MTB 2k13: Park City

Another year, another week long mountain biking trip in the books. Last year we Rode in Sun Valley, Idaho. This year, we headed to Park City, Utah. Park City is the only IMBA Gold Ride Center, and has over 400 miles of bike-legal singletrack within riding distance from downtown.

Day 1 - Masonic/Solamere/Gambel Oak - GPS trace - No Photos - Chris/Paul/Marc/Brian

To get warmed up we rode pretty close to our rental house, realizing in person just how many intersections there would be and how handy having routes in mind, maps in hand, and GPS devices and compasses to show where we were would be. The forecast called for a bit of rain so I left the camera at home, but we ended up not getting too wet. The temperature did drop on us as the day continued from ~50F down to ~38F, and several people stopped by the bike shop at the end of the day to get some warmer clothes. Afterwards was our priciest meal of the trip, meat and whiskey at the High West Distillery in town.

Day 2 - Tour de Suds/Mid-Mountain - GPS trace - photos - Chris/Paul/Marc/Brian/Bob/Jim

With Bob and Jim in town, we headed off in the snow to ride the Mid-Mountain trail, one of the ‘must-do’ trails in Park City. Once at elevation, it stays about halfway up the mountains, weaving through all of the ski resorts on very well manicured trail. This was an even colder day, hovering in the mid-30s to low-40s, but the views and trails made up for it. Things got a little sloppy towards the end, requiring the first of several bike washes of the trip.

Day 3 - Armstrong/Spiro/Flow/CMG - GPS trace - photos - Chris/Paul/Marc/Brian/Bob/Scott

We took it a little easy agin on Day 3, riding some close-to-home stuff and staying away from the upper elevations. After a short day on bikes we headed down the road to the closest movie theatre to see ‘Rush’. Turns out it was a movie about car racing and not a band. Nice!

Day 4 - Armstrong/Pinecone/Wasatch Crest - GPS trace - photos - Chris/Paul/Marc/Brian/Bob/Scott/Jim

Our longest initial climb too us 3000+ vertical feet up to the top of the mountain and the start of the Wasatch Crest trail, another must-do trail. The last 1/3 of the climb was in a significant amount of snow on the ground, and was pretty slow going. The view from the top was pretty great, and we broke into small groups to being our slushy descent. Parts of the downhill were pretty nice, but others were in muddy snowmelt with no other way to get down. At the last major turn of the day, Jim/Bob made a slight miscalculation and ended up in Salt Lake City, then a shuttle, then the hot tub.

Day 5 - Flying Dog - GPS trace - photos - Chris/Marc/Brian/Scott

A long ride to the trailhead via bike paths was a great warmup for perfect weather and a climb to the top of the Flying Dog loop. Not as remote or crazy as some of the further out trails, the views were not as epic but the trails were in much better shape. This day was the only day with weather the way we had expected it to be, so it was a good ride to bring the trip to a close. We ate a pizza at a bustling pizza place at the trail head, and set off to return our bicycles.

Next year, Canada!