Who wants to ride mogollon rim AZ and Moab UT sept 17th-25th

[FreeManDan]

I'll be in the rim country from the 17th to the 20th, then to Moab the morning of the 21st, basically splitting the week...would any one wish to tag along? I would like to ride with any one fast enough to keep up, the 17th I might ride in the Show Low Arizona area, then the 18th the rim and Payson area. I sure could use some riding buddies who know the trails, I got alot of trails in the GPS but I wouldn't mind an expert on the area to ride with me. I'll be recuperating from all that Arizona riding maybe Wednesday, then go to Moab, set up camp, then meet up with some old friends from the UT Air National Guard I once trained with and ride with them the weekend of the 24th and 25th:bike_rider:

 

[Christophe Noel]

Would love to, but I don't know squat about the riding in that area. If you make it through Prescott, I can show you around a few trails. To the tune of about 168 miles of trails.

 

[FreeManDan]

Well then I shall spread what I know about the rim...
http://mtbikeaz.com/trail-index/mogollon-rim/
http://www.everytrail.com/trip/search?q=show+Low+az&address=show+Low+az&activities%5B%5D=6&lat=&lon=&proximity=25&min_length=0&max_length=&min_duration=0&max_duration=0&sent=true
http://www.everytrail.com/trip/search?q=payson+az&address=payson+az&activities%5B%5D=6&lat=&lon=&proximity=29&min_length=0&max_length=&min_duration=0&max_duration=0&sent=true

The first weekend in august there was a race in payson, I couldn't go...
The first weekend in june there was a Xterra in Show Low, I couldn't go and haven't trained in the pool since 2008, but these are some areas I really want to ride.
TWO weeks after I tried my luck at finding trails on the rim last summer a bike store in Payson put on an impressive gathering called "rim fest", they told me they wouldn't be doing one this year because they were way to into that race in august, and had to much on their plate. I wish I coulda got in on a "rim fest" and fallowed the locals on the trails, cause when I went out on my own I got lost on a trail called Houston Brothers/cabin loop/wilderness loop. I had a lowrance XOG and the trail heads all plugged into it (no GPX trails), and the trail just seemed to vanish a few times. This year I got the Endura Sierra and some GPX files off these sites, so I can find a better form of lost! But I really don't like stopping and checking the map every other third of a mile, and my riding buddy asking, "is this a trail or is this a fail" I just like to flow...
But if you wish to join FreeManDan's find a trail adventure then lest ride.
See also that bike store's facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hike-Bike-Run/358412627492

 

[Christophe Noel]

The four or five times I've gone to Payson to ride, it's been much like your experience. I was even with a local on two of those rides. He knew his two favorite trails....and that's it. Their official inventoried system is pretty small, and doesn't connect very well to their unmarked, uninventoried social trails. It rememinds me very much of Prescott's system 10-15 years ago. You have to piece together a variety of roads, social trails and inventoried trails to put together more than a 10 mile ride. Pretty area, though.

 

[lamontagne]

The Houston/Barbershop/cabin loop trail is used by elk more than humans. The only way to find the trail is follow the tree blazes as there may or may not be an established path under your feet. I've backpacked it twice, it's an incredible area.