a sumptuous feast

been meaning to get up a more substantive post about our Sedona riding.

Red Agave's central courtyard fronting NF land

First off, we stayed at Red Agave Resort in the Village of Oak Creek, on the south edge of Sedona proper.  


Many of the popular trails head up in national forest land between Oak Creek and Sedona, Red Agave's property lies right on the NF boundary.  

view out from the loft of our Aframe

You quite literally ride right out the door to hit the trail, you can't beat that with a stick!

B&B: mtb haven

Have to stop by the bike/coffee shop first tho: Bike and Bean is da bomb, and like one block away from Red Agave.  Step inside and you get a waft of mountain-biking goodness: a heady blend of coffee, rubber, grease, shop dog, in equal parts.  Shop dogs Rico Suave (luv that dude!) and his mom Pepper rule the roost over there, lead all the group rides.  Rico's owners/shop proprietors Jim and Jan are the two most hospitable people on the planet, hands down- we weren't in the shop 10min before Jim invited us out for the shop's thanksgiving social ride and dinner after. 

Thursday T-day was our first real opportunity to ride.  Early am, Mrs Wulff and the kids opted to explore their first trails running, while I explored up valley a bit on the Yeti. Right across the road from Bike and Bean you'll find a parking lot servicing the Bell Rock Pathway trail and access to the Big Park Loop.  I saved Big Park for our intro family ride later in the day, and headed up Bell Rock Pathway to circle round first Bell Rock then Courthouse Rock and onto the Llama Trail.  Llama is billed an Intermediate trail, hugging the red rock cliffs that ring the valley on its eastern side.  Lama offers a bit of everything you'll encounter in Sedona riding: flowy packed adobe runs, swoopy drops in/out of arroyos, red slickrock playgrounds, techy rock gardens alike.  And don't forget the eye-popping scenery!  

llama goodness awaits

Late morning I somewhat reluctantly turned onto Little Horse Trail towards basecamp, to make our social ride heading up at B&B.  Little Horse proved a hoot, lots of sandstone ledges to drop over, some doable for the weekend warrior, some not so much.  Fun!  

ABQ wrecking crew

T-Day's social ride was pretty cool, if a bit of a mismatch for a family of four.  Despite Jim's reassurance it was all good, we were apprehensive we'd be the only family to participate,  which proved true enuf.  Once assembled, the others in the group proved very welcoming and supportive, esp of the youngsters.  

With no other families in the mix, we couldn't help but drag the ride down, and split off before we were a coupla miles in, circling around Big Park Loop and back up around Bell Rock at a pace we could sustain for the duration.  

intersection of Bell Rock Pathway and Lama Trail.  LT heads out to hug those cliffs in background.

Morning rides in the bag, time for some turkey!  We checked back in with Jim on the ride back to basecamp, showered up, made it back to the shop replete with side dishes + bottle of vino as contributions to the feast.  Jim &  Co had cleared the shop floor, set up some tables, chairs for the guests.  Most hovered around the coffee bar, now wine and beer bar, Jim and shopmates acting bartenders for their gathering.  Handed a cold microbrew tapped straight out sidewall of the shop fridge (booya!  Happy Thanksgiving!) we spent some time meeting the assembling crew.  

And what an eclectic group it proved to be!  Local rider Denny introduced us to professional racer Christina, she to custom bike builder Darryl.  Jan proved congenial hostess extraordinaire- later Denny sidebarred us to showcase Jan's artwork adorning the shop walls.  Christina nursed a sore neck from an OTB on the social ride just completed, Denny commiserated and showed off battle scars from a lifetime of riding trails.   Racer Zach stepped in to entertain with stories of the misery that can be endurance racing. While the shop mechanics talked shop and 'managed' the tap, I asked Darryl to fill me in on his transition from Titus bikes to Form Cycles and the benefits of 29" wheels.  Between pets, Rico Suave and Pepper herded a coupla toddlers around, hoping for a careless drop of turkey snacks. Shopkeep Jim weighed-in on the fallacy of carbon fiber frames vs Sedona's rock gardens, and later sketched out our best trail options for the remainder of the trip. 

Awesome group, one and all, bound together by the riding scene that is greater Sedona's red rock country.  Heading out after fun and feast, I for one offered a silent thanks that places like Bike and Bean exist on this good earth- a mountain biker's haven away from home.

My Wulffpack not normally ones to eschew the comforts of extended family on Thanksgiving, we later agreed Thanksgiving 2010 proved one for the record books. 

So yeah, Thanksgiving in Sedona proved a sumptuous feast, in more ways than one.