in without getting lost. Folks travel from all over and it’s pretty dang easy to meet awesome people if you don’t bring friends. We at Crankjoy are mountain bike festival junkies hitting over 15 of them in the last two years. Outerbike Moab and Sedona Mountain Bike Festival are two of the greats. Our first festival of this year will be in Alaska at the Chugach Bike Bash.
Here’s a great resource we have compiled to some of our favorites: http://crankjoy.com/mtbikefestivals/
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Guided Mountain Bike Tours
To explore new to you areas, guides are an incredible resource. If you only have a day or two in an area that is a spiderweb of trails and you don’t want to worry about self-navigating with a map or an app a guide is your answer. Most of the major mountain bike destinations have great tour companies and guides to make the most of your time and enjoying the best trails with minimal planning. Chasing Epic offers some great all-inclusive options in some of the best destinations. They provide lodging, guiding and food in places like Crested Butte, Moab, Sedona and St. George. Depending on where you want to go, there are great guide companies to take you to just about anywhere you want to go. Western Spirt, Red Wolf Mountain Bike Tours, Sacred Rides and Big Mountain Bike Adventures are a few that standout, but again, there are many great options depending on your budget and where you want to go.
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Plan a weekend getaway with your favorite riding buddies to somewhere you’ve never been. Planning your own getaway is the more advanced option, but for the driven and experienced adventures, this is a great option. Even if you can only get away for a couple of days close to home, I’ll bet these will be trips you reminisce about for many years. Here are a couple of our favorite self-planned adventures near and far: The Wasatch Traverse and New Zealand.
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Sign up for a multi-day ride or stage race.
Ok, so you may not be a racer or you might think that this is the last thing you may want to do on vacation. New formats, including daily enduro sections to test your downhill ability as well as options of shorter races are a great way to experience these incredible trips. You will make new friends and bring home amazing memories guaranteed. Singletrack 6/3 (BC), Moab Rocks, BC Bike Race, Transylvania Epic (PA) and Pisgah Stage Race (NC) are a few to whet yer whistle.
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Sign up for a Skills Clinic. Spending a weekend or longer focusing on building some great skills will allow you to enjoy mountain biking at a whole new level. Women win on this one as there are far more options for clinics catering to them. Hitting a camp with your girlfriends is a great way to improve your confidence and improve your technique. Ladies All Ride, Vida Mountain Bike Series and Trek Dirt Series offer incredible skills camps in many different GREAT locations all over the US.
We here at Crankjoy prefer to invest in experiences over things, unless those things are rad bikes. The money spent on an adventure is an investment in your mental health. From weekend camping trips to all-inclusive vacations, options to keep the riding stoke fueled always provide a huge return on your investment. What are you waiting for, get to planning and go out and have a great time this year![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
