# Tandem riding Sedona, AZ, Hurricane, UT, Four Corners Area or other New Mexico



## ds2199 (Sep 16, 2008)

Strange thread title, I know.

We have an event to attend in early May in Sedona AZ and are thinking about making a road trip with the tandem and would plan to make stops along the way.

Destination is Sedona. I understand there is some good riding there, so that may be a good start. We'd be leaving from Denver Colorado. Options for a Utah diversion including Moab, but not sure if it's worth going all the way to Hurricane with the tandem. New Mexico (I25 to I40) could be a route or possibly pass through the 4 corners area.

Anyone have experience riding tandem in any of these areas? Anyone live along the way and would want to meet up? Tell me what you know.

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

My daughter has been encouraging us to hit Grand Junction and Fruita. We did Crested Butte, but that might be a bit awkward to connect to. We enjoyed Hurricane, but a lot of folks in a recent post seemed to think we were nuts for liking it on a tandem. Maybe we didn't hit the hard stuff....

Come down to Yuma, it's only a little out of the way  We'll show you a whole new kind of riding (I think so anyway).


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## ds2199 (Sep 16, 2008)

ki5ka said:


> My daughter has been encouraging us to hit Grand Junction and Fruita. We did Crested Butte, but that might be a bit awkward to connect to. We enjoyed Hurricane, but a lot of folks in a recent post seemed to think we were nuts for liking it on a tandem. Maybe we didn't hit the hard stuff....
> 
> Come down to Yuma, it's only a little out of the way  We'll show you a whole new kind of riding (I think so anyway).


Crested Butte is awesome, we go at least once a year. But it will still be buried in snow in May...

We may explore Sedona and see what else looks interesting. We may also check out Phil's World near Cortez, CO. We'll see what our schedule looks like and if we can make it all the way to Yuma.
Thx!


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

*Phil's World Rocks*

LOL, I don't even think about snow! Guess I've been in the desert too long!

We checked out Phil's world because several people recommend it. We didn't find it too exciting but maybe that was because we didn't venture north. My SIL went north on his single and had a blast.

-----------------------
edit 6/16 We just hit Phil's world this morning and got around to doing the the north loop my son-in-law did, including Rib Cage, and it was a BLAST. Some of the most fun I've had on a tandem. Rib Cage is worth the whole trip. Crazy up and down swoopy curvy high speed blast! On the rest of the loop there are a few mildly techy places but we only walked a couple of spots that we might have hit the BB or drug our timing chain. It was hot, and the altitude is killer if you're not acclimated, so we were pretty tapped by the time we got back to the car. If you're in good shape and heat doesn't get you, you'll love it on a tandem.


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## Sanchofula (Dec 30, 2007)

We're heading down there in mid April, but we live in WA, otherwise we'd meet you.

Don't worry about snow in Fruita, GC, or Moab, May is prime riding. Not so sure about CB, the upper trails will probably be snow covered until mid summer, but then from where you live there is plenty of high alpine access so why bother with early season mud and snow?

I don't know about the riding on teh Southern route, but I'm sure there is aplethora of riding options on the way to Sedona.

If you take the middle route through GC:

I really liked riding Fruita, though most of my riding was on a bike and muni. For the tandem, there is an awesome flow trail on the 18 Road trails, the climb is not bad. It'd be worth looking in other trails such as Kokapelli, though there are probably hike a tandem sections, but it would be fun for sure. Might also be worth looking at Bookcliffs, just depends how much "gnar" you want...

Moab has some great tandem riding, especially if you are into grinding up and creeping down hardrock. We spent a day riding up and down trails on Klondike, I highly recommend this area as long as the jeepers are not in town and it's not windy. The trails on the rocky ridge of Klondike offer some great variety and the trail that skirts the valley nearer the paved road is a pretty easy and beautiful as long as there's no wind. The cool thing about Klondike is that you can access it from the highway from the nothwest, so no need to go into Moab.

When you pop out into the Salt Lake Basin, a drive north to Antelope is well worth the trip, spend a day spinning around the main trails on an island, out in the middle of the Salt Lake, with views of the snow capped mountains, then finishing with a meal at one of a many awesome eateries in SLC.

Hurricane and St George have great riding, I'll post info when we get back


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## Erichimedes (Jul 30, 2010)

If you do end up coming through the Durango/Cortez area, maybe shoot us a message a couple weeks before you do, and we might be able to meet you. We're in Durango, and still somewhat new to the tandem. I built it up in the fall, and we've had a huge winter so far, so we've only been out on it a few times. I'd guess Phil's will be awesome for the tandem, but we haven't tried it yet.

Also check out the Alien trail system north of Aztec, NM.


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## TandemBear (Aug 18, 2013)

Erichimedes said:


> If you do end up coming through the Durango/Cortez area, maybe shoot us a message a couple weeks before you do, and we might be able to meet you. We're in Durango, and still somewhat new to the tandem. I built it up in the fall, and we've had a huge winter so far, so we've only been out on it a few times. I'd guess Phil's will be awesome for the tandem, but we haven't tried it yet.
> 
> Also check out the Alien trail system north of Aztec, NM.


