The cold weather isn’t completely gone, but the weather is warming up just in time for me to jump in the 4Runner and drive to Sedona for the 2024 Sedona Mountain Bike Festival. I’m optimistic that, unlike previous years, this year’s event will allow us to ride IN SEDONA!
It’s about 5 hours from Durango to Sedona, and the hours pass pretty quickly when the festival is at the other end of the road. The drop into Oak Creek Canyon on highway 89 brought me right into downtown where I could grab the bike and start riding.
The Sedoners all agreed that a good first ride would be the HiLine trail. The is a potent double-black trail that starts with an exhausting climb and finishes with some scary and technical sections down the red sandstone.
Last time I did this was 2022 with Erik, AKA Ryden Dirty. Erik is a great rider – he can conquer almost anything. He showed me the ropes and I quickly learned that there were a lot of segments on this ride that were WAY over my pay grade.
Let’s have another shot at the HiLine trail and see if, and how much my skills have advanced in the last 2 years.
