The Sedona Mountain Bike Festival is a crazy hectic weekend. There are so many things going on with vendors, bike demos, bands, and beer. It was easy to get lost in the maze of tents as people milled about or rode their bikes through. The festival has definitely been growing and is taking lessons learned from each year to improve the event.
One of my
I also learned that I have expensive taste. My favorite ride that I demoed was the Yeti SB5 Lunch Ride. I loved how the bike just plowed through every obstacle and that the front suspension just absorbed every impact from every drop I made. It was a bike that gave me a lot of confidence as a rider and I found myself tearing through technical stuff that I would have otherwise hesitated through. It wasn’t until I returned the bike and asked the price that the Yeti rep told me it retails for around $8000. It was nice while it lasted.
I took the opportunity to ride a Juliana Roubion, which is the Women’s version of the Santa Cruz Bronson. This bike handled well and was great in tight corners. The bike’s front end felt steep to me and had me feeling hesitant on technical descents. With a 150mm suspension, it is a bike that can take a lot of abuse. I asked about pricing and they informed me that it would be about $7000 for the Bronson.
The final bike I rode was Transition Patrol. This bike had a similar geometry and suspension setup as my Specialized Enduro. It also road similar to my bike and proved to be a very capable ride for the Sedona rocks. I am not sure how well it climbed as my legs were completely smoked–I hiked the bike up most of the hills. The version I road retails for around $5000.
I really did struggle with the trails in Sedona because of the altitude and being out of riding shape. Since it has rained almost daily for the past two months back home, I haven’t had a chance to do much riding. I found myself tired and winded quickly, which made the riding difficult in this new terrain.
Sedona has a lot of chunky rocks that make climbing more technical than I am used to. My first couple of rides had me going slow and not feeling confident. I struggled to find my flow at first. I met up with another mountain biker from Phoenix named Will, who I was happy to follow around. Riding with Will allowed me to see how he tackled lines and encouraged me to hit things that I was hesitant about. It was after riding with him that I definitely saw a marked improvement to my riding ability.
At the festival, I got to talk to the people at Stan’s No Tubes (they make products that convert your bike to ride tubeless) and told them about my bad experience with their green competitor. Then I got my rear shock rebuilt by Andy of Squish Dynamics, who told me about his story of becoming a dedicated suspension technician. I also got to chat with professional mountain bike YouTuber Seth of Seth’s Bike Hacks. We stood in the pouring rain discussing how much it has rained back home in North Carolina. It was a great chance to meet all these people who work in the cycling industry.
Lastly, I have to at least mention the music and food trucks. The festival kept the afternoon going with several different bands playing different styles of music. A particular favorite was the outlaw country band Ryan Chrys and The Roughcuts. As to food, I had great tacos and other delights but the standout was the pizza. Dough Broughs Pizza made an amazing sriracha honey pizza that I loved. I would definitely recommend you check out this food truck if you are ever in the area. They have a mobile wood-fired pizza oven.
I could not be more happy with an event. I definitely want to return to hit the bigger trails and try some new things. I hope this won’t be my last Sedona MTB Festival. For a first time festival it kept the fun constant and did their best to accommodate the bad weather that affected Saturday. I would recommend checking this event out if you enjoy mountain biking.