Did Hermosa Creek on the tandem in Durango and LOVED it. Trail 401 in CB was a blast as well.

Unfortunately, hub failure on Slickrock prevented completing the ride and subsequent Moab rides on the tandem, so I can't really provide real world experienced advice. Next trip at the end of this month will be the test.

That said, Porcupine Rim would be great on the tandem. Sure, the single track at the end would be challenging, but that's what all the fun's about.

Most of the other Moab rides I've done are tandemable. Jughandle Loop would be no problem. Exceptions would be Amasa Back and Poison Spider Mesa/Portal Trail. Any ride with big sand traps would be better to avoid.

Heck, the White Rim would be no problem at all since it's so non-technical.

I haven't been to Moab in over a decade, so I cannot comment on the newer trails that have gone in. Will hopefully ride them this trip.

However, I've learned that if I do indeed attempt the Slickrock trail again, it will be at the END of my Moab trip!

Good luck!


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## Erichimedes (Jul 30, 2010)

TandemBear said:


> Heck, the White Rim would be no problem at all since it's so non-technical.


As a matter of fact, we just rode that this last weekend with a big group of friends. One of the best trips I've ever been on. The tandem performed flawlessly.


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## TandemBear (Aug 18, 2013)

*Nice!*



Erichimedes said:


> As a matter of fact, we just rode that this last weekend with a big group of friends. One of the best trips I've ever been on. The tandem performed flawlessly.
> 
> View attachment 1055478


Color me jealous. Well, not TOO jealous since I'm finally heading that way.

Hey, how were temperatures? I'm hoping we hit moderate conditions by month's end.

Did you do the entire route? Self-supported?

Thanks for the great photo.


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## Erichimedes (Jul 30, 2010)

TandemBear said:


> Color me jealous. Well, not TOO jealous since I'm finally heading that way.
> 
> Hey, how were temperatures? I'm hoping we hit moderate conditions by month's end.
> 
> ...


Temps were perfect. It was overcast most of the trip, but when the sun did come out it was t-shirt weather. We got hit with a huge rainstorm on night 2, but waited until noon the next day and it had dried out enough to ride. We did the whole route in a loop, car to car. Sag wagon supported, 3 days. I've done it self supported as well, I think both ways are fun.

The weather out there is completely hit or miss this time of year. If it's sunny, it'll be HOT. If it's raining, it'll probably rain a lot. But it is always changing. I think the end of March is a perfect time to be there.


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## k2rider1964 (Apr 29, 2010)

ds2199 said:


> Strange thread title, I know.
> 
> We have an event to attend in early May in Sedona AZ and are thinking about making a road trip with the tandem and would plan to make stops along the way.
> 
> ...


I don't have a tandem but have friends that do and they rode theirs on the North Umpqua Trail in Oregon after everybody we asked expressed doubts. They pretty much killed it so even though it seems sketchy to me, I stopped worrying about the limits on a tandem. The husband half just left Moab where he was riding his "regular" MTB and said they're bringing the tandem back on our October trip. The same couple is also going to Gooseberry mesa with us in May.


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

TandemBear said:


> Did Hermosa Creek on the tandem in Durango and LOVED it.


We enjoyed that ride too! I saw a pretty good drop on the way up that I told myself not to forget about on the ride down, and of course I did... forgot about it that is. Not sure how we cleared it but we were moving pretty good when we sailed over it... One of those moments that sticks with you.


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## TandemBear (Aug 18, 2013)

ki5ka said:


> We enjoyed that ride too! I saw a pretty good drop on the way up that I told myself not to forget about on the ride down, and of course I did... forgot about it that is. Not sure how we cleared it but we were moving pretty good when we sailed over it... One of those moments that sticks with you.


I remember a drop I did at lower speed that impacted my timing ring. Perhaps better to hit at speed!!!


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## ki5ka (Dec 17, 2006)

*Phil's World Rocks*

DS, this is too late for your trip of course, but for anyone checking out this thread I made the following addition to my earlier response where I panned Phil's World. I'll repeat it here as a separate post for good measure. ...

We just hit Phil's world this morning and got around to doing the the north loop, including Rib Cage, and it was a BLAST. Some of the most fun I've had on a tandem. Rib Cage is worth the whole trip. Crazy up and down swoopy curvy high speed blast! On the rest of the loop there are a few mildly techy places but we only walked a couple of spots that we might have hit the BB or drug our timing chain. It was hot, and the altitude is killer if you're not acclimated, which we're not, so we were pretty tapped by the time we got back to the car. If you're in good shape and heat doesn't get you, or do it during a cooling time of the year, you'll love it on a tandem.


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## ebnelson (Oct 30, 2006)

We had a good time at Phil's too. Good place to ride early in the morning.


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